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Have you considered hooking up with one of the national groups and becoming a connection or support group under that banner? I am part of CDF and they have a person who works with groups all over the country, helping them with just these kinds of things. It is very difficult for a support group to do fundraising. In order for the donors to make TAX DEDUCTIBLE contributions, it is necessary to have an IRS number and it is not possible for a small group go do that. It is a long involved process requiring lots of legal information and help. That's why local groups work through a national group. You can contact Deborah at the Celiac Disease Foundation at 1 818 990 2354 and discuss this with her. I am sure she can help you. Tell her Renee suggested you call.
Our Support Group is an affiliate of the national organization CSA, When a member belongs to both groups, CSA gives back $3 per person to the support group. Not everyone belongs to both groups
Our Support group used to charge $10 a year. That included a newsletter. We no longer have the newsletter and no longer have ANY dues. We meet about once every two months at a library where there are no costs involved….BUT… we cannot eat food there so there is no sampling of new products.
You could ask out support group leader --
Kathy Cavanaugh at www.celiacdisease.org.
I think the group voted to pay $15/yr renewable
in Sept. to help pay for the
newsletter
I would charge per meeting. That would be easier
for people, especially if
they're on a budget. You could say a suggested
donation is 3. That would add
up to roughly $30 per year per person. And, if 30
people showed up and each
one donated only $2, that's $60! I think many
people would be scared off by
a huge cash outlay all at once.
Another option is to do a sliding scale; making
it clear that no one would
be turned away if they don't have all the money.
You want people to show up
and stay; not go away because of money issues.
We are a branch of GIG, and one of our reasons for being is to help new Celiacs so all are welcome to our meetings and our emails. Dues are $20 a year and encouraged as a way to help our efforts in raising awareness among the medical community and the public, and helping new members with gift packets, etc. We also try to put on a very successful conference every two years with nationally known speakers and have fund raisers to help finance these - gluten free bake sales, walk & silent auction, selling various items as tshirts, magnetic car symbols, bracelets,
The Iowa support groups have a yearly fee of $10.00-$20.00, which includes a newsletter either monthly or quarterly.
We tell people this is an option, but we turn no one away who doesn't want to pay dues-they just don't receive a newsletter.
We are here to educate the Celiac community, and support groups are set up for this purpose.
When I started my group, I put a box out on the table for the photocopies that they took. Ten cents for each copy. This worked out good, most people would put in more that they took.
Then we discussed dues. Most of the people thought that $10.00 was a fare price. With this fee, I offered a News Letter. Sometimes, it was only one page, but they liked it.
We pay $20.00 dues per year, in January. This covers the cost of mailing a newsletter & also for the paper that they print all the recipes and restaurant information and notes from that meeting's speaker etc. We RSVP if we are going to attend the meeting. anyone not RSVP is asked to not pick up brochures until all the people that said they were coming got one.
Hi Jody, our group does not charge a fee or dues.
We simply put out a basket
for donations, and find that covers our costs.
The support group I attended was affiliated to a National Group. They encouraged but did not require Membership with the National Group ($35). They had the option of only joining the support group. Or as i did, I gave a donation each monthly meeting which worked out to be more than they would receive from the membership. My circumstances were such that I never knew how long I would be in the city or how many meetings I could attend so I did not want to join.
I think it can be discouraging for some to attend if membership is required. They may also be tentative about joining something. I really appreciated a group that is more open and flexible. For many years I did not join the groups because there structure or accessiblity were not user friendly. As a result I was exposed to hidden gluten for a long time. I only improved as a result of the group first mentioned in this email.
Where I live now, the group requires membership for the National group and there are only 4 or 5 meetings a year. It is not useful.
Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2006 16:40:41 +0000
At our group we just pass a basket and people contribute what they feel comfortable with. I think the person who runs it spends a lot of her own $$ and feels uncomfortable asking for $$ but others remind the group that there are costs associated with the group. It's not really fair for one person to bear the bulk of the cost. On the other hand everyone is in a different economic situation and you wouldn't want people to not come because they can't afford it.
The fee which is 10 US Dollars a year is for
paper and postage for sending
out the yearly newsletter which now can be sent
via email. If the people
want a hard copy they need to pay and try when
you have a Xmas meeting with
a highly advertised Cookie Exchange, this is one
of our most attended
meetings.
Our Oklahoma Celiac Support Group is celebrating 20 years this year and has never charged dues. Instead, we "pass the hat" and accept donations. We explain exactly what the donations are used for and people seem happy to donate. We have always had plenty of money to meet our needs.
We do not charge dues or an admission fee to our meetings. We want to encourage attendance.Obviously keeping expenses to a minimum is important, particularly rental for a meeting place. Try hospitals and churches.
We do at times pass a container for voluntary contributions. Our most successful fund raiser is our annual auction. We ask participants to bring gluten-free baked goods (include recipe for ingredient identification) and auction it off. It's one of our most enjoyable meetings. Everyone can participate and the bidding can become very aggressive. To help spread the opportunity for bringing a special product home even if you have been out bid by the big spenders we restric
Our group in Dayton, OH, charges $10 a year. We have 5 meetings and I put out a newsletter before each meeting with gf info and a reminder of the meeting. Only the paid members receive the newsletter in the mail. We have many members that rarely come to the meetings but want the newsletter so pay dues.
I have run a support group for 5 years. I do not charge dues. I pass the hat occasionally for donations to help towards copies that I pass out with information on it each month. I feel not everyone can afford dues
Our dues are now $15 per year.
We charge $25.00 for new members and $20. per year for members that continue with the group. The first $25.00 the new patient is given a packet of info on shopping and a little information about the disease.
just "pass the hat" and whoever wants to
contribute does.
I have never charged dues for my support groups.
I always put out a basket
for voluntary donations
community service so there was no charge
Jody
Celiac Disease
www.austinscdfriends.com
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