I know this isn’t the time of the year to be selling flip flops, but I thought this may be a really fun idea for the future. Plus, I wanted an excuse to insert this video…

“I got my swim trunks, and my flippy floppies…”

Alright alright. Enough of the nonsense. In the summer time, people love to wear flip flops. They will invest a ton of money in cute shoes to expose their toes, so you might as well use this to your advantage. You could have a really cool fundraiser selling funky flip flops you can make as a group. The process does not take long, and it doesn’t cost a lot of money either. If you do it right, I guarantee you will make a profit in the summer. Here is a quick guide to flip flop fundraising that you can follow when swimming season hits.

Materials Needed

• Pairs of flip flops (however many you need)
• Matching fabric (ribbon works too)
• Scissors (or a fabric knife)
• A ruler
• Time (not a lot of it)

Assembling the Flip Flops

Once you have all your materials in place, you can start tying strips of fabric around the thong of the flip flops, creating a cool little fringe that most people will go nuts for. Cut out strips of fabric that are one inch thick and three inches long. You can make them longer or shorter based on the thickness of the thong and the overall look you are going for. Take one strip and tie it in a knot around the thong with the knot on the top. If you do this over the entire shoe, you should end up with something that looks like the image on this post. You don’t have to do any sewing or anything else along those lines. You just have to tie and go. The process really couldn’t be any easier.

Selecting the Design

You have to come up with the overall look that you want for your flip flops. Do you want to express school spirit or do you just want something people will want to wear? You can think about a color scheme you want to go with or maybe even a certain print that you want on the shoe. Then you can pick out the materials to use accordingly. I found that the best looking flip flops tend to be the solid colored ones with two different fabrics on them, one solid and one graphic. You can choose to use whatever you want though. Just make sure the shows and the fabric look good together because people won’t buy them if they don’t.

Buying the Materials

You don’t have to spend a ton of money on materials for this project. You can get flip flops in most dollar stores, and those should be enough for at least the base of your project. We used to get the clearance ones from Walmart and Target at the end of summer every year because we would repurpose them when the time came around next summer. We had to hold the shoes for a while, but we got them for like $1 a pair sometimes. Think outside the box and try to find a bulk lot of flip flops at a low price. Then you will have a better chance of making money off your show project.

You can also get clearance and scrap fabrics to use for the shoes. Check the leftover bin at local craft stores because you never know what you may find. You could even go too consignment shops and garage sales to find cheap clothes that could be used for the project. Scope out your options early on and you will be able to raise a lot of money with your flip flip fundraiser.

It’s winter time right now, which means that it is a great time for a winter themed fundraiser. You could do something generic like selling hot cocoa or beanies, but why not think a little outside the box? One great option that a lot of organizations don’t think about is selling fleece blankets. These are really easy to make if you use the right method, and they can give you a chance to make a lot of money without spending a lot along the way. All you need is some fleece, some scissors, and a few people to work on the blankets. Think you can handle that? If so, here is a quick guide to fundraising with fleece blankets.

Making Fleece Blankets

You don’t have to sew around the edges of a piece of fabric to turn it into a fleece blanket. You can use the tying method, which involves putting two pieces of fleece back to back and tying the ends together. To do this, you need to cut strips of all the edges that are about an inch thick and maybe three inches long. They still need to be attached to the blanket, so don’t cut them off all the way. Just make slits an inch apart from one another so you end up with something that looks like tassels. Do this on both pieces of fleece you want to use for the blankets.

When you have everything cut out, you can put the two pieces of fleece together and start tying corresponding “tassels” in a knot. Do this all the way around, and you will have a cool looking edge that replaces the need for sewing. You can make the blankets as big as you want to, and you can use any fabric that you want as well. You could have one side with the Ashworth University logo on the front of it and the other side with a solid complementary color. That is all up to you.

Selling Fleece Blankets

Once you have a decent amount of blankets to sell, you need to market the hell out of them. Try selling them on campus or at sporting events where people will be most likely to want them. If you have any outdoor sporting events going on right now, you could put them out there for a really quick sell. People will do whatever it takes to stay warm at that point, so you should have no trouble selling a decent supply of blankets there, especially if people know the money is going to a good cause.

The price that you sell the blankets at is entirely up to you. Think about the money you spent on materials, and then do what you can to double that or more. Most people will probably pay around $20 for a blanket if they know it is for a fundraiser. They may not pay quite that much if they think someone is just out and about selling blankets. Make sure to advertise your organization so that people know where the money is going to go. They may even throw in an extra donation if they care enough.

Making fleece blankets can be a lot of fun, and it will allow you to make some decent money with little effort on your part. You just have to think about creative options like this, and you can usually squeeze out money just for being unique. Warm up the club bank account with fleece blankets this winter. You won’t regret it.

Are you having trouble coming up with a way to raise money for your organization? If so, you might want to think about running a fundraiser selling gag gifts. Gag gifts are items that most people would never actually use, but they are funny to give out because of their subject matter. My husband and I got my mother in law a giant remote once that was probably the size of a small textbook, and she absolutely loved it. To our surprise, she even used the darn thing! People love gag gifts, and they will pay good money just to make other people laugh. You can use that to your advantage as you start gathering funds for your organization. Here is a quick guide explaining how you could go about selling gag gifts for money.

Find the Right Gag Gifts to Sell

There are tons of stupid products out there to choose from, and they can all lead to money if you have buyers lined up for them. Having a successful fundraiser is all about having the right products to sell. Here are some of my favorites:

• Pocket Chair
• Tiddy Bear
• Potty Putter
• Pootrap
• TV Hat
• UroClub
• Hawaii Chair
• Neckline Slimmer
• Meatball Magic
• Flowbee

There are tons of other products to choose from out there, and any one of them could lead to some decent money for you. You just have to look through some as seen on TV merchandise and see what you think would sell well. You might be surprised by how many of these dumb products there are in the world.

Buy or Price the Products

You can either choose to buy the products you want to sell and try to get rid of the stock, or you can just price the products higher than what you could buy them for and get them after you receive an order. Either option could lead to money in the long run, but the second one has less of a risk. The only benefit of the first one is that you could give people their gag gifts right then and there. They would not have to wait for you to get the products in. Worse comes to worse, you could get “double the offer” for free and sell each of them for regular price. Then you are essentially doubling your money through the fundraiser.

Market the Products

Once you have everything lined up to sell the products, you need to spread the word about your funky new fundraiser. Try to get other people to look at the products you have to offer, no matter how ridiculous they may be. You could even model the products on campus, just so people know what they could be getting. If you have a stand of TV hats and a girl actually wearing one out in public, you are bound to draw attention. Attention leads to donations every time – guaranteed.

Repeat the Process

If you have a lot of success with your first gag gift fundraiser, you should think about doing another one in the near future. Your group could be known for their funky and outrageous sale items. As long as you plan everything out right, you should be able to make a lot of money selling gag gifts for your organization.

The internet can be a lot more helpful than most fundraising organizations realize. Whether you need a tool to monitor your fundraising or you need a charity to donate money to, you should be able to find what you need online. You can use your computer as a virtual accountant, keeping track of all of the transactions for your fundraising projects. Here are some great resources that I have used for fundraising projects in the past. I thought they may come in handy for you as well.

Websites for Posting Fundraisers

I personally love the idea of running a fundraiser online because of the sheer amount of people you can reach out to that way. If you want to spread the word in an easy and effective way, there are plenty of sites out there that you can actually use to post your fundraiser online. Listed below are some popular sites that you can use to post your fundraising project online.

• Just Giving
• Chip In
• Crowd Rise
• Donors Choose
• First Giving
• Given Gain
• Just Give
• Network for Good
• Razoo
• The Point

Websites for Managing Fundraiser Money

Another aspect of running a fundraiser is managing the money associated with it. This can be hard to do if you do not have a good program to reference. You have to keep on track with your money though, or you may run out of funds before you actually raise some. This list contains some common money monitoring programs that you can use to track the progress of your fundraisers.

• Black Baud
• Blue State Digital
• Charity Advantage
• PayPal
• Click and Pledge
• Convio
• Donor Perfect
• eTapestry
• Service U
• Democracy in Action

Websites to Donate Fundraising Money to

If you are having trouble finding a charity to donate money to, one of the options below may help you out. This should give you a chance to plan out your fundraiser to benefit a cause you like. You may even decide to donate money to more than one charity. Here are some places to keep in mind:

• Child’s Play
• Mercy Corps
• Toys for Tots
• American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
• Best Friends
• Communities in Schools
• Doctors without Borders
• Donors Choose
• Edu Relief
• Food for the Poor
• Habitat for Humanity
• The Humane Society
• Kiva
• ONE
• Oxfam
• Red Cross
• The RSBP
• The Sea Shepherd
• United Blood Services
• World Wildlife Fund

Check out the fundraising websites above, and you could soon be on your way to a fantastic fundraiser in the future.