Thursday, April 28, 2011

Cookies, Catalogs, & Coffee

This idea is perfect for any woman's group! Contact all your local "vendors" that sell items at home parties (e.g., Longaberger Baskets, Tupperware, Usborne Books, Avon, Tastefully Simple, Home Interior, Fabulous Finds, Pampered Chef, People Fit, Party Lights) Set up a table for each vendor in your church meeting room.
The saleswomen could have some cash-and-carry items, as well as catalogs for items to sell. Each saleswoman can donate her profits from the evening to your team OR provide an item to be raffled off throughout the evening! Provide coffee to your guests for the evening and possibly pair this event with a Cookie Walk!

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 please visit http://www.dressup2cure.org/

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Photo Contest!

(Boston, my preemie miracle!)Use photo's of babies, dogs, etc. The basic idea is that people will submit a photo(specify maximum size accepted), and may also submit a 3x5 card with a few sentences as a description to create more interest. Photos are mounted on a display board or inside a sponsoring merchant's window (or at a school or church works great too!)

Each photo is numbered and a jar/bag is numbered for each photo for votes. Votes are made with coins, dollar bills, or checks (made payable to "Girl Power 2 Cure"). The picture with the most "votes" (total money collected) wins a prize.

Prizes can be donated from local businesses!


To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit www.dressup2cure.org

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Rock - A -Thon

Another great idea that could be done with a youth group or other student organization that what to support your DU2C team is a Rock A Thon. Each teen asks for pledges from friends, family and neighbors to see how long they could rock in a rocking chair & playing video games.

The kids had to bring their own rocking chairs or gaming chairs that rocked. They also were allow to bring their own video games and systems to play. The church or school could help supply the TV's and electoral cords.


Set a minimum pledge of $25, so the kids understand it isn't just a free night of video games! Really easy to set up. It was a win/win night.


To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit www.dressup2cure.org

Monday, April 25, 2011

Adult Spelling Bee

Spelling bees are what I considered a form of torture as a child, I think any child you ask would agree. Why not consider an adult spelling bee for fundraising and to let the parents see how hard it can be? Most schools hold spelling bees so setting one up should be fairly easy. Each class can select three parents to represent them either individually or as a team. Set an entrance fee per team. The teams are responsible for getting sponsors to pay the fee ($50).

For the entry fee of $50, the sponsor of the entry can be advertised at the event on a name board and also thanked in a letter to the editor of the local newspaper. You can use words found on spelling word websites and also terminology from all areas of expertise represented by the sponsors that gained entry into the competition.

Want some specifics on adult spelling bees? Try the National Spelling Bee site!

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit http://www.dressup2cure.org/

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Squeegee Day

A friend of mine suggested this idea - they do it for Cystic Fibrosis!

Ask people at a local drive thru (they used the Tim Horton’s) to donate money to have their windshields washed. Have one person at the beginning of the drive thru asking the person if they would like their windshield washed as a donation to Rett Syndrome. If they say yes, the volunteer places a pamphlet under their windshield wiper. Once they get to the front of the drive thru and they have a pamphlet under their wiper, our team of two washes their windshield and thanks them for their donation and gives them their pamphlet. (Your Purple Card would work for this!) They suggest getting the squeegees donated as well as the windshield washer fluid.

They also suggest that the group do two locations from 8am-noon. They generally make between $800 and $1000 dollars. A lot more than if we would have washed the entire car. There’s very little setup (your pail and pamphlets) and it takes a very small amount of people to pull it off. *You can either have a stated donation amount or leave it up to the generosity of the driver.

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit http://www.dressup2cure.org/

Saturday, April 23, 2011

LACK of Talent Show

The past two years the Trine University football team has hosted a "LACK of Talent" Show. It has been a complete blast every year! Each member of the football team participated - either individually or as a group. There were dance numbers, some sang or rapped, we even had a ventriloquist!
This can be pulled off with any group: local college or sports teams, girls or groups, local Lions or Rotary organization - anyone with little or no talent really!! Take donations at the door and then half way through the show take a little break - tell your crowd about Rett Syndrome and pass a bucket for more donations!!!

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit http://www.dressup2cure.org/

Friday, April 22, 2011

Funniest idea YET!

We have been listing lots of fun ideas over the past month and a half but that got me thinking....how about the FUNNIEST way to raise money?
How about an amateur comedy night at your local school or church. Of course the jokes and pranks must be clean and family appropriate. Silly needs to be the order of business. Pair that night of laughs with a spaghetti dinner and you have yourself one silly fundraiser that people will talk about and remember for a long time.


To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit http://www.dressup2cure.org/


Thursday, April 21, 2011

Mini Golf!

Arrange with the owner of a local mini golf course to set an afternoon or evening aside just for your fundraising event. Negotiate either a flat fee for exclusive use of the facility during that time or a percentage of sales (at least 50%) to be donated back to your team. Offer special (lower than standard) rates to draw players to the event. For example, $5.00 for 1 or $16 for a team of 4; children under 3 free; discounts for students or advanced purchases.
OR
Schedule a mini golf - a -thon! Kids (or adults) at your school, church, or just friends and family collect sponsors for their golfing. They can get donations per hole they golf - then they play, play, play as many holes as they can in the time alloted!

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit http://www.dressup2cure.org/

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Cash from your community

It sounds so simple, so crazy....but it works.


Round up a goup of volunteers to represent your team and have them go door to door in their neighborhoods. Make it a friendly competition to see who can bring back the most money!



Make sure they have information about Rett Syndrome - Purple Cards are perfect for something like this! GP2C t-shirts are great to have them wear too - you want the people they will be visiting to know their friend are raising money for a real cause! This ideas is wonderful because other than rounding up your friends - there is not much organization to it!


To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit http://www.dressup2cure.org/

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Recycle for Rett

(We want to thank our friend Joel at The Dancing Sun LLC for this suggestion!)
There are a few ways to Recycle for Rett:
1. In some states, such as VT, NY, MA etc when you purchase beverages in bottles, cans, etc you pay a 5 cent deposit on the bottle. When you return them (recycle them) you get your nickel back.
2. Almost every state pays per lb. for the cans. Although every state is different, the average pay is 35 cents per lb. To get paid for recycling your cans - get out your phone book and look up your local recycling agencies and give them a call. Take your cans to the company that is offering you the most per lb. or per can.
3. There is a site called Sell Your Cell that will buy your phone from you to recycle and sell to another customer. They pay between $5 and $200 per phone, but they say the average is $25.

No matter which option you might try - Encourage your family friends and co-workers to help you out throughout April (or the entire year!) Recycling helps the environment and we help Rett.....this idea promotes two good causes!!

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit http://www.dressup2cure.org/

Monday, April 18, 2011

Church Events

Don't forget to check with the people that love and care for you and your family, like YOUR CHURCH! Most churches are filled with amazing people who would love to support your teams fundraising efforts with dinners, pancake breakfasts, bake sales, bingo nights, etc. Often times you just have to ask!

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit www.dressup2cure.org

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Bowl-A-Thon

Make arrangements with a bowling alley to rent a group of lanes and start soliciting teams. (Before offering to purchase lanes, ask them if they will donate lanes for your cause.) Charge an entry fee per foursome, for example $80. Have extra fundraising opportunities at your bowling event by adding silent auctions, raffling off donated prizes, selling food items, or running a cash bar.

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit www.dressup2cure.org

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Cuts for a Cure

Check with your hair salon to host a special fundraising day. Some salons will ask their staff to donate a portion of their services or tips others will set aside a special day where ALL money that comes into the salon will be donated to Girl Power 2 Cure and your team. Keep in mind that your Salon might also be willing to host a Garden of Hope as well!

To get involves with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit www.dressup2cure.org

Friday, April 15, 2011

Strike a pose!

It doesn't matter what time of year, a fashion show is ALWAYS fun. Who doesn't like to play dress-up? And during Dress Up 2 Cure season , it PERFECT!

It takes some planning for sure: You'll need to have time to line up members, volunteers, and retailers to provide the fashions being displayed. You'll need to sell tickets (or you can charge admission at the door), put up fliers, set the stage, set up dressing areas, play music throughout the show, and help the models during outfit changes. Most significantly, you'll need an emcee to illustrate the clothing as the models stroll the stage.

You can talk to clothing and accessory store owners to see if they want to donate items in exchange for the exposure. You can even have their stores sell tickets for the fashion show. After they've seen the clothes on the runway, they may want to duplicate those looks themselves. To obtain models, you can post a request for volunteers on a local college bulletin board or just ask your friends!

If you decided to go with a baby fashion show route, you can ask fellow parents at school or at your church. There is no shortage of parents who would love to see their babies modelling cute clothes. After everything is planned and put in place for your fashion show fundraiser, don't forget to have fun!

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit www.dressup2cure.org

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Game Night

Video Game Night might be PERFECT for your kids, but what about you? Let's go back to our childhood when BOARD games were our games of choice. Invite your friends over to riase money for your DU2C team AND have fun challenging each other at some of your favorites: Monopoly, Life, Scrabble, Twister?!?!

Charge each person a $10 entry fee and then let the games begin! Most of your friends will probably join you for this night of fun without the incentive of a prize BUT you could always ask around town - some businesses are willign to donate prizes for events like this!

We have an amazing supporter, Ashley Love (who is Sarah Harding's Aunt) and she has been doing a boardgame fundraiser EVERY month for the past two year! You can check out her page by clicking HERE and be inspired!

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit http://www.dressup2cure.org/

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Video Game Tournament

Let’s face it; many kids don’t play board games these days. However, a video game tournament speaks their language!
Setting up a video game competition:
Collect the Games. Chances are most of the families in your neighborhood have more electronic games in the house now then they do board games. This should make it easy to collect a few systems and games for the evening. Set a registration fee per - say $10 per person.

Should I Choose 1 or More Game? Many organizers might prefer to stick to one game to keep things simple, but there are no rules that limit the night to just one game! You could have a Nintendo Wii tournament with a whole host of games—that way there is something for everyone.

Tournament Style: You can play round-robin, double elimination, or allow winners of one game to challenge anyone from a list of other game winners.

Gamer Stations: If you do choose to do a larger video game tourney with multiple gaming systems, you will be able to keep more players involved in the tournament. Remember to establish a time per game to keep the competition on schedule and fair for all players.

Snacks:Your players will appreciate drinks and snacks if the tournament is an evening or day-long event. Try to get a local pizza, burger or wings restaurant to sponsor the event for free and then charge for snacks and refreshments—with funds raised going to GP2C and your team!

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit http://www.dressup2cure.org/

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Cookie Walk

How does a Cookie Walk work? You will need to get friends and family involved in the baking. (Something like this is very successful at a church or school!) Volunteers bake cookies, bars, candies or confections. The goodies will be spread out on tables in your venue of choice. A price "per pound' is set and listed so that your guests know what to expect. ($5.00 is a good suggested price) Be sure to advertise - use facebook, email, the local paper, posters - you name it! The public then 'walks' along the many tables selecting treats*. At the end of the walk, treat containers are weighed to determine how much you pay. Homemade treats are a perfect gift for neighbors, clients, colleagues, and family! *Be sure to have a box of latex gloves for people to wear when choosing their cookies (or a volunteer at each table wearing gloves to put the cookies on the plate for them.) To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit www.dressup2cure.org

Monday, April 11, 2011

DAREoke

*We discovered this idea on Dunktank.
Dareoke Night for Girl Power 2 Cure may be the most amazing fundraising party you will ever see! You simply set a date for your night out, create your fundraising page for people to make their donations and in their comment section they list what song they want YOU to sing on Dareoke night!
It's called Dareoke because they get to pick songs that will entertain them and embarrass you! For those donors who can't make it, be sure to share photos and video of the crowd's favorite performances!

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit http://www.dressup2cure.org/

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Flowers for Mom

Make corsages for Mother's Day as a fundraising project for your team. Take orders ahead of time and collect the $10 payment in advance. Be sure to get details regarding the recipient's name and delivery address. Work with a local florist who might be willing to donate flowers or at least give you a great deal! Advance orders and collections will allow you to purchase only what you need to make the number of corsages ordered.

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2010 visit http://www.dressup2cure.org/

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Best Seats in the House!

First, find a sofa to use. This fundraising idea involves raffling off tickets for a student and two friends to win the best seat in the house. Tickets are sold throughout the week prior to a game. Before a volleyball, basketball, baseball or football game announce the winner. The winner gets to sit on the sofa with two of his or her friends. Make sure the sofa is in an ideal spot to view the game. For halftime, maybe even order pizza and sodas for the winner and guests!

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit http://www.dressup2cure.org/

Friday, April 8, 2011

Raffle for Rett

Wednesday night my sister invited 15 ladies over to her place for a Raffle For Rett. It was SO FUN, SO EASY, and SO SUCCESSFUL! We sold tickets: $1 for 1, $10 for 12 and $20 for 25 tickets. Each gal brought either an appetizer, salad, or dessert. (So there was not a ton of cooking for the host!)
Each gal also brought an item (some brought 2 or 3!) for the raffle. These were things like homemade cookies, bottles of wine, scrap books, potted plants, purses, jewelry - ANYTHING GOES! (Again, the host does not have to track down dozens of raffle donations, so no additional work!)
We set up some tables in my sisters dining room for the items, put a plastic cup (lunch bags could be used too) in front of each item with the name listed - this is where your guest put their tickets for the item they want to win.
*Just remember to have your guest write their name on the back of the ticket - that way they do not have to keep track of a bunch of ticket numbers!


*We are able to accept cash, check, OR online payments because we simply pulled up Brooklyn's DU2C page and friends that wanted to use their credit card simply made an online donation for their raffle tickets!


It was a great night of wonderful friends sharing great food, drinks, and laughs -all while raising $535.00 for Team Brooklyn!! I recommend this event to EVERYONE - it was so much fun and little or no money out of pocket to host! If you have ANY questions just email me! kelly@girlpower2cure.org


To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2001 visit http://www.girlpower2cure.org/

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Pennies for Rett

Pennies add up, that is fure sure! There are LOTS of ways to use these pennies to raise money for your team!

Fundraising Variation 1: A school 'penny war" with the classrooms competing against each other. Jars are placed out side of each classroom at the start of the day and end of the day, with someone monitoring of course. For every penny added to the jar a classroom would receive one point. Every nickel, dime, quarter, added and the class lost points according to the value of the coin. A dollar in the jar and the class lost 100 points. Kids are allowed to place coins and dollars in any jar they want, so they could make a classroom with the most points that day lose points by placing everything but pennies in the jar. Points are posted every day and the money collected in the office at the end of the day where student helpers wrap pennies, nickels, dimes and so forth. At the end of the week, the class with the most points wins a popcorn/movie party. This can be done in elementary schools but for secondary, it works best if the competing classes are all homerooms.


Fundraising Variation 2: A church change war, have the whole congregation bring in their spare change and keep track of it somewhere (maybe 5 gallon water jugs in the back of the sanctuary). Think of a way to get people competing for weight (pennies are better) and/or for amount (dimes are better). Allow people to put in bills, but take them to a bank and get change. Have a huge change counting party. (A goal may be 5 pounds of change per youth, or the ministers weight in change).


Here is a story about Sarah - who used pennies to raise money for her team! The last I checked she and her mom were STILL COUNTING!!
To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit www.dressup2cure.org

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Polar Bear Plunge

Are you willing to “bear” the elements for a good cause? The object of this one is simple. Raise money then plunge into the cold water! The success of these events shows there are plenty of generous (and maybe crazy) people everywhere.

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit www.dressup2cure.org

Monday, April 4, 2011

Pink Flamingo Fundraising!!

Purchase 10 pink plastic flamingos (lawn decorations). Pick 10 yards in your community to be the lucky recipients. Attach cards to the flamingoes' necks with a phone number along with all the pertinent information regarding your DU2C team. State that for a $10 donation, the flamingos will be removed but for $15 they will be moved to the lawn of their choice. Make sure you also place a sign that has a contact name and phone number among the flamingos for those who drive by and would like to have the flamingos placed in a friends yard.

Individuals may also have the opportunity to pay $50 to have the entire flock of 10 flamingos placed in another persons yard! (Also give the option to simply pick up the flamingo gratis, since some people have no sense of fun.) It takes a little organization, but is lots of fun.

An additional fundraising idea is to sell "Pink Flamingo Insurance" for $10 to protect yourself from the invasion of these pink pests.

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit www.dressup2cure.org

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Ugly Tie Contest

Allow the children and youth of your church (or could be done in a classroom) to each decorate a man’s neck tie. Use all sorts of tacky things to glue on the ties… buttons, lace, small toys, flowers, etc. Display the ties in a prominent location in your church (or school.) Put a jar, bucket, or box beneath each tie. One quarter equals one vote. The tie which receives the most votes at the end of a month is the winner. The pastor (or teacher/principal) gets to wear the winner.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Bakeless Bake Sale

So, you are thinking of a bake sale to raise money for your team but know that your friends might not have it in them to help you bake enough to really see some profit for your team......then simply send this letter instead: Dear_________, You are invited to NOT bake a cake, pie, cookies, or brownies. You do NOT have to find the recipe. You do NOT have to shop for the ingredients. You do NOT have to mix. You do NOT have to cook. You do NOT have to cut. You do NOT have to wrap. You do NOT have to wash dishes. You do NOT have to clean up your kitchen. You do NOT have to deliver the baked product. You do NOT have to stand in the heat/cold/rain to sell the baked product. You can write a check for $10.00 to Girl Power 2 Cure and stay home and enjoy doing something yourself or with your family! Sincerely, ___________ To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2011 visit www.dressup2cure.org

Friday, April 1, 2011

Online Auction

Last year for Team Brooklyn we did an online auction of three items that were donated to us to help us raise funds for Girl Power 2 Cure I did a blog post to tell my readers about our auction and also linked it to our facebook page.

An excerpt from the blog post: Team Brooklyn wants to wrap up our Dress Up 2 Cure fundraiser with a BANG! I have had three amazing individuals donate some items for us to raffle off online to raise money for Team Brooklyn. Below there are three items up for auction: NASCAR tickets, a Lisa Leonard Necklace, and Engraved tiles. They will all be up for auction throughout the next week ~ with the Auction ending on May 4th! Here is how it will work: To bid on an item simply leave a comment underneath the item you would like to bid on that includes your name, email address, and your bid amount!! The person having the highest bid at 3:00PM on Tuesday May 4th wins the item! I will notify the winner via email and payment can be made via the TEAM BROOKLYN page within 24 hours. BUT..... remember to check back because you might get outbid!! GOOD LUCK!

To view the entire blog post and photos of the items click HERE. If you have any questions about hosting an online auction send me an email: kelly@girlpower2cure.org

To get involved with Dress Up 2 Cure 2010 visit http://www.dressup2cure.org/