Raise $ (for charity)

Guys,

Anybody have good ideas for how a charity can make some good $? I'm not looking for a carwash to make $100 here. I was going to attempt to host one of the popular charitable poker games in the suburbs (and make thousands in a night), but I'd need to be a registered 501(c)3 for five years to do that. At this point we're not registered, but I will if I can think of good money makers.

Brief background (if you care)..... My wife's brother works with a teacher who loves teaching and coaching, but has to quit to find another job. His son has had 3 major heart surgeries by 18 months and they have tens of thousands in medical bills to pay off. It's a horrible story, he may take a job 2 hours away (each way) for a $12k bump in salary. There's more to the story, but you get the point.

The charity will be legit, I will pay the IRS registration fee and every penny will go directly to his bills. If we find a great way to raise money we would eventually do the same for others.

Anyways, does anyone have any good (legit) ideas for raising $?

7 Comments
 

Harvard,

Thanks for the idea, but I asked a few people about this. None of them seemed to make too much $. I'm thinking of trying to make $1k a night minimum.

twitter: @CorpFin_Guy
 
Best Response

I had a friend in a similar situation and they held an auction that was very successful (I bought a book there for $600, if that's any indication). Local restaurants may be willing to cater the event for the good press. The key here is to be media savvy. Well-written press releases can get the local media on board.

Another thing to do during the event is a 50/50. This is where people buy tickets for a buck apiece, or $5 apiece, whatever and their name goes in a hat. 50% of the proceeds goes to the person whose name is pulled and the rest goes to the charity.

Soliciting donations from local businesses is pretty easy to do, and individuals can donate items of value as well. I once donated a 16' boat I built to a charity auction. Another great item to auction, especially if you're hosting a dinner with drinks, is a puppy. After people have a few in them, you pass the puppy from table to table. I once saw a mutt go for $1,300 this way. The puppy does all the sales work for you.

Just a few ideas.

Best of luck to your brother-in-law and his family.

 

Edmundo,

An auction is an interesting idea and the puppy is hillarious.

I'm not sure if I'll be successful with an auction though. Where this family lives/works is a fairly small town, still a lot of farmers (which is why he makes nothing as a teacher there). That's where we'd get the most press/sympathy, but there's not a lot of money in the area. If I held it more in my neck of the woods or in the city (Chicago) there's more $, but less press/sympathy.

btw guys - if you have a charity you're trying to raise money for, established charitable poker games are the way to go. At least in illinois (assuming laws are different everywhere) there are very established charitable poker tournaments that take in thousands per night for charity.

twitter: @CorpFin_Guy
 
accountingbydayEdmundo,

An auction is an interesting idea and the puppy is hillarious.

I'm not sure if I'll be successful with an auction though. Where this family lives/works is a fairly small town, still a lot of farmers (which is why he makes nothing as a teacher there). That's where we'd get the most press/sympathy, but there's not a lot of money in the area. If I held it more in my neck of the woods or in the city (Chicago) there's more $, but less press/sympathy.

btw guys - if you have a charity you're trying to raise money for, established charitable poker games are the way to go. At least in illinois (assuming laws are different everywhere) there are very established charitable poker tournaments that take in thousands per night for charity.

Is the rake the donation?

 

Yeah, the rake is the donation. I was talking to one of the dealers about it last night.....he said the charities make thousandSSSSSSSSS per night. If I could do this a few times, it would help the family tremendously, unfortunately the charity needs to be registered for 5 years to host a charitable game in IL.

It turns out that they take a normal rake on the cash games (which I always play). Last night I got knocked out in cash and sat at a $25 SnG table. They rake the hell out of these tables. They call it $25+3, but they only pay out $210 to the table, so they take a 25% rake.

twitter: @CorpFin_Guy
 

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