How To Participate
Who can participate in this project? All makers & brands!
We welcome makers of all types to be involved whether you make furniture, cutting boards, jewelry, soap, clothes, candles, art, or quilts! We also welcome all brands to join us! And no amount raised is too small! Danny Thomas, the founder of St. Jude, said "I'd rather have a million people give me a dollar than one give me a million. That way you've got a million people involved."
Ways you can participate
As a maker
- You can raffle or sell an item(s) and donate the proceeds to your fundraiser. A lot of makers that have participated raffled an item that raised 3 times more than it normally sells for!
- You can just create a fundraiser under our group and ask for donations. You might be amazed how much you can raise by posting it on social media and asking family and friends for donations, and you can even donate to your own fundraiser.
- Donate directly to our Makers for St. Jude group fundraiser.
- For every $100 you raise, you get a raffle ticket for the prizes!
As a brand
- You can raffle or sell an item(s) and donate the proceeds to your fundraiser. SurfPrep Sanding raffled off a POV-8 valued at $700 and raised $2260 doing it! We are looking to get more brands to do raffles this year.
- You can donate a gift certificate or merchandise which the makers that participate will be eligible to win. You will be listed under the Prizes For Makers on this page, and also on the Sponsors page.
- Donate directly to our Makers for St. Jude group fundraiser.
Prizes for participating
Last December we raffled off $2500 in prizes for all the makers that participated in 2023, and are going to do it again this year! For every $100 you raise you get a raffle ticket, and you get 2 bonus tickets for raising $300, and raising $1000 will get you 3 additional bonus tickets. To see what we gave away last year, visit last year's challenge page.
When you’re ready to participate in this project, here is how to get going.
Decide how you want to fundraise
There are two questions you need to decide on for your fundraiser:- Do you want to raffle your item or sell it?
- Do you want just to do a St. Jude fundraiser or also collect money using Venmo, cash, etc.?
Raffle or sell item
A raffle is a great way to generate a lot more money for an item than it would normally sell for, and it's common for to generate 3 times more! Since you're doing it for a well-known charity that helps kids with cancer, people are happy to buy tickets. The Wheel of Names website is great to enter all the names and generate a winner.
You can also sell an item and donate the proceeds to the fundraiser.
How to collect and donate money
There are several benefits to creating your own St. Jude fundraiser that is part of the Makers for St. Jude group. All donations that are donated to your personal fundraiser will also show up under the group's fundraising amount. Other benefits of creating your own fundraiser are:- People can donate directly to your fundraiser to buy raffle tickets or pay for an item, and they get a tax deduction for doing it.
- You can email a thank you to each person that donates.
- It's an easy way to keep track of all your donations.
- You can ask for donations on social media saying that even $10 matters, and it’s amazing how many people will do it!
To create your own fundraiser, visit the Makers for St. Jude fundraising page and click the Fundraise with this Group button.
In addition to collecting money using your fundraiser, you can keep track of your donations from Venmo, cash, etc. and make a donate that money to your personal fundraiser.
Raffle checklist
Promoting your fundraiser
Below is a template you can use as a starting point for your Instagram post or reel. You can do whatever you want for the raffle ticket costs, and if you are not using Venmo remove those sections. A reel is good so we can remix it to post on our feed to help promote your fundraiser.
Sample Template
To enter raffle visit @[your IG profile] and click St. Jude link in bio.
[Details about your item, why you’re doing it, etc.]
- I am doing this as part of the @makersforstjude project
- 100% of the donations will go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
@stjude @stjude[your local chapter]
- You can donate to enter the raffle 2 ways, directly to St. Jude or Venmo:
1️⃣ Go to my bio and click “St. Jude Raffle” link
2️⃣ (optional) Vemno me at [your Venmo] --OR-- Vemno (DM me for info)
- The cost is $15 for 1 entry, $25 for 2 entries, or $50 for 5 entries – there are unlimited entries!
- Leave your IG handle or email in the comment section when using Venmo and in the note section on the fundraising page
- This raffle has no affiliation with IG and is only eligible to participants in the continental United States
- Raffle entries accepted through [end date]
- Winner will be drawn using Wheel of Names on [drawing date]
Please SHARE this so we can get more entries and thank you all for supporting the kids of St. Jude!
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@makersforstjude @stjude #makersforstjude #stjude
Partner Sponsors: @sawdust_talk @surfprepsanding
Prize Sponsors: @carbonmethod @realmilkpaintco @isotunes @bumblechutes @twwguild @rockler_woodworking @georgesupplycompany @rusticlumberstore @toolstoday @totalboat @walrusoil @bossdogwoodglue @besseytools_northamerica @danieldunlap.woodworks @xfastenbrand @ptreesworkshop
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[custom tags if you wish]
Here are some Instagram examples of makers that have already done a raffle to get ideas:
You can also customize your St. Jude fundraising page to promote your raffle. You can edit your profile pic to the item you are raffling and also edit the story to add details of your raffle. A good example of this is Thousand Mile Designs fundraising page.
IMPORTANT! Make sure to add a link to your St. Jude fundraiser in your Instagram bio.
If you are doing a project for our cause, or have any questions, please contact us, preferably using Instagram messaging. Also, be sure to follow our social media page @MakersForStJude. For every project you do for this cause, we will list on it our makers page.
You are free to use the logo for promotion, CNC or laser work, or anything else associated with the project. If you need a different format, let us know.
The kids of St. Jude thank you for participating and making a difference to cure childhood cancer.
