Fundraising
This list will be updated periodically, be sure to check back! Click here for a printable version of the list.

Collections Jars – Use one of the huge pretzel tubs, coffee containers, etc. and glue the lid on, cut a slit on the top, so donors can easily make a donation. Then print out a sign and tape it to the container. Ask local establishments if you can place this on their counter to collect donations.  Signs are available on the Friends of Heroes website.

Paper Balloons – Contact your local chapter LLS and ask for balloon pads. Go to local establishments that you frequent and ask if they would be willing to sell them for you. Paper Balloon Cover Letter

Candy Bars – Purchase candy bars in bulk from Costco, Sam’s Club or any other warehouse store and print out a sign to set by the candy. Sell the candy bars at the office, at church or during a bigger event.

Dress Down Day at Work – Individuals will pay a predetermined amount of money in order to wear jeans to work!  Typical donation amounts would be $5 or $10 per employee.  Be sure to check with human resources or your employer for permission.

Direct Sales Parties – Talk to a consultant from your favorite direct sales company and plan a party in your house. Ask the consultant to donate a % of the sales to LTN. Start spreading the word about your party. You should get cards from your consultant to hand out. Ask anyone you know and let them know that a portion of their money is going to a good cause. Then make sure you have some refreshments and enjoy your party.  Most direct selling companies already have a fundraiser program established, a specified amount of the sales are donated to the organization, it is also a good idea to ask the consultant to donate a small portion of her commission to your fundraising, as well.

PartyLite – “Snuff Out Cancer”
Pampered Chef – “Cook to Find a Cure”
Creative Memories – “Crop to Stop Leukemia and Lymphoma”
Southern Living – “Living with a Purpose”
Home Interiors – “Decorate to Find a Cure”
Stampin’ Up – “Stamp Out Cancer”

Plastic Lawn Toy Travels Your Neighborhood – Legend has it that a boy who placed a plastic flamingo in his neighbors’ yards, with a note around its neck asking for donations, collected the flamingoes in the morning and donations totaling over $6,000! He gained more teammates too! Consider using a flamingo, garden troll, pinwheel, etc.

Yard Sale – Get everyone in your neighborhood and family together and find all of your old and unused items. Try to find a high traffic house. You can take out an ad in your local paper, put up flyers, and ask the community sections of your newspaper if they would put the sale in their sections since it is benefiting LLS.

A Pot Luck Party or Picnic – Instead of going out to a nice dinner with friends, invite them over for a pot luck dinner. Then have them donate the money they would have spent on a nice dinner .

Knit for a cure - Especially great for knitting groups... get a local yarn or craft store to donate the yarn and knit a bunch of scarves. You can sell them the night of the walk or at an Awareness Day, Craft fair etc...

Carl’s Jr. (Hardee’s) – There are many different establishments that offer fundraising opportunities. Krispy Kremes, Pizza Hut, and Applebee’s to name a few. Go in and get the info and set a day. Pick up the phone or email everyone you know. Put flyers up around town and get your local paper to put it in the community section for you. The PR committee can help you write up the info and they can e-mail, fax or hand deliver it to the paper. Be sure to utilize the tools on-line, like the FOH Fact Sheet, have them on hand for interested donors and potential walkers.  For PR assistance, you may contact Lois at marketing@friendsofheroes.org.

Festival Booth – Many communities are home to multiple festivals throughout the warmer months. Talk with festival coordinators and ask if they will allow you to set up a booth to raise awareness and money, while signing up walkers. You can get info from your local chapter along with brochures.  During this time, you can sell baked goods, candy bars, paper balloons, advertise upcoming fundraisers you have planned, have the collection jar out and sign up walkers.

Raffle or silent auction – You will need to get items together from local merchants to raffle or use for a silent auction. Either one of these can be done during your selected Awareness Day in September, a Bowl-a-thon, Crop ‘till You Drop, or yard sale/craft fair.

Awareness Day – The Awareness Day committee should have a lot of information coming on this. Things you can have on a table besides all of the info: Paper balloons for LLS

Candy bars
Collection can
Ribbons – I believe orange is Leukemia
Raffle something – see if a local merchant will donate something
Have a bake sale
Plushland Bears

Team captain kits will be available to all walkers during the late summer months, kits include FOH collage posters, FOH Fact Sheets, Affiliate FAQ Sheets, stickers, pins, banners, and a wide variety of other items.

You can also set up a bean bag toss for children to participate in with little trinkets for them to win. This should help draw people to your table. Another idea is to have a small kiddie pool with some ducks floating and let the children throw rings around them, or knocking down bowling pins with a beach ball would be another option.

If your location doesn’t allow you to sell anything, then you can just use the collection cans. When someone makes a donation, you can give them a candy bar as a thank you, or even a ribbon.

Craft Night for Children – Getting sponsors is key to the success of this event.  Find a craft store that will allow you to utilize their facility and ask for donated or deep discounts on craft items.  Set a price per child/per craft.  Getting refreshments donated is a good idea, too.

Children’s Olympics – This is part children’s fundraiser/part adult. The adults need to run it, but the children can collect the donations. You can come up with all kinds of fun things for the children to participate in.

Touch a Truck – This is available in my communities and has been proven to be a great success when planned properly.  You would need to get a big space donated for this, i.e. community park, large parking lot, etc.  Contact different companies to see if they will bring in trucks and equipment for children to sit in and look at. Fire Departments, Police Departments, Utility companies, Construction companies, Ambulance, or even deliveries trucks like UPS. Charge a set fee to get in and let the children enjoy themselves.

Cocktail Party – The setting could be at your home or at a local donated establishment.  Find a catering company that would be willing to donate food/services to help you out. Find a local liquor store that would donate some wine or discount it drastically. Charge a cover charge per individual.

Mother’s Day High Tea – This was brought to us by Tricia Team captain of The Dayton, OH FOA Team.

Tricia reported – “It will be a ticketed event for 2 sittings of 30 people a piece. We are charging $30 per ticket. For that, everyone will receive their choice of a pot of tea or iced tea, soup, and a tiered tray of goodies. We are doing chicken salad croissants, cucumber sandwiches, seafood salad in puff pastry for savories. For desserts we chose chocolate covered strawberries, mini cheesecakes, shortbread cookies, and brownies. The top tier will have tea bread and mini scones. We are trying to get all materials donated. Local grocery stores are donating a lot of the food an all labor will be donated. Since my husband and I own the coffeehouse where we are holding the tea, location and equipment will all be donated by us. Ticket sales should reach $1800 and after costs we are hoping to clear around $1500.”

Bowl-A-Thon – If you are unsure about how to put this fundraiser together, just follow this link to find a fact sheet to help you. The fact sheet will lead you to a generic flyer you can modify to suit your needs.

A Day of Putt-Putt –Contact a miniature golf establishment to see if they will donate a portion of their proceeds of a certain day to LLS through LTN. Ask if you can have the course on their off hours. Put flyers around town and get people involved and excited. Another idea is to hand out flyers that give participants an incentive for going. For every flyer that a participant hands in, the golf course will give you a certain amount of money. You would set up the amount before that day.

A Day of Cropping – If you are unsure about how to put this fundraiser together, just follow this link to find a fact sheet to help you. The fact sheet will lead you to a generic flyer you can modify to suit your needs.

Golf tournament – It’s practically impossible to get a course to offer the greens fees as a donation but perhaps you could try and get a discount. Then charge $25 more than what it will cost you. Avid golfers will pay anything for an excuse to play golf! Try to get a few places to donate water or refreshments.... otherwise Costco or Sam’s would be a good option for bulk. The key is to get local businesses to sponsor holes and or hole contests. You could have different levels of hole sponsors that will get them different things. There are many aspects to expand on and it’s definitely an undertaking BUT could potentially bring in several thousands of dollars, especially in places where golf is hot! Often time’s food is included in the tournament fees so you don't have to worry about that added cost. You could have a raffle after when you give out prizes etc.

When anyone makes a donation to your walk or makes a purchase to benefit your walk, it is a good idea to be armed with a small info sheet of paper to give to the donors to take home with them.  The paper should include basic information about your walk and the national team.

With many of these fundraisers, it will help if you have a letter from your local LLS chapter. This will let local establishments know who their money/donation of goods are going to benefit. Please work closely with your chapter and let them know what you will be doing. In many cases, they will be able to help you or offer their assistance in some way.

You will have more success if you offer possible vendors or establishments incentives for donating to the cause. Offer them a spot on your local banner and let them know that you will let participants know where something came from. For instance, “Subway has provided us with this delicious sub to help us get through the rest of our day. The next time you are in the Subway on North Street, please thank the manager/owner for their contribution to find a cure.”

Remember to smile, be energetic, be knowledgeable about what you are trying to accomplish, approachable for businesses to feel comfortable dealing with you and ask for more than you think they are willing to give. They might surprise you and you can always ask for something less if they say no to your first request. Go well armed with your information about the society, the walk, your function and how this can benefit their company. All of this homework will pay off in the end.