Relay For Life Wish Bracelets an easy DIY fundraiser! - revisited!

Note: This blog contains Amazon Affiliate links.  Why?  When you make your Amazon purchases through these links, a portion of your purchase comes back to me, and I turn around and donate it to RELAY!!!

This time last year, I posted about a super easy, cheap, and awesome fundraiser.  At the time, I thought I was just sharing a small handy idea, but it went VIRAL!  Since the original post, I have sold over 3,350 bracelets in the form of a DIY kit, so I thought it would be the perfect time to revisit, and repost the instructions!

I have learned since the first batch, that waxed cotton cord works WAY better for staying in place, and is easier to tie knots in- so you will not that change below :)

If you have ever spent time over in the orient, you know about wish bracelets.  The legend says that you tie one on (over in Thailand they are actually red string) and make a wish- when it wears off, your wish comes true!  Now, over the years I had completely forgotten about those cute little bracelets, until I went through some old boxes while organizing and found one!  And, as usual I said...

Oh!  There's a fundraiser in that!

I really do say that out loud in case you are wondering.  True story.

So anyway, I went to work figuring out how to make these little do dads, and it turns out- SUPER easy, and SUPER cheap!  So hey- what kind of Relay friend would I be if I didn't tell you how you can do it to?

Here's what you need (but remember- be creative- if you have something similar in your craft pile or can get it donated- even better!)

- 4 by 6 Cardstock (I chose to order postcards from Overnight Prints - it ended up being better quality than printing them at home)

- A hole punch (I like this one, because it punches small holes and looks really professional!)

- Scissors (UH PURPLE ONES!  Fiskars are my favorite, they last forever, and can handle being sharpened)

- 8mm round beads with a 1mm hole (I use purple cat's eye, but have found many people like multi colored ones)

- 1mm waxed cotton cord (the purple stuff in the photo above)
**note** if you are buying your stuff at a local craft store, hemp works well to!


OK, here we go.

This is so easy you are going to want to kiss me.

                                                     Thread both strings through your bead. 

Tie a simple knot on the right side of the bead (make sure it is centered)

 It will look like this when you pull it tight.

 Then tie another simple knot on the left side of the bead.

 Punch holes to string the bracelet through on your card.

String the bracelet through the holes you just punched.  Tie left over string in a bow in the back.

Now flip it back over and admire your handy work.  Isn't that the easiest thing ever!?!?

Not only are these awesome to sell as an easy fundraiser, but they would make great survivor gifts for your events (I have seen a few titled "A Survivors Wish").  And, if you don't have the time to make them yourself, I have a bulk pack listed on Etsy that you can buy for super cheap!  Happy crafting loves!

                        What little amount I make from the kits gets donated to Relay For Life!

Find the purple kit here!

 Find the multi-color kit here!

Find the pink kit here!

                  

What Not Say To An Avid Relayer....ever.

How can you do all of that?  You don't even get paid!

No, we don't get paid.  It's called volunteering.  We get paid by the good feeling we get from helping other people.

Don't you have enough Relay shirts?

Um, no.  We think of it  like this.  We have to wear clothes, might as well put something on that helps our cause.

Oh my gosh I could never stay up all night!

Really?

Oh!  You do Relay?  You should totally sign up for Komen with me!

Good for you!  I don't have the time or money for stuff like that.

Just take a step away from the Trivia Crack, mmmmmm kay?  We make the time, because we believe in what we do.  And, on that whole money thing... I've seen broke college students do Relay, so.....

Don't you get tired of begging people for money all of the time?

Nope.

Most of the money you raise just goes to pay CEO's anyway.

I'm just gonna leave this right here.....

Relay again?  Don't you ever think of anything else?

Nope.


But I gave to you last year!

 

Newsflash- we still have a LOT more work to do to cure cancer.

And last but not least, this one goes out to my buddy Grant- this ACTUALLY happened last night.
When someone puts a dollar bill in a donation jar, only to pull it out when they realize it doesn't go to one specific person.

because apparently curing cancer is not enough of a cause?

One things for sure- we are NOT sorry for curing cancer.  We believe in our mission, and know our work is saving lives.  Now, can I interest you in a new Relay shirt?

Love it?  Throw me a tip!  http://www.main.acsevents.org/goto/CancerMan

or like Cancer Man on Facebook <3

Affordable T-Shirt Quilts from Project Repat = LOVE

RELAY SHIRTS.  I have a million.  You have a million.  What in the world do you do with them all?

Over Christmas I was looking for a great gift for my sister in law and my niece that would help them remember my mother-in-law who passed away in April.  I had boxes and boxes and boxes of her clothing, so the most meaningful choice was, of course, a t-shirt quilt.  But, I quickly ran into a problem- having t-shirt quilts made is EXTREMELY expensive.  Not there was a price on my love for my SIL and niece, but I just couldn't swing $700 per quilt.

So- I turn to my BFF Google to try to find a more affordable option, and up pops Project Repat.  I was... skeptical.  A T-shirt quilt for just over $100?  HOW are they pulling this off with good quality?  I pulled the trigger to find out.  I was, VERY impressed.  Turns out they are not quilting your t-shirts, which is a much more labor-intensive process.  They patch work all of your shirts together, and then use a recycled polar fleece for the back.  It is warm, it is cozy, and it is amazing. Even better?  They are all made right here in the US.

So, after seeing how amazing the memorial quilts came out, I got to thinking- how can I use this for Relay?  It just so happened that I had several boxes of extra hoodies from our Pink Out event in October.  To make a long story short, I thought I was being smart by ordering extra hoodies to sell at the game.  BUT, Oklahoma weather decided to give us a warm 85 degree fall night, so naturally they didn't sell.

Then it hit me- BOOM.  Use Project Repat to turn those bad boys into a blanket to auction off Relay night!  I placed my order, prepped the hoodies and t's, and shipped them off to Project Repat.  3 weeks later, the most amazing thing arrived at my door step!

I am so excited about it!  And you bet your butt I will be bidding on it Relay night, because I am kind of in love. 

So, Project Repat being the awesome company they are, has offered to give me $10 for Relay For Life for each referral I send them.  DOUBLE WIN, with this link you also get 10% off!  So get all of those participant and Relay fundraising shirts out from the back of your closet and make something amazing you will use (or better, will make you money for Relay!)

With HOPE,
Cassi

BIG Changes are coming to Facebook in January 2015 - and it effects Relayers - MUST READ INFO!

I know that everyone is winding down for the holidays, but I came across something this week that I need to share with you in order to help you make 2015 a successful fundraising year for you!  As we gear up for 2015, a lot of you will be getting ready to ask for some serious donations.  I'm here to share some major changes Facebook is making to how news feeds work, and to tell you how to adjust to make sure you are still getting much needed donation to find a cure for cancer.

To put it in a nutshell (and without boring or confusing you with Facebook algorithms and how they work), I have seen dramatic decreases in the amount of engagement in Relay related Facebook posts over the last several months- including ones made by Relay For Life pages for events (so, not just my personal page or the Cancer Man Page).  This has resulted in a massive decrease in donors via Facebook (and will continue to).  You see before now, I would tell you to go home, personalize your Relay page, and post links on Facebook to get your donations going.  Unfortunately folks, it looks like Facebook isn't going to be your gold mine for donations the way it once was.

Starting January 1st, Facebook will be making a change to what goes into individual news feeds.  They have already been rolling this out and testing it, which explains my massive decrease in results.  The goal is to 1) Make sure FB users are seeing the content they want to see (and not feel like it is all page advertisements, or in our case, asking for donations), and 2) to make sure that businesses that want to be seen are PAYING to be seen.  The reason that is such a big problem is, of course, we are non profit, and are not going to spend millions of dollars on advertising when we could be curing cancer (and also, in my personal opinion they are a big fat waste of money- see here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVfHeWTKjag).

In other words, because of Facebook algorithms going into place, something like a picture of my Christmas card will easily get to the top of news feeds, and get a lot of likes and comments (and, I do have an awesome card, but wait until you see the difference between the two posts).

However, a post I make about needing a donation for Relay For Life may only be seen by a few people, and chances are the people who do see it are going to be fellow volunteers, not potential new donors.

Shout out to my boy Russell Keeler for the like!

The worst part is, these posts are from now- in January it will get worse. 

If you would like to read the full release by Facebook you can read it here:
https://www.facebook.com/business/news/update-to-facebook-news-feed



It is CRITICAL to our success that I get this information out to my fellow volunteers!  If we go into meetings and say, "YEAH!  Just post it on Facebook, everyone will donate!" volunteers are going to experience failure and be very frustrated right off the bat.  If it frustrated me, I know it's going to frustrate you.

Here's what you CAN do to increase your chances for success with personal donations in 2015.

-SEND SNAIL MAIL asking for donations this year.

Why snail mail?  The image above says it all!  How excited were you to get Christmas cards in the mail this year?  Mailed donation requests should go out to everyone you have an address for- and then call your parents and ask to borrow their address book to.  Hey, no shame- not going to apologize for curing cancer.  If you send snail mail, it is at least going to get opened.  With an email it may be automatically deleted, and on Facebook/Twitter/IG- scrolled through.

AND, if you are going to take the time to mail out the letters, then take the time to make your letter personal.  The pre-made ones are great, but they don't tell YOUR story.  If you want some letter ideas, I've got a blog post for that!

-Face to face interactions.  I know, I know- who does that anymore?  But guess what?  Its time to bring it back baby!  Have coffee with a friend and make an ask, ask your co-workers, ask your boss- TO THEIR FACE. 

-Instead of posting your Relay link on Facebook, and just saying, please help me cure cancer!  Post a video of you asking people to donate and telling your story.  Why do you Relay?  What services do we offer?  Talk from the heart! 

-Use Facebook to redirect an ask.  For example, someone like me who has a blog would make the ask in a blog post.  Then post a link to the blog on Facebook with a catchy title like-Why I will not apologize for curing cancer (with a picture!!!)

-When you do make an ask on Facebook, you need to make it CREATIVE. Don't use a meme (a picture with text overlay like my warm fuzzy above will be buried with the new algorithm.) Remember the purple mustache challenge?  That worked!  It was creative and different, and got a lot of views and donations!

-If you see another Relayer posting about a fundraiser, asking for donations, etc, like and comment on it.  This will tell the FB algorithm that the content is interesting, and release it to more news feeds.  You guys all wonder why I am always commenting on your stuff, right?  Well now you know that I am not ACTUALLY a stalker, I just want you to be successful!

Now, I know you are thinking- holy crapola- what will work and what won't? Kevan Lee does a great job of explaining what the algorithm likes, and what it doesn't.  Now, keep in mind, this may be much stricter come January, but it is a great starting point for those of you more interested in wrapping your head around this entire concept. See it here :)

I don't want you guys thinking that posting on Facebook for donations isn't worth it anymore- IT CAN BE, if you do it the right way.  After all, even a small amount of donations is better than NO donations at all.

That being said, I DO want you guys to go into 2015 prepared.  Be ready to do things a little differently than you have in the past, and be open to new ideas!  We were amazing fundraisers BEFORE Facebook, and we can still be amazing fundraisers now. 

So, let's open up this blog post for conversation.  What has been working for you?  Do you have any creative ideas?  Share below so we can all benefit! 

With Hope,
Cassi

Not every fundraiser is a smashing success, and that's ok!

So Cancer Man and I came up with the best fundraising idea ever for Christmas time (not the Poo-pourri, I am talking about the OTHER genius idea)

What do you get someone for Christmas that has EVERYTHING?

A Warm Fuzzy!

This idea came from a story Wes' friend Sheri Ingham told him in kindergarten.  It goes like this:

The Warm Fuzzy Story (adapted from Claude Steiner’s original tale)

Many years ago, on a little island, lived a bunch of happy people. They loved their

friendly little island with its beautiful trees, water, and sand. The islanders had a special

tradition of trading warm fuzzies with each other. Warm fuzzies were like little balls of pure

love that made everyone feel good all over.

People would offer warm fuzzies freely, and if you needed one all you had to do was

ask. Even people you didn’t know would reach into their pockets and pull out a warm fuzzy,

and just give it to you! Every warm fuzzy was like a big hug from a friend. And there were

always plenty of warm fuzzies to go around.

Everyone felt safe and loved and they all helped each other to feel safe and loved.

But one day a grouchy, grumbly, mumbly tourist came to visit the island. He didn’t

understand what everyone was doing but he was sure he didn’t like it. He kept cold prickles

in his pockets and warm fuzzies didn’t make any sense to him. So he decided that he would

tell a lie to the islanders, to convince them to stop with all that warm fuzzy business.

The grouchy tourist told the islanders that their warm fuzzies were the most precious

things in the world. He told them that instead of sharing them, they should be keeping them.

What if the world supply of warm fuzzies ran out? What would they do then?

All of a sudden the islanders began worrying and acting selfishly, keeping their warm

fuzzies to themselves. And a funny thing happened. When people stopped sharing their

warm fuzzies, people stopped receiving warm fuzzies. Instead of everyone feeling warm and

fuzzy inside, they started to feel cold and prickly inside. This made everyone kind of sad,

everyone except for that grouchy tourist that is.

Thank goodness something nice happened next. You see, one of the islanders had left

for college. She came home to visit and brought her warm fuzzies with her. When she

arrived home, she started giving warm fuzzies to everyone she saw. The islanders started to

realize what they were missing and that they had made a mistake. Holding onto their warm

fuzzies didn’t make them happier, it made them miserable. They figured out that giving their

warm fuzzies away not only made their friends happy, it made them happy too.

The good news is that we can be just like those islanders! We can give warm fuzzies,

like these cute little pom poms. But we can also give warm fuzzies that are sparkly, little,

fluffy, imaginary balls of happy. You see, when we offer a kind word or help someone to feel

better, that’s the best kind of warm fuzzy there is.

So, last year Cancer Man kept bringing up this idea, but we just couldn't find poof-balls big enough.  This year, we revisited the idea, but with a more creative outlook- how can we MAKE them big enough?  We ended up buying roll after roll of yarn, googly eyes, and testing out different methods until we found one that worked!  The final product was about 6" in diameter!

Then we posted on Facebook: 

THIS FRIDAY, SATURDAY, AND SUNDAY ONLY! Make a donation of $25 or more to Cancer Man at http://www.main.acsevents.org/goto/CancerMan and Cancer Man will ship a gift wrapped Warm Fuzzy to a gift recipient (or you!), with a note saying you donated to Relay For Life on their behalf for Christmas. Cancer Man makes all of these himself! Give someone a gift with some major love in it that will help us support cancer patients, and help us find a cure for cancer!

Simply leave the name and address of the person you want it sent to in the "private note for the person you are supporting" section on the donate page, and we will do the rest! Thank you all for your support!

We thought SURELY we would have so many donors that we would be making warm fuzzies up until the last day we could ship them for Christmas delivery (and I know $25 is high, but I needed them to be substantial enough donations for me to cover the shipping costs out of my pocket).

Guess how many donors we had?
ZERO.

Yup, that's right, not a one.  The good news is we have something REALLY cute to take cancer patients when we go visit them.  Plus, we can always revisit the idea in the future, and I had a great time crafting with my favorite super hero :)

So, why am I telling you about our fail?  Because, it is important for me to show you guys that even the big fundraisers stumble sometimes.  Not every fundraiser is a smashing success.  What matters is, we learn from it, find the good, and move on to the next thing.  After all, you will never know what is going to work, and what isn't going to work unless you get out there and try SOMETHING.

So get out there and do it- #relaybig

With hope,
Cassi

Relay For Life Passive Fundraising

I know, I know- I am the guru of posting out of the box and creative fundraising ideas, but did you know my 10K team doesn't get to our goal each year by only hosting BIG fundraisers?  That's right- I like to stagger BIG fundraisers with passive ones, so that my team doesn't get burned out, and we can spend more time concentrating on our big yearly events.  This really helps if you want to start fundraising all year, but you are not sure where to start!

So, what is a passive fundraiser?  Well, put simply, it is a fundraiser where you don't have to do a whole heck of a lot, but you still make money for Relay!  Who doesn't love the idea of that?  These ideas are all a great way to get your feet wet if you are a new team as well.

Here are a few of my favorites, but remember, use the connections that you have to make something happen!

Direct Sales Parties-
You know what I am talking about- that friend you have who is always giving you catalogs and asking you to have a party?  But you really don't want to, because that would mean cleaning the whole house, feeding people, and being a hostess?  Well, call the friend up- because having an ONLINE party is the perfect way to host a passive fundraiser!  With modern technology you can invite everyone, no one has to leave the house, and people can buy something they want!  Here's the catch- ask your friend if they would be willing to donate more to you than the normal hostess commission since you aren't doing this for profit (and of course, you will forgo the normal freebies you get from having a party so you can get more Relay funds!) Let them know that they can write the check directly to American Cancer Society, so they will get the tax write off that comes with the donation!  Distributors (or Consultants depending on the company) have always been really happy to help us out.  Think: Origami Owl, Scentsy, Avon, Mary Kay, Thirty-One, Tupperware, and Pampered Chef just to name a few.  Did a light bulb just go off?  I know you know someone who sells one of those things!

Before Christmas my team did one of these fundraisers with Origami Owl, partly because I was planning on buying some O2 for Christmas gifts anyway!  I figured, if I was going to buy some, other people were probably going to order to!  Jennifer (my friend who is the rep for them) took care of all of the hard work for us- she created a Facebook page, posted pictures, and answered everyone's questions.  I literally just shared what she posted with my Facebook friends!  When it was all said and done, I had Christmas done for hard to shop for people on my list, and we raised $237.05 for Relay.  Seriously- do you know how many cookies you have to bake to make that much at a bake sale?  Too many!  The furthest I had to go for this fundraiser was my mailbox when my order came in!  If you need an Origami Owl Rep, leave me a note below and I will send you Jenn's email address- she will take good care of you!

Party Of Gold
So speaking of "parties" have you ever been to one where you got PAID instead of spending money?  Yeah.  You and your guests will walk away with a check in your hands, and not just a check for Relay.  How?  Party Of Gold.  You have a rep come to you, and you bring your old, broken, x boyfriend, and out of style gold.  They weigh it, and make you an offer on the spot.  If you accept (which you will, because they have the most competitive rates) the rep writes you a check ON THE SPOT!  How is this a fundraiser?  The rep will write your event a check for 15% of their total profit from the event.  No, 15% doesn't sound like much, but when everyone you know comes to the party to make money, it adds up extremely fast.  Even better?  if someone can't make it the day of, they can fill out a form to leave with you, and they will get a call the day of the party with an offer.  Bonus points if you can find a local business to let you have it at their location- then you can invite your entire Relay and community out!  Here's another neat little bonus, for every party booked through you that does $500 in sales or more, the rep will give you an additional $50 donation.  So, uh, shameless promotion, if you live in Oklahoma, talk to my rep, Shelley, at (405) 371-8784 and tell her Cheryl Smith and Cassi Selby sent ya!  Our next gold party is Saturday, I will let you know how much we raise!

Work with a company or business to earn a percentage

One of my team mates, Jacy, made this sweet little deal happen.  She found a local distributor who was selling breast cancer awareness sports socks.  She originally contacted him to see if we could get some at wholesale to resell for profit, but the owner had an even better idea.  For every pair of socks sold in our town, he is donating $2 of his profit to us!  The socks were already all set up to sell at a really popular local boutique called It's All About Moi!, so all we had to do was tell people they were there!

The event chair for Relay For Life of Washita County told me about something they do that is similar to this when we had lunch today.  They have a local gas station that gives them a percentage of every fountain drink they sell!  Sarah has a nifty little Relay blog to, if you want to check it out, you can find it here. 

But don't think this concept stops at products! Small business owners are your BFF when it comes to passive fundraising.

Cancer Man has a partnership with Jessica Ma'ilo who is a travel agent that specializes in Disney trips and cruises.  If someone mentions Cancer Man when booking, she gives a percentage of her commission to him!  How easy is that? 

If you are a Disney freak like me (guilty as charged!), you might also enjoy her blog- Magic, Memories, Mayhem

He also has a partnership with Crystal Klear Images.  Crystal is an amazing photographer (she shot our wedding!), and she generously offered to come to our town for a day of mini sessions, and is donating 50% to Wesley's fundraising! 

Recycling
Have a printer?  Know someone who does?  Of course you do!  Did you know you can recycle your empty printer cartridges for cash?  My team uses Empties 4 Cash for this service, and it couldn't be easier.  They will send you a pre paid shipping label, you fill up a box with empties, and send it in.  In a few weeks, you get a check!  You can ask local businesses to donate their old cartridges to you to- it is a super easy way for them to help you out without spending any money!

There you have it!  The easiest fundraisers out there!  Try one out today, and see how easy passive fundraising can be!

As always, thank you for joining the mission to finish the fight against cancer!

Cassi

Relay For Life Wish Bracelets an easy DIY fundraiser!

So I have a gem of an idea for you guys today!  If you have ever spent time over in the orient, you know about wish bracelets.  The legend says that you tie one on (over in Thailand they are actually red string) and make a wish- when it wears off, your wish comes true!  Now, over the years I had completely forgotten about those cute little bracelets, until I went through some old boxes while organizing and found one!  And, as usual I said...

Oh!  There's a fundraiser in that!

I really do say that out loud in case you are wondering.  True story.

So anyway, I went to work figuring out how to make these little do dads, and it turns out- SUPER easy, and SUPER cheap!  So hey- what kind of Relay friend would I be if I didn't tell you how you can do it to?

Here's what you need (but remember- be creative- if you have something similar in your craft pile or can get it donated- even better!)

- 4 by 6 Cardstock (I chose to order postcards from Overnight Prints - it ended up being cheaper and better quality than printing them at home)
-A hole punch
- 8mm round beads (I ordered purple cat's eye- fit the "Cancer Man" theme I was going for)
- 1mm cotton cord (the purple stuff above)
- .7 mm silver nylon beading cord
**note** if you are buying your stuff at a local craft store, hemp works well to,  You don't HAVE to have two cord colors, that is just what I went with!

Here is the usual disclaimer about my fingers.  I make tie dye for a living- seriously.  It's my full time job!  So, yes, my fingers look yuck.  Today I made Girl Scout shirts, so they look green.  If you want to see pretty manicured blogger fingers- you'll have to go somewhere else! HA!

OK, here we go.

This is so easy you are going to want to kiss me.

  Thread both strings through your bead. 

Tie a simple knot on the right side of the bead (make sure it is centered)

 It will look like this when you pull it tight.

 Then tie another simple knot on the left side of the bead.

 Punch holes to string the bracelet through on your card.

String the bracelet through the holes you just punched.

Tie left over string in a bow in the back.

Now flip it back over and admire your handy work.  Isn't that the easiest thing ever!?!?

Not only are these awesome to sell as an easy fundraiser, but they would make great survivor gifts for your events (I have seen a few titled "A Survivors Wish").  And, if you don't have the time to make them yourself, I have a bulk pack listed on Etsy that you can buy for super cheap!  Happy crafting loves!

UPDATE 6/09/14
Due to popular demand I have added DIY kits that include everything you need to make 50 bracelets!
Find the purple kit here!

 

 Find the multi-color kit here!

                      Find ready made purple bracelets here!

 Find ready made multi color bracelets here!