You'll find that as your membership grows, your need for money to fund projects will grow with it.  What follows are some basic ideas for fundraising that have been helpful to other chapters at various stages of their development.

• Low dollar fundraisers, such as a back yard barbeque or house party

• Partner with another Democratic organization and co-host an event, such as a Ladies Lunch with a local Democratic Women’s chapter

• Talk to your county chair about helping to put together a county fundraiser in exchange for a portion of the proceeds

• Make an arrangement with a local bar to host a happy hour and charge a small cover at the door

• Pass the hat at meetings

• Sustaining membership programs – ask your members to help support your activities by giving ten or twenty dollars a month.  PayPal has a function that will allow your online donors to make this sort of arrangement.

• Solicit local business to donate goods and services that you can raffle off at events and meetings.  If you have raffle prizes that would appeal to a wide audience, you can increase ticket sales by selling to folks who are attending party and other Democratic club meetings and events

• Encourage your members to make and donate holiday baskets and have a silent auction at a holiday house party – be sure to publicize your event with other local affiliated and associated organizations so you’ll have a nice pool of bidders from whom you can collect donations

• Some local restaurants have fundraising programs for local groups that will give your club a portion of the proceeds when you send customers their way for a given night.  Print fliers and let local Democratic activists know that you’re going to be raising money

• Call or visit union leaders, trial lawyers, and central committee members and ask them to sponsor your events.  We’ve found that people are more likely to give if they know what the money will be doing, so ask for them to fund specific items or activities

• Talk to elected officials for whom you have volunteered and ask them to make a contribution