Fundraising Vision!

FUNdraising can be fun and it can be a wise investment of time if you have a goal in mind.  The best fundraising projects provide a service or an enticing product.  We all know selling popsicles in December will probably not provide the sales revenue you need to fund a trip or project.  And it is probably not worth a leader's time, frustration or stress to try and sell Sally Foster type items one month after your school PTO sold similar items.  So troops must maximize on creativity and girls are filled with unique ideas.

After several years of leading I have seen some really creative troops.  A Senior troop in my area tapped copper piping into the ground to hold flag poles.  They locate the flag pole pipe with a metal detector and hang flags 4 times a year for the major patriotic holidays.  Homeowners can participate in the program with a simple annual $25 donation.  This fundraiser can add up quick!  But you need to have girls who drive or live in a neighborhood where they can walk to place the flags.  And the girls or someone in the troop needs to be around to hang and remove the flags during the designated time frame.  This troop financed their trip to Switzerland to visit the GS Chalet in 4 short years.

My girls plan on providing a locker decorating service at their school.  We will pre-cut several different wrapping paper designs and have simple teacher supply tags that say Happy Birthday.  We will sell this service to parents and students for a flat fee.  They hope to have a binder with the paper choices and photos at the front desk.  We have even explored having an on-line sign up using sign up genius with a PayPal feature.  Then last-minute parents can request the service only 24 hours before the event.  This is a "needed" service which we hope parents will be happy to pay for out of convenience.  The girls will be responsible for arriving early and decorating and removing the paper after several days.  I have also toyed with the idea of girls signing up for a week of service, decorating all lockers during their week.

Recently I found a troop that is funding their trip to Savannah by selling "GS Mom" blingy t-shirts! Crafty and adorable these shirts should fly off the shelves.  What Mom or Leader doesn't love bling? Most importantly it is an innovative and much more stylish way to show your Girl Scout pride.  This would make a great Mom purchase or even a daughter looking for an unique gift for her Mom.  Our girls are probably working hard over the summer to earn some cash and this could be a unique Christmas gift.  Personally I love to support other troops and girls working hard to earn a trip or fund a project.  It is the best form of donating when you get something in return, so if you are interested check out GS Troop #15 Blingy T-Shirt.  AND HURRY, this is a limited time deal as they are requesting order forms by August 4, 2013.
Interested?  Contact Veronica: VSopher@hotmail.com and provide her the following info below and she will e-mail you a PayPal invoice.  It's that simple!