How to Plan a Car Wash Fundraiser

Fundraisers are a great way for groups and organizations to earn money. There are many causes that need help raising money and there are several ways to go about doing it. Car wash fundraisers are simple and have the potential to earn a lot of money.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Determine what your fundraiser is all about. When people hear about a fundraiser, they will want to know what and who the money is going towards. Create fliers or an information sheet that will be available to the public and participants.

2. Schedule the car wash fundraiser. You should set a certain date or dates if you want to do the fundraiser over a few days. If you are going to do this at a public location, see what dates are the best for that location. Ask the local businesses if your dates and times are good for them. Weekend afternoons are often used for the best results.

3. Look for volunteers. Have signup sheets and fliers posted on bulletin boards in the community. You can even post for volunteers on websites like Craigslist.

4. Begin the detailed planning. Figure out who will work and when. If this is going to be an all-day event, you should figure out such scheduling issues as when people will be taking breaks and who will run out for supplies. Don't forget to figure out prices and rates for the customers. You can charge more if you plan on doing towel drying or waxing.

5. Purchase the supplies. It is a good idea to gather the supplies a day or two before the fundraiser: soap, buckets, hoses, sponges, towels, snacks and anything else you think you will need.

6. Create the signs. Have the volunteers make the signs for the car wash. They do not have to be perfect--as long as the customers can see and read the signs, they should be fine. Create enough signs so that you can post them at different locations to bring more people in.

7. Confirm details. Call the volunteers to remind them of their volunteer duties. Make sure the public knows about the fundraiser, especially the local businesses.

8. Set up the car wash fundraiser. Go early to have everything ready. Get the buckets ready, the hoses prepared and the signs put up. Have a checklist to remind yourself of everything you need done. Also, have a roster of everyone that needs to be there and when.

9. At regular intervals, check to see how well the car wash is doing. Collect and count the money. Don't forget to record the amount each time. Make sure that everyone is taking a break when they need to and working when it's required. If supplies are running low, have someone run out to get more.

10. Enforce rules. This is a fundraiser and the volunteers are representing your goals. Because of this, you should have rules that the volunteers should follow. You don't have to be very restricting, but don't let the volunteers get away with being offensive. All rules should be read by the volunteers before the beginning of the fundraiser.

Tips & Warnings

• Have an incentive idea to keep the volunteers inspired and working hard. Contests, drawings and prizes are a great way to do this.
• Check with your city police department to see if this type of fundraiser will need a permit because it takes place publicly.

Who Can Help Sponsored

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[helenal]

on 9/16/2009 Our last carwash fundraiser was amazing! We considered it a big success! A unique way that we managed to get a ton of participation was to use the forms we found on

www.signupgenius.com.

We used the free invitations to invite all of our team's family and friends and then we created a volunteer form that organized all of our volunteers and the items that they should bring. It was a great day, and we put all the money toward our end of year party!

[Coach4U]

on 7/7/2009 This is a good artical about how to set up a charity car wash. "5"