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Our Pets, Our Year--Fundraiser Calendar

by J Louise Morris
(Mahwah, NJ USA)

As the adviser of the Student Government Organization at the high school where I teach, I helped the students brainstorm a calendar fundraiser to earn money in memoriam of a student who had died tragically in a car accident. The school wanted to purchase a gazebo in her name, and the SGO wanted to help! So, we decided to promote a fun calendar fundraiser to add to the monies.

My SGO officers tossed around different ideas concerning what images should be the main feature in the calendar, as well as how to generate enough interest from potential buyers. We decided to have a "My Pet is a Calendar Pin-Up" contest, for which staff and students could submit a photo of their beloved pets to be considered for one of the twelve month calendar features. What a fun contest this was! We advertised and got so many interesting submissions, including pictures of turtles, a hedgehog, snakes, birds, a pig, and--of course--furry friends like dogs and cats.

Judges selected the best photos and we featured the twelve winning pets in our calendar which we called "Our Pets, Our Year." We sold out the $12 calendar on the first run (of 100 copies) and ended up selling a total of 232 calendars! We earned a record $1392 after paying the publisher the $6 per calendar fee.

The best thing to do when promoting any fundraiser is to really generate the hype with some festive, colorful advertising. We went to local businesses who were more than happy to support this school's cause. Have your students spread the word--my officers created a web banner that we posted on the school website, as well as on a Facebook group. Through my officers' ingenuity, we were able to contribute to a beautiful memorial that will serve the students for years to come.