We are doing a fundraiser

Hi everybody. Well, the season is over here in Moncton for my plants and vegetables. After it was all over, I got depressed. The season is just too short it seems.

After I took a deep breath and got my second wind, I kept thinking and thinking about, "what can I do now?"

A week passed or maybe two weeks. :) Then it came to me, "why not do a fundraiser" and sell plants?

So, that's what my current project is. You can see it at: http://www.carringtongardens.com

DarrellR

hey darrell i wish i lived closer or you did - a great idea

Thank you.

Since spring, I've offered to help groups in my area to do a fundraiser. No one asked me about doing one. Of course, it isn't something you tell every customer that comes into the store and I forgot most of the time to hand out a business card that has the web address on it. lol

The web page that tells about how groups can do a fundraiser is at:
http://www.carringtongardens.com/Fundraisers.html

To make a long story short; it's for a great cause and I hope and pray it all goes well.

Although I contacted 5 High Schools last week, Tuesday, I have not heard back from them.

I did contact "Breakfast Television" and a local Television station, "ATV", and asked them if they could give me free advertising for this fundraiser and they both said yes, as well as 4 radio stations.

I needed order forms and was able to get the printing done free and 2,000 colored brochures done for free.

I still need flyers and will see what I can do about that this week.

I'll be doing "Corporate Fundraising" for additional costs, like fuel oil to heat the greenhouse during the fundraiser, printing costs that weren't donated, and in return for their financial assistance, their names/business names, will be mentioned on the Television stations and Radio stations as, "This Fundraiser has been brought to you, in part, by....(companies name).

There is still a lot to do before November 17th, when the fundraiser starts and I need to have it all ready to go at least a week before the actual date of the fundraiser so I can rest easier.

Darrell

Volunteers are coming in from all over the place who are willing to print a few flyers. California, New Hampshire, Maryland, WV, and a couple other places.

I posted a "Help" notice on one of the groups I belong to and asked if there were any volunteers out there who might be willing to print 10 to 25 flyers. Since it "IS" a fundraiser, I'm trying to keep the cost of the fundraiser down.

I'm still short a few thousand though. LOL

I did manage to get the brochures printed and the order forms printed by a few local print shops. Shew! I wasn't sure I'd be able to do that or not.

check out the new fundraiser web site:
http://www.carringtongardens.com

It may ask you to let them install Active X. You don't have to do that though to see the site. It's for the music part of the site.

Please let me know what you think of it.

Darrell

Hi Darrell --sorry I haven't talked to you for a while. I took 10 days holidays/help my sister in Cornwall and now am back frantically trying to get all my plants potted up before the snow starts to fly here. You must have been really busy there for a while - I kept watching for your posts.
What a great idea!!!!- Your fundraiser sites look great. Do you do your own computer stuff or do you have someone do it for you.? As I told you before, I am almost computer illiterate. anyhow, it looks great and I'm sure it will be very successful.ttyl Sandra

Best of luck.

This sounds great Darrell. How is the flyer distribution going?

Thank you for your supporting words. They are apprecieated.

Yes, I do my own web site. I'm learning as I go along. I recently learned how to add music to the site and I'm happy with the results, especially tied in with the Fund Raiser.

If you've never held a Fund Raiser, let me tell you, it's intense and a learning experience, to say the least.

People like things all wrapped up, nice and pretty, before they will look at your Fund Raiser and offer to help, if they help at all.

I've had to read books on Fund Raising, listen to CD's all about Fund Raising, and doing a "Crash Course" on Fund Raising by listening to even more Tapes and CD's from "Fund Raising Guru's", in order to put this all together.

Advertising can be tricky. Getting "Public Service Announcements" (PSA), isn't quite as hard.

Flyers are needed when you do a Fund Raiser and all the flyers in the world aren't going to do a bit of good if there is no one passing them out. I have thousands of flyers sitting in boxes with no one to pass them out.

So, yesterday, I went through the yellow pages of the phone directory and looked for "Temp Help". I plan on calling them today and ask them if they can supply people to pass out the flyers. It's an expense charged back to the Fund Raiser and it's something I DO NOT want to do but haven't much choice.

I have been sending emails, faxes, and made phone calls to the 5 High Schools here. None of them are returning any of my calls, faxes, or emails. (3 weeks of sending and calling with no reply)

Yesterday I called and wrote a letter to the District School Administrator asking him to investigate and to get back with me as to "why" there are no responses and if the schools have decided not to help with getting volunteers to pass out flyers, I want to know why from each school, not him. It's easy to "pass the buck", so I want the schools to tell me "why" and not go through a third party.

I've offered "$100.00 CASH" to the student who can get the most in Donations. But if the schools don't tell the kids there is a fund raiser they can do and get money for doing it, then here again, the flyers sit in the boxes.

What's over my head is that it's a "Local" charity and all the help I've received has been from outside of the area. No one locally seems to be interested.

I know, deep in my heart, that this is probably one of the most important things I've ever done in my life. I'm almost 60 years old and I've never experienced a feeling like this. Being able to give, unselfishly of ones self, is an awesome feeling and a feeling that keeps me fighting to get this fund raiser where it belongs.

Being a business man, I have had many challenges. I would like to think I've met those challenges head on and although they were hurdled, new challenges arose. I never turn my back on a challenge. There is always a way to make it work.

I have a saying that helps me get along....

"When I set my sights on the Stars and hit the moon, I reset my sights."

In other words, I don't settle for less than what I'm after. I keep working on it until I get where I need to be.

These flyers will get out in the community and this fund raiser will be a huge fund raiser and a successful fund raiser. It will end and be noted by many within the community. It can't help but be that great.

Darrell

Fund Raising Page: http://www.carringtongardens.com

Hi Darrell - You said the high schools--What about the grade schools, churches , young peoples' groups etc.??? hope this helps. sandra

I've contacted local churches. About 2 weeks ago and again last week. (8 churches - no reply)
I have put an advertisement in the news paper asking for Volunteers.

The news paper did a beautiful ad for the fundraiser. If I can figure out how to post it here, i will.

Darrel,

Speaking as someone who was Ex Director of a local food program for over a decade, I say thank you. Charities - especially local ones rely heavily on people in the community who are willing to get out and work for them in what ever manner they are qualified. It's everyone working together that makes things work.

Ann

Thank you Ann.

I think I can put this picture in now. It took me a while to figure out how to change it into a jpg.

They did a great job with this.

Hi Darrell = have not paid much attention to this thread until today - your poster is lovely. Good for you for doing this.

What I am wondering is whether you might get more participation - and more donations - if your recipients were more local charities rather than big nationals?

That is very ironic that you would say that, i.e. more local rather than national.

I just got off the telephone with someone who, more or less, said the same thing. He saw the ad in the paper for "Help Wanted" - "Volunteers" and called me.

It's too late to change it now, but next year it will be all together different. And I agree with you 100%. It would be a much better Fund Raiser, helping people, right here in our own back yard.

Darrell

Darrell.. As someone who does alot of fundraising too just wanted to say Thank you for having the heart and soul to lend your time and effort to help others. It can be alot of hard work, and some events will do better than others, but don't give up, keep that warm fuzzy feeling in your heart going.

I saw your other thread a ways back and lost it and just found this one. Please consider the idea Sandra brought up of goign to the local elementary and middle schools. The younger children have very competative and caring hearts with parents who wil get out their and take them around and help promote the benefit. Teenagers, well what can I say, they may start out with good intentions, but their social life and activities always takes preference. A younger child wil bringhome the flyers, teens generally x file everything unles s it a cd of their popular music. LOL

I don't know if you have them up there, but little local grocery stores here will put flyers out on the ends of the counters, and some will even place in the bags for folks to pick up if you talk to the managers for permission.

If you have some helping hands, department stores are also great about lettign you set up outside in front of their doors . You could set up a table with flyers or even actual plants and sell them right there on the spot.

I wish you the best of luck with your benefit. : )

The fund raiser is over. It didn't work out. Maybe next year.

Darrell

Darrell,

I'm so sorry the fundraiser didn't work.

Judy

I'm sorry you were disappointed, Darrell. Don't be discouraged. At least you tried. You have a big heart.

I'm sorry it didn't work too.

I bought some containers at the dollar store for a buck each and put them out in the gas stations for 4 weeks. I bought 11 containers. They were the only things that brought any money in. $72.11

The fella that went around to check the containers each week and pick the money up wouldn't take any gas money.

I guess things are ruff all over. I usually donate to the Fire Station but didn't this year. Then I got a call to donate to some hockey thing and laughed inside, and said no to them too.

I figure I donated enough this year through all the expenses I encured.

There's still next year to consider and I'll be a little more careful how I do it.

Darrell

Darrell... The important thign is that you tried. Hugs and Thanks for all your effort and thoughtfulness. Most folks won't even take the first step to give it a try. You may not have gotten the results you wanted this time, but there wil be another time and it can only get better each time ya do it and fine tune it.

So ya ready to start planning for an Easter one? ; )

The thought has crossed my mind. :)

How about Valentine's Day???