After a campaign gets off to a roaring start with a high-energy level kickoff and initial enthusiasm, there sometimes comes a point where the contributions stall out or enthusiasm wanes temporarily.

Here are some ideas, garnered over the last several years, for improving campaign contributions and making a big push to achieve your agency’s goal:

1. E-Mails: Send out weekly E-mail notes to keyworkers, supervisors and/or everyone in the organization. This will keep people informed of progress and encourage them to participate. It also provides encouragement when some may feel "stuck." Include inspiring quotes, some of the tips included in this document, and congratulations or notices about special groups that have met or exceeded individual goals, surpassed last year’s levels or done something of special interest that ought to be shared. One thing in particular is to share an idea each week. I would personally suggest E-mails such as the attached powerpoint slides – perhaps one a week. (Attach 1)
2. "Close to Home": Publicize stories of organization personnel who have been personally assisted by the CFC. Put them in the base newspaper, E-mail bulletin boards or makes photos into posters with the story line included. If someone in your organization has gone through an experience where they were helped by a charity, have them speak at a public event, staff call, quarters, or hail and farewell – whatever type of get-together your organization has on a regular basis.
3. Keyworker Boosts: In some cases, a get together (pizza luncheon or whatever) for the keyworkers, sharing some of these ideas that they can use, is a good method for keeping enthusiasm high and encouraging them to work on toward their goal. One organization had their Commanding Officer present a balloon bouquet with a prize to a different keyworker each week (selected at random). He actually showed up in their office to deliver it personally!

ADDITIONAL FUND RAISING IDEAS:

1. Loose change drive (have members of your organization put their loose change in a conscpicuously-located receptacle and donate the proceeds to CFC
2. Wrecked car bashing event (charge a fee for hitting the car with a sledgehammer or other appropriate device)
3. Sell tee shirts with the organization’s logo
4. Calendar sale: Have someone take photos of your organization/people and produce calendars you can sell for 2002
5. Used book sales (books donated by employees)
6. Craft bazaar
7. Golf tournament
8. Carnival type contests for prizes (bean bag throw, throwing darts at balloons, etc.
9. Writing contest (best poem, essay, article for organization newsletter, etc.) for prizes. THIS IS A DOUBLE GOOD THING – You can also enter prize winners in the DoD Communications Contest!
10. Fun walk/Run (people sign up to pay so much for each mile walked or run by participants and the proceeds go to CFC)
11. Jell-O/pie/pizza/etc. eating contests for an entry fee
12. Car washes
13. A picnic (Funds can be raised through the ticket price and through combining the picnic with some of the events below
14. Silent auctions of donated items or personal services (e.g., lawn mowing, car washing, etc.)
15. Bake-off (good one to get the leadership involved)
16. Bake sales
17. Chili contests
18. Chili/hotdog/hamburger/pizza sales with food donated by employees
19. Pie throwing events (maybe as part of a picnic). One organization had employees vote for the staff person they most wanted to receive a pie in the face. Each vote cost 25 cents or more. The person for whom the most votes are cast wins the right to have a pie thrown at them. Obviously, the pie receivers have to volunteer.
20. Candy/other item sale
21. Jail and bail (gives you a chance to throw your leadership in the clinker)
22. Golf putting contests (put a makeshift putting green in your office and charge a few bucks a putt)
23. Dunk tank
24. Guess the baby picture contests (use baby pictures of your organization’s leadership)_
25. Guess how many marbles/jelly beans/pieces of candy/etc. in a jar
26. Raffles of donated items by employees (e.g., Redskins tickets, old golf clubs, etc.) Value of these items are tax deductible by donator.
27. Flea market with items donated by individuals in the organization (They can claim a tax deduction for the donated item)
28. Line dancing contests
29. Jeans Friday. Everyone pays a few dollars for the right to wear jeans to work on Fridays.
30. Have the CO/Director bake a cake or host a pizza party for the keyworkers.
31. Arrange transportation to carry keyworkers to a local charity of their choice – this also helps them realize the kinds of things that can be done with the contributions they collect.
32. Have a charity guest speaker at an organization event. Many local celebrities are involved in various charitable organizations and can be very generous when making a public appearance.
33. Bingo! This seems to be a best-seller in some agencies/components.

The number of events/activities possible is limited only by the imagination!

When doing fundraisers or campaign-boosting events, get your leadership involved directly with the campaign. Of course, we can’t have them make solicitations, but their visible support - in memos, E-mail notices, at agency gatherings and special events – will help everyone realize that this is an important effort!