GET CREATIVE AND HAVE FUN.

FUNDRAISING IDEAS

So now you are wondering, “How can I raise as much money as possible to help kids with cancer?” There are many ways to fundraise. Ranging from the obvious, of asking people to pledge money for your participation to the creative and outrageous. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.  To get the ideas flowing going, here are some suggestions for raising money for your Million Mile team.

	LEMONADE STAND This is how ALSF started - with a simple lemonade stand - and is still a great way to boost fundraising. All you need is a location and some lemonade. Dress up the stand as much as you want - we have great decorative items in Alex's Shop available for purchase. The average stand held to support ALSF raises about $400, some raise much more.
	JAIL AND BAIL Several Million Mile teams got together to hold a Jail and Bail fundraiser. The people that decided to “get arrested” went before a “judge” to have their charges read (making these charges up was especially fun). The judge then set bail. Each prisoner needed to get donations to meet bail and get out of jail. Easy to organize and more than $10,000 raised in a couple of hours.
	SABOTAGE JAR If your team is in a work or school setting, Sabotage is a great and fun way to raise money. Each team or department gets a jar to collect change that they decorate. Come up with a prize for the team that gets the most points or better yet a “penalty” for the team that gets the fewest points. During the Sabotage game, teams bring in change to see who can collect the most money to help kids with cancer. The fun part is that dollar bills in a jar count as negative points so other people can sabotage another team's jar with dollar bills. Scoring: $1 in change = 100 points / $1 in bills = - 100 points
	PIE IN THE FACE Find someone on your team willing to take pies in the face for a donation. You will be surprised how many people are willing to line up and donate to put a pie in someone’s face, especially a boss. An easy alternative to this is to use water balloons or a dunk tank.
	BAKE SALE Not much different from a Lemonade Stand, this option lets the foodies out there show off their skills in the kitchen. For those overachievers out there, you can even combine a bake sale with a lemonade stand and really go all out!
	CARNIVAL Who doesn’t love a bounce house and face painting? A carnival is great and fun way to bring the entire community together to raise funds and awareness for childhood cancer research. This is also a wonderful opportunity for businesses to build teamwork and camaraderie within their organization. You can create fun competitions that revolve around health, fitness, awareness and fundraising!
	DONATION JUG Some of our top teams actually utilize different variations of donation jugs, including one called the Lemon Monster.  You can be super creative and decorate your jug as you see fit. Then, visit local businesses ask if they are willing to put one out on their counter for you.
	HAPPY HOUR If you are over 21, a happy hour is a fun way to bring your team together after logging some miles, or to get together after work and recruit more teammates. Bars and restaurants are always looking for ways to drive traffic to their business. Some will donate a dollar for ever drink sold or let you to collect donations at the door. Some businesses will even run some raffles. If you are under 21, you could do the same at a restaurant and substitute lemonade for drink specials.
	HOPE WALL The Hope Wall is a creative way for our more creative participants to create a  cool team page that is interactive. This was done by one of our teams in 2014. When someone made a donation to their page, their name or someone close to them who was affected by cancer ,was added to the wall. The wall became the banner for their team page.
	PAPER LEMONS Paper lemons are a fun and easy way for a school or business to raise funds. Carey High School created a lemon pitcher in their hallway. Students who made a donation were able to add a lemon to their jug. You may also see lemons on display at businesses like Rita’s.
	WATER BOTTLE SALES Sometimes mixing up a pitcher of lemonade isn’t feasible in certain locations, so this group of students sold bottles of water instead and tied them with yellow ribbons. A simple way to make a big impact!