blog post

Would you be interested in presenting to your group a fun way that you could multiply your fundraising efforts effortlessly?  If you could show them how to turn a $12.50 contribution into $96.25 -- would that generate some excitement?

The idea is elegantly simple – it’s a fundraiser cruise!  People in your organization are taking cruise vacations every year anyway, so why not turn one into a money-making event for your favorite charity?

Here’s how it works:

1.  A cruise is selected that presents a terrific value to the participants, as well as maximum “fundraiser points” offered by the cruise line.  For this example-proposal I am demonstrating a Royal Caribbean cruise, the Mariner of the Seas sailing from Galveston, Texas on November 27^th, 2011 (more details about this voyage below). 
2. Participants book into the group via the group coordinator (me).  A minimum of 8 cabins at double occupancy entitles the group to receive the value of one base cruise fare (based on cabin category), plus $100 per cabin in cruise line funds to be given directly to your group.
3. As your agent, I will also personally contribute $12.50 per participant into the fund.
4. You also have the option of adding a contribution from each participant.  In the math example that follows, I’m going to use a $12.50 per person donation add-on.

So here’s how we turn a participant’s $12.50 into $96.25:

Let’s start with the minimum of 8 cabins at double occupancy = 16 people

                                16 x $12.50 = $200

I contribute $12.50 per person as well for another $200

Royal Caribbean contributes $100 per cabin = $800

One person’s cruise fare is also contributed based on the cabin category that a majority of participants select:

Inside cabin:   Base cruise fare is $340 (the total cruise amount per participant with taxes and contribution add-on is $608.15)

                Ocean-view:  Base cruise fare is $490 (total pp w/taxes and contribution $758.19)

                Balcony:  Base cruise fare $640 (total pp w/taxes and contribution $908.19)

Even considering the lowest cabin category we come up with a total contribution of

$200 + $200 + $800 + $340 = $1540, which divided by 16 (the number of participants)

= $96.25 per person!

This can easily multiply out to much, much more as additional people join the fundraiser cruise and perhaps even select higher-category cabins.  Another cruise-fare value is contributed by Royal Caribbean for each additional 16 passengers (8 cabins).

16 cabins = $3080 funds raised, 24 cabins = $4620 funds raised, 32 cabins = $6160 funds raised. 

Plus, Royal Caribbean may have marketing dollars available for publicizing the fund-raiser, so little to none of the funds raised need be lost to expenditures. 

Of course participants are interested in the cruise as well – and here is the itinerary of our example: 

As the agent, I take care of making the individual reservations and helping people select their cabin, attend to any special needs and travel insurance if desired, and assist as needed with logistics of driving or flying (parking, shuttles, that sort of thing).  That way, you yourself don’t have to get involved with participants’ personal details or onboard trivialities.

If this sounds like a winning idea, then I would like to talk with you further about it and get started by holding space for your group.  I’d be happy to come and make a presentation, too, so just let me know what you need me to do next.