Car Waxing/Detailing Fundraiser?

[DetailArtist]

Car wash fundraisers are very common. Has anybody ever tried or have any insight in attempting a car waxing/detailing fundraiser? I have a small mobile detail operation (just me), and organizing volunteers and everything that goes w/ a successful car wash fundraiser really is not what I want to attempt. I was thinking more along the idea of the concept of pre-selling Gift Cards but not sure how it would work in fundraising. I already mentioned the idea w/ the director of a terrific local Senior Citizen center where my 94 year old mother gets a nice hot lunch, plays bingo and socializes w/ a wonderful group. They were immediately enthusiastic. And the concept of some charity work is always a worthwhile endeavor for anybody.
Being a "crunched" small business owner, I would not be able to give away details for free. I've spoken to charitable groups about expenses for such events, and its quite the norm for stipends and expenses to factored into proceeds and discussed up-front. Promoting Gift cards at a discount or something but the exact promotional and wording of this concept eludes me.

[Joe Dragon]

Re: Car Waxing/Detailing Fundraiser?

...I've spoken to charitable groups about expenses for such events, and its quite the norm for stipends and expenses to factored into proceeds and discussed up-front. Promoting Gift cards at a discount or something but the exact promotional and wording of this concept eludes me.

You should be able to recoup your expenses for time/materials easily, just do an accurate estimate of the probable time involved & charge the company the appropriate fee. Problem is you won't know the kind of vehicle the winner of the raffle(?) will have, i.e., a housewife's VW bug or a duallie pickup from a construction guy. There's the headache, & that's why you need to plan for the worst case scenario. As for the exact wording, the simpler the better. Your chosen charitable group should have a marketing man, or the exec director can create the concept & wording.

Fair warning though, as a one man operation you can get in over your head without knowing it. I'd suggest thinking twice about your generosity with this idea before making the commitment.

[ADAuto]

Re: Car Waxing/Detailing Fundraiser?

I have been tossing an idea around similar to this but not so much on a fundraising level. I am thinking about donating a % of my charges to my church. If someone who is in my parish gets a detail, I was going to give them xx% of and donate the same xx% to the church. So for instance, if I charge $200, take 5% off the bill and donate 5% to the church from my company. So I am out $20 but I can give back to my community and at the same time maybe get some more customers.....is that wrong?

[DetailArtist]

Re: Car Waxing/Detailing Fundraiser?

Thats sorta what I am thinking about, too. It makes for a good and continuous sales pitch whenever doing cold sales w/ local businesses, face-to-face, email, or direct mail.
"My company is having a fundraiser for BLANK. With purchase of a $200 gift card, $40 is donated to BLANK"
I really don't have the enthusiasm to arrange and wash a pile of dirty SUV's all in 1 day!