Hey everyone, my mother in law has cancer and can't work. Her chemo maker her really sick, etc.

Well, we're doing a fundraiser for her in North Carolina where my wifes family is at. Basically her whole family is getting together and making plates with a ton of 'southern' style food.

I just don't know if this will raise a lot of money. But, while in vegas we spent a lot of money on pictures for the office and got 2 things we don't want. A Michael Jackson signed "Thriller" album in a shadow box valued at 500$ and a Michael Vick signed VT helmet.

To gather a crowd, I came up with the idea of whoever donates at least $20 can be entered in the raffle to win these items.

Has anybody seen one of these fundraisers be successfull? Or, do you have any ideas to bring in more cash for my mother in law?

We've given her a lot of money during this hard time in her life but can only support her to a point, we're just looking for extra money to get her thru her chemo treatments until she can start to work again.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Raffles are good way to go, but you might also try eBay as another avenue.

I'm sure there are crowds of folks looking for Michael Jackson paraphernalia.

Half.com has been good to me.

Go to local colleges and ask professors to donate old textbooks (within 3-4 years at the most) or new complimentary copies from the publishers. We get bombarded with books all the time. Since we can't use most of them, many of us sell them on Half.com. I've made more money on Half.com than eBay because students are willing to pay $50, $60, or $70 for a book that sells for double the price. Even if colleges change editions, students buy the older texts.

Gather as many texts as you can. Keep in mind that the buying frenzy will start again in December/January, when the spring semesters start. I've made several hundred dollars in a short period of time this way. Write a letter to the colleges, tell them what you're doing, and then offer to pick up the books. It takes a lot of time to pack, wrap, and mail, but you'll be surprised how much you'll make. Get help from local clubs who wouldn't mind doing service projects. That way, you won't have to do all the work yourself. Don't forget public schoolbooks, either. I homeschooled for three years and bought nearly everything through Half.com, eBay, or Amazon.com at used prices.

If you'd like to know more, PM me.

Deb

Hey Ricky, sorry to hear about your mother in law there.

Just a thought - but I've seen lots of groups in the North East hold raffles where they'll sell say 1000 tickets at $20 to $50 each and offer a new Harley Davidson or Ford Mustang as the prize, and they'll pocket 1/2 the proceeds for their cause. Some places may have regulations for "games of chance" like this and I've heard that sometimes a permit is necessary, but if I had a limited amount of time to raise a good amount of cash I'd be seriously considering this method.

Steve

Ricky,

Have you thought about an online fundraiser?

Marketers do it all the time when their wives have babies

Contact a few to offer up their products and put together a "bonanza" like package. WF would be a great place to get the product donations.

If I needed to raise funds, I'd develop relationships fast with folks with big lists, create a how-to DVD or ebook, and write a killer salesletter to pitch it and make a lot of money ($5-10K+) in 2-3 weeks. Hmm oops that's what I do anyways.

that's just me... (I'm a copywriter and product dev guy)..

best wishes to your mom-in-law.

ken

p.s. I find it remarkably curious that nobody who's a copywriter here said that to MAKE MONEY they'd write a salesletter. Things that really make me go hmm... you folks Are copywriters right? who make a lot of money with your copy, right? ah ok - just checking.

Ken,
Great ideas, but you know many of us here are so exhausted at the end of the day from writing, taking care of the kids, doing the laundry, etc... that we sometimes over look these things.

Much like when your exhausted from counting your money and listening to your 52" plasma, high fidelity, Super Nova, built-in wine cooler home entertainment center

Great point though Ken.

Hope you aren't offended by my wacked-out sense of humor this morning - coffe's still brewing!

How about a blog? And don't stop at your mother in law, get people to donate to cancer research while you are at it.

One thing you may also want to do is to create a human interest article about your mother (or contact a local reporter), and let the local paper know about the fund raiser and the reason. Many local papers are very good about providing coverage for things like this, and this becomes outstanding publicity for the event, as well as folks who might want to donate without coming.

Just a thought, and my best wishes to you,
Sheri

Ricky,

Sorry to hear of this...

Please clarify: How much money are we talking about?

Start by quantifying it -- then let's brainstorm a solution.

Otherwise we may pick "the wrong approach."