MYOTUBULAR MYOPATHY & CENTRONUCLEAR MYOPATHY

(creative ways to raise $500 or more, easily!)


Chocolate Lover's Fantasy Night

Becky Teenie and Penny Glavis of Levittown, Pennsylvania began this delicious idea in 2000. Sponsored by the Christ United Methodist Women, the evening features a chocolate contest with more than 35 adult bakers and a dozen children bakers.

For a $10 ticket, attendees get to taste every entrée.

“This type of fundraiser has tremendous potential to be done throughout the country. It is a fun event that is easy to coordinate – and people have a great time with all that chocolate!”



                       Spaghetti Dinner

With 4 or 5 friends, have a spaghetti dinner at a church or union hall or other big room with a large kitchen.

Charge $10 per person and feed more than 50 people. You can charge extra for wine or for garlic bread or for dessert.



                  Fancy Dinner

Have a fancy dinner at your home or have a regular dinner at someone's fancy home.  Serve unusual or gourmet food, or have special entertainment.

Charge $25 or more, per person, and have 20 or more guests.



             Progressive Dinner

Get 3 friends to help you.  Start at one person's home for cocktails and hors d' oeuvres, then progress to the next person's house for soup or salad.  Then, go to the next person's house for the main course, and go to the last person's house for dessert or coffee.

Either charge by course, or for the whole package.  

To make it extra special (and much more expensive- and you can charge more, too), get a limousine for the evening that carries guests from house to house. (Even better if you know someone who would donate the limo for the evening!) 


 
           Wine and Cheese Party

Host a wine and cheese party.  Do NOT charge admission and invite as many people as you can. 

During the party, give a short talk about the MTMRG, and ask everyone to consider a gift of $25, $50 or $100 (or more)- depending on the crowd.

Either pass out envelopes and ask people to give then, or after the party contact everyone who came, individually, and ask for a donation.  Indicate that you have given, and if appropriate, how much you have given.



         Chain Dinner for Charity 

Start a "Chain" Dinner for Charity- Invite 10 people to your home for dinner and charge $10 per person. 

Ask 2 of the 10 people who were guests in your home to host a dinner party of their own, where they will also invite 10 people at $10 each. 

Each host must then ask one of their guests to continue the chain, and also invite 10 guests at $10 each. 

See how quickly it adds up:

Original Dinner Party Income (10 x 10)= $100
(ASK 2 GUESTS TO HOST)

-Party Host #1 (10 x 10)= $100

-Party Host #2 (10 x 10)= $100

(PARTY HOSTS #1 + #2 EACH ASK 1 GUEST TO HOST)

-Party Host #3 (10 x 10)= $100

-Party Host #4 (10 x 10)= $100

TOTAL DONATION TO MTMRG= $500

 

 

                 Artistic creations

If you have an artistic bent, offer to design something, like greeting cards to specific organizations or individuals for a fee. 

Donate the proceeds to the MTMRG.

                 Good at Calligraphy?

Promote your skills to schools for graduation announcements, to friends for classy (but low-cost) wedding invitations, or sell fun 'Certificates' for special occasions such as, "World's Greatest Dad" for Father's Day.

Donate the proceeds to the MTMRG.

 

                Crafty?

Create unique Halloween costumes and masks, personalized Holiday decorations or individually designed items.  

Donate the proceeds from your artistry to the MTMRG.



                          Seminars

Teach a seminar on a topic you know like knitting, gardening, gourmet cooking, dog grooming, or crafts.

Or you could lead a nature walk, or give an architectural or historic tour, or offer a sailing or rafting trip.

Charge a competitive rate (usually $20-$50 per person), with a goal of 25 people.



    "10 Things to Make My Life Easier"

Organize a "Top 10 Things to Make My Life Easier" prize drawing.

Get 10 people (including yourself!) to donate services.

Things like a full day of housecleaning, childcare for two weekend nights, yard work, house painting (interior or exterior), cleaning out the garage, gift wrapping, or shopping for Holiday gifts. (Complete the list by asking yourself and a few friends for suggestions of what would make life easier for them!)

Sell tickets at $5 each to neighbors, work mates, friends, and family. 

Encourage multiple sales by offering tickets at $5 each or 6 for $25.   (Remember that $25 is a REAL bargain for a full day of house cleaning!) 

By keeping the price a little high, you don't have to sell so many- and the buyers have a higher chance of winning.

Consider hosting a Golf or Tennis Tournament, or holding a Walk-a-thon, Bike-a-thon, Bowl-a-thon, Swim-a-thon, Exercise-a-thon, or Dance-a-thon (or make up your own!) event at a local country club, public park, school, or even at a Mall.

People can participate individually or they can form teams, as they collect pledges for completing the entire activity or, specifically- for how far they walk, how many laps they swim, how many strikes or points they get, etc.

Keep in mind that these types of events can produce a big pay-off, but they do require a much longer planning lead time and a lot of manpower.

Helpful Tips:

Start out slowly, learn from your mistakes, and get as many people as possible involved to help.

In addition to planning the logistics, get a lot of people (include your extended family) to work together as a team to solicit great raffle prizes from local merchants.

Get golf shirts donated for participants and plaques engraved for sponsors.

HERE’S A PLAN TO HELP EACH PARTICIPANT RAISE $250 IN JUST ONE WEEK!

Day 1: Start by sponsoring yourself for $25; total= $25

Day 2: Ask 1 family member to sponsor you for $25; total= $50

Day 3: Ask 5 friends to contribute $20 each; total= $150

Day 4: Ask 5 co-workers to sponsor you for $10 each; total= $200

Day 5: Ask 5 neighbors to contribute $5 each; total= $225

Day 6: Ask your boss for a company contribution of $25; total= $250

Day 7: Check to see if your company offers matching gifts   
             $ BONUS $

 

 

 

 You Gotta Have Heart (Balloons!)

Ask local merchants to donate prizes. (Gift certificates, books, and videos/CD's are easy, take-home items.)

Group the prizes at price points of $5, $10, $25, or $50 and value them so guests feel like they're getting a bargain.

List prize descriptions on display board (for example: Gift Certificate for Lunch for 2 at Joe's Cafe').  

Inflate balloons and tie a ribbon on each one with a gift card stating the prize.  Guests purchase a balloon and get the designated prize. 



                    Chinese Auction

This fun hybrid between an auction and a raffle is an easy way to add excitement to your event- AND significantly boost your fundraising efforts.

Choose a "theme" and ask guests to bring an appropriate item to be donated and displayed on a table the night of the event.

Guests can purchase a 2-part numbered ticket (these are readily available at office supply stores) and 'bid' on a specific selection by dropping one part of their ticket in a seperate container placed next to each item.

Sell the tickets for $5 each, or 6 for $25 (or, as appropriate).

At the end of the evening, a "winning ticket" is drawn and posted for each item.  Winners collect their prize by presenting the matching ticket stub. 

                     Prize Drawing

Solicit local restaurants, movie theatres, wine stores, and gourmet shops to donate items for a prize drawing.

Price tickets based on how many prizes are available to win!

Everyone can participate in this- both event attendees, as well as, those can't attend the event. 

Resolve to Quit a Bad Habit for a Good Cause

Offer to do something your friends and family have been nagging you to do anyway, and attach a price to it.

For example, quit smoking on the condition that your friends donate a certain amount to the MTMRG for every day you don't smoke up to 30 days.   Agree to match their gift at the end of 30 days if you didn't smoke.  Give them back their money if you did. 

(This method can be applied to other healthy habits, such as exercising or not eating sugar.)

               Childhood Collections

Consider selling something you collected avidly as a child if it’s been stored in your basement for over 5 years.

Coins and stamps, in particular, have usually increased in value over the years. But your collection of rocks, toy ships, rockets, arrowheads or dolls can also be valuable.

Since you probably paid little or nothing as a child to acquire these items, you get the added bonus of a tax deduction when you donate the income from the sale of the collection.

                     Happy Birthday

Celebrate your birthday each year by holding a big bash and selling tickets to attend- with proceeds donated to the MTMRG.

You can also just invite people to your birthday party and ask that in lieu of gifts they make a contribution to support the MTMRG.

Remember: ALL s-u-c-c-e-s-s-f-u-l fundraising is based on the following premise:

-YOU MUST GIVE, YOURSELF

-YOU MUST ASK!

All successful fundraising is based on this premise:
You must give, yourself   &   You must Ask!!

"Always remember that you are planning a "Party with a Purpose"

START BY ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

• How much money to you want to raise from this activity?  How much "front" money will be needed before you make money?  Determining this in advance can help you decide on the type of fundraiser to have.
  

• How many people can be recruited to help with the work?  Special events can be manageable (and a lot more fun) when tasks are shared as a group project.  Don't hesitate to recruit family, friends, workmates, and people from your support group to help as part of a committee.

• What type of event will work in my community?  Consider some of the following points:  What type of event has worked before?  What has worked for other groups in your area, or has been successful for other MTM volunteers?  What are some of the specific skills and resources my group can contribute to the project? 

More Planning for SUCCESS:

 

Make a budget

 

• Start with a fundraising goal (expected income)
• Estimate costs for the event, including: venue, food, decorations, entertainment, awards, product premiums (for example: T-shirts), printing, postage, and publicity.
• NET Proceeds= Total Income, minus Expenses
  
  
  Select a location, date and time


• Be aware of timing.  Pick a date that doesn't conflict with your group's own activities (like the conference) or other community events such as graduation or major holidays- unless it works for you by capitalizing on it with something like a "Sweets Bake Sale" for Valentine's Day!


• Check with your local authorities:  most  municipalities require special permits for food handling, raffles, and alcohol sales.  Make sure you are in compliance with all local safety regulations and insurance requirements.
  
  
  Set the timetable 
  
  Develope a checklist for every task that needs to be done in each stage of the project. (For example: location confirmed, deposits due for food, T-shirts ordered.)  Establish specific deadlines for each stage and spell out who is responsible for getting it done.  This allows you to keep track of the progress being made in each area of responsibility and helps avoid last minute confusion. 

Keep Accurate records

Detailed financial records are essential, but maintianing well-documented files on the timetable of events, names and addresses of sponsors/donors/volunteers, and a recap of what worked (and what didn't) can be an invaluable tool in planning any future event.


Working with your committee

Remember: people who are involved in the "brainstorming" and planning stages are much more motivated to complete the actual work required to produce a successful event.

• Make this a "fun" experience.  Be sensitive to people's capabiliteis- and respectful of their time constraints.
  
• Be specific about what the job involves when assigning tasks, including setting clear deadlines for when each task needs to be completed.
  
• Train your workers.  Let 'veteran' workers explain procedures and help new recruits acquire the skills they need.
  
• Check 'outside' sources such as youth and senior groups, or church, school, and service organizations for volunteers who may be interested in lending their talent, time and expertise to your project.
  
• Never turn down a volunteer.  Be creative and imaginative about what you ask people to do, and convey the attitude that their participation is a valuable part of making the project successful.

Celebrate your success

Don't wait until after the project is over to let committee members know they are appreciated.  Be generous with well deserved praise and recognition all along the way.  ALWAYS follow-up with thank you notes to donors, sponsors, and volunteers.

 
Always follow-up with a 'thank you' letter:

Tell your donor how much you appreciate their generosity and how their help has made a difference to you, personally- and to the MTMRG community, in general.

Re-cap any specifics about the event (including the spirit/energy, number of participants, and acknowledgment of any special attendees like local celebrities or physicians). 

Tell the reader how much was raised by the event and by your own personal efforts- and include comparisons to the original goals for each.