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The Newbie's Guide to Planning a Successful Car Wash
From start to finish, with creative ideas and other suggestions.
A Car Wash is one of those fundraisers that always seems to bring in a decent amount of money. However, you can have a 'good' profit from the event, or a 'great' profit. Here are some ideas and tips that can help make your car wash become a huge moneymaker.Have details planned out well in advance. If you have a regular spot (gas station, Carl's Jr., or other place) that your Assembly usually has their car washes, make sure you and an adult (Board Member) go in and talk to the manager (not a regular employee) and reserve that date at least five weeks before the date of the car wash, especially if it's a popular spot with other fundraising groups. Watch to make sure it gets written on the place's schedule or calendar. Ask if there are any restrictions on where you can hang a sign or banner on the day of the car wash. Ask if you can come in and have a $20 broken into $1's and $5's if you run short of change during the car wash.
Look around the area where the cars will be washed, taking note of things like how many faucets there are to attach hoses to, how far away the faucets are from the place you're washing cars, what kind of area there is for drying towels, putting supplies, etc. If there isn't anywhere like a fence to drape towels over to dry, see if there's a place to string a clothesline or two. If there is only one faucet at the site of your car wash, you can purchase an inexpensive "Y" connector that will allow you to attach two hoses to one faucet.
Also, see where you could post signs or banners on the day of the car wash, if you're not going to have girls taking turns standing out there holding a sign. How can you attach the signs, and where? Will they interfere with visibility for traffic on the street, or entering the gas station (or whatever place this will be at)? If you want to, take measurements.
Hold a "Car Wash sign-making Party" for the members at your house, with butcher paper, posterboard, paint, markers, etc. Make sure the sign is colorful, yet easy to read at a distance, and has your group name on it. Example: Sunshine Rainbow Girls' Car Wash! $4 donation." If you've got some artistic members, have them draw something "cute", like a happy car with soapsuds on it.
If you really want to be creative, in addition to the other signs, consider cutting posterboard into large rectangles (usually two per sheet of posterboard), and painting clearly in black words like "blue", "green", "white", "red" and other colors; "Ford", "Chevy", "VW", "Toyota" and other brands; "Car Wash, $4" and "Truck Wash, $4". That way, people driving by in, say, a White Ford pickup can see three girls jumping up and down, holding a sign that says "White / Ford / Truck Wash, $4". This can get the drivers laughing, and they will pull in to get their vehicle washed when they hadn't really planned on it to begin with, because you're earnestly trying so hard.
If your Assembly has car wash supplies stored, make sure they are in good repair and useable. Hoses have no leaks or dangerous kinks, sponges are plentiful and not crumbling apart, buckets aren't cracked, you have soap, etc. It is good to have at least two long hoses with squirt nozzles, three buckets, and lots of sponges or washcloths, cashbox. Consider going to a hardware store and getting extra washers for the hose, just in case.
Don't even consider doing the "Topless Car Wash" -- where you wash everything but the top of the car. You want people to have a good impression of Rainbow. Seeing "Rainbow Girls" and "Topless Car Wash" on the same sign will probably not leave that impression.
Ask the Mother Advisor how the cash box will be handled. Will money be taken from the Assembly's account (say, $25), and put in the box in $1's, $5's, and $10's? Will a Board Member or parent who will be there at the beginning of the car wash "loan" the money to the cash box, and be repaid?
Do you have a pool in your backyard, or is there a member or adult who does? Ask them if they might consider having a post-Car Wash BBQ & swim party for all the hard workers. Girls could chip in a few dollars to help pay for drinks and hot dogs, etc. Maybe your Parents' Club/Booster Club could help organize it.
When taking signups, divide the schedule into sections, and ask girls and adults which section(s) they would like to sign up for. (Example: 7:45 setup to 10, 10 to noon, noon to 2 and cleanup.) Remind them to bring sunblock.
Take signups from the girls and adults for supplies, too. Things like six-packs of soda for the community cooler, old towels, a table & chairs for customers to sit, etc. Have the phone committee call these people and remind them of what they signed up to bring a day or two before the car wash.
Also, see if one of the "set-up" adults will bring the hoses, buckets, towels, etc., if, for some reason, you will not be there to help set up. If they are stored together somewhere (say, in your closet at the Masonic Hall), make sure the adult gets them before the day of the car wash. If different people are bringing different items (hoses, towels, buckets, soap, cooler), consider having them bring them to the meeting before the car wash, or asking them to drop these items off at your house a day or two before.
Print tickets (number them if possible) with all the information (Who, What, When, Where, Why and How much), then assign 20 (for example) to each girl at a regular meeting. Ask the sideliners and Board if they would like to help sell tickets. Keep records of how many tickets went to which person. Let them know they are responsible for returning unsold tickets and/or the money from tickets sold.
Create posters/fliers to advertise, placing one in the appropriate spot at your meeting hall or Masonic Lodge, others where appropriate (get Board approval before placing them in businesses). Remember to include information (Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How much). Example: Sunshine Rainbow Assembly #7 is having their annual Car Wash at the Shell gas station on the corner of Oak and West Streets on Saturday, July 12th, from 8 AM till 2 PM. to raise funds for our service project, the Scottish Rite Language Disorders Clinic. Tickets are a $4 donation. For more information, please contact Mrs. Smith, Mother Advisor of Sunshine Assembly, at 555-4753. Hope to see you there!
See about advertising in the local newspapers (they usually have a "Clubs" section and will make mention of your car wash for free). Also, see about local radio stations mentioning it on the air in their Community Spotlight section, and/or on the day of the car wash. Get Board approval first!
See about advertising in local Lodge's Trestle board (& equivalent for Star). They will need to know well in advance.
Consider having a delegation of three or four girls and a Board member show up towards the end of a Lodge, Star, or Amaranth meeting, mention tickets are available. Perhaps, with approval of Worshipful Master or Worthy/Royal Matron or Patron, have some home-baked desserts (cookies, brownies, etc.), coffee and punch available for them to consume. (Idea being if you are nice, they will want to buy tickets from you, even if they don't plan on attending the car wash.)
On the day of, get there early and set up. Those who have driven cars there, make sure they've parked away from where the car wash is, in case you get a sudden rush of cars. Make sure the dry towels are somewhere where they cannot get wet from the running water. Have a table and chairs for customers, and gently remind the girls they are there to work, not sit. Consider bringing a portable stereo for music for the girls to listen to, and make sure it's safe from water as well. If you have a "community cooler" for the girls to put their drinks and things in, make sure that's in a shaded place, and has plenty of ice inside. Put soap in the buckets and fill them with water. Soak the sponges in the buckets. If you need to string a line to hang towels for drying, do so now.
Check the ground where you are for broken glass, sharp bits of metal, etc. If you can borrow a broom from the place to sweep the ground, do so. You do not want to have to stop the car wash because one of the girls has to be rushed to the hospital for a tetanus shot.
Assign one or two adults to take wet towels from the girls, wring them, and hang them to dry. Don't let them get away with sitting there in the shade and "supervising".
If the girls don't have their parents' vehicle (or their own) there, have the girls leave their belongings (shoes, jackets, purse, etc.) with an adult who will keep an eye on them, or, better yet, lock them in the trunk of their car. Make sure this adult does not leave with everyone's belongings!
A good system to keep everyone busy without being bored is this (adjust times and numbers to fit your Assembly): Choose one or two girls to be in charge of the cashbox, taking tickets and money, and passing out change, and have them switch with two of the washers every 20 minutes. Choose three girls to hold the signs out front and yell to attract attention, and have them switch with the girls who are soaking wet from washing cars every 20 minutes (to dry them off). Lunch breaks should be for short periods of time, and no more than two girls per "break" (unless you have a lot of workers).
During "slow" times, you can take turns having the working girls & adults who have cars drive them over to be washed, so you look busy to passers-by. Always give priority to the "real" customers over the workers' vehicles.
Remind the girls and adults to try not to engage in horseplay (water fights, soapsuds-flinging, and towel-snapping) while there are lots of customers around.
To go the extra mile: Have a few sun-tea jars there, plenty of jugs of drinking water (for more tea), plenty of tea bags, plastic cups, "clean" ice (not scooped from the community cooler) packets of sugar or artificial sweeteners, and lemon juice -- offer free Iced Tea for Car Wash customers ONLY. Incorporate that on your Car Wash advertising and signs "Free Iced Tea While You Wait". Have some of the adults be in charge of serving and fixing the tea (it gives them something to do instead of just sitting around, directing the girls.)
After the car wash is over, have the girls and adults make sure all signs (and materials used to hang them) are taken down and disposed of properly. Clean up any litter that may have accumulated. Assign one girl and one adult to count the cash box, and make sure the money is given to the correct person for immediate deposit in the bank. Put all the wet towels in plastic bags, or an old laundry basket, and take them home to wash before the next meeting. Hose down the area, making sure any residue of soap or dirt is rinsed away. Leave the area as you found it, if not better.
Enjoy the success of all your hard work!
Version 1.0 - 08/02/01
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