You all know how important it is to meet the financial needs of the Department. We are having to go to outside resources to do so. Which include community involvement, by means of fundrasing. But sadly some do not have the same creativity as others to do so. Getting a satisfied turnout is the other hard to face reality. So share what your Department does, and how its helped you. Is fundraising becoming a thing of the past?, or should we change up our ideas and think of new ways to monetarily get the support we need.
If you consider the source of the old cranky person, you would probably know why their cranky. I thought of having rent a husband day as a fundraiser but i might not come home. No seriuosly I like the change drive near the banks on pay day at a good intersection. As a very comical person i once tried to auction my wife at a fundraiser but it just cost me money, my kids bought her and lost the receipt so I guess im stuck with a low milage, high maintance, very emotional investment that i love dearly. GOOD LUCK WITH THE IDEAS!!!!!
Until about ten years ago, my 104 year old fire company went around knocking on every door in our fire district once a year begging. People came to the door (if they were home that evening) and gave us a few bucks they had on them, maybe. The best thing we ever did financially was to follow the example of several of our nieghbors and hired a professional fund raising organization to mail out donation requests for us. No percentage of the take. Just a specific few cents (less than a dollar) per mailing. Our income increased considerably and immediately. Details available on request.
Definitely agree with the pancake breakfast... We raised a few thousand dollars with ours. All we did was cook pancakes, eggs, sausage, and had coffee/juice. Then we set out fire boots for donations to be put in. We also gave people short rides on the fire engine, just around the block type of thing. Put out some displays regarding fire safety, talking about the fire dept, etc. I had a lot of fun meeting the people in my district and it brought in much needed money.
My company does a few simple fundraisers, in which we have much success. We send out fund drive forms in the mail to every house in the community, in which people specify an amount to donate, and send in a check for that amount. That gives us quite a bit of money. Also, we are currently in the middle of a raffle. We are raffling off a new grill, with everything included. Granted, you have to put the money out up front for whatever you raffle off, but the ticket sales do more than cover the cost of the prize. And raffle tickets aren't hard to sell. But you could also do a gun or cash bash. Carnivals are always fun. Just some ideas, although i'm sure you've already thought of them. But good luck.