Is your Arts & Crafts Club in need of some extra funding for supplies? Organize one of these fundraising ideas to help your nursing facility raise money.

1. Bake Sale

One of the most popular fundraising events for activity departments is the bake sale. It’s relatively easy to set up: using just a table and the baked goods. This idea works extremely well if your facility has a Baking Club who can contribute some of the homemade desserts. In addition, you have the option to bring in your kitchen staff to make a few baked goods as well.

Keys to Raising the Most Cash:

• Specify a minimum donation instead of set prices for the individual baked goods. For example, make a sign that states “Minimum Donation: $1 per item” and set out a donation jar for patrons to place their cash. Most patrons will end up donating more.
• Specify why you are having a fundraiser. Be sure to create a sign that states where the money is going and why (e.g., Arts & Crafts Fundraising to buy more supplies). By telling patrons why you need the money, you may end up receiving donations of the actual supplies that you need.
• Have a centerpiece dessert on your table. Entice passersby to stop at your table by showcasing a pretty dessert (e.g., baked goods topped with chocolate ganache, pretty strawberries, or festive sprinkles).

2. Resident Cookbooks

At a nursing facility, you can find many residents with years of cooking experience and therefore lots of recipes. Why not just record their recipes in a document and print out an easy cookbook to sell to staff and family members? Be sure to use the season as inspiration for the cookbook, like a Summer Fruit Pie cookbook during the summer or a Holiday Cookbook during the winter holidays.

Keys to Raising the Most Cash:

• Add the resident’s name to the title of the recipes, like “Cora’s Strawberry Pie” or “Martha’s Blueberry Cheesecake.”
• Debut the cookbooks at one of your facility’s family events so that family members will purchase them.

3. Rock-a-Thon

If your facility has rocking chairs, organize a fun rocking chair fundraising event in which pledgers donate a specific dollar amount per hour. Send out letters to family members ahead of time asking them to pledge money for each hour that their loved one rocks in a rocking chair.

 Keys to Raising the Most Cash:

• Set a maximum amount to be collected. If pledgers know that there is a maximum amount that can be collected from them, then they are more likely to pledge. For example, ask family members to pledge $5 per hour for a maximum total contribution of $20.
• Create a form for family members to fill out and send back with their donations, with an option for them to automatically send a check for $20 if they do not want to wait until after the Rock-a-Thon to find out how much money they owe.

4. Arts & Crafts Fair

Organize fun arts and crafts activities for your residents to complete throughout a given week or month that can be sold during an Arts & Crafts Fair at the end of the month.

Keys to Raising the Most Cash:

• Make things that people can use, like decorated tea towels, tie-dyed t-shirts, or bookmarks.
• Near the end of the fair, be willing to negotiate your prices in order to sell all of your items.

About notjustbingo.com

notjustbingo.com is an online resource of fun, senior activity ideas for activity professionals of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. They have been providing fun activity ideas online since 2009, and we continue to assist activity professionals across the country by creating meaningful and engaging activity ideas for their residents that go “beyond bingo.” Don’t get them wrong – bingo is fun, but we want to spread the word that there is more to life than just bingo. Overall, notjustbingo.com feels privilege to help activity directors better the living experiences of their residents while demonstrating that a senior’s quality of life can actually improve when they move to a nursing facility.