3-Day Fundraising Idea: Planning an Ice Cream Social Fundraiser

Photo via Igor Ovsyannykov

July is the heart of summer, and that means the heat is on! Luckily, it is also Ice Cream Month, which makes it the perfect time to celebrate the sweet dessert. It’s a delicious inspiration for a fundraising event that will be entertaining for everyone involved! Plan an ice cream social at your home or backyard, then invite potential donors over to have a good time. Encourage attendees to make a donation to your fundraising account and celebrate the sweetness of the 3-Day experience.

Partner with local businesses

To maximize your fundraising, work with local businesses in your area to donate as many materials as possible, from the actual ice cream to napkins and other fun toppings. You might even be able to get a donation to your 3-Day fundraising from the businesses as well!

Photo via Alex Jones

Offer variety

You should of course have the standard flavors like vanilla and chocolate but get creative with fun and more unique flavors if you can. A rainbow of flavored colors will make your spread look all the more appetizing! Then, don’t forget the toppings! Go wild with these too, and ask your guests to come up with their favorite combination. Let them submit recipes to be crowned the Ice Cream King and Queen for the day!

Add in some fun

Have ice-cream themed games for your guests, like an ice cream cone-shaped piñata! You could also make a twist on the usual kids’ game and create your own “Pin the Scoop on the Ice Cream!” Use poster board and draw a fun image of an ice cream cone (sans the ice cream!) Then, blind fold your guests and give them a cut out of different scoops of ice cream. Spin them around with the blind fold on, and let them try to add scoop after scoop onto your “cone!”

Photo via Evan Kirby

Don’t forget non-dairy

Not everyone can eat dairy, so be sure to offer other, non-milk-based desserts like sorbet or baked goods! You can still get these donated, and it will allow more guests to partake in the fun.

Capture the event!

Take photos and share them on your Facebook with a link to your fundraising page. That way, if someone misses the event, they can still contribute to your 3-Day cause! Also, be sure to tag the 3-Day in any of your social media photos. We love sharing innovative fundraising ideas!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream… especially when it’s connected to fundraising!

Photo via Ian Dooley

Fundraising Resources in Your 3-Day Participant Center

Your Susan G. Komen 3-Day® Participant Center is chock full of amazing tools and resources to help prepare you for the Komen 3-Day. When it comes to your Participant Center, we recommend logging in sometime when you have a good 30 minutes or more to just explore. That way, you can click around on all the different links and discover what goodies are waiting inside.

There are so many amazing tools in the 3-Day® Participant Center, but today, we are focusing on a few fundraising gems.

You can find the fundraising resources by logging in, then clicking on the “Fundraise” button in the top right hand-side navigation menu.

Fundraising Tools

From there, click on “Fundraising Tools.” This will bring you to a new page.

Here, you will find dozens of links to fundraising materials, including:

Sample Fundraising Letters

Sample fundraising letters
Sample social media posts that you can download
Printable tools, such as posters and business cards
Eye-catching logos and Facebook images
Fundraising ideas galore (This page is no joke! If you want ideas, give yourself just 10 minutes and you’ll find loads of them!)
And, of course, Frequently Asked Questions

When you’re done poking around and have gathered heaps of amazing strategies, get back to the Home Page by clicking Participant Center Home at the top of the screen.

Now, look to the top of the page, and you will see all the events you are registered for. You can click on the events (highlighted in pink) and that will take you to your Fundraising Progress page for that event.

Fundraising Progress

This will open a screen that shows you exactly how much you’ve raised and who has donated to you and when. Did you know that your donors can leave personal messages when they donate (different from the public messages that scroll on your fundraising Honor Roll)? You’ll see them here! And, you can even download a list of your donors, complete with addresses to send those heartfelt thank you notes to.

Progress Page

Your 3-Day fundraising is a big commitment, so we give you big tools to tackle the challenge. Spend some time with your Participant Center, and if you ever have questions that you can’t find the answers to, our 3-Day coaches are just a phone call away at 800-996-3DAY.

3-Day June Fundraising Calendar

With Memorial Day behind us and June finally here, it’s beginning to look a lot like summer! This weekend marks the two-month countdown to our first 3-Day of 2017 in Michigan, and the rest of the month is going to be full of sun and fun.

With all kinds of holidays and events happening in June, let’s get going!

June is National Rose and Fruit & Veggies Month, among others, so there are plenty of fun ways to use those holidays to your advantage:

Give your next round of fundraising letters a twist, and attach a note to a rose! Drop them off personally, or use them as thank yous to your donors. Everyone loves a fresh flower!
Fruit and Veggies Month is the perfect time to take advantage of the summer’s fresh produce! In that honor, make smoothies at your next team meeting using some of our simple recipes. Or, sell homemade smoothies as a fundraising effort! If you’re an expert gardener, maybe you could sell some of your harvest for fundraising dollars, too – we know lots of people who love a homegrown tomato!
It’s also Adopt a Cat Month, so grab your team, and volunteer at a local animal shelter! Giving those sweet animals a cuddle will bring the team together through fun and charity.

There are plenty of Walk & Talks, New Walker Meet-Ups, Get Started Meetings and Training Kick-Offs happening in June. There are also multiple Race for the Cure events across the country! These are perfect times to get training in and meet other 3-Dayers! Those races, and some other events, are highlighted in the calendar above, but you can find the complete list on our website here. We will also be calling out more local events on our Facebook page, so keep an eye out.

Other key days this month include:

June 2: Donut Day: This is one of the biggest food holidays of the year, because everyone loves donuts! Check out Pinterest for fun crafts like this one to use for delicious fundraising efforts.
June 8: Best Friend Day: We’ve said it before, and we’ll keep saying it…the 3-Day is better with friends! Use this day to talk to your friends and colleagues to join your 3-Day team. They can still register now!
June 18: Father’s Day: Reach out to your dad, grandfather, uncle or other important man in your life. It’s important to remind them that you care!
June 20: First Day of Summer: Get your team together, and throw a big fundraising event! Have everyone pitch in different food items, and encourage people to show off their signature summer recipes. Then, work with local restaurants and other vendors to donate more goodies to make this the perfect Summer Kick-Off Barbecue!
June 23: National Pink Day: This is the best day of the year for a 3-Dayer! Use any number of our pink-themed fundraising ideas to make the most of this day. It’s also the perfect way to end your June on a high note and hit your latest fundraising goal.

Also, make sure to join our 3-Day Social Stars! This is an easy-to-join group that’s part of our social media community, where you can earn prizes for interacting with the 3-Day on social media. Talk, connect, and share with us!

What are your fundraising and training goals for June? How will you work to achieve them?