Market Your Fundraising Program

Flea market aids Mason programs

The weather did not cooperate all weekend, but Saturday’s good weather certainly brought out the bargain hunters at the Wampatuck Masons’ Flea Market at the Tri-Town Masonic Temple in East Bridgewater.

The Wampatuck Lodge of Hanson residents, is one of three lodges that share the temple on Route 27. The Puritan Lodge of Whitman and the Shatucket Lodge of East Bridgewater also use the building for meetings and events.

From pet treats to new clothing, cosmetics to curios and jewelry, as well as a slew of sports memorabilia, antiques and attic treasures, the annual market has been a  staple of the lodge’s fundraising efforts to fill the coffers of a scholarship program. This year, the Wampatuck Masons awarded $4,000 in scholarships to seven students.

“We try not to overuse funds, so whatever we take in is what we award in scholarships,” event chairman Christopher Galvin of Hanson said Saturday.

Galvin said Monday that, while Sunday’s half of the event was a rainout with only one third of the vendors turning out and only a “couple hundred” shoppers attending, the weekend was not a complete disappointment.

“However, Saturday was an absolute success,” Galvin said. “We raised only $50 less than last year’s two-day total on Saturday alone for our charities.”

More than 1,000 cars passed through the gate Saturday, giving vendors a successful weekend as well.

The scholarship is funded by the event by table rentals, food concessions and a $1-per-ticket raffle. This year’s, top raffle prize was a $400 gas grill. Other prizes included gift certificates to Sampson Lumber, the Olde Hitching Post restaurant, McGuiggan’s Pub, a theapeutic massage from Alfieri Massage and a Magellan GPS system.

The biggest challenge was not so much in dealing with the slow economy, but with a change in the state’s law regulating event promoters this year.

“In October of last year, the Legislature changed the definition of what a promoter is,” Galvin explained. “If you lease space at all, even if it is a donation to the charity — if you pay us to sell goods, we’re technically a promoter.”

It could have cost the Masons upward of $600 for the state’s fee, but they negotiated it down to $200, according to Galvin.

He called Charles Carroll with the state’s Division of Standards.

“He was nice about it and we went back and forth about the definition of it but in the end he said ‘if people give you money to sell goods at your event, you’re a promoter,’ even if it’s for charity,” Galvin said.

Friendship Fundraising Wristbands - Greener Than Silicone And A ...

Within the last few years fundraising bracelets have increasingly become an increasingly popular alternative to popular chocolates and pie drives. Silicone bracelets are really cheap, are available in all sorts of specific colorization, can be customized, are typically tough, will often be intended for nearly any special event and give incredible financial gain. But the truth is, even while fairly simple to produce, they manufacture something that's non-biodegradable and chiefly supports large companies.

Friendship wristbands are another popular kind of fundraiser bracelet. Manufacturing friendship bracelets has become a common activity. Giving the bracelets with friends is an excellent way for you to demonstrate simply how much they care about each other. Actually the girl guides offer creating friendship bracelets as an easy way of getting their jewellery badge. The girls really love giving the wristbands to another person they care for.

Due to just how uncomplicated they are to manufacture, friendship wristbands are readily manufactured by women in third world countries as a means to support their families. They can create incredibly colourful simple wristbands, through to fundraising bracelets with elaborate woven styles. They even customise them to include slogans and campaigns team colors. While more expensive than silicone, friendship bracelets show as each carries the history from the maker.

The problem employing a "fair trade" fundraiser poduct however has been to get their own market. Previously, the actual ladies would supply the bracelets to a western friends, aid worker or missionary who out of the goodness of their heart sell the products at a couple of non-profit functions and donate the profits back to the manufacturer. Although this is all nice and can make a lot of people feel happy, it's not much of a self-sufficient method of trading for somebody nation; it's not necessarily "fair trade."

Well the beauty of the net and the Information Superhighway is that it has opened up the worldwide market. In fact this specific point has developed to be a headache for international enterprises. Until recently, by continuing to keep the customer and the manufacturer in the dark, they could buy and sell items at whatever price they wanted. This strategy has quite likely become the most significant reason for illegal pay sub-standard circumstances which working people third world countries endure today. The internet has levelled that . An individual has more choices about what they buy and today a consumer can afford their purchase decision to be socially responsible.

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