Parking 911

Parking Business and Charity Fundraising

In the parking business we are all aware of the need to fill up as many parking stalls as possible for the maximum price point. There are many ways to do this. One of the most inexpensive ways is through free publicity. A car wash fundraiser on or in your garage during a slow time of the week may just be that opportunity.

If Sunday is your facility's slowest day, a car wash for a church or youth group might be an idea. The radio station will play the spots five times a day for a week. Free airtime and all you have to do is be a Good Samaritan. If Saturday is a slow day, you can have a local high school group hold a fundraiser. High school bands often have annual budgets in excess of $40,000. They usually have 100+ kids in the band and that means 1.5 parents per kid, who are all your potential customers. Sound good so far? It gets better. Sometimes for a big event you can get the radio station to do an on-site remote and give away T-Shirts and prizes, thus promoting themselves on your parking lot.

Great for you-the more people who know about your lot the better. Once a person is familiar with your parking lot they are more likely to feel safe pulling into your lot instead of a nearby lot. The price point between competitors may also not be an issue anymore. After all, you are the community-oriented business; the other guy is just a parking lot.

High schools are not the only groups holding fund raisers. There's every kind of organization imaginable, from the Boys and Girls Club to the Boy Scouts, soccer teams to Little League, cheerleaders to Young Miss Pageants. There are so many groups in need of funds and just as many thankful parents and fund-raiser car wash customers, who would gladly become your loyal patrons.

A car wash fundraiser might seem like a simple thing to organize. What do you need besides a hose, a couple of buckets, soap, water, some towels and volunteers? This might be find to raise a few hundred dollars. But if you're serious about raising a substantial amount of money and want to hold an event with the potential to raise $10,000 or more, the following are some tips from a company that has helped numerous organizations nationwide do just that.

According to Lance Winslow, Founder of The Car Wash Guys mobile car wash business, "Besides the cars, the most important ingredients in a successful car wash fund raiser are planning, organization and teamwork."

The Car Wash Guys, is a community-oriented franchise. Each franchisee gives back to their area by assisting with at least one car wash fundraiser per month. Having held literally hundreds of car wash events, Winslow decided to put his proven tactics for success in writing to help organizations everywhere achieve or exceed their fund-raising goals. If there is a franchisee in your area, they will come out and help for free.

If you are a government-run parking facility, you may wish to support a group connected with the agency. For instance, a college might assist a club on campus and a hospital might assist the Hospice; a Municipal lot might back the DARE Program, for example. If you are a parking structure or lot where there is shopping, you may be able to help the same shops that provide your lot with its steady flow of cars. You can put together a grab bag for patrons of the fund raiser with coupons from these shops. Some restaurants may also want to get involved, giving 10% of proceeds for all those people who eat and mention the non-profit group's name that day.

Diplomacy is the art of letting someone else get your way. And look who benefits-everyone, even the person getting a car wash feels good about helping and then drives away in a clean car. You can even offer your patrons a wash-a-thon pledge sheet to sign for how many cars you wash. Imaging giving a check to the favorite charity of the building owner? Nothing like positive business relationships.

Winslow's book also contains a section on environmental concerns, water conservation and quality issues. So when the reporter comes out the day of the event, you can give great quotes on how you are not only helping the kids, but you are helping the environment. Show them how you have blocked off the storm drains to prevent contamination of ground water and how you have conserved water. Maybe even throw a brochure on water-saving tips in each grab bag-you can get a tone of consumer material on water conservation from City Hall. With a little creativity, you find yourself very fulfilled, making some money for a worthy charity, getting a little free PR and some new customers. Talk about a win-win situation. There is power in promotion!

It is fun, it is free and you can really feel good about giving back to your community. It is important to give a little as you grow, and let the community know you care. And if the customers choose your lot over the lot next door? Well I'd say you deserve it.

Winslow's book, "How to Run a Successful Car Wash Fund Raiser," is available free online at his web site: www.carwashguys.com. The 63-page book can viewed online or downloaded as a PDF file. To find the book, access the pull-down menu, which says, "In The Media," scroll down to "fund raising" and click "Go."

"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs

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