Can anyone share some simple fundraising ideas?

Simplist down and dirty event we tried that worked great.  After a previous effort at a dine out night at multiple family and high end restaurants failed under the last Executive Director the staff here were still convinced it could work. 

I agreed but the catch was - I said it couldn't cost us any money.  They went to a local bar/restaurant where several of them already hang out regularly and asked if the restaurant would consider giving us a percentage of the profits on food and drink for one night.  We recommended that they give us the slowest night of the week and we promised to pack the place.  We had the people who hang there regularly do the "ask" because they were the ones the staff and owner knew best.  They said yes and were really excited.  We promoted it to all of our friends, the bar patrons and the shelter clientele.  We did a 50/50 raffle that night, sold t-shirts and the bar owner chipped in Philadelphia Flyers tickets for a second raffle.  There was an hour wait for a table with a line out the door.  The bar was packed solid till closing time.  The servers and bartenders practically collapsed from exhaustion by the end of the night.  Cost nothing to put together and made $2,000. 

Key for this event was letting the regulars do the ask and the promotion.  We've been on a roll since then with the Donor Relationship Manager (she's awesome) arranging for dine out nights through the rest of the year including a tent party at the same bar in July, a karoake night at another bar next week and a few nice normal restaurants thrown in as well!  We do not do the events for less than 20% because we've found it's not worth the time spent promoting for less that that.

Our main fundraiser is our Annual Auction & Dinner which is a semi-formal event held in October each year on a Saturday night that does not conflict with major football games.  We get donated use of a high end community swim park as the location (yes, it's outside but we are in Florida) and solicit major resturant chains (Outback Steak House, Carrabbas, Longhorn Steakhouse, etc.) to donate dinners.   We sell up to 400 tickets at $30.00 each which covers admission to the event and dinner.  We solicit silent and live auction items for the auction portion of the event.  We have been fortunate to obtain donations for cruises, weekend getaways, skyboxes for major sporting events, jewelry, and last year even a 3-ton air conditioning system installed (worth $4500).  It takes a lot of planning and preparation and a lot of effort.  We send out mailings for sponsorships and tickets, use news media as much as possible and a couple weeks before the event, the county allows us to put up an overhead banner across a major intersection in the community.  We also prepare an auction booklet that lists all silent auction items by various categories and all live auction items reflecting the value of each item.  We have some expenses for printing & mailing, table and chair rentals and may or may not get entertainment donated.  The event brought us $52,000 in 2006 and $44,000 in 2007.  We are just now starting the preparations for 2008.  The most important thing is to get the site and dinner sponsors well in advance.  In July  we send out a mailing and wll begin making phone calls and solicitation visits to business to acquire the items or services for our silent and live auctions.  We usually have 10-12 volunteers assisting with the preparation for the event and several more helping set up on the day of the event..

We are also planning an escorted (County Sheriff Office Motorcycle Squad) motorcycle event titled First Annual "Cruisin for Critters" Benefit Ride.  It will begin at a shopping center parking lot to register for the ride which will cover about 50 miles and will end up at a very popular waterfront Seafood Restaurant /Lounge where we will have 50/50 raffles, and will sell various fundraising items (magnets, tee shirts, etc,).  The restaurant provides a plate of food for each registered rider / co-rider at no charge to us (the event brings them a lot of food / drink business)...