Learn how FUNDrive® helped take a Chicagoland marching band to the Rose Bowl Parade

In 2018, the Lincoln-Way Marching Band from the south suburbs of Chicago got invited to perform in the Rose Bowl Parade. This marching band is made up of almost 300 students from three schools in the Lincoln-Way High School district, so funding their airfare and travel expenses was no small job. That’s why Rebecca Eisel, the band’s fundraising coordinator and proud mom, looked to FUNDrive® to help raise funds.

Rebecca did a lot of things right when organizing the FUNDrive, from diverse promotion of the event to making an accurate donation estimate, but one thread ran through their entire drive – make it easy. Rebecca knew that the easier they made it for people to donate, the more money they could raise to send the marching band to the Rose Parade. So Rebecca made it simple from the start by handing out printed flyers wrapped around a garbage bag for the marching band families to fill with donations, such as kitchen stuff, books, and toys. She then shared all sorts of great tips, like keep the garbage bag in your laundry room so you can fill it up with clothes that no longer fit as you fold. Finally, they brought the collection point right to the families, setting up trailers during marching band practice and community night preview, so the marching band families and friends didn’t have to go out of their way to donate.

All their efforts to keep it simple paid off with the marching band raising over $8,000 and performing in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl Parade!