by Cowboy » Sun Nov 09, 2008 9:38 am
The options are endless. Our Troop has conducted a Pancake breakfast at our local airport flyin for many years. Not big bucks, but usually at least $1000 profit. We started doing one at our local festival also last year. Low income, but as with any "business" venture you have to build up the clientel. But here is a little secret: DUNK TANK. We did this for the first time at at the local festival this year also. We had some teachers (the kids loved this one), local business owners, contractors and some local politicians volunteer time for sitting. We were able to rent the tank for 10% of the take, and the village donated the water to fill it. Virtually no expense, but quite a bit of time scheduling and talking people into sitting in it. It was a rainy weekend, but we still made a profit of $700 for one afternoon. Next year we will be running it one evening and one full day. We learned a lot of lessons, so if you can find a tank and want info on how to schedule sitters and staffing, I will be happy to help.
Also: BE careful how many fundraisers you do! The IRS is very strict about the 7 fundraiser per year rule for non-profit status.