The Joys and Stresses of Fundraising

It’s been awhile since I’ve given an update on my fundraising, so I thought I would let everyone know that I’ve reached $1,482 in personal donations! Add my cut of the boot block earnings from last Saturday, and I’m sitting at almost $1,700! I couldn’t be more thankful to everyone who’s donated – I never thought that people would be so giving, so it’s been a wonderful experience to receive so much support.

I haven’t had as much luck with my fundraisers, however. I’m supposed to be hosting an event at Buffalo Wild Wings on Monday, but have hit a few road blocks. The first, and most glaring, is the fact that I’ve yet to receive the fundraiser flyers from BWW’s manager – which is a big problem because no flyer = no fundraiser. Participants must bring in a flyer for BWW to donate 15% of its sales to LLS, so I’m really starting to worry about when I’ll receive them. Especially since I’m not allowed to email the flyers out – Brandon (the manager) stressed that they MUST be originals, so I have no idea how I’m going to distribute these things by Monday.

I called the restaurant yesterday to ask for an update on the flyers, but learned that Brandon wasn’t there and wouldn’t be in till Friday. Friday?!? I immediately sent an email expressing my concerns and am now anxiously awaiting his reply. But at this point, I’m almost considering canceling or moving the event to a different date. I’ve hardly spread the word about it since I couldn’t tell people when or how they could get a flyer, or give them a definite time frame for the event. Brandon was unable to give me a time frame because he said he would have to wait and see what “corporate” says.

And response to the fundraiser has been lukewarm at best. The facebook event I sent out was – and I hate using this phrase – an epic fail. I’ve had 8 people, not including myself and Tom (who won’t be there anyway since he lives in KC), confirm their attendance. Let’s compare that to the 69 people and counting who have declined. Yikes. So who knows what’s going to happen…

I have another fundraiser coming up at Chili’s on the 26th. It’s the same premise as the one at BWW – all people have to do is bring in the fundraiser flyer, enjoy a tasty meal, and Chili’s will donate 10% of their sales to LLS. Chili’s has been much more cooperative with me on putting together the flyers – plus, I’m allowed to email them out, so already I’m feeling much more confident about this event. And I have tons of ideas to get the word out, so hopefully my plans will all fall into place. My only concern is that the Chili’s event is the day after my team fundraiser at Heroes, which may send people into fundraiser overload.

Even so, I’m still looking forward to both. The team fundraiser is already shaping up to be a successful event – my teammates have been working really hard to get posters and flyers made at the best price, so I’m ready to step up big time when they're ready to be distributed. And I’m thinking we’re going to have a pretty positive response –a half-price burger with a $5 donation to LLS is just a darn good deal.

But if I could do any fundraiser, anything at all, I would want to partner with Victoria Secret’s PINK line. I already have the slogan: Wear Pink, Support Purple (since purple is TNT’s main color). I think it would be the perfect partnership since 73% of TNT participants are women with an average age of 32, and PINK clothes are very popular among younger women. Of course I have no idea how the logistics of this partnership would work out, but I can dream, right?

Upcoming fundraising events in a nutshell:

April 12: Buffalo Wild Wings
Just present the flyer to your server, and BWW in New Market Square will donate 15% of their sales to LLS. At least I hope so…

April 25: Half-price Burgers at Heroes
Enjoy a half-price burger at Heroes with a $5 donation to LLS. Special runs from 12:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

April 26: Chili's
Just present the flyer to your server, and Chili's will donate 10% of their sales to LLS. The fundraiser runs from 4:00 to 10:00 p.m. at both the east and west side locations in Wichita.

May 6: Sonic at Maple and Tyler
Don't you bring that weak tot action! Sonic will donate 10% of their sales from 4:30 to 9:00 p.m. - no flyer or coupon required!

And as always, you can donate at my fundraising page at the link to the right :)