Chapter members who love to dance may welcome the challenge of participating in a dance marathon with live bands and snacks. Each dancer pays a registration fee and finds donors who give money to the cause if the participant dances nonstop for 24 hours or more. Considerable money can be raised in a short period of time if enough chapter members get involved. For example, about 1,400 Greeks at New York University held their first dance marathon in 2013 to raise money for the fight against childhood cancer; they raised $126,020, which far exceeded their goal of $46,000. Corporate sponsors provided refreshments and raffle prizes.
Purchase about 10 pink plastic flamingos, adorn them with your Greek letters and then identify unsuspecting victims with a sense of humor and a little disposable income. Deliver the flamingos to their residence or office, when they least expect it, with a card attached containing contact information and information about your charitable cause. Offer to remove the flamingos for $10 or to regift them to a lucky recipient of their choosing for $15. You also can sell $10 flamingo insurance as protection against these unwelcome visitors. Buy black skeleton flamingos around Halloween for a variation on the theme.
If your group has a flair for the dramatic, you may want to transform an old warehouse, student union or residence hall wing into a haunted house. Contact the theater department, costume shops and thrift stores for donations of clothing, ghosts, eerie music and plastic body parts. Your chapter will have great fun coming up with ways of scaring visitors who pay an admission fee earmarked for your favorite charity. The Lambda Chi fraternity at Indiana University-Bloomington is known for its spooky haunted house that appeals to children and college students alike. According to the Lambda Chi website, members raised $9,000 in 2013 for the Arthritis Foundation and Habitat for Humanity.
To compete with all the other activities on campus, you may want to consider a fundraiser that’s out of the ordinary, such as nighttime golf. Farleigh Dickson University's Office of Student Life suggests that a nighttime golf tournament is a spectacular sight. The game is played with illuminated golf balls, and the course is marked with glow sticks. As with any charity golf tournament, entrance fees are donated to a designated nonprofit agency. Participants can also bid for donated prizes offered in a silent auction. Members of your chapter would have fun and gain leadership skills organizing and promoting the event.