Try this at home: polio fundraisers

 

 

R otary is halfway to its goal of raising US$200 million to match the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grants by 30 June 2012. Clubs from New Delhi to Denmark are coming up with cool, clever ways to raise at least $2,000 a year toward polio eradication, and we’ve rounded up a variety of examples to inspire your club this year.

Vacation donation
Tennessee, USA:
From Graceland to the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee boasts some iconic vacation spots, but Rotarians there had an incentive to holiday out of state this summer. The High Hampton Inn, a historic resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, partnered with District 6780 (Tennessee) to raise funds for the End Polio Now campaign. From June through November, the resort donated 10 percent of every District 6780 Rotarian’s bill to the polio eradication effort.

Train gang
Toddington, England:
When the Hogwarts Express from the Harry Potter movies was featured at the Cotswold Festival of Steam in May, the Rotary Club of Cheltenham volunteered to direct cars for visiting fans and steam train enthusiasts. The Rotarians asked drivers for a small donation (about US$3.25), and by the end of the day, they had parked about 600 cars and raised $1,800, after donating a portion to the local railway society.

Great Danes
Roskilde, Denmark:
Well-known Danish singer Kirsten Siggaard performed at the 13th-century Roskilde Cathedral in January 2009 in an event organized by eight Rotary clubs. Two gospel choirs also performed at the concert, which raised more than US$16,000. Another concert is being planned for 2010.

Keep on truckin’
Washago, Ontario, Canada:
The End Polio Now lapel pins sported by her fellow Rotarians gave Janet Stead an idea: slapping an End Polio Now magnet onto every Rotarian’s car. Since December 2008, the Rotary Club of Washago and Area-Centennial has been selling the magnets to Rotarians for C$2 each, raising more than $14,000 thus far. Other clubs have been buying the magnets in bulk – with orders coming in from Brazil, England, France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States, in addition to Canada – and reselling them to their own members for $5, netting even more funds for
the polio eradication campaign.

Off and running
Marquette, Michigan, USA:
In a race to raise $5,800 toward polio eradication, Marie Peasley donned a jersey and shorts emblazoned with the End Polio Now logo and competed in 21 triathlons, duathlons, runs, and bike races between May and October. Her goal was to match the Rotary Club of Marquette West’s 2009-10 pledge toward Rotary’s US$200 Million Challenge; Peasley is the club’s president-elect. Read her blog at www.raceforpolio.com .

Like clockwork
Switzerland:
On a September day in 2008, more than 6,000 Swiss Rotarians from 200 clubs set up booths around the country to sell bright yellow packets of sunflower seeds. By day’s end, the effort had netted more than US$1 million for the End Polio Now campaign. Nearly every club in the country participated.

Walk this way
San Mateo, Calif., USA:
Fueled by hamburgers and hot dogs, 85 students hosted by the Interact Club of San Mateo High School spent 24 hours walking in shifts around their school’s track to raise money for the End Polio Now campaign. Members of the Rotary Club of Foster City, which sponsors the Interactors, manned the grills and helped Rotaractors chaperon a slumber party on the track’s infield. The May event, which also featured bands and movies, brought in nearly $9,000. In 2010, organizers plan to hold another walkathon.

Fore!
Coral Gables, Fla., USA:
A hailstorm of golf balls punctuated the conclusion of the annual golf tournament held by District 6990 (Bahamas; part of Florida). In October 2008, Rotarians raised $46,500 by selling numbered balls for $25 each. The 1,820 balls were dropped from a helicopter, and the three that landed closest to a target won prizes – including an all-expenses-paid trip to Argentina. The fundraiser was such a hit that the district repeated it in November 2009.

The show must go on
Cambria, Calif., USA:
The documentary The Final Inch, which follows polio eradication workers in India, received an Academy Award nomination in 2009. When Rotary Club of Cambria president Dan Balfe screened the film at a meeting, Rotarians and their guests were so moved that they immediately collected $1,642 in donations.

Art house
New Delhi, India:
In May, Swiss Ambassador Philippe Welti, India PolioPlus Committee Chair Deepak Kapur, District 3100, and the Dhoomimal Gallery worked together to organize an auction to raise money for the polio eradication campaign. Guests purchased more than 90 paintings by well-known Indian artists in the auction, raising US$40,000.