FUNdraising- ways to maximize your leagues rev in the off season

Hi everyone,(not finished with this post but you may want to use these ideas sooner rather than later)

I have been working with a couple teams on fundraising and sponsorship coaching and thought it would be a good idea to make some of this stuff a bit more public

Holiday Party for your fans and a chance to sell season tickets for 2012 and sponsorships
There is a couple way to do this, if you have your own space or your rent a time in a rink this could be perfect. The idea is to have a family friendly holiday party for you fans and a chance to sell (discounted) season tickets for 2012. Some ideas to make the party less expensive is to have your sponsors donate the food, you may even want to have a silent option. Also have your sponsorship committee ready to go and information at the ready. The goal of this event is to socailize and meet all of your fans and thank them for their support. If you have the party at your practice rink, ask the owners of they could give a discount for skate orders received during this time and a commission that could go to your leagues rent.


Help out charities while maintaining  ALL your ticket rev
So we work out butts  off to promote bouts but we also need to support the community around us. Some leagues do this by offering discounted tickets if you support the charity, I think I have found a what of "having our cake and eating it too". I propose instead of giving a discounted ticket rate, you should offer priority seating instead. Rope off the best seating in your venue(about 30%or so) and have boxes located (and a derby girl to monitor) at the beginning of the seating area for your fans to deposit the donations they have brought. Seats are still first come first serve, but those with donations get priority. You are still supporting your community but lets face it if you have 1500 fans coming to your event, and 30% of your fans(450 ppl) bring a donations and receive $2 off per ticket. That's $900 off just the door sales.If your league can afford this, awesome but don't feel like the only way you can support a charity is to donate money. You also might want to have the charity set up their own table to raise awareness of their cause. They can even have a raffle with their own prizes and keep that revenue.
Here are some ideas
Area Pet Shelters-Donations of pet food, toys, litter, leashes and other pet necessities
Food Bank-Donations of nonperishable food
Homeless Shelters-Donations of slightly used outerwear(coats, sweaters)
Battered Womens Shelters- Donations of old cell phones
Low-Income Schools- Donations of new school supplies