A Simple 50-50 Raffle Success
Mðnу thanks ðnd gratitude to “ImрðÑÂt a Life†ѕÑÂhþlðrÑ•hÑ–Ñ€ wrÑ–tõr Kevin England for tðkÑ–ng þn thõ fþllþwÑ–ng õѕѕðу tþріѠѕþ ÑÂrõðtÑ–võlу:
Chronicle a successful raffle fundraising campaign you or a family member has been a part of. What results were achieved? How did it help the organization and/or the community it was meant to benefit? How did the experience enrich you?
Thðnk уþu ѕþ muÑÂh Kevin fþr such a creative fundraiser to benefit you and your school, as well as уþur wõll-dþnõ essay.
Kevin is planning on a course of studies in Agriculture Sciences at University of Wisconsin – Madison. Thanks Kevin and good luck!
“Impact a Life†Scholarship contributor: Kevin England
Yþu ÑÂðn hõlÑ€ Kevin England’s pursuit þf a scholarship award bу ÑÂlÑ–ÑÂkÑ–ng the “sharing Ñ–Ñ• ÑÂðrÑ–ng†buttþnÑ• bõlþw.
When I was a sophomore, I served as Class Representative on Student Senate. Each year, the Sophomore Class Officers are responsible for planning the schoolwide Spring Fling. About eight other peers and I started planning and preparing for the masquerade-themed dance months in advance, and on the Friday night before the dance, we decorated the entire high school commons  until long past midnight. The week preceding, we sold a record low number of tickets, but luckily a few more people showed up to the dance; however, nearly everyone left two hours before the dance was over. They did not leave because there were not enough people, and they certainly did not leave because of the decorations and atmosphere. They simply left because they did not like the DJ’s music selection, something that was completely out of our control. All of the Class Officers, including myself, who spent tireless hours leading up to this dance felt destroyed by the poorly received results. We tore down all of the decorations and were ashamed to be known that we were the ones who had planned the dance.
A few months later, the Junior Class Officers hosted Prom. They had a much greater success than us because not only did they have a better DJ, but they also decorated with much more extravagant props. The fact that the older class pulled off a better dance only amplified the rivalry between our classes.
In the June before, I decided to take matters into my own hands and ran for Class Treasurer, a position that I knew would give me larger role in ensuring the success of our next dance. Sometime during the summer before our junior year, the Student Senate Officers (now juniors, and thus responsible for Prom) met in order to begin the excessively-advanced planning of Prom, which was then nine months away. We wanted our class to get our reputation back. We sought revenge. But the resource we needed to pull off what we had envisioned for the dance was money.
Serving as Class Treasurer and seeing that we took a big loss at our previous dance, I knew that I needed to come up with a great fundraiser. After just my first search on the internet, I decided that we needed to do a 50-50 raffle. Once again, a team of nine students purchased a roll of tickets at a store and we sold them at the Homecoming Football Game in September. We navigated through the packed-full bleachers, yelled at the top of our lungs, and even had the game announcer advertise for our cause. This was a huge success and we sold nearly $1000 in tickets.
The man that won the raffle ended up being the same man that I had talked to for ten minutes after selling him his ticket. He was a graduate of the same high school 45 years prior and chronicled his own experiences and homecoming. I quite enjoyed hearing how not only the high school but also the city has changed over the years. When he came to the concession stand to claim his prize, we recognized each other and he happily donated an extra $250 back to us.
With adding more than an adequate amount of funds to our class account, we were ecstatic to proceed with planning Prom. The expectations for that dance were extremely low based off of our previous failures, but we far exceeded them. We spent two months constructing the stage for Grand March and planning the layout for the commons where the dance was to be held. Upon walking into the high school on prom night, the students and parents were mesmerized by our Jay Gatsby-esque house decorations and Great Gatsby/1920s Grand March stage. We were able to afford a better DJ and lighting system and fund the construction elegant props and decorations. We sold a record number of tickets to the dance and earned about $2800.
Often times you can do something as simple as a 50-50 raffle to change an event into a success. The proceeds from that fundraiser gave us ample funds for Prom, which brought us profits for our senior year. Now serving as Senior Class Vice President, I was able to help continue our class success in planning Homecoming and will be assisting with the class trip and graduation. Had we not gone a little farther in coming up with funds, then my classmates’ high