The ASUC Fundraising Blog

Recipient

Address

Date

To whom it may concern [Although hopefully you’ll have the manager/owner’s name by now and can personalize or mail merge];

Thesis– A hearty thank you and who you are. Ex: Thank you so much for your support of Dance Marathon!

Highlight the successes of your event and how their donation helped. Ex: Thanks to your generous donation, our event raised $___ to fight pediatric AIDS. Dance Marathon participants enjoyed games, prizes, and music all night; dancers raved about your …

If your organization has 501(c)(3) status, indicate. Ex: Again, the Dance Marathon and the Glaser Foundation are both 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, so your generous donation is tax deductible. For your financial purposes, our tax ID number is …

Close with a followup plan, and your warmest thanks. Ex: I greatly enjoyed working with you to make Dance Marathon such an effective fundraiser and hope to continue our partnership in the future. You have all my thanks for your help and for your time!

[Consider including a photo from the event, with the donor’s product if possible]

Best,

[Your signature]

Your Name

Title

Recipient’s name

Address

Date

To whom it may concern;

Thesis– In a couple of sentences, summarize who you are, what you’re doing, and what you want. Ex: This April, the Associated Students of the University of California Berkeley is hosting a twelve-hour Dance Marathon to raise funds for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. In the past four years, we have raised $80,000 for the foundation; this year, we need your help to continue with our program!

Detail what the business can do for you , how you will use their donations, and how donating to you will help the business. Ex: To continue our tradition of support for pediatric AIDS, we are in need of monetary and in-kind donations. We plan to give away prizes as incentives for fundraisers and we will be supplying participants with food and drink throughout the night. Anything you can give, from gift certificates to food to surplus stock, would be greatly appreciated and would help Dance Marathon raise money to fight AIDS. We aim to host over 1,000 students at our event this year, and they all will hear about your generous donation and wonderful products.

If your organization has 501(c)(3) status, indicate. Ex: Because the Dance Marathon and the Glaser Foundation are both 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, all donations are tax deductible. For your financial purposes, our tax ID number is …

Close with resources for more information, a followup plan, and your warmest thanks. Ex: For more information regarding our event and organization, please visit our website at … I hope to hear from you soon so that we can discuss your support at a mutually convenient time. My sincerest thanks for your help and for your time!

Best,

[Your signature]

Your Name

Title

Donut sales are quite simple. Krispy Kreme sells you donuts at a discount price and then you can resell them at full retail price and pocket the profit.  Good places to sell the donuts could be Sproull, athletic games, club events, and more!

STEP ONE: First, call your local Krispy Kreme store and ask them their discount price (this determines how much profit you will make). Different stores have different discount prices.  Some Krispy Kremes close to Berkeley are:

a. Daly City

1575 Sullivan Ave.

Daly City, CA 94015

Phone: 650-985-5612

b. Union City

32450 Dyer Street

Union City, CA 94587

Phone: 510-471-6121

STEP TWO: When you discover the how much profit you will make off the donuts, make an approximation of how much you will need to sell in order to reach your goal. You can first take pre-sell orders from friends.  Then, you can pick up extra boxes and sell them to the UC Berkeley students. On the Krispy Kreme Website are all the forms that you will need to fill out.

a. http://www.krispykreme.com/fund.html

STEP THREE: You will need to call in ahead of time to set a day to pick up donuts. Odds are high that you will want a large batch of donuts, so they need to know in advance how long and when to start cooking because they make them fresh that day.

STEP FOUR: Don’t forget that to sell food on Sproul you need to also fill out the fundraising form and food permit form available at http://students.berkeley.edu/osl/studentorganizations.asp?id=3316#Forms. Good luck!

Who has time to shave during midterms? Turn your guys’ laziness into an epic manly fundraiser.

STEP ONE: Solicit contestants. Facebook is probably the best way to publicize for this kind of tongue-in-cheek fundraiser, but making announcements to fraternities or other predominantly male organizations is advisable. Advertise your cause, the prizes, and how awesome they’ll look in full mountain-man facial hair. You will also need to fill out the fundraising request form, available at http://students.berkeley.edu/files/osl/Student_Groups/Fundraising%20Request%20Form.pdf

STEP TWO: Get prizes. Other than looking incredibly manly, dudes will be more likely to participate if they can win cool shit for growing mustaches. Solicit local businesses for in-kind donations. Food is always rad, but if you can get a big grand prize (iPod? Video games? Beer?) you’re golden.

STEP THREE: Raise dollas. Charge an entrance fee; $3 to $5 is reasonable. This will be your main source of income for the fundraiser so recruit! Tabling on Sproul could be incredibly effective, especially if you have a giant mustache costume to dance around in. Or make all tablers wear (fake) ones.

STEP FOUR: Judge the winners! Dance Marathon had a rad way to judge: Post pix on facebook and whoever gets the most “likes” wins! This approach has the dual advantages of a democratic vote and gives contestants the opportunity to advertise for you.

STEP FIVE: Concluding…  Assess the effectiveness and overall quality of your fundraiser. Coordinators and volunteers should make “Plus/Delta” lists. Make sure to thank your donors, participants and judges!

So here’s a post that’s a little different than our usual ones. Instead of an event to put on to raise funds, your club can raise money right from your living room! Check out www.campusfundraiser.com to figure out how it’s done. The site has multiple fundraisers available and they are all great ways to earn money for your student group. The bigger student group you have, the better, because that is more people to help out. All the people at Campus Fundraiser are very helpful, so just call them at (888) 923-3238 to get started!

One program they offer is a textbook fundraiser. This is a great way to make funds for your club by doing things you already do – buy and sell textbooks. If you register your group for Campus Fundraiser, each textbook purchase and sale through the website gives commission to your student group. Campus Fundraiser is like a portal that directs you to other sites, such as Half.com. But as long as you go through campusfundraiser.com, a commission of your purchase/sale goes straight to your club.

Another program is the online survey fundraiser. You can earn money by taking surveys, how easy is that?? The website says an average survey earns you $2. So grab a bunch of people from your club, buy a pizza, and have a survey taking party as you watch the money roll in!

The other two programs offered are a magazine sale and Enjoy the City coupon books. These both involve more hustling and contact with other people beyond your club, but are other great ways to raise funds.

The only set back of this website if your group must first raise $200 before they write a check to you. So you can’t raise $150 and expect a check. But this is good because it’s incentive to keep raising funds. The website boasts success stories of student groups that raised thousands of dollars in a few hours – this could be you! Go get ‘em tigerrrr.