Women Helping Women Reach for the Stars
Fundraising Ideas
1, Chapter AM cordially invites you to an afternoon tea party,"Purse Par-Tea Deux" at 11 am Wednesday,September 28, 2022. The luncheon will be held at the Hoover Country Club, 3140 Country Club Drive, Hoover, AL 35226 featuring Lorna Reeves Editor of Tea Time Magazine and Purse Auction by Jan Hunter Fabulous Auctioneer (Each purse filled with goodies. Price is $40.00 per person.
MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: P.E.O., Chapter AM. SEND TO: Gwenn Davis, 645 Bayhill Road, Hoover, AL 35244-3309. There is LIMITED SPACE. RESERVE EARLY. Your check or cash payment secures your reservation. Cut off for reservations is September 22nd
2. "Monster" Sweet Potatoes were a surprise hit at Chapter E's annual sweet potato sale this year. The enormous and unusual shapes boiled and skinned easily and tasted yummy! Each potato yielded about 2 cups mashed. Great to freeze and have ready for holiday baking. The chapter sold over 700 lbs as a Ways and Means project. Next up - a Sweet Potato Recipe Book!
3. Chapter Q, Decatur had a Facebook fundraiser party with Norwex Cleaning Products that was a huge success. They raised $400.00. They made 30% of the profits sold. The Norwex consultant donated her commission in lieu of earned products for a typical hosted book party. Chapter Q created a group on Facebook and invited friends and family to join. They entered posts about P.E.O. as well as the cleaning products.
4. Chapter D, Birmingham sells fully cooked Boston Butts and Smoked Turkeys in September right before football tailgate season. They have been doing this for several years and have established regular clientele. They have several people who don’t want the meat but will order Boston Butts and the Chapter donates them to local shelters in Birmingham. It is a win win!!!
5. Chapter L, Mobile hosts a Harvest Market in October. Chapter members are asked to make donations of things they have made or found in the attic that can be sold. In September they create a digital catalog of the items for sale and then in October the sisters will share the catalog with family and friends who might enjoy holiday shopping in support of P.E.O.’s philanthropies.
6. Judi Siegfried shared a Thankful for' Fundraiser: This idea came from a chapter in Arkansas, and has been adopted in Chapter M. We do it in different months each year and adapt it to the month's theme. Download the 'Thankful for' Fundraiser Month Calendar.
7. Chapter F DECORATES MAILBOXES for Christmas.
8. HAPTER Q's ST. PATRICK FUNDRAISER - Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow
Wearing green and bringing “green”, the Irish and the Irish-at-heart of Chapter Q gathered at the home of Sara Bush on March 17, 2014, for a salad supper and a fundraiser.
Sisters celebrated with St. Paddy’s punch and tasty appetizers before gathering to vote on the best container for the change that had been collected over the last several months to support P.E.O. projects. Leprechauns of Chapter Q had stored away all their coins in pots of gold for this event. The luck of the Irish was with Sheila Tate who won first prize for her unique container which was made from a child-size, plastic bat and ball.
After feasting on an assortment of salads, ladies settled down to sort, wrap, and count the green. Some thought that they had counted millions of pennies when, in fact, it was only 4,010 pennies. Without a doubt, Chapter Q found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for our P.E.O. philanthropies as almost $400 was collected.
9. CHAPTER AG's 'Gracie' FUNDRAISER - Chapter AG held a very successful fundraiser in 2013. Professional actress and P.E.O. sister Shirley Simpson from Destin, Florida donated a performance of her one woman standup, “An Afternoon with Gracie Allen”. Through Shirley’s portrayal we met the endearing, ditzy Gracie as she was on stage and off. Confused and confusing, she made America laugh for 40 years as half the team of Burns and Allen.
The fundraiser was held while the “snowbirds” were in Lower Alabama and they “flocked” to the performance (as did many locals) at First Presbyterian Church of Foley. AG sisters sold tickets, ushered and served light refreshments after the show. Chapter AG raised over $3,000 for our P.E.O. philanthropies.
10. CHAPTER AH ANNUAL SILENT AUCTION - Chapter AH, Dothan, Alabama successfully held its 2nd Annual Silent Auction fundraiser in November 2013. What makes this auction unique is that it is only one hour in length, and is held at a local bank community room. Given the success of the 2012 auction, Chapter AH decided to make it an annual fundraiser!
Sadly, this year we lost one of our precious members, Barbara Blumenfeld. She loved planning for and participating in this auction. This year, the auction was held in her memory, and rightfully named The Barbara Blumenfeld Memorial Auction. Janet Angelovich, a Chapter AH member, made delicious cupcakes with ornate decorations to commemorate this special memorial auction.c
Two of the most popular items were quilted placemats, hand-made by Chapter AH member, Diane Howse. Diane also presented a very informative program to the Chapter, “Quilting 101”. Diane is truly gifted in this area, and is always willing to share this gift with our Chapter!
11. Chapter C is sharing ideas with their fundraiser and annual auction. The sale of cake candles was one of Chapter C's fundraisers. Betsy Gerthoffer held an Open House fundraiser in her home where Tastefully Simple products could be sampled and purchased.
12. Chapter X is sharing their Christmas Fundraising Social. The Christmas Brunch for Chapter X was a social meting held at Lake Martin at the beautiful home of Kennie Kay Halley, a new initiate of the chapter. The decorations and food were simply elegant. In addition everyone was pleased with the amount of funds raised for projects' donations.
Each member purchased a raffle ticket which allowed them to choose one of the wrapped gifts brought by other members. Most attractive and tempting were the three special donated gifts; a hand made dried hydrangea wreath, a hand painted Santa cypress knee and an unusual curly poinsettia. Lots of tickets were purchased and fingers and toes were crossed in hopes of winning one of these. They highly recommend their method of raising funds for the projects and having lots of fun!
13. MICROWAVE BAKED POTATO BAGS and MICROWAVE BOWLS - Amount raised: $1000.00 plus. This “Un-Planned” Fund Raiser For Chapter AJ started out as a favor for one chapter sister. Mary Wiley began sewing microwave baked potato bags at the request of Linda Chandler to give to her nieces. Then came a gift from Mary’s aunt – a microwave “bowl”. Other chapter members decided they wanted to buy both items for themselves and for gifts. Sandra Klein and Joyce Turner, the quilters in the chapter, began donating fabric. The sale of these two items has currently netted a profit for the chapter’s ways and means of over $1,000 and the orders are still rolling in.
14. ACTION ON JACKSON - Amount raised: $3000.00. Click here to see photos and explanation of Chapter Q's latest fundraiser.
15. BAKELESS BAKE SALE - Amount raised: $1500.00. Early in December Chapter X members received an e-mail with a fundraising poem about a bake sale requiring no one to bake anything. Click here to read the poem. The results were phenomenal, as the Chapter made $1500 dollars for Projects. It appears that our group loves P.E.O. Projects, but “Hates to Bake”. Two of our members were the driving force behind this movement: Susan Kocher and Starling Grisham.
These successful ideas were gathered from the President’s Letters Download List
16. FASHION SHOW AND LUNCHEON - Gross sales $2,225. Chapter K held this event in the church hall of one of its members. They arranged with a boutique to furnish the fashions. Each member was requested to sell 10 tickets at $10 each to friends, relatives, co-workers, etc., to attend the fashion show. Those not able to sell tickets just made a donation and considered that was their gift to P.E.O. for the year. Additionally, each member was responsible for one door prize or silent auction prize, if possible. (The silent auction part raised $325.00). The members then served a light lunch to those attending the fashion show.
17. GARAGE SALES. Several chapters have had very successful garage sales. It does take work planning and gathering items, pricing and cheerful ‘salesladies’ the day of the event. Always a great way to earn money and a good way to clean out the closets. Left-over items are donated to local charity. Chapter W’s profit was $1620 this year.
18. LOVE and GIFT BASKETS - At their Christmas BIL Social, Chapter W sold $10 raffle tickets for gift baskets filled with items donated by members and raised $420. Their Easter baskets brought in another $127.
Chapter G shares their ideas for this fun and painless idea. One person takes a basket home after a meeting (any size basket you want to use, but we used the same one for 2 years). She would then fill it with assorted "stuff". We had baskets with a potted plant and some garden gloves; a tea basket with assorted teas, a teacup, and some tea cookies; a Halloween basket; a Christmas basket with assorted Christmas cocktail napkins, ornaments, etc.; a valentine basket; a spring basket; and baskets with a small frozen casserole; one with a bottle of wine and 2 wine glasses and napkins; and a St. Patrick’s Day basket. The imagination is endless. Each person pays a dollar for her name to go in the drawing. Someone would then draw a name and that person got the basket. The winner would have to fill it for the next meeting. You can put your name in the basket more than one time if it's something you especially want to win.
19. LUNCHEONS on meeting days. In Chapter K , covered dish luncheons are held whereby each sister brings her favorite covered dish and then pays to share in all the covered dishes. Extra casseroles can be sold. Chapter W has several co-hosts provide the luncheon with members donating the equivalent value of a restaurant meal. Chapter J’s Ways and Means Committee provides the luncheon and charges $7. If the recipes of the luncheon are requested, someone makes copies for the next meeting and sells them for 25 cents. Luncheons for a special occasion are fun too.
20. AUCTION for members only of homemade items (food, crafts, etc) $300,
A Christmas bake and craft sale netted $900. Can expand the items to include casseroles, homemade breads, jellies, and normal Christmas baked items.
21. WHITE ELEPHANT and CHRISTMAS IN JULY auction – Auction off items you received during the year that you just don’t need or that doesn’t match the décor in your home; no problem, save it for the next chapter auction. Easy way to bring in $100+
22. Check out stores in your area who host CHARITY EVENTS SALES such as McRae’s or Dillard’s. Sell the $5 tickets and keep the profits. The chapter may need to supply volunteers to work at the event. Chapter R netted over $1200 with this event.
23. Purchase PLANTS from local wholesaler for resale to members and friends: herbs in spring, mums in fall and poinsettias’ for Christmas. Chapter B profited $2186 for the year.
24. RENT A TABLE at community or church bazaar and sell items donated by chapter members. $350
25. CARD PARTY: Chapter O successfully raised $1550. The chapter members donate door prizes and sells tickets for $10 each. Hold in large meeting room, serve lunch and let the attendees enjoy a day of playing cards and good ole fellowship. Approximately 200 attended.
26. PECAN SALES: Chapter N netted over $700. The profit is about 30%. Chapter members are requested to purchase a minimum of 10 (1-lb.) bags or make a $20 contribution (which would be profit from 10 bags). We take orders from the other chapters in the area as well as from family and friends. Pecans were purchase from the Tucker Pecan Co. in Montgomery.
27. SOUP AND COOKIE MIX: Chapter H has used this idea for several years. The chapter takes orders so there are no ‘leftovers’. They purchase the dry ingredients - one team mixes up the “soup”, another the “cookies”. Someone sews simple cloth bags to hold the ingredients, and then the recipe is attached. Gross profit this year was $2900. (Alabama State Convention 2004)
28. ADDITIONAL FUND RAISING IDEAS - this list is from South Carolina. PDF Download Fundraiser List