Fundraising Ideas

We are always inspired by the initiatives some of our Captivenia Campers undertake to raise funds to cover their registration fees and camp costs.  Girls as young as eight or nine have shared how they have collected bottles, set up lemonade stands, sold baking and more, to raise funds toward their camp fees!  How inspiring is that!!

Below are ideas and inspirations to help you get started with your own personal Captivenia Summer Camp Fundraising campaign!

Note:  Please ensure appropriate parental supervision is provided and any necessary safety protocols are observed at your event!

Car Wash

• Organize a carwash for 9 to 5 in a parking lot at: the local supermarket, bank, or restaurants. Put up signs and balloons, play music and even offer raffle tickets or prizes to customers. Ask them for a donation; each car usually gives $20.00.

• Ask for sponsors like you would in a walkathon, e.g. “Will you give me $2 per car I wash?” If you wash 20 cars, that’s $40 just from that sponsor. Get 20 sponsors and you have made $800, plus the money you earn from the people whose cars you actually washed!

Marathon, walkathon, dance-a-thon, etc.

• Ask everyone you know for a pledge of money for every mile you walk, run, bike, swim, or minute you dance, etc.

• Dance-a-thons (aka Rock-a-thons) are especially fun if you have food and good music. You have to keep dancing as long as you can! The whole family can participate!

Go door to door

• Get a bunch of your friends together to clean houses, mow lawns, paint, make repairs, etc. in exchange for a donation.

Have a grand car rally

• A car rally is a big event, like a huge treasure hunt all over the city. This is for entire families, and usually dads are good at planning them. It is a lot of fun and a great chance for people to work together, as well as a fantastic fundraiser.

• Plant difficult clues all over the city, and charge each family $75-$100 per car to participate. Each car is given a start time. They drive from clue to clue, trying to reach the end as quickly as possible, without letting the others get ahead (while obeying all traffic laws).

• Once everyone has reached the final destination, there are food and beverages, simple entertainment etc. The winners are announced by categories, e.g. First Place, Best Time, Best Effort, The Car That Got Lost, etc. Have door prizes.

Captivenia Calendar or Cookbook

• Sell the Captivenia calendars (see Calendar Fundraiser) to friends and family! They make excellent gifts. Everyone needs a calendar!

• Collect all your favourite recipes and compile them into a cookbook. Make it thematic—Captivenia style! Include photos from camp, as well as quotes from the saints and short stories from camp.

Record a CD

• Do a simple recording of you and your friends singing or narrating a funny radio show or story you wrote.

• Send the CD out with your letter requesting sponsors, or simply sell them to family and friends.

Put on a Captivenian Production

• Put together a play, featuring Captivenia, complete with theatre, lights, music, costumes, script, actors, effects, etc.

• Sell theatre tickets in advance.

Sell Friendship Bracelets or Jewelry

• This will be fun to do with your friends! Go to a Michael’s or Hobby Lobby and purchase beads and thread. Design your own bracelets, necklaces, etc. Some Christian bookstores even have Christian charms that you can add to your own charm bracelets.

• Take orders if you want and custom design them.

Babysitting

• Offer babysitting services when mothers gather for events.

• Make a Babysitting Raffle: Sell tickets for $7-$15 to raffle off yourself for a full day of babysitting. Whoever wins gets to pick her date and time to have you babysit!

• Encourage some women to have a Mom’s Night Out or Saturday outing, giving you a chance to babysit.

• Organize a Movie Night, K4J activity, magician show, etc. for the neighbourhood or parish kids. Have it at someone’s house and charge $10.00 a ticket.

Ask for Sponsors

• Write letters to businesses or various business people you may know. If you can, make a point of speaking to them in person. Most people would love to help an enthusiastic young Christian go to be strengthened in her faith.

• Ask extended family members for donations and donation referrals.

• Ask your mom or dad for the contact information of all their clients and for their permission to send out letters.

Raffle

You can raffle off anything, and the price you charge per raffle ticket depends on the value of what you raffle off. For example, in one city they gathered a “treasure chest”, with things inside like a trip to Hawaii, gift certificates to various stores, discounts, goodies, clothes, toys, etc. Ask a car dealership to donate a car. This is good business for them.

Face painting

• Purchase some face paints, wear your Captivenia t-shirts, and register to face paint at any local event.

• Charge $1 a face and try to work quickly. Be sure to tell all the kids an animated story from camp (without scaring them, of course)!

Put on a Concert

• Are you musically talented or know someone who is? Put on a concert!

Local Talent Show

• Put on a talent show in your area and have groups or individuals apply and audition. Include a variety of categories such as music, dance, comedy, acting, juggling, magic tricks, etc.

• Select participants, arrange a good location, sell tickets, and advertise.

• Choose charismatic MCs.

• Choose “famous” judges and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes.

• Have food, prizes, etc. and your gift items for sale.

Design Greeting Cards

• Design your own greeting cards on the computer, or by hand and scan them. If you are not an artist, ask little kids to draw pictures about a theme like Christmas, birthdays, get well soon, anniversary, etc. and scan them, putting a catchy phrase on the card. (Little kids’ pictures are cute in their imperfection. You can make them look professional.)

• Trademark the back of your cards, for example: Captivenia Catholic Camp for Girls

• Print them at home on glossy paper or card-stock, or online with an affordable company like VistaPrint.ca

• Pre-sell and have people place orders, which you will fill.

Bake Sale

• Give a presentation about Captivenia at the end of Mass or at your school.

• Ask your Parish Priest or School Principal if you can have a bake sale. This is effective especially at the doors after the weekend Masses. If possible, you should stand up and promote Captivenia at the end of each Mass. Get together with your friends and bake cakes, pies, cookies, and other delicious goods. Put price tags on each item.  Have a basket for donations, and big posters explaining why you are fundraising. You will need enough girls to enthusiastically sell to people as they are leaving.

Organize a Barbecue

• Challenge your friends, co-workers, parents, etc. to put on a barbecue, dinner, or gala for families. Sell tickets. Have music, games, door prizes, and free entertainment. Explain what Captivenia is all about and the need for support. Have a basket for donations. 

Sell coffee, tea, and hot chocolate each morning before school

• As parents drop off their kids, go to each car and offer hot coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc. to parents for $1 a cup (you set the price). Explain to them why you’re raising money.

• Offer other items such as orange juice, milk, donuts, muffins, etc.

• Do the same thing before school for all the kids in school.

Become a clown

• Mom’s often find it hectic to plan birthday parties and would most likely love to have you plan it for them! You can do this alone or with your friends.

• Ask each mom to choose the child’s theme and you run with it, asking her what her budget is. Buy cheap decorations, bake or buy a cake, and put together a whole show and games with prizes for that theme. Make sure you dress up and paint your face to take on the character of the day.

• Charge by the hour or however you agree.

Advertise

• Put an advertisement in your local newspaper with a contact number for people to call and donate.

Lessons or Tutoring

• If you are strong in a particular subject, offer to tutor at a set rate per hour.

• Depending on your areas of talents and expertise, you may be able to give lessons on riding, sports, art, acting, dance, hairstyling, makeup, piano, guitar, drum, voice, etc.

Sports Tournament

• Pick one or two sports and find a good location, e.g. local school, parish, university, etc.

• Charge each team an entry fee and hold it on a Saturday.

• Invite well-know athletes, coaches, or MVPs to give awards at the end of the day.

All-Star Game

• Another way of having a sports fundraiser is to invite your local Minor, or even Major League, sports team (baseball, football, hockey, basketball, tennis, golf, etc.) to do a benefit game. The pro or semi-pro team can play against the local dads, kids, priests, etc.

• Make sure to ask appropriate permissions and to do several press-releases to promote the event.