SWIKI Browser Plug In Helps Charities

The new SWIKI search extension from AdMedia allows users the ability to search multiple search engines, deal websites and social networks from a single site. 250 select charities are benefiting from these searches as users earn points that can be redeemed for contributions and donations.

More info: http://www.swiki.com/

How It Works For Supporteres

1) Earn Swiki Points

Rate websites on search engines to see your point total grow.

2) Monitor Your Swiki Points

Swiki point totals are simple to manage within your personalized admin area.

3) Redeem Your Points and Help a Great Cause

Once you have earned at least 1000 points you can begin distributing them for cash that goes directly to various charities you choose from.

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Small Groups Using eBay to Fundraise

While fundraising auctions are nothing new, seeing them done by a small towns may inspire your group to try it. By asking people to clean out their closets or basements instead of giving money you can put a fresh spin on fundraising.

Some creative ideas involved using the town's highlights or recreational opportunities. Like auctioning a bicycle tour or a lunch date with a town celebrity.

Monies raised often go towards community development programs or local projects such as street repairs.

Once succesful these sorts of auctions can easily become ongoing events, replacing bake sales and car washes which can burn volunteers out.

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Dinner Fundraising Event & Benefit Ideas: Thinking Outside The Box

As school starts another semester the inevitable sound of  "would you like to support my..." is being heard throughout your neighbourhood. The Globe and Mail published an article about the creative new fundraising techniques being used by community groups and high schools who are looking for more non-traditional means of raising money. From pulled pork cook offs to silent auctions featuring service based donations, out-of-the box methods are bringing fun and new solutions to groups looking to differentiate their annual campaigns. If you are looking for tips on hosting a dinner fundraising event or benefit check out the article below and also be sure to check out the comments listed at the end of the article to see fundraising from a different perspective.

School Fundraising: Almonds are out Pulled pork is in

Below is a great set of tips for organizing a fundraising dinner or banquet. Remember your single goal should not be just to raise money, but to raise awareness for your cause as well.

Set a Budget: Decide how much money to allocate on each aspect of your event. You have ot consider food costs, catering staff expenses, rental space, DJ, guest speaker. To cut down on expenses try to get as much as possible donated. Now look at where revenues will come from: ticket sales, donations, corporate sponsors, raffle tickets, silent auction.

Chooses a Location and Format: Will it be an outside informal barbecue? or a formal sit down dinner. Church halls, community centres, museums are great places to start your search.

Think of a Theme For your Banquet: Having a theme for your banquet will add some charisma to your promotional materials

Promote Your Event: Send personalized invitations to your prospective guest list. Use eye-catching posters and flyers to publicize your event.Grocery stores, churches and community centres are great places to post community events. Send a press release to local community newspapers. Follow up and invite the press to your event as well. Community websites may also have a location for posting events.

Invite a Guest Speaker: Consider inviting a local celebrity to speak at your banquet. Look for someone who is in complimentary market as your group.

Prepare a Floor Plan: Set up locations of the ticket table, table settings, and the logistics, timing, and necessary audio-visual equipment for your speaker if you will have one.

Organize Volunteers: Arrange shifts for your volunteers to sell tickets, distribute food, man the silent suction table, sell raffle or 50/50 tickets.

Design and Decoration: Have a slide show, or a video playing in the background while the meal is being eaten. Don't forget to add a little flare to your event with fancy decorations, menus, and tickets

Acknowledge Sponsors: Make sure to acknowledge any sponsors / donors that contributed to the event.

Info Sheets: Have sign-up sheets available at the exit for attendees interested in your group. Also, bring PHR literature and materials for display and to distribute.

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How To Sell Chocolate Bars... Without Going Door- to-Door

Hosting a movie night at a local community centre or a school gymnasium is not a only a great idea for a fundraiser but it also can become the perfect venue to sell your fundraising campaign's chocolate bars. Your group can rent a projector and a popular movie and host a community movie night. Check the yellow pages for AV rentals or ask a member if they can have access to a projector from work. Don't forget to ask the AV rental company for a discount in exchange for advertising at the event. Don't forgot to make sure it is ok to show the movie (check if there are any local laws, that may prevent your group from being able) 

Tips for a successful Movie Night Fundraiser:

• Charge a small admission fee
• Choose recent and family friendly movies to show
• Post flyers around the community and in the community paper or website
• Sell Concession items such as pop, popcorn and chocolate bars

This is a true "Fun-raiser", which gets the community involved and raises the awareness of your group.

For more fundraising ideas for sports teams visit InstepFundraising.com

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Coaches Interview Series: Cumberland Barons Hockey Fundraising

Interview: Cumberland Barons

About a year ago we interviewd the head coach of a local hockey team and we asked what fundraising inititives the group took to help finance an upcoming trip:

Q: What was the hockey team raising money for?
A: We decided to raise money for an upcoming trip to Quebec City. We didn't have a lot of time to raise funds because we only knew that we had qualified 3 months before the event. We were the Ottawa Senators representative at the "Tournoi International de Hockey Pee Wee de Quebec"

Q: What was the first fundraising initiative the team took?
A: It was pretty simple, we just held a bottle drive which raised $500.00. We collected beer bottles from neighbours in our community and it was fast and easy way to get started. It helped us build some momentum.

Q: Were you able to garner any corporate donations?
A: Yes we received $700.00 in corporate donations.

Q: Did you hold any raffles:
A: Yes we had a computer and a trip to Montreal donated and they raised a total of $2000.

Q: Were you able to take advantage of any seasonal fundraisers?
A: Yes we sold roses for Valentine's Day

Q: Any other small fundraisers?
A: We also held a garage sale and a silent auction.

Q: What was the most creative idea you came up with?
A: Well one of the parents worked for the Ottawa Citizen, we were able to take out some ad space in the paper at a discounted rate. We broke the space down into business sized spots and resold these at a premium to other businesses.It worked out really well, we were able to add a benefit to the local businesses.

Q: Do you have any advice for other fundraising groups?
A: Don't put your eggs in one basket. As you can see we ran a number of different fundraisers and each was successful.

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Creative Ways To Fundraise Through Partnerships With Local Business

Don't just ask for money:

An alternative approach to creating partnerships with local business
Corporations and small businesses alike are usually quite eager to support local sporting teams and / or events - provided they get something in return - and they don't have to give you any money. Instead of looking at corporations solely for financial relief, try to identify what you need and what you have to offer. Of course, having money gives you freedom to get what you want - but this isn't always a possibility.
In particular, it is important to:
Identify what you want.
Identify what you have to offer.

If you identified money as your wants then dig a little deeper to figure out how that money will be used. Knowing what your basic needs are - such as equipment, transportation and clothing - can allow you to properly target potential partners and avoids the 'Well, we just need money to do things' syndrome.

Having difficulty identifying what you (and your team) have to offer a company? Overall, two important things come to mind including your fan base and your team members. To better identify what you have to offer, you should try to match the company's product (or interest) with your own events, programs and needs to find a suitable match. Beyond just cash, partners may be able to provide (or help you to acquire) the following:

• Training equipment and supplies
• Printing and promotional costs
• Officiating costs
• Concession stand supplies (pop, pizza, chips)
• Office supplies
• Long distance phone expenses
• Travel costs (van rentals, gas, hotel, food)
• Prizes, awards and giveaways
• Instructor clothing and possible summer camp supplies
• Technical supplies (audio-visual, cell phones)
• Don't forget that you can also offer yourselves to partners. For instance, you may consider building a partnership with the local pub that most of your team frequents after practices (at a discount because of the partnership) in exchange for … well that depends on what exactly you are looking for - as well as what the restaurant has to offer.

Understand your audience. By knowing who typically attends your events allows you align that demographic with that a potential fittings partners. Knowing your audiences opens the opportunities for partners such as corporate booths and public sampling.

Make it a priority to properly expose and thank (both publicly and privately) all partners. Also make sure you outline how a partner will be recognized and promoted to the community. For example, you can promote a partner by including the logo (or perhaps name) on team posters, schedules, stationary, programs and guides as well as game day tickets. You can also look to court-side advertising on a partnership board, stadium banners and public announcements and press releases (or conferences).

Regardless of how big or small your team may be, you do have something of value to others - the difficulty is identify what that value is and finding the appropriate partner to share it with.

To truly benefit from this article, it is important to understand that healthy partnerships are mutually beneficial. Although you may know of a millions ways that everyone out there can help you - please remember to return the favor and be helpful to others.

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Silent Auction vs Raffle

A silent auction can be a great addition to any fundraising event dinner or gala. I remember participating in my first silent auction a few years ago at a University fundraiser and I had a great time competing for items which I bid on. Silent auctions are a fun and interactive way for your supporters to donate at your event.

Silent auctions are effective because they are a win-win situation, you give your supporters a choice of how much they want to spend on items which they may acually be getting at a discount. Supporters are also in control of the amount of risk they are willing to take on when bidding for a particular item. If they want an item bad enough they have the ability to bid high to try and win it. A silent auction also takes "luck of the draw" out of the equation, this helps increase participation levels by your guests.

With raffles on the other hand, you set the price for the tickets and your guests don't have any of control over whether they win or not. You may also have to apply for a lottery license in order to hold a raffle. Another negative is that guests may be hesitant to participate in a raffle because they have to rely on luck in order to be victorious. The advantage of a raffle is that you receive money even from the people who don't win the item.

Here are a few tips for running a successful silent action:

-Have items donated from local businesses in exchange for recognition at the event.
-Make sure the items have great value to your guests. Ask if you could see yourself bidding on the item. Gift certificates for spa days, romantic weekends and dinners for two are always hot sellers.
-Have the MC make it clear what your group is raising money for and how donations will help.
-Make sure everyone understands the rules surrounding the bidding process (silent auctions may be a new concept to some of your guests).
-Make it clear what items are up for auction, use visual aids wherever possible and outline exactly what bidders will be getting.
-Don't have change on hand...silent auction bids usually come out to an uneven number like $27.85...In most cases your guests won't mind rounding up and paying $30.00. Don't forget they'll be excited about just winning the item and hopefully over-generous at the same time.

There are clearly advantages to both a raffle and a silent auction. Remember there is no rule that says you can't incorporate both into your next dinner or event.

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Applying for Corporate Grants & Donations:

Corporate grants, sponsorships and donations are a good way to obtain a small or substantial amount of funds for a relatively low amount of time and effort. This section will outline what these programs are and provide you with quick access to the different Canadian corporate sponsorship programs available to sport teams.

Although many businesses contribute mostly to charitable and non-profit organizations, some companies also are committed to community involvement. Most Canadian business are actively involved in supporting the community and thus have developed programs or accept requests for funding from various activities or groups in the areas of education, health, social services, the arts and culture. The following business support sport teams and/or sport activities:

Pizza Pizza: sponsor Community organizations or schools
Rogers Video: sponsor non-profit organisations, school or sports teams.
Forzani Group Foundation: sponsor registered Canadian charities, registered Canadian amateur athletic associations and Canadian municipalities. Click here to view the guidelines for qualifying: http://www.forzanigroup.com/
RBC Financial Group: sponsor culture, amateur sports, youth, seniors, disadvantaged, education and special one-time opportunities
BMO Financial Group: from grassroots aid for tomorrow's Canadian champions, to sponsorship of national championships in skating and women's golf, BMO Financial Group is an enthusiastic supporter of amateur sport and athletics at every level.
From the organizations that contribute to the community, we've segmented their types of corporate sponsorships into 2 categories:

1. Corporate Goodies & Donations

The following companies offer a variety of goodies and donations that can be leveraged when planning your fundraising events:

Pizza Pizza offers prizes & provides pizza to volunteers or guests for team fundraising activities. To obtain a fundraising donation call 310-1111 (toll free from any area code), Mon.-Fri 9am - 5 pm or email fundraising@pizzapizza.ca. For more information on how Pizza Pizza can help, visit http://www.pizzapizza.ca/english/pages/community.htm.

Rogers Video offers community Benefit Books, which are filled with free and money saving coupons to raise funds for your cause. This is only available to youth under 18 years old via school fundraising initiatives. To obtain a fundraising donation, submit a written request to your local Rogers Video store manager. For more information visit http://www.rogersvideo.ca/aboutus/community.asp.


HBC - helps sports team turn everyday shopping at the HBC family of stores - the Bay, Zellers, Home Outfitters and Designer Depot, online at DealsOutlet.ca, and Hbc Rewards Partners, into a variety of great merchandise rewards that meet their objectives. All that is needed is to enrol your team in the Hbc Rewards Community Program. This allows you to sign up parents, coaches, friends so when they shop at these stores, the points are donated to your team. You can then use the reward points for anything from fundraising drives and prizes, to appreciation awards and operational needs. By getting 50 members you get 80,000 bonus points. Fees: one time set up fee of $30, $15 annual fee.

Esso - help Minor Hockey Associations earn up to $750 towards a set of team jerseys through the Esso Extra Hockey Jersey Program. Teams must be registered with a branch of Hockey Canada to qualify. All you need to do is sign up your team in the Esso Extra Hockey Jersey Program. This allows you to rally parents, friends, neighbours, coaches, and teams to donate Esso Extra points to your team. Once 125,000 points have been donated your team will be eligible to receive up to $750 towards a set of team jerseys. For full details, go to: https://www.essoextra.com/hockey/program_info.en.

Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) - MEC supports community organizations involved in outdoor spors. To qualify for a contribution, teams must demonstrate how their initiative is helping people achieve the benefits of self-propelled wilderness-oriented recreation. The value of contributions ranges from $50 - $500 and may be in the form of gear, gift certificates, or cash. Organizations can also request in-store display space, in-store presentation opportunities, the use of meeting rooms, and/or staff volunteers. Request can be done at your local store. For full details on what should be included in the request.

2. Corporate Grants & Sponsorships

The following companies provide sport teams with an opportunity to obtain major contributions that could cover a large portion of your team's fundraising needs:
Pizza Pizza sponsors over 800 large events per year such as the Molson Indy and the Tulip Festival. They come on-site and set up a mini store in which all pizza is cooked on-location. To obtain a donation, you must submit a written request to Pizza Pizza. The following proposal request guidelines indicate what must be included in this request and where it should be sent. For more information visit http://www.pizzapizza.ca/msponsorships.htm

Xerox Canada allocates funds to its offices for local initiatives and projects in their area. For best results, funding requests should be kept under $1000. To apply complete the claim form (http://www.xerox.ca/english/4_0/4_6/forms/local.pdf) by providing a detailed description of the fundraising request (i.e. cash, in-kind gift, or printing/copying services or equipment, etc.) and send it to: Pamela Arora
Public Affairs Manager
External Affairs Office
Xerox Canada Ltd.
5650 Yonge Street
North York, Ontario M2M 4G7
Telephone: (416) 733-6353
Fax: (416) 733-6811
The Forzani Group Foundation provides financial support to other registered charities, Canadian amateur athletic associations and other qualified donees whose activities involve the promotion of physical fitness, health and wellness, the prevention and relief of sickness and disability, or the participation and education in sports across Canada. To obtain a cash donation, your team must submit a written proposal on your organization's letterhead to the Forzani Group Foundation The following proposal guidelines indicate what must be included in this request and where it should be sent. For more information visit http://www.forzanigroup.com/wwwenglish/foundation/index.html

Rogers Video offers a major fundraising program wherein your team sells Rogers Video Movie Coupon Passports and keeps a portion of the sale. To participate in this program, send an e-mail to fundraising@rci.rogers.com. For more information visit http://www.rogersvideo.ca/aboutus/community.asp.

RBC Financial Group offers donations and sponsorship programs:
1. Sponsorships: they sponsor amateur sport, from grassroots events in communities across the country, to Canadian sports associations helping develop amateur athletes and making it possible for them to compete at home and abroad. Their financial support is provided in exchange for marketing opportunities of their brand. In exchange for funds, RBC's standard package includes complimentary tickets to your games, sponsor mention on your promotional materials, program advertising and signage. However, they are looking for breakthrough ideas that would generate new opportunities to promote RBC Financial Group to your targeted audience(s). For more information visit http://www.rbc.com/sponsorship/program.html.

2. Donations: Sports teams must be registered as a charity in order to qualify for a donation. For more information visit http://www.rbc.com/community/donations/index.html. BMO Financial Group provides financial support to Canadian communities whose activities involve the promotion of education, health and welfare, civic and community service, arts and culture and sports. BMO does not support sports activities such as runs, races or tournaments. Prior to submitting a sponsorship proposal request, a brief letter of inquiry is required to determine whether BMO's current focus and funds permit consideration of the request. After reviewing the letter of inquiry, BMO may ask your team to submit a proposal. The following link provides all details regarding the letter of inquiry and sponsorship proposal guidelines, what must be included in this request and where it should be sent: http://www2.bmo.com.

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Team Building Through Fundraising

I was recently speaking with a women's soccer team coach and one of the questions I asked him was: What does your group like most about fundraising?

His reply "The girls find it a lot of fun to work together for a greater good. It helps with team building and morale."

There is no question it is difficut to raise funds as an individual but fundraising in a group setting can bring added results and be better for the team as a whole. Take advantage of group fundraising activities by using them as a platform for team bonding activities.

Intertwine preparation activities before the event by partnering up teammates to sell tickets, pick-up supplies or prepare food for the event. On the day of the event have icebreaker games and team building exercises in place.

With everyone contributing the team is sure benefit as a whole.

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Quest For Gold Lottery Fundraiser

Quest for Gold instant win lottery
Since 2006, the Quest for Gold instant win lottery program has provided over $53,000,000 to support more than 8,000 ontario based high-performance athletes and coaches.

The goals of the program are to provide additional support to athletes from Ontario and to increase the performance and number of Ontario athletes competing at the highest national and international levels. The main objective of this fundraising initiative is to the improve the performance of Canada at international competitions. Another aim of the program is to help compensate athletes who pursue excellence in sport while living and training in Ontario. The funds are used to offset lost earnings while training and fullfilling educational goals.

The proceeds from Quest for gold lottery, approximately $10 million annually, are administered by the Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport to support athletes all across Ontario. Seventy per cent of proceeds go directly to athletes in the form of direct financial assistance, while the remaining 30 per cent supports enhanced coaching and provides enhanced competitive and training opportunities to athletes in amateur sport.

How the funds are utilized:
1. Direct Financial Assistance to Athletes
Canada Card – For Ontario athletes who are carded by Sport Canada. The Canada Card provides up to an additional 33% in direct financial assistance over and above what an athlete is receiving from Sport Canada – dependant on funding available.

Ontario Card – For Ontario junior age athletes aspiring to compete at the highest levels of national and international competition. These athletes are nominated for carding status by their Provincial Sport/ Multi-Sport Organizations.

Sport eligibility

Sixty-four Provincial Sport/ Multi-Sport Organizations (PSO/MSO), recognized by the Ministry of Health Promotion’s Sport Recognition Policy, are eligible to receive cards for distribution under the direct financial assistance funding stream. They must also meet minimum high performance program requirements and be participants in the regular program of one of the following three multi-sport Games:
* The 2006 Olympic/Paralympic Winter Games, 2008 Olympic/Paralympic Summer Games, 2010 Olympic/Paralympic Winter Games;
* 2007 Canada Winter Games and the 2009 Canada Summer Games; or

In the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi, India, 40 of the 69 Ontario athletes who competed with Team Canada received QUEST FOR GOLD funding. Of the 21 medals won by Ontario athletes, 14 were won by QUEST FOR GOLD-funded athletes. OLG is committed to continuing support to assist Amateur Athletes in Ontario. This year's CROSSWORD-themed QUEST FOR GOLD game has an increased ticket order of 25 million tickets. This increases to 20 the number of $50,000 top prizes available to be won.
* Ontario Games (youth).

Athlete eligibility

An athlete must be a resident of Ontario for one year prior to his/her nomination for carding status and be a member of their Provincial/Multi Sport Organization (and/or their National Sport Organization. To qualify for funding, athletes must meet the following criteria:

* Be a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant;
* Be based in Ontario and involved in a continuous training program in the province (exceptions considered);
* Be a member in good standing with their PSO/MSO and NSO where applicable;
* Be committed to a proper training and competitive program;
* Have a coach that has been trained and certified in the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) or equivalent; and
* Must not be under sanction as per the Canadian Anti-Doping Policy.

2. Enhanced Coaching Funding

The Enhanced Coaching funding stream provides Ontario athletes with increased access to better-qualified coaches. It provides more high performance coaching hours for provincial Canada Games level athletes and funds coach development initiatives.

3. Enhanced Training and Competitive Opportunities Funding

This funding stream provides money for enhanced training, services and competitive opportunities for junior age athletes. Funding is also used to enhance the Ontario Games Program and strengthen Team Ontario’s performance at the Canada Games by providing additional training opportunities and enhanced sport science services for athletes competing on provincial teams.

Specific objectives of the program are:

To help athletes continue their pursuit of athletic excellence at the highest levels of national and international competition;
To encourage athletes to stay in Ontario to live and train;
To compensate athletes for earnings lost while training;
To enable athletes to successfully pursue excellence in sport while fulfilling their educational goals;
To increase athlete access to high performance coaching; and
To enhance training and competitive opportunities available to athlete

Contact Information:
For more information contact your PSO/MSO or:
Scott Cooper
Sport and Recreation Consultant
Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport
416-314-7692
scott.cooper@ontario.ca

Everyone has a dream, and OLG is proud to continue to support Ontario athletes realize theirs.

The instant win game cards are available at licensed lottery retailers across Ontario.

Highlights
$20 per play.
Five $1 million top prizes.
Amazing odds of 1 in 3.
Proceeds support amateur athletes in Ontario.
The Quest for Gold Program is funded from net revenues generated by the Quest for Gold lottery, created by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) http://www.olgc.ca/

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