Schools, churches and charities alike are always in need of creative ways to raise money for good causes. Whether you’re in a Relay for Life team raising money for the American Cancer Society, a youth group raising money for Nets for Life or Stamp Out Hunger, or a school drama club that needs to raise money for the next great production, a gift basket raffle can be a fun and easy fundraiser. The beauty of a gift basket raffle is that many people can be selling tickets for along period time, and there’s just a small initial investment in supplies and time. While a gift basket for a raffle doesn’t have to cost a lot or take a lot of time to make, creativity in arranging the gift basket is the investment that brings on success.
I’ve created many gift baskets for many fundraisers but my latest challenge was to create a gift basket for a drama club that would appeal to kids. Someone else was in charge of creating an adult theme basket. An arts and crafts gift basket is a good idea any time but with summer break just around the corner, I thought the appeal of busy, creative children would be an attractive sell to parents this time of year.
Even the basket liner can be part of the arts and crafts fun.
Generally tissue paper is a fabulous basket liner and it could certainly be used as part of arts and crafts. I choose a red plastic tablecloth instead. It added padding to the bottom and draped nicely over the sides to add color. The best part is that the tablecloth can be used to cover the table when the kids are enjoying the other art supplies like watercolors or glitter glue. The winner’s parents will appreciate this touch for sure.
Use height at the back of the basket to create backdrop.
In the back of the basket you will want to stand up tall art supplies like an artist canvas board, a pack of decorative computer paper and large foam sheets. Fan out the tall items in varying height for eye-catching appeal.
Appeal to both genders.
Sure, girls may love a race car drawing kit and boys might want to decorate those princess coloring pages, but do be mindful that we don’t know who the winner will be. Be sure not to pink out the whole basket and turn off potential sales to little knights or on the other hand to go all dungeons and dragons and turn away the princesses. This basket will have tons of arts and crafts supplies and the fun can be shared with sibling, neighbors and friends.
Stuff the middle with a whole lot of fluffy love.
Bags of assorted colored pom poms are fun stuffer for the middle of the basket and very open ended craft supply. Felt sheets, that come in multi-colored packs are another great art supply and here’s a tip. Roll up each sheet individually like a scroll and pop them in here and there to add color and texture to the display.
Don’t forget the free and easy art supplies.
Often kids creative things from what they find around the house and good for them. Don’t forget to take stock of things you can include that you don’t have to go out and buy. Paper lunch bags make fun puppets or homemade gift bags, straws make fun beads when snipped into pieces and fabric scraps are always a good open ended craft supply.
Now come the finishing touches.
Pop smaller, colorful craft supplies all around the basket and use tape to secure them in place. Some examples include small watercolor sets, bottles of glitter glue or colored chalk. If you include things like markers or colored pencils, you can hide the box under the liner and then tuck the markers all around to give to a crafty look. Stickers are great fun for all little artist. Separate sheets of stickers and tape them hanging down around the outside of the basket so they can be seen.
It’s a wrap.
When you’re happy with your arts and crafts fundraiser gift basket, wrap in gift basket wrap. I’ve even cheated and used a large turkey bag. Tie it off with a ribbon and string a creative card labeling the basket. Since our drama club is producing “Beauty and the Beast,” I called this one “A BEAST of an arts & crafts basket.” Be creative and make your title match your cause.
