Fund Raiser

[Flying Pig]

My squadron does one fund raiser per year, from July 1 to July 4th.

Where I am, we do fireworks.  We contacted  a local fireworks vendor and told them who we were and what we did, and our need for a fund raiser.  The company was excited because people tend to like spending money knowing the profits go to a good cause.  We use California Fireworks/Blackcat.

You usually need to provide your own location, or some cities and counties have a lottery for locations or the amount of booths that can be set up in the area.  Also, the fire dept will come out and inspect you, but its not a big deal.  Just dont have your chain smoking seniors in the booth selling fireworks.

  Now the one big catch is this.  The Seniors have to be the ones to step up on this, because minors arent allowed in the both selling fireworks.  for 3-4 days, the days are long and hot.  So you need to get people to commit early.  We used the cadets to hold signs, and had them there to answer questions because we also use it as a recruiting tool.

So as far as information, there really isnt a whole lot to it.  You just need to locate  a company in your area.  But you need to get in line quick.  We get back on the list in December, preping for July.   There are many organizations who do this, so dont wait until the last minute.  We make about $4000 ish per year in clear profit.  I was able this year, to actually provide encampment scholarships to 2 cadets and send a cadet to another Wing activity.

And last bit of advice.......just don't do it in Fresno!!

[FW]

This is an excellent idea for fundraiser.  Just make sure you have Wing/CCs approval and all state/local laws are observed before going into "business".  Also, if a contract needs to be signed, make sure it's the wing/cc who signs it. 

[Capt Rivera]

Thanks for this great info! I think it will do us a great deal of good.

[Major Carrales]

I'm planning to do a piece on Fundraising for my Weekly newsletter, this is great.  PM me any info on thing your unti had done that have worked.

Also, fundraising is key.  Our unit had been good at getting donations and the like, which we greatly appriciate, but has had trouble getting fund raising since the types of thing generally promoted and sucessful in our area (like Bingos and rafles) are not generally look at as good by CAP.  Car Washes and the like provide lots of work and little return as do food "plates" and the like.

[Auxpilot]

Is this a liability issue for CAP if someone blows a hand off?

My experience in business has been that the Attorney's name everyone within a 100 miles of an accident in hopes that someone will offer a settlement.

J

[TEAM SURGE]

I think I should bring this up to my squadron commander....good idea!