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.