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Are you ready to learn about 5 more fun ways to raise money for smaller projects at your nursing home?
1. Decorate A Bear
Purchase a dozen or so plain teddy bears when you find them on sale. Ask area businesses to decorate them in an elaborate style, then sell the bears at a silent auction.
This makes an excellent stand-alone fundraiser before a holiday such as Christmas or Valentine’s Day. Or you can include the silent auction along with a larger event.
You’ll be amazed at the creativity and the variety of ideas, and businesses usually have fun with this project. It’s also good advertising for them, as you let the silent auction guests know who decorated each bear.
Hint: I suggest placing a reasonable minimum price on each bear to assure the bidding doesn’t start too low.
2. Guess The Baby
Invite employees to submit copies of their baby pictures, then post them on a large bulletin board. Ask staff to guess the identity of each baby.
After printing ballots with the pictures identified by number, people can buy a ballot at the front desk for 1 or 2 dollars. Provide a locked box to collect the entries.
Offer a good prize for the person who submits the most correct guesses to encourage lots of participation. Of course, you’ll want the prize to be donated by a local business so all of the funds go to your nursing home. It’s also important to have a tie-breaker if more than one person guesses every picture correctly.
3. Balloon Prizes
This is a nice little fundraiser to host in conjunction with a larger event. Simply blow up large bouquets of helium balloons. Each balloon will contain a small slip of paper with a prize notification. Charge $1 for each participant to select and pop a balloon.
Be sure the value of the prize inside each balloon is worth at least the $1 you charge. Candy bars, small gift certificates, scented soaps, toys, and note cards are only a few of the many possibilities.
You can increase participation by letting guests know that two balloons contain larger prizes. For example, this might be a $25 gift certificate to a nice restaurant or movie theater.
Of course, to make this an effective fundraiser, you need to use prizes that are donated. If you feel uncomfortable about asking for donations, then you must check out this previous post about Painless Ways To Ask For Donations.
4. Babysitting Fundraiser
Many people appreciate the opportunity to have someone watch their kids while they go shopping, especially around the holidays. You can provide this helpful service for your nursing home staff while raising money for your special project at the same time.
You’ll need an activity room or another area where kids can safely play, then simply arrange for volunteers to supervise and entertain the kids. They can provide games, a movie, snacks, and crafts. Choose a couple of afternoons or evenings and block off about 4 hours. Charge a fee for each child; it works best to ask for registrations in advance.
5. Food Truck Fundraiser
Invite a different food truck to come to your facility monthly or even weekly. Trucks are usually willing to donate 10-25 percent of their profits to your organization in return for the publicity.
Besides raising money for your special project, it also provides a fun variety of meals for your employees. If you spread the word, you’ll get other people from the community to enjoy the food and support your organization, too. We especially found this to be true when construction crews were working nearby!
Have you tried any of the other fundraisers I’ve featured over the past year? If so, I would love to hear how they went!
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