My son (14 yo) is fundraising for his trip to Washington DC in May. He has raised some money, but still has to continue fundraising. He wanted to fundraise on his own and didn't want myself or his dad to help him.
I just thought I'd ask around and get ideas from other moms on what would be a good way to help him fundraise.
Thank you!
If fundraising for his own trip money, can he rake leaves, mow lawns, wash cars, walk dogs, etc for people in the neighborhood? Errands or odd jobs for elderly nearby?
How old is he?
If he's old enough I would suggest yard work, pet sitting/walking or babysitting.
Yard work, odd jobs for neighbors, odd jobs for you, lemonaid stand, car wash for a few ideas.
My son has made duct tape wallets and sold them for $5 each. You can look up how to make them on youtube.
He has also posted ads on craigslist and offered to pick up recycling, then taken it to the recycling center. Its gross. He had to pick through trash but he made $1500 in 4 months to go to Disneyland.
If he's interested in one of the commercial fundraising companies, selling stuff, I've seen two flower fundraisers that might work. If your neighbors and friends are big into flower gardening, it would be a way for them to buy their flowers and help him at the same time. One is called Flower Power and the other is Dutch Bulbs. You can look them up online for information.
I don't know how old but he could flamingo houses. He would need to invest in plastic pink flamingos (you can order online) and then send out fliers to houses in your area. Its fun! Someone is turning 40, they call and he puts 12 pink flamingos in the yard after dark. Keep them there for a day (HOA) and then have them send it to someone else or wait for another order. He could make some serious money. We did this as a fund raiser for marching band and one year made close to $10,000.
Oops, forgot to check responses first, so if this is a repeat I'm sorry. Anyhow, when the son of one of my neighbors was fundraising for his DC trip, he collected aluminum cans. He and his mother drafted a very nice letter telling who they were and what they were fundraising for they included their phone number and attached the letter to a large black hefty bag. They asked that when the bag was full to give them a call, they would pick up the bag and replace it with another. I'm not exactly sure how much he raised, but I know it was a substantial amount. One thing I remember about the note that was so cute was that they mentioned his dad wanted to go along to chaparone, but his dad was going to have to find a way to fundraise his own money. We save our cans and collect on them, but for a few months we really didn't mind giving ours to this young man.
Good luck.
He could try selling See's Candy. They have a nice fundraising brochure for the different Holidays and who doesn't like chocolates. I don't know if they have it in Washington DC or online. Tell him to check it out.
This isn't really fundraising, and it might not work for your son either time-wise or interest-wise, but kids can make SERIOUS money working as a soccer referee. They just have to be over 12 years old. Most local leagues offer training sometime between March (for competitive leagues) and July (for recreational leagues). Then, all he has to do is sign up for games to referee. Each one hour game can earn him between $12 and $25 (depending on position and age group). The really good money is refereeing for tournaments. My 3 teenagers each make about $200 a weekend at tournaments!
Good luck!
I would ask friends, neighbors etc if they have items they would like to donate to him that he will sell in a garage sale to raise money. Don't we all have tons of stuff that we'd be happy to give away to a good cause? YES! Leftovers go to the Goodwill. Good luck!
