Fundraising- 4

    Virginia E. Aitken, Havelock, North Carolina, says her Werdel Family Reunion charges a non-refundable registration fee, so that in the event of cancellation, incidentals (postage, paper, envelopes, copying fees, name tags, door prizes and table decorations) are covered. Their rates are $5 for one person, $10 per couple, and $15 for a family, regardless of how many members. There are NO complaints about fees.
    As an incentive for early registration, Werdels were given the option to send in half of the total amount due and pay the balance at the reunion. Many chose to pay half early, which was instrumental in establishing cash flow.
    A small amount was added to the price of the cocktail party, dinner, bus trip and t-shirts to cover incidental costs such as gratuity and tax required by the hotel, set-up and bartender fees if beverage consumption did not reach a certain dollar amount, and a VCR they rented to show family videos.

We found the following fundraising ideas on “The Dollar Stretcher” website, www.stretcher.com:

One family holds a silent auction for several family artifacts, such as photos of great-grandparents or special events from years ago, hats which belonged to an uncle or special family books. Some people bring their crafts, and even the kids bring things they’ve made. All proceeds go to a family college scholarship fund for interest-free loans to family members. One year a husband, brother and father participated in a 100+ mile bike ride and collected pledges for the scholarship fund. The fund has been going for years and has helped over one hundred children go to college.

Another self-supporting reunion stages an auction to raise money to rent the building they use. The things people bring (the sillier, the better) and the auction (the sillier the auctioneer, the better) are a lot of fun.

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