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on 10-09-02
Note: There is a form at the bottom of this page where you can submit ideas and information on fundraisers, fun events, and other term ideas to me! I really would appreciate your input!
Need help picking a theme or motto for your term? Try our list of themes and mottos. There are over 300 choices!
Be sure to check out Ideas for your Assembly and The Newbie's Guide for further term ideas!
Planning your term as Worthy Advisor is exciting, when you sit down and think about it. Sure, there are many things ahead of you; learning memorization work, choosing a dress, planning out your calendar, deciding what kind of Installation you want, choosing the appointed officers and committees, picking your colors, theme, etc. But the reason you've been chosen to lead the Assembly is because the other members have faith in you. You owe it to them, and to yourself, to organize a schedule that is both busy and entertaining.Depending on the requirements of your Assembly, or Grand Jurisdiction, you may have to have X number of fundraisers (or service activities, etc.), or raise X number of dollars, or other rules. If that has not been made clear to you, ask the Mother Advisor, the Advisory Board, the current WA or a PWA for any rules and guidelines there may be. Oftentimes, they just assume you know, because you're there.
Successful terms are the ones where the members and adults remain active, but with fun items as well as the service and fundraising. My suggestions to you are:
In plenty of time (probably as soon as you're elected to the line; sometimes events are planned at your meeting hall a year in advance!), sit down and go through a calendar, to get an idea of when you want your Installation to be, and how many meetings you will have. Then, think of the requirements for that term. Does Church Sunday fall during your term? How about Founder's Day? Grand Assembly? What holidays are during your term? Do you do anything special for Mother's Day, or Father's Day? (there are special ceremonies for these occasions.) Is your Assembly dark during part of the summer? Will Rainbow Camp fall during your term? Do you want to have an Open Meeting for prospective members? Use this information to help schedule your meetings and other events. Ideally, you should have one meeting for reading of petitions, one for balloting, one for initiation, and one for elections. If your Assembly follows a tradition of a "farewell", "step-up", or other kind of special night, remember to incorporate this into your plans.
Maybe you can get your parents' help in starting a Parents Club or Booster Club (if you don't already have one) to support the girls?
For your term, are there any special honors you can give out? Are you allowed to choose a DeMolay member to be the Rainbow Beau? How about a Mason to be Rainbow Dad, or a Star/Amaranth/Majority Member to be "Rainbow Mom" or something along those lines?
For term ideas, you can refer to the term calendars of previous Worthy Advisors. See what they had planned, and remember how things turned out. Would you like to try any of those things?
Don't be afraid to innovate, try something new, or start a new tradition. Of course, you need to clear it with the board first, but often they will be thrilled that you're trying to make things more exciting and interesting.
It is important to give each meeting a theme. It can be Hawaiian Night, Christmas in July, or something else unique. If there is an officer or committee that is in charge of refreshments, make sure they know what each meeting's theme is and how much you would appreciate it if they could plan refreshments to match. Consider decorating the dining hall and/or meeting room to fit the theme. It doesn't have to be much, but that "extra something" really helps, in the long run. Ask the girls to respond to roll call with their name, and then something related to the meeting's theme (example: for Christmas in July. Ask them what one thing reminds them most of Christmas. The officer's title is called, and she responds: "Sally Rainbow; candy canes."). Also, think up some escort comments to fit in with the theme (example: for Hawaiian night. "You are our Hawaiian leis; your beauty and feelings of love and friendship encircles all those you come in contact with. Thank you very much for coming." Then, when they're presented in the East, present her with a lei). Finally, whether you have a real musician or a CD/cassette player, consider having music to fit your theme. If you have a pianist, talk with them well in advance about the possibility of having a special song or two that fits in with your theme.
Now give a thought to fundraising. There are many choices available; some traditional (car washes, spaghetti dinners, candy sales), and some unusual ones (sno-cones, glow-in-the-dark items at fairs, cookbooks) that can both take a lot of work. NOW is the time to research them and find out what the requirements are for you to have such an event. Whichever ones you decide on, make sure you know all the details so you can explain to the rest of the members when it's time for the fundraiser to start. If it involves a booth at a fair or similar event, find out who you have to contact, and see what the requirements are. If it involves ticket sales, remember to get tickets passed out to members well in advance of the fundraiser, and keep track of who has how many tickets. (Numbering them, and telling the girls they are responsible for returning unsold tickets and have money for the remainder is best; it encourages them to be responsible.)
Next, turn your mind towards service projects. What service projects have your Assembly done in the past? Are there any traditional ones? Are there any new ones you can think of as well? Whatever you decide to have as service projects, research them well. Find out if there are any forms that must be filled out, or restrictions/rules you must follow, etc. It would be terrible to plan an event and then find out last-minute that you are not allowed to go through with it.
Then, think about fun things. Mystery Trips, Fun Trips, travelling to other Assemblies, slumber parties, prospective member parties, Secret Pals, etc. Rainbow has to be fun as well as work, or the members will tire of the same old routine.
Include activities with your sponsoring bodies as well. Whether you have a Shadow Night, or offer to do a flag tribute at their next Installation (or the lambskin apron tribute at some other event), make sure to be involved with them; they will be more encouraged to attend your functions if they know names and faces. There's nothing wrong with sending their Lodge or Chapter invitations to attend your functions.
"Fun" things to do include:
Mystery Trip. This is an event planned by the Worthy Advisor, where you travel somewhere (i.e. an amusement park, the beach, a tourist attraction, a baseball game, a snow day, etc.) without knowing your destination. Obviously, the Advisory Board, the girls' parents, and any drivers will know, but they are NOT supposed to tell. Girls are told in advance what to bring (money for the attraction, swimsuit & towel, lunch, camera, etc.) and meet somewhere to carpool to the destination together. Some Worthy Advisors have suggested misleading items to bring (a pillow, hiking shoes, toilet paper) to keep the girls guessing.Prospective Members Party, or Faith Tea. See http://www.rainbow.org/prospective.html.
Secret Pals/Secret Santa. Getting the Masons (perhaps Star and Amaranth too) involved in a gift exchange for the term. Names are drawn out of a hat (each girl chooses an adult, each adult chooses a girl), and then two or three times during the term, notes or gifts are mysteriously exchanged, sometimes via a third person. They are nothing costly (a handkerchief or tie tack for the men; a candle, stationery or some trinket for the girls and ladies). Sometimes "secret pal" notes are mailed to the person during the term. Towards the last meeting of the term they are revealed.
Progressive Dinner. This is complicated, but a lot of fun, if planned out well. Great when tied in with an event like an ornament or gift exchange around Christmastime. See http://www.rainbow.org/progressive.html
Christmas Caroling. Invite the DeMolay and/or Job's Daughters along! This can be great if you can plan a visit to some retirement homes/rest homes and sing for them. All you have to do is call and ask permission beforehand. Then after caroling, go to a member's home for hot cider, cookies and popcorn.
Kidnapping. Sometimes it's the Worthy Advisor, sometimes it's Faith, sometimes it's the Mother Advisor, or Rainbow Beau, but a Kidnapping is fun. Usually a Kidnapping goes as follows: The Line officers go to the "victim's" home at a very early hour (after telling the parents of the victim, so they know to expect you), and dragging them somewhere public for breakfast. Sometimes all the members go in their Rainbow-appropriate PJ's; sometimes the "victim" is dressed up in garish, thrift-store-like clothes and a gaudy makeup job. This can also be done for dinner, or later in the evening at a slumber party. Sometimes the "victim" is told to order something weird (a taco with no shell, for example) and has to pay in pennies. Or they have to go buy mega-packs of TP (for the TP-party that will inevitably happen that night).
Tea Party. Have the girls in your Assembly and the ladies in your local Star Chapter or Court of Amaranth get together for a tea party "social", perhaps at the Masonic hall. Whether it be a traditional tea (with fancy finger foods, sandwiches and sweets, using the silver, etc) or something more casual, it will be fun. Send an invite to the Court/Chapter with the details. Decorate the tables, and make little favors for everyone. You can talk about anything: the weather, dresses, upcoming events for your groups, local things going on... whatever you want.
Scavenger Hunt. Can work great for a sleepover, if begun at a reasonable hour. Also a neat twist is to have a scavenger hunt for canned food to donate to a local food bank or homeless shelter. Give each group an area or neighborhood to "hunt" in, and have a list of odd food items. The team who wins gets a prize.
Other ideas: Ice or roller skating, Movie Nights, Bowling, Murder mystery Dinner, Miniature Golf, trip to museum, Lasertag or Paintball.
Submitted via email:
"Pound Auction - everyone brings in something that weighs a pound in a brown paper bag, and after the meeting these secret things are auctioned off (start low, like 10 cents). The trick is, they don't know whats inside the bag until they win it." This could be used as a fundraiser, but I thought it fit the "Fun" category just as much.
Themes/Ideas for meetings include:
Shadow Night. Invite a non-relative Mason, Star, Amaranth member or Majority Member to be your Shadow for one evening. (Best not to do it during a Balloting, Initiation or Elections meeting). Each officer will have an adult "shadow" that stands when she stands, walks when she walks, and sits next to her (or behind her, for the bow) during the entire meeting. The Mother Advisor and Grand Deputy can have a member of another Rainbow Assembly as their shadows. They can be introduced during Roll Call (example: officer's title is called, she responds: "Suzy Sunshine, and this is my shadow, Mr. Fred Smith, Master of Squarework Lodge #51"). It is nice, but not necessary, for the girls to give a little 'thank-you' gift to their shadow. It can be something rainbowy, perhaps a hand-made craft.Past Worthy Advisors Night. A night to honor Past Worthy Advisors. It is great when you can track many of them down, and ask them to bring their scrapbooks, memory quilts, mascots, etc. to the meeting, to be shown off during refreshments. Remind them of what the dress code is if they wish to be escorted. A fabulous idea would be to create a skit about Past Worthy Advisors to be done during Good of the Order, or after the meeting has closed. Giving them a small gift (perhaps a rainbow pin, or some hand-made craft) as a token of the Assembly's love and respect would be nice, but is not necessary.
Open Meeting. A meeting open to friends, prospective members, and their parents. There is a short memorization work (usually one or two sentences per officer), explaining what the duties of their station is about. Check with your Mother Advisor, Deputy, or Supreme Deputy/Inspector for this ritual (there are at least three versions I'm aware of). This is a great tie-in with a prospective member party, and a potluck. See http://www.rainbow.org/prospective.html for more info.
Ugly Dress Night. The girls (and perhaps the adults - men could have Ugly Tie Night) wear their ugliest Rainbow-appropriate dress, and are judged at the end of the meeting. Winner & runner up get a small prize (candle, plant, trinket).
Christmas/Ornament exchange. Ask the members and Board to bring a wrapped ornament, or a gift under X amount (say, $5) to the meeting before Christmas. Put a number on each package (post-it notes work good). It would be cute to display them under a small, fake Christmas tree in the dining hall. Then, after the meeting is over, have each person who brought a gift pull a number out of the hat to choose their gift.
Have a piggy bank called the Birthday Pig. Remind everyone that on the first meeting of every month, if they have a birthday or wedding anniversary, to bring one penny for each year to feed to the pig. After the pig is fed (count each penny out loud, if you can), sing Happy Birthday (or Anniversary) to the people whose birthday (or anniversary) it is.
Mascot Night. If your Assembly lets girls choose their own mascots, ask all the girls (and adults) to bring their mascot to the meeting, and introduce them during Good of the Order.
Friendship Night. Invite the neighboring Assemblies to a meeting, and honor them somehow. Maybe make little favors or something rainbowy to give to them. Have the escort comments be related to friendship and sisterhood, and the Roll Call comment be something like "What one word best describes friendship to you?" Might be fun to have some post-meeting entertainment (lip-synch or karaoke contest?) to further the camaraderie.
Costume Night (for Halloween). Have everyone dress in their Rainbow-appropriate costumes (no hats or masks during the meeting), and be judged (girls by adults; adults by girls). Prizes can be Halloween candy, or something pumpkin-like (example: pen with a pumpkin topper on it). For Roll Call, have each person tell what their favorite Halloween candy or treat is. Escort comments can be comparing the person to Halloween candies (comments about being nutty should not be used unless the escorted is the type to appreciate it).
Baby Photo Night. Ask the girls and adults to bring in a baby photo (preferably under 2 years of age) of themselves one meeting BEFORE Baby Photo night. Have the photos displayed in the dining hall (carefully attaching them to a posterboard is okay; you can buy special "corners" that hold photos in place, so as not to damage them), and put a number next to them (1, 2, 3, etc.) Have forms printed out that have numbers with a blank line after them on the left, and on the right list the names of the people who contributed photos, with a letter before their name (example: A) Mr. Smith, B) Sally Rainbow, C) Mrs. Johnson, etc.). During refreshments, have people wander over & look at the photos, trying to guess who is who. The one who guesses the most correct wins a prize. Decorations can be "baby" things; pastel colors, pacifiers, etc. You could buy a box of Ring Pops and have those as "favors" (they look like pacifiers).
Fundraisers include:
Car Washes. See http://www.rainbow.org/carwash.html.Breakfasts/dinners. See http://www.rainbow.org/breakfast.html.
Garage/Yard/Rummage Sales. See http://www.rainbow.org/garagesale.html.
____-a-thon. Walk, jog, bike, swim, dance, rock (rocking chairs), wake (stay awake all night), etc. Get sponsors to pledge you X amount per hour (example: 50 cents) that you are rocking, biking, etc. An idea is to require each girl to get X number of sponsors (example: five) in order to attend this function.
Quarter-a-Dip Dinner. This potluck works great when combined with a Friendship Night or Shadow Night. Have the girls with last names starting between A-M bring a salad (or appetizer) & main dish; the girls N-Z bring a main dish & dessert. Have punch & coffee available, and charge 25 cents for each "dip" of a different food.
Dances. Have a theme dance (Valentine's, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, Winter, Christmas, Spring Fling, Back to School, etc.) and invite the DeMolay and Job's Daughters as well. Charge an admission (to pay for hall rental, decorations, music, refreshments, etc.) You could also sell pictures (Polaroids or "real" photos you can mail to them later). Make sure you state prices for admission (and photos, if you're doing them) on the flyers and invitations.
Singing Valentines. Ger the talented singers together in small groups and "sell" singing Valentines for Valentine's Day. Send information to the Masons/Star/Amaranth/DeMolay/Job's Daughters, letting them know the prices and details, and give the option of delivering candy and/or a heart-shaped balloon with the Valentine. Make sure you have the deadline for ordering the singing valentine before Feb. 1st, so you can purchase the supplies. The singers can dress up in red, pink and white, with hearts for jewelry or accessories.
Collect aluminum cans or newspapers. Have the members of the Assembly, and adult advisors, save up their aluminum cans and/or newspapers, and gather them all up to recycle at the end of the term.
Other ideas: Bake Sales, Flower/Bulb Sales, Craft Sales, Fashion Show, Catalog sales, Cookbook sales.
Submitted via email:
"For a general fundraiser we had a "no-calorie bake sale". We passed out fliers explaining our no calorie bake sale and we made a bit of money because everyone thought it was so cute!" A no-calorie/no-bake bake sale (I've also seen this as a "stay at home tea party") is where you send out an invitation/flyer explaining your 'event' and asking for a donation. Some examples I've found are:
Bake Sale:
Instead of spending time in the kitchen and sitting at a booth, contribute the equivalent in the form of a donation.Please donate what you would have spent on your baking materials.
"A Batch of Sugar Cookies -- $2.50
A Batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies— $5.00
Two Pies -- $10.00
A Baker's Dozen Cupcakes -- $15.00"
"A bit of news we have today, / A BAKELESS BAKE SALE is on the way
On these busy days, now who could bake / Pie, cookies, or even a cake?
You'd be surprised if you counted the cost / Of materials, heat, or the time you've lost
Cooking for a sale is extra work, / Yet nobody really wishes to shirk.
So we thought of a plan that is really grand, / And we feel that you will understand.
In an envelope please put the price, / Of a pie, a cake, or something nice.
Without fuss or bother you've done your part, / We feel sure you will give with a willing heart.
This is the end of our tale. / Wish us success in our sale!"Tea Party:
The invitation includes a tea bag and sweetener packet, and invites the person to stay at home, enjoy the tea, and contribute to the fundraiser.Send envelopes containing a single bag of tea, a lace doily, and an invitation to enjoy a private tea party in their own home.
Invite your friends and family to drink to their health one afternoon in the comfort of their own homes, and asks for a donation.
A personal invitation to enjoy the enclosed tea in the quiet of a moment alone, in the joy of moments shared with a loved one, or with a friend. It asks that while you are enjoying this moment, you will choose to support our organization with a donation.
The invitation including the image of a teacup and saucer (perhaps a printed clip art image or other graphic), with a slit cut in the top of the cup for the tea bag (secure it with a staple or piece of tape), and the 'invite' printed below.
Service/Charity Projects include:
Adopt-a-Grandparent. Visit a nursing or care home and talk with the director to see if they would allow matching up of elderly residents with members of your group. Schedule regular visits (once or twice a month)... bring homemade treats, read to them, play a game of cards or checkers... and send them letters or cards from time to time.Adopt-a-Family. For the holidays (Thanksgiving and/or Christmas), see if your community has an Adopt a Family program set up. The Assembly could put together a food basket and raise money to purchase gifts for the children in that family.
Canned/Non-Perishable Food drives
Cleaning the Lodge Parking Lot
Cleaning the Lodge
Serving Masonic Dinners/Receptions (this could be a "fundraiser" thing, too, as the Assembly often receives a check for their work.)
Singing for Masonic Organizations
Volunteering at Scottish Rite Language Disorder Clinics or Shriner's Childrens Hospital events. Ask the local Scottish Rite or Shriner's group for information about doing this.
Collect old cellular phones. There are groups out there that refurbish the old phones your family may have laying around, programming them to dial 9-1-1, then give them to, for example, battered women. Check with your local women's shelter, or perhaps the police department. A website that has some info is: www.wirelessfoundation.org.
Help Your Community - a website that helps organize local "community coalitions" to help make your town or community a better place to live. You can either work to start your own 'coalition' (get the other Masonic groups involved too, what great PR/advertising!) or get involved with a coalition that's already established.
Make a Difference Day - USA Weekend's Make a Difference Day is the fourth Saturday of October every year. You can find a project (cleaning up park, helping in a soup kitchen, etc.) that you'd like to do and register it there, or you can get involved with an already-established project.
Habitat for Humanity - Habitat for Humanity builds and/or renovates houses that are affordable for low-income families. They need volunteers to help build or fix up these properties, and they also need financial support. You can help by painting, babysitting the kids of other volunteers, cleaning, preparing meals for the workers... or your Assembly could hold a fundraiser and donate the monies to Habitat for Humanity as your Charity Project.
Adopt a Highway - Cleaning up a section of highway or other road in your community. This linked site doesn't have all the states (I assume most states have this kind of program), but it gives you an idea of what it's about.
Submitted via email:
"When I was Worthy Advisor of my Assembly, my service project was our local Youth Emergency Shelter. They allowed volunteers to come and help out with stuff like cleaning. You can also donate supplies, like toiletries, clothes, toys, etc. I had volunteered there before, and I really enjoyed it."Submitted via email:
"For my term as Worthy Advisor we did our local Ronald McDonald house (cleaning and collecting can tops)."Submitted via email:
"Make a Wish Foundation; Visit nursing homes, children's hospitals; collect school supplies; toys for tots; bellringer for Salvation Army; Children's Miracle Network; do the angel tree at Christmas."
Do you have any ideas for service projects, fundraisers, themes for meetings, fun things, or other items I should include on this page? Please send me feedback using the form below!
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