One of the easiest ways to bring in money for any cause is to have a fund raising contest. This one activity can be as simple or as elaborate as you want it to be. All you need to determine before having one is how well such a contest would be received by the public.

Possible Contests to Raise Funds

• Hold a trivia night. You can raise several thousand dollars through a well-planned trivia night. If you can get a venue free, just by selling 150 tickets for 15 to 20 dollars each, you would be well on the way to doing well on the financial side. Then if you can wrangle free dinners from local restaurants and gift boxes from local stores, you won’t have to worry about prizes. You can go to the internet or buy books for your questions and armed with these, you can prepare your questions. Once that’s done, all you will need are two dynamic hosts and you are all set!

• Host dog contests. Most dog contests are for pedigreed canines but make no mistake about it, even pet mutts and mixed breeds are well loved by their owners who would appreciate a chance to show them off. It is relatively easy to get dog food manufacturers and pet shops to sponsor such an event and local parks (or areas where flea markets are held) are usually willing to accommodate such events. Make the activity extra special by publicizing it months in advance so people can prepare their pets and have several categories the way formal kennel shows do. You can charge an entrance fee of 10 dollars per pet and, if you have a good volunteer photographer, you ask people to pay another 10 dollars for a formal portrait with their pet.

• Hold a series of video game tournaments. The uncommunicative-have-my-own-world teenager might actually blossom in this particular fund raising contest. Ask your young people to hold a video tournament for an admission fee and set up the tournament in a gym or clubhouse. You will need to take care of prizes and arrangements for the location but young enthusiasts can undertake many of the other responsibilities.

• Hold an on-the-spot art contest. It is easy to get sponsors for this type of contest because your office supply stores and local establishments will see it as a good chance to build good will. You can charge 20 dollars for each entry, choose a location, identify categories, and get three volunteer judges who will make their criteria for judging known.

• Host a chess tournament. Bring your whole community for a picnic and chess with a suggested donation of 5 to 10 dollars per game. You can have a junior division for young participants and as many divisions as you like to make your activity appealing to as many age groups as possible.

The Key to Successful Fund Raising Contests

The success of a fund raising contest depends on how well you prepare for the event. This means several things: drumming up enthusiasm for it; drawing a large enough crowd to make money; getting support from sponsors and running the event seamlessly. If you want to try using this approach to raise money, start small and test the waters first. Then, after learning from your initial experience, go ahead and explore deeper waters. Remember, it is all for a good cause and if you convince to people that they can support it and still have fun, you will be well on your way to meeting your fund raising goals.