Chapter Toolkit
Sample Fundraising Activities
Related Resources:
Five Fantastic Fundraising Ideas for Your Chapter
It’s the middle of summer and you are used to sleeping in. You go to bed late. You find yourself flipping through the channels looking for something good to watch. Most of the time you have a lot of free time on your hands, so why not use it wisely? MAKE IT COUNT this summer and use your time to better your local chapter!
DECA members know that just because school is out for summer, that does not mean you should forget about your chapter. Once school starts, everyone, including your advisor, will be swamped with homework, tests, and various other activities. So use this time to get together with your DECA members, officers, and advisors to begin planning ahead of time so you can start the DECA year right! If you don’t know where to begin, don’t worry! Here are 5 effective and easy fundraising ideas to help you get started!
1. “DECA Night” at Local Restaurants
Many restaurants are willing to donate a part of their profits of a selected day to a desired organization if you book them in advanced! Simply go to the restaurant, ask to talk to a manager and book them for “DECA Night”. Make sure to spread the word to ensure that there are many people present!
2. Car Washes
This is an extremely easy and fun way to raise funds! All that’s needed is a sunny day, water, soap, and customers! Gather your chapter, select a high traffic street, and make plenty of signs. Next, wait for customers to show up to your car wash!
3. Yard Sales
Everyone knows that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure! Get rid of the things around your house that you are no longer using (but are in good condition) and have a yard sale! This can include antiques, books, and electronics. Your entire chapter will have a great number of quality things that different people will be interested in buying.
4. BBQ Plates
Make BBQ plates (or find a local restaurant to make them for you) and sell them for a profit. Many people enjoy BBQ plates and not having to cook or eat fast food every once in a while. It’s easy and brings in a lot of profit!
5. DECA Fashion Show
This is a unique way to fundraise and gets many people involved! Many different stores such as Sears, Kohl’s, and Cavender’s, are willing to lend their clothes out for a day so that you can use at your chapter’s fashion show. Have tryouts to find your models, although, many can be your very own DECA members! Lastly, sell tickets, have a great MC, and play fun, upbeat music!
Make sure to promote these fundraisers the right way! Use social media, flyers, and local newspapers to spread the word! Also, don’t forget to let Texas DECA know about your fundraisers. We want to know what our members are up to! Good luck fundraising!
BY VETERANS MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL
Related Resources:
Student Financing for Chapters
In the realm of public education of the United States, funding for organizations on campus is not of priority as core curriculum expenditures. Because of this situation, many DECA chapters are required to self-finance chapter expenses such as shirts and workshops.
Self-Financing the chapter can be undertaken through a variety a ways. For example, Wakeland High School in Frisco, TX sold t-shirts. The gray shirts had a simple “W” on the front and the football slogan on the back. Nothing elaborate, the shirts became the official shirt of the student section of Football games for the 2016 season. In addition, all chapter members were required to sell at least 5 shirts.
This forces students in the chapter to exercise their entrepreneurship abilities and brings the world of business to the microsystem of the high school campus and student him or herself. The student gets unparalleled insight into the world of selling and understands, through trial and error, how to market an object.
Because of this tactic the chapter gets to raise money for more materials and events, students also participating understand the dynamic of selling and the underlying theme of the current business world is thus directly vexed upon the students themselves.
Student financing brings in other elements of the business world into the chapter ecosystem. Elements such as creativity, collaboration, marketing, and a bare understanding of financing also come into play. Instead of learning about these elements from a textbook, students understand about these terms from actual field experience and as a result get a whole other dimension of understanding for whatever it may be.
Student financing also creates a sense accountability between the student and the chapter. Because the student is forced to spend time and thought into the well being of the chapter, a sense of personal pride is created for the chapter. Possessiveness for the chapter, while sounds intense, is a healthy emotion to have because it forces students to compete and act to the highest standard when representing the DECA chapter.
In comparison to schools with chapters that have full financial backing from the school or school district, self-financing looks like a complete burden. However, there are infinite opportunities for self-growth and exploration of the true world of business when self-financing is undertaken and that raw exposure can prove to be extremely beneficial when the student must, once again, create an opportunity for him or herself.
BY: ROHIT BOLLA
Related Resources:
Fun Fall Fundraising
Does your chapter need some extra funding to do more activities together while in Dallas for State CDC? If so, here are a few fall fundraising ideas to help you get a head start!
Set up a booth at a local fall festival! If your town hosts a fall festival, see if your chapter can rent some booths to make some easy money. At the booths, you can sell fall-themed treats, have fun games, or even hold a photo booth, and at each of the activities you can charge a dollar or two.
There is nothing more enticing than some sweet treats! Some bite-sized, fall themed treats that you could sell at your booth may include, candy apples, bags of popcorn wrapped in green tissue paper made to look like ears of corn, or even harvest hash chex mix. All of these options are yummy snacks that have shown to be successful sellers!
Thinking about going the game route for your booth? One idea is a fun family friendly game named “The Trick-or-Treat Wheel”. This game requires two bowls, one bowl labeled “Trick” (which will have easy challenges written on slips of paper), the other labeled “Treat” (which will be filled with candy). If the player lands on treat they receive a piece candy. But, If they land on trick, they will have to pick their challenge; if they complete the task correctly and entirely, they’ll get a piece of candy too!
Lastly, a photo booth is a super fun way to attract a crowd, and it is so simple to set up! To set up the booth, all you need to do is design a backdrop; hang fall garlands, add a leaf or two, and have some props that you can either buy, make, or get donated, and watch the participants do the rest! With a photo booth you’ll be the talk of the festival
If your town doesn’t have a fall festival, then you can always make and sell items, Homecoming is around the corner and your chapter could make mums and garters; your chapter could also make and sell fall themed deco mesh wreaths (these are fast, easy, and fun to make with your chapter) Lastly you can always host a pumpkin carving contest where participants purchase the pumpkin from you and at the event they compete with others to carve the best pumpkin- and the winner would get a prize! The opportunities are endless when it comes to fundraising. Now it's your turn to go out and put the fun in fundraising!
BY: ALEXIS WESTERN
Related Resources:
5 Easy Ways to Fundraise for your Chapter
Do you want to go somewhere fun while in Dallas for State CDC or do you want to do extra activities while in Orlando for ICDC? If so, you might need some extra money for your chapter and one way to do all of the extra activities is to fundraise. Here are five easy and effective ways to fundraise for your chapter.
1. Movie Night - Organize a viewing of a movie that everyone can enjoy either at your school in the gym, where your school’s theater department performs, or you can team up with a local cinema and get a discounted rate for your students. If your chapter hosts this event at the school your chapter can also run the concession stand to sell candy, drinks, and popcorn.
2. Teacher Challenge - Would you enjoy throwing a pie at your favorite teacher’s face? What about taping them to a wall? With this event ask some teachers, or even the principal, if they would be willing to help your chapter raise money and charge students one dollar for a pie or a strip of tape.
3. Dress Up Days - Do you enjoy wearing your PJs or hat? Well if so ask to host days where students can pay a dollar to wear PJs or their hats at school. Also, this event is very fun in December because your chapter can change it into an ugly Christmas sweater or hat contest.
4. Candy Grams - Want to send your friend some candy and a message? You can charge students a small fee to send out a personalized note and a piece of candy to one of their friends. Students can send as many candy grams as they want. Even teachers can join in on the fundraiser by sending grams to their students or fellow teachers. Also, this activity can be customized to fit holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day.
5. DECA Donuts - Who doesn’t like a good sugar packed donut to start their day off? Go to your local donut shop and tell them what you are doing and ask if there is any way that you could purchase in the donuts in bulk at a lower rate. Then have your chapter set up a table in the front of the school and sell donuts to students as they walk in, charging them about a dollar per donut.
BY: ALEXIS WESTERN
Related Resources: