When signing up for Relay, many people worry about how
they are going to fundraise. The American Cancer Society (ACS) asks each
participant to try to raise $100, which helps to fund Cancer research,
advocacy, education, and Programs. Reaching your personal and team fundraising
goals can seem intimidating at first, but the Fundraising Committee of Relay For Life at UVA tries to
make it as easy as possible. Our job is to help you set up Bake sales and
Restaurant/Bar nights, promote your own fundraisers, and get you to participate
in fundraisers we plan!
Although they seem very overdone, bake sales are a great way
to raise money for Relay. Each Friday night, Relay teams host a bake sale on
Beta Bridge. We encourage all teams to make their traditional bake goods, such
as cookies, brownies, etc., but Relay gives your team $50 to spend on Pizza and
Doughnuts. Selling slices of Pizza and doughnuts at $2 ends up making tons of
money towards your Relay goal. At the end of the bake sale, we take the initial
$50 back to help finance the next team's bake sale, but the rest the money
helps you and your reach your fundraising goals. Additionally, a table is
provided. All you have to do is make sure there are people there to work it! Friday
bake sales for the year have been claimed, but if you're interested in hosting
a bake sale on a different night or something similar, feel free to contact us!
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| Exec Chairs at our Boys Bid Night Bake Sale |
Throughout the year, the fundraising committee also sets up
restaurant/bar nights for teams to host. Our committee contacts the businesses,
sets up the time and date of the event, and the logistics of the event. Your
team is responsible for having people there to run the event and publicize it!
All the money made from the night goes directly into your team account!
Although we're still in the works of setting up restaurant/bar nights for the
year, we plan of having events at places such as Chipotle, Sweet Frog,
Biltmore, and many more!
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| Fundraising Committee at our Boylan Bar Night in the fall |
All teams are also encouraged to set up their own
fundraisers, whether it be on a personal level or a team level. Personal/team
fundraisers should be unique, and be easy to produce and gain a profit from.
For example, Keelin Sweeney launched a Buttons for Hope campaign this year. The
buttons cost less than a dollar to make, and are a great way for people to show
who they Relay for. Some of you may have seen last week's post, talking about
how Lana Hoang launched Hair Ties For A Cure last year. Lana saw how the hair
ties were a popular product and started producing them herself and selling them
at a lower price. Rachel Kappel sold "Keep Calm and Relay On"
T-shirts last year, based off of the popular "Keep calm and Carry" on
WW2 posters. These are just a few examples of personal fundraisers people started up.
If you need feedback or have an idea, feel free to contact either Liz, my Fundraising Committee co-chair, or myself.
Finally, throughout the year the Fundraising Committee puts
on multiple events. In many of these events, the winning team gets the money
put into their Relay account. In March, Relay will be hosting March Madness, in
which teams will compete against each other to see who can raise the most on a
week by week basis. The winning team will have money donated to their Relay
account! Another event is the Vermonster Challenge, which is an ice cream
eating contest to see which team can eat 20 scoops of ice cream plus toppings
the fastest. The top team gets part the money raised donated to their Relay
goals! These are just a few of the events we'll be hosting this year! Keep an
eye out on our facebook page for events and updates.
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| Vermonster Challenge Fall 2013 |
Trying to set and reach a fundraising goal can seem
extremely difficult at first, but with some creativity it can easy and fun. These are just a few
fundraising opportunities you have! Check out our fundraisers available for teams to take on and make them their own! If you have any other ideas other than
what's listed above, go for it. Just let us know and we can help you publicize
it to make it bigger and better! If you have any questions, feel free to contact
either Liz Watson, at eww5cu@virginia.edu, or myself, at ta4ac@virginia.edu, anytime!
Good luck with fundraising and let's Finish the Fight!
With RelayLove,
Fundraising Committee Co-Chair
