Fund Raising Ideas

[Tyler]

We have all these grand visions, but the true fact of the matter is that we need $$$ to make things happen.  We have a small sum of money at hour disposal through the School of Engineering, but we cannot receive any money from student government this semester.  

So, if we want to do things and not pay for everything out of pocket, we will need some money from somewhere.

What are some fundraising ideas that are out there in the CAOS community?

[raptor]

I've got an idea lets sell 56k modems to an antique store.  LOL I say this even though I'm still on dial-up @ home,  I don't have any other option I live in the sticks.
But seriously a raffle might be good.  There are some really nice computer parts people would like to have.  Getting people to sell the tickets would be the hardest part

[Tyler]

I'm sure a lot of us have spare parts we would be willing to donate.  I have a bunch, and I would be willing to donate them just to get them out of my way.

We could have a raffle, and people can get tickets for $5 or $10 apiece, and then we draw, and the first winner gets first pick of the donated items, and keep going until we're out of stuff.  I'm not sure when a good time to be this would be.  Maybe we could have it in the atrium of the EB at some specified time??

Maybe have boxes, or lots, also available for a higher price/raffle ticket?

Maybe a silent auction during the day, and we call the winners that night?? That would be easier to organize.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this??

[Brad Nunnally]

I like the idea of a silent auction thing, I know a have a couple of things I wouldn't mind donating.

Also, I wil brainstorm and try to come up with any other ideas. As soon as the lightbulb turns on I will let ya know.

Brad Ty Nunnally
CAOS Vice-Pres.

[raptor]

The silent auction is a good idea I think.  We could take donations from individuals, and maybe some of the officers could try to get some items donated from businesses you know the nice stuff :) .
As far as lots I think some of the smaller/lesser items should be put in lots to help get bids in and the larger/nicer items could be put on there own auction block.  That way you wouldn't have like a fifty cent bid on a floppy drive.  
The auction should last more than one day too incase people can't get there.  Maybe a few days or a week.  And then call the winners.

[Brad Nunnally]

Okay I think maybe tying two events into one to maybe get some cash. We talked about doing maybe a bowling night. Maybe we can do both a silent auction and the bowling together. Start the autction at the beginning, only people who register can bid, winners would be annouced at the end of the night. I thought maybe it might work, gain money doing the bowling thing and gain money with the auction.

Brad Ty Nunnally
CAOS Vice-Pres.



"Nothing interferes with my concentration. You could put on an orgy in my office and I wouldn't look up. Well, maybe once."
Isaac Asimov

[raptor]

I also had the idea of a movie night with charged admission. I know that may defeat the idea of a "free" movie night but I know I'd be willing to pay like 2 bucks to watch a movie if it was for a CAOS fundraiser. And I don't mean do it at every movie night just a few.  May not be AS big of a money maker but every little bit helps.  I'd think to sell soda, popcorn, etc. also, but I'm not sure that'd turn over enough profit to make it worth the while.

On a side note the bowling night sounds like a GREAT idea, but I think that the auction shouldn't ONLY be that night, it gives more people a chance to participate which means more money

[Tyler]

I'm a little hesitant about charging for the movie night because if we're going to do that, we just might as well charge dues for joing CAOS.

I also have my doubts about having the silent auction on the bowling night, because at the bowling night will be CS professors and other CS people (most of which donated the stuff and have no desire to buy it back).

I'm thinking the silent auction that goes maybe for a Wednesday and a Thursday in the atrium of EB, and then on Friday we can contact everyone.

[Elizabeth Weber]

If I remember correctly, raffles are not allowed on campus.
Though if you guys are no longer a recognized student organization, it may not matter as much, but it's always best to be aware of the rules you are breaking.  Cheap lunch was technically against the rules too, but the EB has always asserted its superiority over the rest of campus and done as it darn well pleased.

Speaking of, Cheap lunch is, or at least was, a shared venture with all the EB organizations.  Not that it's a huge profit maker split amoungst everyone, but it is something.  The requirement to share in the profits is to supply workers on a rotating basis.

*Someone* should probably pay a visit to the Kimmel Leadership Center in the MUC and get a good handle on what CAOS can and can't do.  They should have some general literature on the subject, a student organization handbook or something.  It would also be a good way to evaluate whether or not you want to become a recognized student organization.  Yes, you get student government money, but its use is restricted to pretty much office supplies.

[Tyler]

I'm still liking a silent auction.  We all have spare parts we'd be willing to donate just to get rid of.  And if we try hard, we'd be able to get some businesses to donate some stuff too, so we can actually auction off new stuff.

[raptor]

Yeah the biggie would be businesses donating new stuff.  Oooo, big nice new fancy shiny computer parts  

[Jerry]

Here's a suggestion:

Compile a list of past CAOS officers and solicite donations from them and their companies.

We have 2 past presidents working at Boeing, one working at Lockheed Martin, one working at IBM.

I haven't kept track of all of the officers, and we would have to do some digging to remember all of their names. But if you get a few donations in the $100 of dollars it could pay off.

---Jerry

[Josh]

Maybe we could make cool keychains out of some computer parts. I can gets us lots of old computer parts.
That is pretty silly idea but maybe somebody can build off of it.

[Tyler]

I have my doubts about that.  I'm just not sure if anyone would buy them.  We are the nerds, so if anybody would already have them, it would be us, and I don't think any of us do.

I'm still digging the silent auction, personally.

[William Grim]

Assuming we get the kinks worked out of a programming competition this April, we could host a larger tournament this fall, inviting area schools.  We'd charge teams from off-campus a small fee to participate.

Then, in the spring, we could invite more schools.  We could just keep expanding each time we do this.

I think something like this could generate good money if handled properly.

[Jerry]

IEEE sells watches with circuit board faces, they make some hefty bucks from them, so there might be a market for key chains.

Hey how about something specifically for CS 140/CS 145, like a t-shirt that says "I took CS 140 at SIUE and all I got was this computer bug" (with the pick of a computer bug of course).  It would have a built in market.

[Brian Glass]

I would think since this is CAOS that it should be something to do with computers obviously.  I don't think the raffle would go over too well unless it was new and up-to-date computer parts because I know that I wouldn't put older parts in my new computer.
I think a great thing to do would be to throw a LAN party in the CS computer lab by the auditorium.  There is plenty of room and plenty of computers.  Install like America's Army on the all computers and the newest drivers for the GeForce 5200 for the night and then when all of the gaming is over for the night, ghost the original image back onto them.  Computer specs are pretty good to play AA.  Have like a $5 cover charge for like two or three hours of play.  You could have prizes for having the most kills and objectives completed.  Pretty much its just a great way to have fun, introduce people to CAOS that don't know what CAOS is, and a really neat way to raise money.
I throw LAN parties at my house monthly and its a kick playing AA for 10 hours straight.  Just an idea to throw out there.

A little side note, not for raising money , but for CAOS in general.  I think another great way to get more people into CAOS is to have Case Modding Competitions.  You could introduce different disciplines such as mechanical for building cases and electrical for wiring some neat gadgets into the computers.  If the LAN party does happen to go over for some night, I'll bring my computer in and show everyone what I'm talking about.

[Tyler]

I sure the like the modding competition idea.

http://www.antifusion.com/mymods.php

[Brian Glass]

Awesome!  I think case modding has potential for CAOS.
Also I forgot to mention that Jerry's idea for the t-shirt would great.  I would buy one just because I don't like to wear namebrand clothes :-) and to help out CAOS.

[Tyler]

lamonica suggests the following (converted from a redundant post)

Background
Students who are taking CS classes at SIUE can use ELMS to download Microsoft development software (VS.NET, the MSDN, MS Access, various SDKs) for free.  This is a great service that the CS department spends about a thousand dollars a semester to provide.  On top of the initial expense we have to support the system as well.  Greg and I have automated the system to cut down on time spent with day to day tasks.  However, there is still on time-consuming task that we are trying to eliminate.   That is where you come in. ;-)

Idea
Many of the students eligible for MSDNAA downloads are new to computers and so have trouble installing and configuring a complicated piece of software like Visual Studio .NET.  I would be willing to teach a number of CAOS volunteers how to install and configure it so that they could then help students having trouble for donations (or a fee).  I would even forward students who contact me (or contact Microsoft and are forward to me) to CAOS.  The install process is not hard for a seasoned computer nerd and the service would be of great value to students who would otherwise be stuck using lab computers to work on their homework.  Most students just need someone on the other end of a phone to tell them when to click â€Ã...“Nextâ€Ã, and when to click â€Ã...“Cancel.â€Ã,  So if you could arrange payment then you might not need to leave your dorm-room.
 

[Brad Nunnally]

This sounds pretty good. I know when I first came here I already had some programming skills, but they were in Visual Studio 6. When I was told about .Net I was lost for the first few programs. I think this would help alot of people out there.

Brad Ty Nunnally
CAOS Vice-Pres

"Someday I would like to meet the person that looks at the world through my eyes." Me  :lol:

[The_ME]

We could deliver caffiene during exam time. Setup a small site use paypal or something. Have students order caffiene and we deliver it. We could sell caffiene pills, drinks, chocolate espresso beans, and other various things.

By exam times, I do not mean during the exam. That would kick ass if we did.

[Ross Mead]

Wow, that's like border-line crack delivery...

I LUV IT!!! :-P

One thing to keep in mind though is the caffiene intake of someone who might be ordering from us.  Sure, they could buy some anywhere, but if they buy a whole bunch from US and then end up ODing on it we're in a whole world of trouble.  I do like the idea, but we have to be aware of the dangers of selling something like that...

[The_ME]

We could hack together a few ipod battery packs and sell thoses.

Or find some other hacks and sell those. The idea comes partly from the title of this article: "5 gadgets you can't buy."

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2004/12/21/cx_de_1221hackgadgets.html?partner=rss

[Brad Nunnally]

Leave it to an ME to want to mod up some stuff to sell.
Just messing with ya  :-D.

I love the idea for "dealing" caffine, takes me back to the old days when I was a hard-knock on the streets. :lol:

Brad Ty Nunnally
CAOS Vice-Pres.