Recommendations for FRG fund raising events?

CPT Jacob Swartout — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 13:34:05 -0400

Everyone does bake sales or car washes. Any other ideas to pass along to our group that your unit had success with?

Response by SFC William Swartz Jr made Jun 28 at 2014 1:51 PM

SFC William Swartz Jr — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 13:51:01 -0400

FRGs at Stewart sometimes did hot dog sales either in the company area or down at the motor pool during lunch time, always did well with those; another idea was a "pie in the face" auction.

Response by LT Jessica Kellogg made Jun 28 at 2014 2:38 PM

LT Jessica Kellogg — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 14:38:02 -0400

I spent a couple years as a FRG leader for my husband's command. Here are some fundraisers that were successful. Feel free to message me for details about any of them.

-Blankets with the command patch
-Deployment t-shirt contest and sale (first half of deployment families could submit designs, we printed and sold the two with the most votes)
-First Kiss/First Hug Raffle (I think the Navy is the only branch that does this)
-Plan of the Day notes (we sold space in the ship's plan of the day where families could write messages to their sailors)
-Message in a Bottle (sailors would send a message to the fundraiser coordinator who would print it out and put it in one of those antique-looking decorative bottles and deliver to the family, this was good for valentines day, for a dollar extra we would include a long stem rose)

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 28 at 2014 3:36 PM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 15:36:30 -0400

My read is the FRG is a Mission Critical Official Army Function to be funded by the CO's APF.

o http://www.blissmwr.com/frg/FRG%20LDR%20HBook%201%2010[1].pdf (pages 27-28)

o http://www.blissmwr.com/unitfunds/24Sept%20CDRsGuide%20Draft[1].doc

Fundraisers should be done for fun and unit cohesion. But CO APF should pay FRG expenses.

Hands down all time special event for Army -- "Las Vegas Style" Casino Night. Nothing supports fundraising like strong drinks, "entertainment" and gambling.

Pot luck dinner and silent auction with artistic creations from the beneficiaries and some more traditional prizes donated by officers and local businesspeople. This is an excellent way to get business tax benefit from slower moving items.

If there is a wholesale flower market nearby, volunteers get together to spend the previous night making Valentines flower arrangement and delivering them.

Develop a FRG budget and ask the CO to use APF to pay expenses as follows:

Army FRG Fundraising Rules: https://www.armyfrg.org/skins/frg/display.aspx?ModuleID=9eed30c4-706f-4895-8532-14bac5c094ec&Action=display_user_category_objects&CategoryID=16 [login to see] -4f1a-83df-54849538f0bb

http://lifelessonsmilitarywife.com/?p=511

http://www.armywifenetwork.com/?p=3509

http://community.babycenter.com/post/a23943743/need_frg_ideas

INTERESTING IDEA: "Something my hubbys old company did to raise money that brought in HUGE money (but the commander has to be on board with it) is what they called paying rank. once a month they would have all the soldiers pay their rank for a 3 day. or day off. so if you e4, $4. if you were an officer they put a ten plus rank, o1 $11. but EVERYONE in the company had to pay in order to get the day off. there of course had to be some kind of rule or only 5 guys would pay and get the day off. and the point was to make money. lol. what they did to raise BIG money for the christmas party was said how much would you pay for a 4 day? and they picked a 3 day weekend and gave them either the monday or friday that was the work day off. so technically they were only giving them one day off but still making it a four day. and everyone agreed to atleast $20. so EVERYONE in the company paid $20. they did that a couple times a year when they needed to bring in big money. but it has to be a company that would actually be willing to and keep the promise of giving days off. my hubbys comp. now is on rapid deployment and they train ALL year long. it would never work cause they would never get the day off. but if your company is good for their word and would be willing to do that..... GOOD money!!"

http://www.nj.gov/military/familysupport/frg/NJNGTreasurerHandbook.pdf

http://www.schweinfurt.army.mil/directorates/acs/documents/mobilization/ManagingFRGFundsHandbookFRSA.pdf

https://www.myarmyonesource.com/cmsresources/army%20onesource/media/pdfs/family%20programs%20and%20services/family%20programs/deployment%20readiness/army_guide_family_readiness_group_operations.pdf

http://www.blissmwr.com/privateorgs/fortbliss_sop_pvt_02_2011.pdf

http://www.blissmwr.com/fundraising/

https://www.armyfrg.org/

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 28 at 2014 10:46 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 22:46:08 -0400

Sir,

Do a raffle for baskets, ask your troops to donate the baskets in different types.

V/R

MSG Augustine Haro

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Jun 29 at 2014 10:45 AM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 10:45:54 -0400

Community yard sales where members collect & sell items and all donations go to the FRG.

5K fun walk - charge a registration fee that includes a t-shirt & combine with a raffle & refreshments.

Not sure if you have any Dunkin Donut franchises down your way but they are usually VERY generous with donating donuts and coffee. We did a scouting FR and they donated 12 dozen donuts and 4 Boxes of Joe - coffee which we sold at 100% profit.

Discount coupon books for local businesses & franchises.

Response by COL Vincent Stoneking made Jun 29 at 2014 12:51 PM

COL Vincent Stoneking — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 12:51:04 -0400

At lot of patience. And some Jameson.
I can honestly say that I don't miss trying to make a FRG work.

If you crack the code, I think that's a LoM right there.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 29 at 2014 6:41 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 18:41:19 -0400

Sir, how about your PO's, i.e. VFW, Legion, they have a lot more latitude when it comes to fundraising.

Response by CW5 Sam R. Baker made Sep 24 at 2014 4:04 PM

CW5 Sam R. Baker — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 16:04:31 -0400

COLOR RUN

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Sep 24 at 2014 10:28 PM

SFC Mark Merino — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 22:28:35 -0400

What I was talking about CPT Jacob Swartout

Response by SSG Pete Fleming made Sep 24 at 2014 10:29 PM

SSG Pete Fleming — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 22:29:06 -0400

CPT Jacob Swartout, I realize this is an old post... is the question still there or have you answered?

Response by TSgt Joshua Copeland made Sep 24 at 2014 10:34 PM

TSgt Joshua Copeland — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 22:34:20 -0400

http://pandabit.com/

Did it for a Private Org I am with and raised a good chunk of money.

Pandabit

Sell or donate your iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, iPad and more for cash, or buy used iPhones, iPads and other devices. Give back, get paid, and do good!

Response by SSG Pete Fleming made Sep 24 at 2014 11:20 PM

SSG Pete Fleming — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 23:20:12 -0400

Just had another thought... what about coordinating with the Chaplain and doing a joint fundraiser for the FRG and Chaplain sponsored projects. Such as Bingo nights or something...

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 25 at 2014 1:50 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 13:50:09 -0400

A good fund raiser my company did was offer a self defense class. We got in contact with a local instructor and he offered to do it for free. The event was a success, I mean what wife or husband wont want to throw their soldier around a little.

Response by SGT Richard H. made Sep 25 at 2014 5:05 PM

SGT Richard H. — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 17:05:04 -0400

A dinner event with a silent auction? You could probably get a lot (if not all) auction items donated, and sell the seats for an amount that covers the food, venue, and puts something in the coffers.
Even better if you could get a speaker...possibly a local veteran or family service agency rep or perhaps someone from a local higher command.
Maybe even sell unit or local command t-shirts.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 25 at 2014 7:29 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 19:29:39 -0400

CPT Jacob Swartout Bowling alleys can be an awesome event and we once raised 17,000 dollars in one day. I have some ideas how you can do something like that and what it takes to get people exposure. Channel 10 in Tampa, asked me how I did that but this is never a one-trick pony but a consolidated venture. We had 22 Tampa Bay Bucs players and a bunch of cars with the drivers and players playing against each with blind auctions and other events. So much fun!!!!

Response by LTC Hillary Luton made Sep 25 at 2014 8:41 PM

LTC Hillary Luton — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 20:41:29 -0400

We had a pretty successful chili cook off last year. Competitors brought in their chili, and everyone paid $5 for a cup and spoon to go around tasting all of the entries, then voting for their favorites. The winners received a certificate and bragging rights. It was a lot of fun and everyone got to enjoy some great chili. Those of us who competed want to do it again.

Response by Nathan Weiss made Jun 30 at 2016 2:51 PM

Nathan Weiss — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 14:51:39 -0400

Selling chocolate or candy.

Response by PO1 Erica Hughes made Jun 30 at 2016 3:06 PM

PO1 Erica Hughes — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 15:06:49 -0400

Auction off services. I had an IT auctioned off to help some spouse with viruses on her computer, I had for shipmates auctioned off to wash someones car in their home base housing, I had the Red Cross give me a free certified babysitter on base, I auctioned my master chief who taught this guy how to whittle, I auctioned a senior chief who taught a group of sailors (who purchased him) how to cheat on Call of Duty Black Ops, and I auctioned off dinner at the CO's house his family, your family. We didn't just pick one winner on the auction, we selected the three highest bidders and they scheduled time. We made $670.00 the first time and the second time with the addition of some mechanics we made $1700.00 Navy ball committee