Easy Fundraiser Ideas for Pageants

It takes a lot of money to put on a well-run beauty pageant. Costs include venue rental, payments to judges and pageant promoters, the purchase of crowns and awards, and other behind-the-scenes items. Pageant organizers will often turn to fundraisers to help offset the cost that the participants and their families will pay.

A fundraiser based on the daily pick-three lottery is an easy way to fundraise from people outside of your immediate family. Print raffle tickets based on three-digit lottery numbers and price your tickets according to your daily cash payout. For instance, if your cash payout is $50 a day, sell one ticket priced at $5. That ticket is good for the entire month. The more tickets sold, the more money for your organization. Print tickets with a tear-off section where your customer will write his name, address and phone on one end and with your pageant's name and information about the fundraiser on the other. Both ends will have the three-digit number on them. Keep the end with the buyer's information and return the other half to the buyer. Print and sell tickets six to eight weeks before the month the lottery is played. For example, if the winning month is November, have your tickets printed and ready to sell the middle of September through the end of October.

Many restaurants offer a community give-back program of 10 to 20 percent of the proceeds of total sales from a group's fundraising night. Schedule your event and spread the word to family and friends to dine at the restaurant on the designated day or night. Add a silent auction as part of the event. Have each family or contestant donate gift certificates or baskets and set up tables in the restaurant to display the items. Ask the restaurant if the contestants can act as guest servers for added exposure and to create interest.

Bake sales are a quick and easy way to raise funds, especially around the holidays. Approach your area's locally owned supermarket, church or school as a location for your sale and ask each contestant's family to provide two or three baked items. Price your items to sell. The point is to make money, not to take your items back home.

Car washes are good warm weather fundraisers, but don't count them out during the winter months. The cost of running a car wash is usually low because your participants can bring buckets, rags and towels from home, leaving your organization to purchase the soap and handouts to advertise your event. Check with your local gas station for their requirements, restrictions and available dates.