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Best Spring Carnival Ideas for a Boomin' Bloomin' Fundraiser!

Best Spring Carnival Ideas for Schools and Community Carnivals

With spring comes fresh flowers, sprouting trees, and spring carnivals! Whether it’s at school, church or other organization, hosting a carnival is a fun, community-building way to raise money.

Springtime is the perfect time to host a carnival outdoors and SignUp.com makes it easy to organize all the volunteers who make it happen with our time-saving online calendar sign up sheets and scheduler.

 

Not sure what games or booths to include?
Here are a few themes and ideas to jump-start your carnival!

• Spring Arts Fest: Nothing gets the creative juices flowing like an art fair. But what’s different about this fair is that you can take home all your own creations.
• Balloon Splatter Paint: Water Balloons + Paint = Kid-Friendly Splatter Painting. Watch your kid churn out his own Jackson Pollack creation with a few paint-filled balloons and a good arm.
• Pencil Pot: Wrap pencils in green pipe cleaners for the stem and tape pretty felt flowers at the eraser end of the pencil. "Plant" flowers in green garden foam inside clay flower pots. 
• Three-legged Painting: Competitors run with their feet covered in paint to the finish line. The winners can display their painting at school for a week.
• Face Painting: A regular at carnivals, but always fun!
• Candy Cart: Have carts of colorful candies and lollipops on sale to brighten the event.
• Sports Bonanza: Everyone will be pumped for a sports-themed carnival. Get ready for a healthy and happy event!
• Baseball Pitch: Pitch baseball into different-leveled hula hoops.
• Archery Lesson: Teach kids and adults a fun beginner's archery lesson.
• Capture the Flag: An outdoor game of tag that takes it to the next level!
• Crab Soccer: Gather two teams and watch everyone on their hands and feet kicking around a giant beach ball.
• Hotdog and Cracker Jack Stands: Must-haves at every athletic game need to be at this carnival too!
• Almost-Summer Fun Fair: Summer might seem far away, but we can bring it to us! Make sure to wear bathing suites underneath because everyone is sure to get wet.
• Water Limbo: A shooting stream of water is the limbo stick in this game. The winner is the one who does not get wet.
• Water Cup Relay: Team members pour water from one cup to the next until they reach the finish line. Of course, the winning team pours the most water into the last cup.
• Tug of War: A simple game of tug of war with a twist – the dividing line in the middle is a blasting sprinkler.
• Soil Castle: Without sand, there’s the soil castle.
• Snow Cone Stand: Refreshing and tasty snow cones of every flavor are sure to be a hit as the weather heats up.

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Click Here to see our FREE eBook with many more carnival ideas or purchase
a comprehensive carnvial money-making guide that's sure to kick-start your planning!

School Carnival Games & Ideas - Fabulously Fun from VolunteerSpot

With these ideas, your bloomin' spring carnival will get a big boost! 
Please share your Spring carnival traditions and ideas by clicking "comments" below.

 

This post proudly sponsored by Carnival Savers

10% discount on carnival supplies & prizes: Promo Code=VOLUNTEER

 

VolunteerSpotlight: Andrea Townley, Market Manager, Indy Winter Farmers Market, Indianapolis, IN

The Indianapolis Winter Farmers Market (IWFM) began on a grassroots level in 2008, the brainchild of Laura & Tyler Henderson. The IWFM brings fresh, local, sustainable, and seasonable produce to Indianapolis residents during the winter months when the more robust markets are closed. Today, our Volunteer Spotlight shines on Andrea Townley, IWFM Market Manager.

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Please tell us little about yourself and your current role as a volunteer leader.

 When the market began, there was no budget and no space for the Market, and the organizers had no experience running a market.  They simply became friends with the farmers and producers who sold to them, and saw the need for a winter venue where people could buy and sell local food.  

The original market in downtown Indianapolis was supposed to last for seven weeks – it ended up being 24.  Last year the IWFM averaged about 25 vendors and 400 shoppers per week…way beyond their expectations!  This year, we have 50 vendors (with more on the waiting list) and over 1000 shoppers per week.  I stepped in because the need was there!  I’m in charge of collecting vendor fees and help with the weekly newsletter.  I delight in being at the Market every week from start to finish – it’s just so much fun!  Early in the season, people started asking how they could help.  So, I became volunteer leader!  The whole project has grown in a completely organic way, with us responding to what is needed.  My role as volunteer leader is to provide information to individuals on how they can help, and then coordinating the volunteer schedule.
 
How did you get started with volunteering?
I’m 25, and I’ve had little real experience volunteering until I started last year with the IWFM.  I’d volunteer here and there but the difference with this is that I’m completely personally invested in the project itself.  There’s such an amazing energy that comes with a community-driven cause that starts from the ground up.  And the people I work with – friends – are wonderful and make volunteering more like play than work. 
 
Tell us about your organization and your volunteer needs.
Like I said before, the IWFM brings fresh, local, sustainable produce, food products, and home goods (soaps, natural cleaning products, textiles, etc.) to the greater Indianapolis area.  It takes place every Saturday from Nov 14, 2009 to April 24, 2010 from 9am to 12:30pm EST at 901 N East Street, Indianapolis IN, 46202.  It is a grower-grower/producer market, meaning that the vendors only sell what they grow or produce themselves.  We invite volunteers to help with the following tasks:
•    Setting up vendor stalls prior to the Market on Saturday morning, and assisting vendors with unloading
•    Staff the Market Information Table
•    Help vendors break down and reload at the end of the Market
•    Promote/represent the Market at community events
 
How do you inspire others to volunteer?
By having a great time when I’m volunteering myself!  The entire success of the Market, I feel, goes back to the fundamental point that everyone involved is having a good time. People pick up on that, and want to be a part of it.  They can sense the passion that the Market staff brings to the work.  So there are no tricks to inspiring volunteers – just be yourself, enjoy your work, and you’ll attract people to you. If we’re not enjoying what we do, why would anyone else want to do it?
 
Why did you decide to use VolunteerSpot?
One of my good friends is a Volunteer Coordinator for Global Gifts, a fair-trade gift store in Indianapolis, and we sought out her help.  She recommended VolunteerSpot and I’m totally in love with it!  Very hands-free on my part.
 
What's one piece of advice you have for other volunteer organizers out there?
I think that the best way to lead others is to lead yourself.  Monitor your internal experience – are you having fun, are you experiencing joy?  Because if you’re not having fun, then the work is not sustainable.  You might still have a bad day sometimes, but the overwhelming feeling behind the project should be one of joy, good will, and genuine interest and care about other people (and animals and the environment, etc.).  People will want to be around you and help if you emanate this kind of positive energy.
 
Anything else you’d like our readers to know about your organization or volunteering?
Buy local!  Support your local economy, your local growers, your environment, your health, your community, your future.  If there’s something you would like to see in your community, then find out what you can do to make it happen.  Don’t wait for someone else to do it.  Have a great support team of like-minded individuals who can find the humor in everything.  Because we cannot do anything alone!

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Next time yuo're in Indianapolis, come on down:

Indy Winter Farmers Market, 901 N. East Street,Indianapolis, IN 46202

The IWFM is open Saturdays 9:00am-12:30pm from mid-November through mid-Apr 24.
[email protected]
www.indywinterfarmersmarket.org

And on Facebook!

We salute Andrea and all the volunteer heroes out there in the community. If you're using VolunteerSpot, write and tell us about what you're doing, and give us a chance to shine our Volunteer Spotlight on you!! Just email us at [email protected].

Spring Sports + Online Sign-Up Sheets = Less Stress & More Parents Helping

Online Sign Up Sheets Save Time

As spring is fast approaching, parents are gearing up for a variety of youth sports activities – Little League, softball, swim team, lacrosse, track and more.  The thought of evenings at the ball field or weekends at the pool cheering on our kids is exciting and quite welcome after a long winter; but as reality sets in, all the organization involved is enough to give any busy parent pause. Spring sports often means a new season of reply-all emails and phone tag to get on the schedule, people forgetting where they're supposed to be, who's driving and whose turn it is to bring snacks and equipment. At VolunteerSpot, we know how important it is to support our kids in sports, and we’re ready to help make it easy and stress-free!

VolutnteerSpot's free and easy online sign-up sheets and scheduling tool saves parents time and makes it a snap to ask for help.  Whether you're scheduling snacks for soccer, team carpools to the tournament, judges for the swim meet or volunteers for the concession stand, VolunteerSpot keeps everyone organized. A coach or team parent makes a schedule using a simple planning wizard and invites parents to help with an email or by putting a link or button on a team website, blog, or online group page. Parents click to choose when they can help and what to bring, and VolunteerSpot keeps the schedule current, in real time.  Automated confirmation and reminder messages help parents keep track of all their commitments.  More help for our teams means more fun for our kids.

Please check out our new eBook with sign-up sheet examples showing some of the the ways VolunteerSpot saves time and cuts the stress of parent participation in youth sports.

Below are the sign up sheet examples included in the eBook. And here's a link to our live demo of a Swim Team volunteer sign up, including meets for the entire season. 

• Soccer Tournament Sign-up Sheet     
• Soccer Snack Calendar Sign-up Sheet       
• Concessions Stand Sign-up Sheet             
• Hockey Tournament Sign-up Sheet                   
• Swim Meet Sign-up Sheet      
• Car Wash Fundraiser Sign-up Sheet        
• End of Season BBQ/Picnic Sign-up Sheet       

As you find new ways to use VolunteerSpot for your teams, please let us know (click comments).  Our goal is more time enjoying the game and less time planning for it!

“I’m a soccer, swim, volleyball, basketball, little-league, dance mom of 3 and I’m so thankful VolunteerSpot makes it easy to help with my kids’ teams all year round!” ~ Cindy C., Austin, TX

Online Sign-Up Sheets and Scheduling Made Easy with VolunteerSpot

New Video: About VolunteerSpot

There's nothing we love more at VolunteerSpot than hearing from our users -- the local heroes on the front-line volunteering in our communities.  Recently, we were contacted by filmmaker Nils Myers who uses VolunteerSpot to support his son's activities at school near San Jose. When Nils was looking to make short promo videos for his video production business, he volunteered to make one for VolunteerSpot so we could reach more groups and support their good work.

This short video gives a terrific overview of who VolunteerSpot helps and how our online sign-up sheets and calendar scheduling tool save time and simplify community volunteering. Please take a look and help us spread the word by sharing it with your friends and coworkers.(Watch the video in the viewer above, or click here to see it on YouTube.)

Thank you, Nils!

Want a cool video for your organization? We love this guy; he's quick, professional and oh so brilliant!  Please contact Nils Myers at 152 West Productions:

Nils {at} 152West {dot} com

http://www.152West.com

Help! Haiti Needs It, How Kids Can Give It!

Adults aren’t the only ones taking action to support the relief and rebuilding efforts in Haiti. Kids care too and are moved to help! From stuffing change into pickle jars to selling baked goods in front of schools to collecting clothes for Haitian children, kids are making an impact in their schools and communities. As parents, the tragedy in Haiti presents a learning opportunity for fostering and supporting our children's good will and teaching them about compassion, philanthropy and how they can make a difference far from home.

Too cold for lemonade stands, four Washington youngsters have opened hot cocoa stands to raise money for the cause. The children at Eanes Elementary School in Austin, TX asked the student council for special permission to raise money for the people of Haiti.  The children are calling on their peers to do extra chores, wash cars, walk neighbor's dogs and dig into their allowance to raise funds for relief efforts. The program is from kids to kids.

Kid-friendly Fundraising Ideas

Here are some other simple ideas for raising money that can be kid-led or involve children as core to the efforts:

• Multi-family or school-wide garage sale


• Collect recyclable aluminum cans and glass bottles for credit from recycling centers


• Hats for Haiti – sell tickets to wear kids' favorite hats to school on a designated school day


• Neighborhood dog wash
  

To help spark ideas for more age-appropriate fund raisers, please see our free eBook: Kid-Friendly Fundraising Ideas from A-Z (click here). 

The fundraising eBook has fun ideas suitable for individual children and groups like school groups, Scouts and teams.

The profits from these fundraisers can be donated to any organization supporting the Haiti effort. The American Red Cross, CARE. Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children and UNICEF are some non profits aiding the cause. A list of charities aiding the earthquake relief effort can be found on NPR's website.

Once a fundraising idea is in place, the next step is organization. Parents or youth leaders should be responsible for this, and VolunteerSpot can make it headache-free. VolunteerSpot's free, online volunteer scheduler recruits, assigns, and notifies volunteers up to the day of the project, making organization easy and stress-free.

Parents, give us a shout about what your kids are doing to help! Please click 'comments' below to add your creative ideas for raising money with kids.

This Valentine's, Show Your Volunteers Some Lovin'!

Be Mine... Love Bug... Melt My Heart...It's that time of year again. Who will you give candy hearts to this year? How about the hardworking volunteers who help make the charity walk-a-thon, school carnival, Girl Scout cookie sale, after school mentoring program, Habitat build, or church food pantry possible.

It's the start of a new year and a perfect time to show those volunteers how much you care and appreciate their hard work. A simple expression of Thanks goes a long way to letting volunteers know you they're important and valued.

Here are a few quick and simple low-cost ideas for sharing the love with your volunteers this Valentine's Day.

1. If your organization serves children, a handmade valentine from the kids is always a heart warmer.


2. Buy chocolate bars and print a new label with your logo that says "Thank You for Volunteering!" 


3. Small root/bulb vases are sustainable alternatives to a fresh bouquet - volunteers are reminded that you care into the coming months as the roots flower and bloom.


4. Multipurpose tote bags decorated with a Thank You message, decorated by the kids you serve, even better.


5. A simple Valentine's greeting card, even store bought.

Happy Valentine's Day from VolunteerSpot!

You may also like our eBook with teacher Valentine's ideas: The Greatest Gifts for Teachers.
 
 

How to Engage High School Student Volunteers

When extraordinary change agent and high school student Crystal Yan reached out to us and wanted to write a guest post with tips for nonprofits about how to better engage youth volunteers – we were thrilled! Crystal is co-founder of The Social Startup Summit and a speaker and consultant on youth marketing and social media engagement. (She's also a designer and hosts a blog that makes economic education accessible for kids in grades K-12.)

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As a 17-year-old among seasoned professionals at many of the technology and entrepreneurship events I attend in the Silicon Valley, I often find myself smiling to myself in the middle of a conversation as professionals, many parents, wonder aloud: "Are youth optimistic about global issues like climate change?" "How do we reach out to youth?"

Non-profits, in particular, can use some work in engaging young volunteers. I've put together the following recruitment plan to help non-profits reach young volunteers in various venues. Take a look below, and feel free to browse the presentation from my most recent speaking engagement for more ideas.

High School Student Volunteer Recruitment Plan

Career Centers

• Put up pamphlets/brochures. Include a website. If applicable, clarify if you can sign off on volunteer hours and/or be a reference or offer a letter of recommendation.

• Ask the center coordinator if you can write up a short spiel for the morning announcements. Make sure the spiel includes your website. Also, ask the center coordinator to nominate some outstanding student leaders. Reach out to them. Write up a Twitter-sized (about 140 characters) spiel about your volunteer opportunity, include your website's volunteer page URL, and ask them to post it in their Facebook/AIM statuses. Trust me, this is how we promote events to our peers.

• If looking to host a presentation, host it at the high school during lunch in the career center. Contact the career center coordinator or if it's a high school, the PTA/PTSA (another area of interest to tap into). At the presentation, focus on having a brief, energetic presentation, and lots of time for Q&A.

 High School and College Service Club Chapters

• Email electronic copies of pamphlets/brochures and direct them to your website
• Reach out to service club chapters in your local area. If you want to get high school student volunteers in the Bay Area, this page is a great resource, just look up which cities each area includes to find your local high school service club: http://interact5170.com/nucleus/about.php?itemid=188 (Full disclosure: I am part of Interact 5170 District Council). If you're located outside the Bay Area, work on finding your local Interact/Key Club/Leos Club district and their webpage for emails and other contact information.

 
City Teen Centers

• Put up pamphlets/brochures in your city's teen centers. Again, make sure to include a website. If applicable, clarify if you can sign off on volunteer hours and/or be a reference or offer a letter of recommendation.

• Go to your city's website, usually .gov or .org (for example, the city of Fremont is http://www.fremont.gov) and look for your city's youth advisory council. Contact them!

I hope you've found this helpful. Feel free to browse the presentation from my most recent speaking engagement for more ideas on engaging young volunteers.

Good luck; I welcome your questions, comments and opportunities to speak about engaging youth via social media.

Yours in service,
Crystal Yan
Speaker and consultant on youth marketing and social media engagement.

http://crystaly.wordpress.com/

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To learn more about Crystal Yan, check out The Social Startup Summit, Torque Media Group and Economics for All.

Follow Crystal on Twitter: @crystalcy

Contact Crystal at: bit.ly/contactcy

Follow Crystal's blog: crystaly.wordpress.com

Crystal Yan  (严晨)

Trilingual Chinese-American 17-years-young Social Entrepreneur, Blogger, Graphic Designer. High School Class of 2010

VolunteerSpotlight: Michelle Krebs, Community Relations Manager, Camp Twin Lakes, Atlanta, GA

Camp Twin Lakes is a unique nonprofit organization near Atlanta providing life-changing camp experiences to thousands of children with serious illnesses, disabilities and challenges each year.Today, our Volunteer Spotlight shines on Michelle Krebs, Community Relations Manager for Camp Twin Lakes, Atlanta, GA.

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Please tell us about your organization and your volunteer needs.

Camp Twin Lakes is a network of camps providing life-changing experiences for thousands of Georgia’s kids with serious illnesses, disabilities and other challenges.  We collaborate with over 40 special needs organizations (we call them Camp Partners), each serving a different population, in order to create customized camping programs for their kids.  In addition to providing fully-accessible campsites, specially trained staff, and camping knowledge and expertise, Camp Twin Lakes subsidizes 70% of the cost per person to attend the camp.

We have various fundraising events throughout the year to help us reach our financial goals.  Each event requires volunteer support, which translates into hundreds of volunteers each year.  We also use volunteers to help out with administrative tasks in the office as well as work projects at our campsites.


How did you get started as a volunteer leader?

As recently as five years ago, Camp Twin Lakes had a very short list of volunteers that it pulled from.  Through the efforts of various staff members, we have built a list that has grown exponentially.  When I joined the CTL team in May, 2006, we had a new event that required nearly 1,000 volunteers.  This volunteer recruitment effort grew our list in a huge way.  It also gave me the opportunity to get to know a lot of our volunteers.  I took over full responsibility for volunteer management in December, 2007 and continue to cultivate these relationships on an ongoing basis.


What’s one piece of advice you have for volunteers or their leaders out there?

Leaders: Get to know your volunteers.  They are wonderful, caring, talented people.  You never know what a strong volunteer relationship might lead to.  They may have friends who could volunteer, or have skills that you never knew about and could help your organization in new and different ways.  The more they enjoy their volunteer experience, the greater the probability that they’ll also become strong, loyal donors. Either way, you are their connection, so if they feel connected to you, they’ll feel connected to the organization (and they’ll keep coming back!). 

Make sure you are well organized and ready to put your volunteers to work right when they first arrive. Always thank your volunteers -- they are giving up their time to help you and you should always appreciate their time and dedication to your organization.

Volunteers: Get to know your organization.  There may be so much more to it than you are exposed to through your volunteer opportunities. You are an important part of an organization’s network and you can help them grow their circle of support.  Recruit your friends to come with you -- it's more fun working alongside your friends and the organization can always use extra hands.

Why did you decide to use VolunteerSpot?

Before discovering VolunteerSpot, every volunteer who wanted to sign up had to send me an email.  I typically had to respond with questions clarifying which shift they wanted, and then wait for a response.  Finally, I would send an email confirming that they were signed up.  Multiply this process by hundreds of volunteers each year, and I wouldn’t have time for anything else!  In the fall of 2009, for example, we had 200 volunteers between August and October.  I can’t begin to imagine the time it would have taken me to sign up each volunteer manually.  I had been looking for an online sign-up system that would automate this process, while also keeping our volunteers’ information private.  I was thrilled when one of our volunteers told me about VolunteerSpot!  VolunteerSpot has made my life so much easier, and allows me to focus on other responsibilities.

Anything else you’d like our readers to know about your organization or volunteering?

Camp Twin Lakes is immensely grateful for our volunteers.  We could not carry out our mission or reach our goals without their support, and I’m sure that we share that sentiment with other nonprofits.  So to all volunteers out there: THANK YOU!  Thank you for your selfless and generous gifts of time!  Thank you for helping to make the world a better place.

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To support or find out more about Camp Twin Lakes, visit their website here. We salute Michelle Krebbs and all the volunteer heroes out there supporting our communities!  If you're using VolunteerSpot, write and tell us about what you're doing and give us a chance to shine our Volunteer Spotlight on you!! Just email us at [email protected]