Ten Fundraising Ideas (and some links to get some more)

Whether you're part of a non-profit or a charity or you're still in school and need ideas for a class fundraiser, there are numerous ways in which you can raise funds and get money for your cause. Here are some of the interesting, outrageous, but also some of the easiest fundraising ideas out there.

1. Festivals, Fairs, Block Parties, and the rest: it shouldn't be too expensive, unlike what you might think. The food will be made/baked by people from your group of fundraisers; fair games and activities could be organized by you or just donated by local businesses or by the local school or sports teams. It could include other concepts, such as a dance fundraiser, pageants ; etc.

2. Bake sale/cookie sale: this is the classic girl scouts scheme, and there is no reason why it shouldn't work for you

3. The site fundraising-ideas.org has a great provocative idea: make invitations for a flush event, that is not going to happen. The logic: people would appreciate the humor.

4. Staying at humor, another site, fundraisingideas.com.au, has an idea for toad/cockroaches race

5. People like to win stuff, and if you sell raffle tickets, this could be a classic fundraiser

6. Set up a website for donations

7. Set up a talent show (you know, American Idol or Dacing with the Stars like), which would be for the benefit of charity; it could be also a humorous talent show.

8. Auctions and blind auctions

9. on a Google Answers article on the subject, it is suggested "Host a SuperBowl party where everyone brings $20 -- specifically for the fund" - this could be said for any other type of big event like the SuperBowl.

10. Car washing, pet sitting, babysitting, garden cleaning and similar services - for charity!

Textile and Fashion Careers

Textile marketing, textile management or entrepneurship in the textile business is an enticing opportunity for someone who is interested in mobilising their creativity into career. However, the profit margin in some parts of the textile industry are not very high, and some of the work involves relocation or at least travel (to countries where textiles are manufactured), and could be financially risky or unstable, depending on how luxurious are the items sold.

Some sites to seek jobs in the textile business:

Fibre2Fashion is a good place to start - lots of listings from different countries, in the job section of this portal, dedicated to all things related to the fashion and textile industries

By its name, you can imagine that the site TextileJobs.net would have at least some good offerings

Fashion Potato is another site dedicated to jobs in the fashion industry and in the textile business

Apparel Search's "Clothing Industry Jobs" is a message board where job listings may be found

Further relevant articles:

Should one be learning Fashion Design online (and the prospects of finding a job later)

How to start your own fashion or textile/apparel business - from the very early beginnings.

Guides for Wholesale Fashion, Apparel and Textile Supplies:

Wholesale shoes and footware
Wholesale Quilting equipment 
Wholesale beads

On Patents, Trademarks, and Intellectural Property

What is the difference between patents, trademarks and other types of intellectual property?

The exact legal definition could vary between different jurisdictions. Basically, we can simplify it by saying that :

Patents protect innovations and inventions, that are applicable in the industry and are innovative and unique. Examples could include formulas for drugs, new technologies, etc. The Segway is a patent, because it is all those things together. Could you imagine security guards in shopping centre without this valuable patent? ;-)

Trademarks are symbols, for example that famous colourful Google sign we all know - next time you Google - note that the search engine has a small "TM" next to the symbol. It means that even if I invent now a new search engine, I can neither use the name, nor the symbol without permission (and for those nitpickers: teaching someone about something is within fair use).

There are other types of intellectual property, for example, creative works. This may include compositions of musical pieces, lyrics to songs, movies and television products, books, and designs. However, especially creative works in design are very difficult to protect. While, if I now claim that I have just written a song called "YMCA" and would start using it as my own song, I would be at the very least ridiculed (but mostly sued by the rightful copyright owners); if I form a band consisting of one guy dressed like a cop, another like a sailor and a third like an Indian, it would be very difficult for the Village People to sue me for infringing their "unique deisgn" [please note that while the Village People allow YouTube present their original clips to my utmost joy, they disallow embedding, that is, the song being used by people like me for their own gains - exactly what I was talking about].

It gets even more complicated if what you're offering as your intellectual property is something that someone else might also come up with. While it is highly unlikely that someone else would come up with the exact motivational lyrics calling the young man to "Stay at the YMCA"; it is less unlikely that recipes in cook books, tour companies routes or fashion creations, would be similar.

More information

United States Patent and Trademark Office 

Christine Magdo, "The Copying of Design Originals" Harvard Law School LEDA 

Protection of Fashion Designs 

And even more:

* Can you protect movie ideas ? 

* Are qoutations of celebrities and noted individuals protected by copyright?  

* Is summary of information, properly cited and attributed, a violation of copyright?

Identifying a Scam: Look it Up!

In a previous post, we have discussed the warning signs of a scam:
- It comes unsolicited
- The deal is too good to be true
- Website looks unprofessional

We have also suggested that you'll search the name of the business in question with the word "scam" next to it.

However, there are further ways to know whether an offer is a scam or not.

I will take, as an example, a "company" that comes up once in a while in online questions forums: Excell Capital Corporation.

Their website is http://www.excellcapital.com/ and it has all the signs shouting "stay away with a 10-feet pole!" on it: bad grammar, bad graphics, exclamation marks, etc. So, a first warning sign is already there.

In the "contact us" page, they mysteriously leave out a phone (although in the "services" page they claim to have 250 people seating on the phone, waiting to help you. But there is more than that: looking up their address in Berlin comes up with nothing - the street has only 18 houses, while they are located in number 210.

If the maps search is not enough for you, check out, on a "whois" record, who registered the site:

The owner is
Samer Nassar (info@my-designclub.com)
97226563445
from Jerusalem

Hey, why doesn't a respectable German company have a valid address, a German webmaster (or for that, a German language web page)? How come their webmaster resides in Jerusalem?

I think you know the answer yourself...

Plastic Containers, Plastic Jars, Plastic Bottles and Plastic Boxes Wholesale Suppliers

Here is a free list of sources and distributors for plastic containers, plastic jars, plastic bottles and plastic boxes for wholesale or dropship. Please note, that „wholesale prices“ became a type of a slogan and doesn't always mean that the seller is a genuine wholeseller of plastic containers, plastic jars, plastic bottles and plastic boxes . Some of these companies also sell retail.

Alameda Packaging

http://www.alamedapackaging.com/

Bottle Store

http://www.bottlestore.com/

Cape Bottle Company

http://www.netbottle.com/

Comet Plastics

http://www.cometplastics.com/plastic-containers.html

CPS, Container and Packaging

http://www.containerandpackaging.com/

e-Bottles

http://www.ebottles.com/

Essential Supplies

http://www.essentialsupplies.com/

Inmark Inc.

http://www.inmarkinc.com/

Pump King

http://www.pumpking.com/

Rajdeep Plastic Containers

http://rajdeepplasticcontainers.com/

SKS Bottle
http://www.sks-bottle.com

Specialty Bottles

http://www.specialtybottle.com/

SunBurst Bottle Company

http://www.sunburstbottle.com/

Wholesale Hobby/Crafts Suppliers: Beads

In this list of wholesale distributors of beads we included also wholesellers who also sell to the general public, as this is relatively common with bead sellers.

Start with About.com list of bead wholesale sources

Austin Hamilton (Lampwork beads) #
http://www.austinhamilton.ca/beads_wholesale.html

Beadpeddler
http://www.beadpeddler.com/

Beads in Bulk
http://www.beadsinbulk.com/ wholesale only

Czech Glass Beads
http://www.czechbeads.com/

Fire Mountain
one of the market leader, which claims to sell in "wholesale prices" (not wholesale!):
"We offer wholesale prices at quantity levels. The more you buy, the better the prices. We believe that: Value = good quality + a good price. While no company can be the lowest on everything it offers, we are lower than the vast majority of companies that we have compared. This includes companies that sell "wholesale" and companies that have "retail/wholesale/distributor" pricing. We invite you to compare our prices and our quality. We feel that you will find us on the top of your list for companies with which you want to do business."
http://www.firemountaingems.com/

Frogwill
"We dispose exclusively wholesale orders. Minimum order value must be over €500. By bigger deals you can count on significant discounts."
http://frogwill.com/catalog.html

Gemmall
"GemMall is a wholesale beads and jewelry making supplies company specializing in gemstone beads and glass beads. We carry more than 20,000 products of beads in stock and provide special orders and cutting services. We are dedicated to bring direct factory price to our wholesale beads customers across the world."
http://www.gemmall.com/

Gemshow #

http://www.znetshows.com/gemshow/retail/wholesale%20beads.asp

iBead
http://www.ibead.com/default.aspx - also sells bulk beads, but not "real" wholesale

Silver Charms #
https://www.silvercharmsinc.com/pages/pages_wholesalers.asp

Timewell
http://www.timewellcorp.com/

Trash City
http://www.trashcity.com/

The Guide for Wholesale Fishing Supplies

The following list is a directory of several fishing suppliers wholesalers. Most of them would not accept private clients and would sell to retailers only, with a tax-ID (US) or equivalent in other countries.

Fish 33
http://www.fish33.com/

Mangler
http://www.themangler.com/wholesaleapplication.html

Merrick Tackle
http://www.merricktackle.com/

Perry's Tackle
http://www.perrystackle.com/

Sea-Ex - a directory of sea-life issues, including a list of wholesale distributors of fishing equipment, by country
http://www.sea-ex.com/wholesaletackl/

Tackle Distributor
http://www.tackledistributor.com/

TackleMall - Tackle Shop
http://www.tacklemall.com/

WSB Tackle
http://www.wsbtackle.com/