In this blog, I am not talking about a new method of fundraising or something Star Trekkie, but an inspiration from a few of our youth as they start on the path towards fundraising for charitable causes.
My son Stephen is a rising Junior at Cary High School and is avidly part of the Marching Band. He has mentioned many times that with the incoming class of Freshman, there will be 10 Tuba players. The issue is that Cary High currently has 6 functional Sousaphone Tubas (the type they use in Marching Band), so they need to get 4 more. At $5,000-10,000 each, this is a major budget impact to the Marching Band funds.
Stephen decided that the student Tuba players should get together and fund raise to help offset these costs to the Cary Band Boosters, and started to organize the Tuba players (The Power Line) and others to hold a series of car washes over this summer. Hearing of his plans and myself being involved with fundraising for several non-profits, I began the process of trying to guide Stephen to hone his message and pitch to potential donors. Since Stephen was receptive, we got a good deal of the message work done, so he had developed a compelling 'ask'.
I also broached the idea of Stephen pitching to the Heart of Cary Association (HoCA), which involves many of the downtown merchants and residents. Since Cary High has roots going back well over 75 years and was the only High School in Cary until the Cary's recent explosive growth, the HoCA would be most sensitive to the needs of Cary High School (called "The" Cary High School!). I was able to get Stephen onto the agenda at their regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, June 7, and Stephen did a great job pitching the idea. We found out later that a member of the HoCA donated $1,000 anonymously for the Tuba Fund (Way to go Stephen)! Stephen was also approached by the head of the Downtown Cary Farmers Market (DCFM) that they would give space for the Tuba pitch if Stephen wanted. As a follow-up Stephen did contact everyone that showed interest at the HoCA meeting via e-mail later in the day.
A few frantic calls later to Mr. Minick, the Band Director, and to a few friends, Stephen was able to put together a group to attend the DCFM - in uniform and with a Sousaphone - for the Saturday market! They were to pitch the idea and the car wash they had planned for the this afternoon from 1-4:30pm.
Thursday evening, Stephen and I and others went to dinner with a very good friend of mine, Ms. Mercedes Auger, who has taught me almost everything I know about non-profits and fundraising (and a few other things as well). Stephen put up with another onslaught of questions from Mercedes about his pitch and developed levels of sponsorship - $100, $250 and $500+. Stephen was able to come up with a sponsorship of $100 from Mercedes which I matched and Stephen felt that he could get the current Tuba section to add another $100 sponsorship (~$10 per Tuba which seems reasonable for kids to show donors that they have skin in the game...). So another $300 raised at the dinner.
Today, Stephen and 3 others that came out in the morning did a great job at the DCFM pitching the ask, handing out information and asking people to attend the car wash and/or to donate. I spent the morning running all over town getting odds and ends to make the morning event and car wash successful. After asking many questions and getting a testy "I'll take care of that" over the past few days, I realized that this student group had the idea and the passion but were not yet ready to handle the details (something that will come with practice...). I did not want to dampen their enthusiasm, so I spent a lot of in-kind purchasing to make sure that the poster board and markers, hoses and fittings, brushes and sponges, water and ice, table and pop-up tent, step ladders, drying rags, etc. would be available.
The car wash was a success with several people who had been at the DCFM stopping by to get their cars washed. Yes, there were also a lot of cars from the student's families that came through, but a good mixture for only ~7 students and 2 adult 'chaperons'. The result from the day was $75 in donations at the DCFM and $255 at the car wash so $330 total for the day! Not bad for something put together on very short notice by students.
So to recap: In a few days, Stephen and his group have raised $1,630 and we have since heard that there is an anonymous band booster who will match what the students raise, up to 1/2 the price of a Tuba!
There is a buzz about what the students want to do for the car wash next week, so I will be interested to see how they learn and adapt!
It is great to see the next generation taking on the roles of leadership and fundraisers.
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