The sponsor by company for certain amt of money doesn't work for us in this area. We get way more actual donations (that we use for silent auction) then money donations. Your best bet is to call schools in your area and see if they did either way and which works best
My dream carnival:
1. Everyone comes up to me and tells me they want to volunteer so I don't have to call 50billion people
2. Amazingly people want to give me food for the cafeteria.
3. It is nice outside so we can have it outside.
4. Did I mention people walking up to me and volunteering yet?
A sponsor or group of sponsors would rent a moonwalk. Or we would rent it. I consider a moonwalk to be more for advertising than a money maker. If it makes money, great. But it makes the carnival feel a lot more fun. Plus people have to stick around for their kids' turn.
This could be a great way to get the sponsors you would like but an't afford or have the man power to run a booth! I'm thinking those home businesses and big retailers that have little trinket prizes to offer! I'm thinking a local printer that has oops (pens, pencils, posty-notes,etc.) that can be used as prizes. Fazoli's, McDonalds, Burger King....hambuger, small drinks, etc coupons! HEY what about the school cafeteria? Free lunch coupons could be a different idea! Gotta local candy shop? We do and they donated 5 cases (50 peices each) of their over stock candy! MMMMMMMMM (Okay we kept the chocolates...we..didn't ..want ..them ...to melt...they were SSSSOOOOOOO GGGGGOOOOOODDDDD! )
Home Depot, Best Buy, local tv stations.....the city?
Just another tip that has helped me out in doing our carnival for the past 3 years.
I made up a form for the booths (with teacher name, type of booth, # of tickets, volunteer schedule, etc...) sort of a compilation of all the forms I've seen at different sites. I also added a space at the bottom for when we count tickets to document total tickets and then conversion to dollars. It makes it so easy to do the final report. Then I also made a similar for the raffle baskets. (teacher name, theme, approx. value and a list of items, etc...) As I got the info in from the teachers I would fill out the appropriate form. I kept them in a binder with a section for each category. The week before the carnival I then made copies of all the forms and routed them to the teachers for a final rundown. In the front of the binder I had a section for my notes on each actvity (junk food walk, hay maze, pictures, salsa contest, raffle, food booth, etc...) as well as a master "to do" list and a master shopping list. You will still be crazy the week before but at least you will a confident crazy person. It has made all the difference for me.
Part 2
If you have the opportunity to do a Halloween carnival, there are some advantages:
1. You can have the centerpiece be a haunted house instead of a moonwalk.
2. Prizes can be candy instead of toys.
3 Dads seem to like Halloween and to be willing to participate more (esp on the Haunted House.)
4. Halloween is the “New Christmas†as far as retailers are concerned. That means people are spending a lot of money for the holiday.
5. A few unique Halloween decorations would be a great raffle prize.
6. You have a built in theme with the opportunity to do creative games that you don’t see every where.
7. When you consider some haunted houses are $30 a person for 20 minutes of entertainment, a carnival is a steal.
We are a small school and have just started doing the carnival so we don't have any of the booths or anything yet. A couple of the nearby elementary schools are willing to lend us their booths in return for a small donation. Just a thought for small schools or new carnivals.
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