For fraternities and sororities on a college campus, money is always an issue. In most organizations, there is a membership due fee which is usually a few hundred dollars. There are so many things that need to get paid for like fraternity lettered sweatshirts, paddles, group photographs, parties, events and the financial cost of the pledging process which can be expensive. Here are some of the best fraternity and sorority fund raising events put on at college campuses across the country:
1. Jello Wrestling: I have personally seen this event live on my own college campus so I can tell you how much fun and how profitable this is. You need a few fraternity guys and a few sorority girls to make this event happen. You also need a mat which you will pour more than 100 containers of jello or pudding into. Jello or pudding is very cheap and altogether the cost won’t be more than $100. This event simply involves guys and girls wrestling each other in a tub of pudding or Jell-O. It makes for great entertainment. Charge admission at the door in order to see people wrestle. If anyone in the audience wants to wrestle a guy or girl, charge them a certain price to wrestle as well. This event could easily raise more than $500 and the crown turnout should be huge if the event is promoted throughout the student body and Greek Life on your campus.
2. Fraternity Paddle supplies: This is another classic event that I have seen and read about more than a dozen times. In every fraternity and sorority, there are big brothers and big sisters and the little brother or little sister needs to make their mentor a paddle. The fraternity paddle also needs to have Greek letters on it and decorations. Fraternity paddles usually will cost people upwards of $50 and sometimes it can be difficult finding a store that sells Greek fraternity and sorority paddle supplies. In this fund raising event, have your fraternity or sorority buy fraternity paddles and paddle decorations early on the year when the supplies is on sale at any hardware or wood store. Then at the end of the semester when it comes time for people in other fraternities and sororities to buy their paddles and supplies, you can sell them the paddles you bought weeks ago for almost double the cost. It’s really using the simple principle of supply in demand. There is usually a short supply of fraternity paddles and decorations and therefore if you have extra, it will be in high demand and you can charge more for it than a normal store.
3. House party: this is the most common idea and never seems to get old. House parties require very little cost, especially if it a well known fraternity or sorority. Buy a few beer kegs and then charge admission at the door of about $5. You should easily cover the cost of buying the beer kegs and for most parties you usually make several hundred dollars.
4. Dating auction: This idea involves cooperation between a fraternity and a sorority. Advertise on campus for a date auction. During a date auction, people put in bids to get a date with a guy or girl who is up for sale. It can be as simple as dinner and a movie. Whoever in the audience puts up the highest bid gets to take that guy or girl out for dinner or on a date. College students really get into the event and it raises a lot of money. For more information on a date auction, fee free to check out my exclusive article on how to put together a date auction to maximize profits.
5. Bake sales or car washes are always popular but truthfully, they don’t make much money. In fact, they usually lose money in the end because people don’t get enough money to cover their costs.
