<p>Based on your post below, that I found on another thread, and the fact that you’ve also posted about plans to apply to Yale, I’m guessing you’re trying hard to start something that you think will impress colleges. I also base this on the fact that while you’ve done some community service, it doesn’t fit the profile of the type of students who are passionate about service or about a particular cause. </p>
<p>You lack the skills to do the kind of fundraising that you are trying to do. You also don’t seem to realize that people – including nonprofits – aren’t going to invest resources and staff into a project by someone with little experience. That would be a waste of their time. If you want to do community service involving fundraising, get involved in some already existing fundraising done by a reputable, experienced organization, and be willing to do whatever they need to be done – which probably means starting at the bottom by making phone calls, helping with mailings, helping with registration, etc. </p>
<p>"Read what the question says. I want to do something related to the senior citizens center in my area and help with something there.
If i did start it, do you think i would also need to gatheer my own team for this?
Or would the center supply me workers?
If anybody’s had experience with starting with his/her own community service project, can you please tell me the process?</p>
<p>Im a rising senior. Im not doing much except for a couple college level courses at Rutgers."</p>
<p>I don’t know why you think you could walk in the door of an establishment and they would provide staff for you to do a program for them. If you want to do a program as a new volunteer, you would need to provide the team to do the program, and you’d need to make sure that the program is appropriate for and desired by the agency.</p>
<p>^I see your point. Well, debate club is only once a week anyways, from 2:30 to 3:45. It can’t take up too much time. Of course i do practice debating at home, but i won’t intensely until competitions actually happen. Im also in a research club, in which last year i played a big role–being a mentor. This year, however, we have two new mentors. So i won’t have much to do anyways. Of course there’s DNA analysis but i’ve practiced it so much that It won’t be that time-consuming. Then there’s academic team, which i have to strengthen (im captain). But again, it won’t take up my whole day. We only have competitions Saturdays. That’s it. My school’s a bit low on opportunities. Anyways, the fall semester I’ll have two AP’s to take care of, one of which is very easy to get an A, as i hear from previous students.
Plus i have very good time management skills. I can stay on top of things.</p>
<p>“Well, debate club is only once a week anyways, from 2:30 to 3:45. It can’t take up too much time.”</p>
<p>If you plan to fundraise so debate club can go on trips, you’ll need to be involved more than 1 hour and 15 minutes every week. In fact, if you’re really involved as a true leader/organizer in any club, it will take more time out of your schedule than the meetings do.</p>
<p>Yes thats true and like i’ve said debate club DOES take more time out of my schedule than the meetings because i do practice debating at home, gathering info for the topics, developing arguments, etc etc. As far as fundraising goes, we can do it DURING school hours, as that would be the best time to raise money. So, there’s no need to extend the fundraising outside of school hours.</p>
<p>If you don’t believe us about the amount of administrative work involved in planning and running an event, go to your library and get/request from interlibrary loan a book by Joan Flanagan called The Grassroots Fundraising Handbook. She’ll take you step by step through the planning for a range of special events. The book is old, so some of the prices quoted will be outdated, but the organizational information is wonderful.</p>
<p>The professional association for fundraisers is AFP, Association of Fundraising Professionals. You might check the website to see whether your area has a local chapter.</p>
<p>I agree with the other posters, by the way, that you’re probably headed for failure. At least that will make an unusual topic for your essay!</p>
<p>I’m late to this thread, but as a professional fundraiser for a non-profit, I have coordinated and managed numerous fundraisiers over the years, and I agree with everything northstarmom posted above. </p>
<p>My suggestion: contact your local chapter of the ACS or another local nonprofit and see what fundraisers/special events they are already planning, and volunteer for the event committee. Most nonprofits are looking eagerly for ways to get younger people involved in their organizations; many have “junior” committees that are designed to build new audiences for events among a younger demographic. Young members of these committees can take on all sorts of tasks such as raising funds from ticket sales (often at reduced junior prices) from their friends, participating in soliciting corporate sponsorships directly, developing an element of the event that is particularly appealing to young people. </p>
<p>Here’s a made-up example using your golf tournament idea. Non profits usually develop prospect lists for sponsorships, usually broken down into target goals: $1,000, $5,000, etc. A business might be on that list already targeted for a request at the $2,500 level. sponsorship package for a golf event might be 8 tickets to the tournament and dinner for $$2,000. The organization tries to have someone who already has a relationship of personal connection to the prospect make the request. So, if person A knows the business manager at company X and makes the ask, that person has raised that amount of money for the nonprofit. There really is no need to re-invent the wheel with another event. Figure out a way to get involved with what the organization is already doing, and if it’s the fundraising aspect that interests you, that’s fine, but work within the structure of the organization to support it.</p>
<p>Fundraising events such as golf tournament usually begins 10 to 12 months in advance (so planning would start now for a summer 2011 event). Fundraising events also are structured around a working event committee and often an “honorary committee” (those are the “names” that will add luster to the event, ad they will often pay more for their tickets). </p>
<p>You might consider approaching other local, smaller non-profits in your community with your idea rather than the ACS, which by virtue of its size, structure and scope, runs on a more complicated bureaucracy.</p>
<p>I don’t believe I have ignored the hard work behind the fundraising. I agree that it will be tough. I’ve wanted to try. </p>
<p>And if i fail, then like what Woodwork said, I’ll have an unique essay to write about! </p>
<p>But i want to try. </p>
<p>Orchestramom, thanks for the advice! i will assent and focus on smaller non-profits then or I will try to get inside the “junior” committee of other non-profits. Thank you everybody!</p>
<p>i’ve ran golf tourn fundraisers and i dont understand why you are focussed on this type of fundraiser for your project. i’ve not heard you say that you golf, so i’m assuming you haven’t played in a golf fundraiser and don’t know how they are run, right? i’ve spent months organizing a golf tourny and it takes a great deal of work and organization, as well as some knowledge of how a golf fundraise is run. an above poster gave some numbers as to money raised per team, and where i live the numbers are quite different. we make very little off the golf itself (because of our demographics and lack of corporate sponsors, the people are not usually willing to pay more than a usual round of golf) the money is made on $50/$100/$200 hole sponsorships (from people close to the cause of the fundraiser) and then a silent auction. why go to your school principal for permission? i get the feeling that you are hoping to present this to your school and then have someone who knows how to run this take it over. is that it? it’s really a project that should be undertaken by someone who is familiar with how golf tourn. run and who has connections to golf so that you can encourage people to play. some golf tourn. are really successful, but i’ve seen many fall flat (and have only a handful of participants and little or no hole sponsors).
why not pick something more attainable for a project? here’s a link i pass on to students often - the prudential spirit of community award is given to 100 students annually for their service projects. i’d say to take a look and see if there’s something in this list that you may be able to undertake in your area, even on a smaller scale then was done for the award. here’s the main site: [Spirit</a> of Community Home Page](<a href=“http://spirit.prudential.com/view/page/soc]Spirit”>http://spirit.prudential.com/view/page/soc) . click on ‘project descriptions’ and see what you can find.</p>
<p>’
And if i fail, then like what Woodwork said, I’ll have an unique essay to write about! '</p>
<p>That comment as well as the fact that you originally posted your thread on the College Admissions board cause me to infer that your main reason for wanting to do the golf tournament project is that you’re looking for something that may impress schools like Yale.</p>
<p>If that is your reason, I doubt that you’ll impress top schools like Yale, which interview their students.</p>
<p>The interviewers – who are alum many of whom have volunteered extensively since high school – are going to be suspect of someone who after doing some relatively minor volunteering that didn’t involve fundraising – suddenly decides to take on a major project that any veteran fundraiser – including high school students – would know is not possible to be done by an inexperienced high school student.</p>
<p>In addition, you’re not likely to get an essay out of that because essays are due in the fall. Presumably the golf tournament would be scheduled for after essays are due. It takes many months to plan a golf tournament. </p>
<p>If what you really want to do is polish your resume, then you’ll be far more effective by spending much more time, effort and creativity improving the organizations you’re already involved with. For instance, the fundraiser for debate club that you think will be so easy is likely to take far more time and thought than you’re now imagining – at least if you want to do it at an effective level as well as at a level that could help you stand out in admissions. I’m sure that there are many other things that you could be doing to improve debate club.</p>
<p>I know i won’t start the golf tourney. I said that in my second to last post. Im only going to focus on doing minor volunteering events for local non-profits. This is not for College APPs though.</p>
<p>Hmm…well i’d be lying if i said that impressing Yale wasn’t one (of many) reasons in doing the fundraising project.</p>
<p>And you make a great point of creating a killer fundraiser for the Debate Club, one that would even help me stand out in admissions. You’re right, in fact. And that’s what i’ll do. Ill just focus on Debate and my other extracurriculars. In fact, this was my original plan but then i got caught up in the hype of doing this fundraiser because a) my lack of extensive volunteering to begin with b) I really thought i could benefit my community by doing this.</p>
<p>Yeah, I agree with most of the posters on the thread. No offense or anything, but considering your extensive history with College Confidential, I’d say admissions has a large part to do with you desire to start the fundraiser.</p>
<p>But that’s not to say that ACS wouldn’t appreciate the money anyway (: Wish you the best on your fundraiser!</p>
<p>I’m late to the party too - I’ll just say that a local Scout troop does a golf tournament fundraiser every year. It takes about three months for them to put it together - and that’s with knowledge of how it ran in past years, and a couple of adults doing most of the organizational work (in their spare time). It takes a while to get enough participants and donated prizes. They also get a lot of the money by having folks sponsor holes - they pony up modest sums and get their name or logo on a small sign at the hole (tee or hole as they wish). There is also a need for a few volunteers on the day or so before the event to do various chores. </p>
<p>It’s a great fundraiser, but I wouldn’t tackle it as a high school kid with limited experience.</p>
<p>In order to get sponsors, I would just cold-call a number of businesses in the area. I am sure that at least a few will donate seeing as it is ‘for a good cause’ as well as advertising. You just have to make sure that it comes across as legitimate.</p>
<p>I am not sure if this applies to all schools, but at my school there is a ‘service-learning’ faculty member who generally manages the community service projects. Speaking to someone in this role at your school (if there is someone…) would also probably be helpful.</p>
<p>I thought multiple monikers for one poster on CC wasn’t allowed…</p>
<p>You aren’t hiding your desire for awards for ECs solely to impress elite colleges, fresh. A previous post of yours under your former moniker (fresh101):</p>
<p>“IF i want to apply to HYMSC, how do i stand out, in terms of EC accomplishment, at a below average public high school, at a place where opportunities are severly limited?
I’ve done the best i can to distinguish myself but i feel like it’s not good enough, like it’s not competitive enough.”</p>