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Your team just qualified for World Finals —
NOW WHAT?
by Jeanne Fessenden, Georgia Association Director
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he most exciting moment has arrived. Your team was
announced a champion at your State Finals! The team
members are energized. You are energized. All of the
hard work, time, and energy has finally paid off. So, what does
going to World Finals entail? Of course, your team members
need to perfect their long-term solution and continue to practice
spontaneous. They will add the finishing touches to their Style.
Then reality sets in. How much will it cost to attend World
Finals? Where do you get the funds to be able to go?
There are many ways that a team can fund a trip to Worlds,
but, as everything else in Odyssey, it takes some creativity.
There is no right or wrong way to do it, but funds must be
secured and usually in a very short time.
Some teams fund-raise all year anticipating that they will
reach that ultimate goal – World Finals. I expect that these teams
are in the minority. Most are too busy solving the problem and
practicing spontaneous to think about World Finals, so they are
now faced with raising thousands of dollars in a few months.
If you haven’t gotten into your state budget through your
state legislature, or you haven’t convinced your local school
board to sponsor your team, it's up to you to raise the funds.
Here are some ideas that have worked for other teams.
- Sell ice cream in the lunchroom.
- Sell soft drinks after school for students
staying for an activity: sports, play
rehearsal, meetings, or even for those
walking home from school.
- Present your team's solution at a civic
club and ask for donations from the
organization, or, with permission of the
program chair, pass the hat.
- Sponsor a spaghetti dinner (have stu-dents
in the school bring the ingredi-ents
or ask local eateries for donations).
For entertainment have the team
demonstrate its long-term solution.
- Sponsor a “Hat Day.” For one dollar,
the students are allowed to wear a hat
all day long at school.
- Put a teacher in “jail” for a day. Recruit
several teachers who are willing to be
put in jail for a day. (Choose the most
popular teachers). For a fee let the stu-dents
vote on which teacher they would
most like to put in jail. The teacher
chosen will be placed in a cell (cre-atively
made by the Odyssey of the
Mind team) for the day and the students
will be allowed to tease the teacher.
With the cooperation of the principal, a
substitute will cover that teacher's
classes. (This would probably work best
in a middle or high school.)
- Some businesses have matching funds
for volunteer work that employees do.
Ask parents to check at work for any
grants that their company might have.
- Write letters to local businesses asking
for support. Tell how Odyssey of the
Mind fits into the corporate workplace
to help businesses understand how they
can benefit from sponsorship. If a team
member or relative of a team member
knows someone in the business, have
them sign the letter or write a personal
letter to accompany the form letter.
- Appear at local functions selling Blow
Pops to “blow them away” at World
Finals.
- Sell hot dogs and soft drinks at a popu-lar
store on a Saturday. The Saturday
before Mother's Day is a good time.
- Get the word out in your community.
The more publicity you can get – TV,
newspaper, radio, etc., the more people
will support the team. Then, if you have
a fund-raiser, such as a barbeque at a
local fire station, people will be more
likely to support it.
- For a fee, team members can paint
faces at the school's field day.
- Have a talent show. Open auditions to
anyone in school, making sure the stu-dents
show a talent and/or ability. This
would involve one day for auditions,
one day for rehearsal and one day to
present the show. Students will pay $1
to get out of class to come to the show.
(Great for middle and high school.)
- Sponsor a school dance and sell con-cessions.
Elementary school students
especially enjoy this.
- Make up commercials and perform
them on the morning TV announce-ments.
Promote the idea that on an
upcoming Friday, anyone who brings
$1 can have the Odyssey team take
their spelling test for them and get the
grade that the team member makes.
Here are some successful fund-raisers
sent to us by Daniel Cayce.
“We raised over $400 with a Junior
High Mr. and Miss Legs contest. We
had the stage covered from the knee up
with bulletin board paper so only the
legs of the contestants were showing.
We had a football as grand prize for the
males and stuffed animals for the girls,
and other prizes, all donated. We also
sold popcorn, candy and soda.
“We sold Easter baskets made up of
donated items: candy, toys and stuffed
rabbits. We made $1,000.
“For Mother's Day we make baskets
and put sample shampoo, lotion, candles,
and a small bear in each one. We
wrap the baskets in cellophane.
“We made Valentine boxes like this
with a balloon and made almost $1200.
“We have hamburger and hot dog
cookouts on Wednesdays at the high
school and charge $2.50 for hamburgers
and $1 for hot dogs. We clear about
$300 each time.
“We have two fair-like events. We
sell donated items and crafts. We dress
in costume and read palms and have a
game booth of Go Fish and a ball toss.
We clear $400 each event.”
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