FunnyRaising Comedy Shows became a thing when our first fundraiser was collecting toys for Foster Kids for Christmas. That was in 2013.
Since then, we’ve gone on to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, but we’ve been missing a major element in our goal to reach more kids.
KIDS!
While all of our shows are 21+ and Rated R for Ridiculously Funny (oh, and for adult content & language), we wanted to figure out a way to include kids in our efforts. That’s why we created our first drawing contest last year.
We had such a great time doing this project that we are now on the path to do so much more.
Here’s how it works:
Have your kid draw a picture of whatever theme we suggest (in this case, Halloween). They can draw witches, ghouls, ghosts, pumpkins… anything Halloween related.
Bonus points if they have a clever saying. This is our winner from last year’s drawing contest. She drew an elf with a Christmas tree & presents and wrote, “Be Your Best Elf & Spread Kindness”
Full out the form, upload your kid’s drawing and hit submit. Note: if you don’t see the submit button, that means you haven’t read the rules.
Submit.
The Voting
Voting happens on our Facebook page. We will upload all of the drawings on Sunday, Oct 20 for the public to vote on.
On Oct 29, we will take the top three (3) drawings and pick out favorite!
Announcement
We will contact the winner’s parent on October 30th by text/phone to verify their information and get their address.
Halloween
Winner announced! We will post the winner on Halloween!
What does your kid get if they win?
Bragging rights!
An Amazon Fire Tablet
Featured on next year’s T-shirt/Merch
In the future, we will make changes and add more groups, but for now, as we are in the infant stages of doing these drawing contests with kids, we chose ages Kindergarten through 8th grade. We will be adding more options soon.
What happens after the drawing contests?
We will use your child’s drawing (it may be the whole drawing or elements of the drawing) to design our Halloween merch.
For each sale that is made, a portion of the net sales goes to purchasing Art Supplies for Foster Kids.
As an artist myself, eh-hmm, comedian, I believe it’s really quite important to be paid. A lot of hours go into learning a craft and doing what I do. As such, I don’t believe it’s any different for your child. Plus, if they should ever become a full fledged artist, they’ll want to get paid, too.
Annnnnnnnd, it is their design!
So, in addition to purchasing supplies, we also track each sale and withhold a small percentage of those sales to pay your child at the end of the year. It could be $5. It could be $100 or more. It all depends on how many items are sold.
My hope through all of this is that kids will become more aware of the need to support other kids and to create a community of kindness around them; that they know their efforts are as meaningful and as important as an adult, and that they, too, can make a difference.
If you ever have any questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
Jess
Kensi, Age 6 with her winning design for this year’s Western Mass Toy Drive. To purchase Kensi’s designs, please click here.
Photo: permission given by Kensi’s mom to use.
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