Promotions, Contests, and Events
Dramatically Increase Income at Stores, Restaurants, Churches, Schools, Fairs, Conventions, Parties, and Other Events
This page contains a variety of ideas, some applying to unattended placements such as in retail stores, museums, or other foot-traffic location where people may or may not see the Well or stop and toss in coins.
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Adding a change machine close by is one of the best ways to dramatically increase your income. Consider this report: $350 to $1,000 Per Week!!! |
While most of our customers get Wells to generate daily income from passive unattended stores, restaurants, and other locations, consider the following ways to increase the income at events where you have the added advantages of being able to communicate with your attendees ahead of time, and to be there beside your Well during the event. This page includes how thousands of dollars are raised in a day, a weekend, or over a 6-month contest period. For instance:
- A church raised $40,979 in one day!
- A school raised $248,000 in 45 days!
- A small church school raised $7,352 in one day!
- A charity raised $1,200 in a weekend at a mall!
Most of the ideas below are for "attended" events. Some of the sections will overlap with others, but that is because we are trying to toss out a variety of ideas that allow the reader to adapt the best option, or combination of promotions to their particular situation.
How to Maximize Event Income With a little planning and some effective strategy, you can dramatically increase the total income at your event. The following suggestions include the most effective techniques gathered from many successful events over the years.
Priming: Have someone available to “prime” the Well by dropping in quarters whenever there is a lull in the action. Demonstrating quarters will promote quarters. But don’t make the mistake of handing coins to the kids. Let their parents do that!
Skill: Encourage the “Test Your Skill” game of tossing in coins without using the ramps. A “demonstrator” person can show people how to do it, and then they will experiment with their own coins. Cup of coins for a dollar: Offer a couple dollars worth of coins for a $1 donation. In other words, scoop out a cup of coins from inside the Well in exchange for a $1 bill dropped into the Well. You just keep recycling the coins while adding dollar bills to the total. We’ve done this at events where we have brought in up to $300 worth of bills in one hour. CAUTION: Do not dump coins into the launch ramps. They are designed to handle 2 or 3 coins at a time. If they get jammed, have a short piece of stiff wire that you can stick up under the slot to dislodge them.
Toy Demo: If you offer the toy banks, be sure to have some children “demonstrating” the toys, especially the “coin limbo” game and high-speed spinning. Let other kids try it. For more information about the toys, go to www.spiralwishingwells.com/toy. Prizes: Get some prizes donated for “whoever brings the most coins”. One group got someone to put up a bicycle. Another provided a television set. Obviously, if you get those kinds of prizes, you can promote them ahead of time and motivate people to bring even more money. The challenge with this kind of promotion is the ability to count the coins. There are some inexpensive coin counters available. Search Google for "coin counter" or "coin sorter".
For several other examples of what people have done at promoted events with great success, including how the current one-day record was set, please continue reading this page. Click here for a PDF printable version of the suggestions in this box. |
Advance Notice: Send out advance notice encouraging people to bring all the coins from home…including the coins collecting in jars, on dressers, and under cushions (children love the adventure of hunting for coins). The average American home has over $50 worth of coins, and many people have more than that just waiting for the encouragement to donate it! 
The following paragraphs expand on the above suggestions, and offer some larger contest ideas, and suggestions for store placements.
Dollar Bills Tape a dollar or a color copy of one inside the sign frame with the words, "Thank you for dollars too!" such as the one shown here. It is amazing how that simple visual stimuli will increase your income. |
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Make change with a lot of coins
As your cashiers hand people their change, have them cheerfully suggest, "Be sure to have some fun with the Spiral Wishing Well on your way out..." as they point to it.
Some stores are even more aggressive than that. When they give people change, they do it with a lot of coins, accompanied with that same suggestion to have fun at the Well. In other words, if someone is getting $1.50 back, they don't hand them a dollar bill and two quarters, they hand them 4 quarters, 3 dimes, and 4 nickels, or something like that.
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Hoody Secton, a 7-11 franchise owner, did that very thing with his customers...many of whom are daily repeat customers. In a sense, he "trained" them to toss in all the loose change he and his cashier's handed them. He sent in this report: "For the last eleven years, out of 8,000 Seven-Eleven Stores, I have been in the top five raising money for the Jerry Lewis Telethon. My Spiral Wishing Well is my number one fund raiser . . . at over $16 per day, almost $500 per month. We average about 2,000 customers a day and most of them come in regularly. Interestingly, those same people toss coins in day after day---even if it's only a few cents change from a cup of coffee, sometimes right down the middle of the funnel and they don't even watch it spiral. They just do it out of habit."
We would love to publish your organization with a new one-day record. This section will explain how to do it.
We have several categories for records...schools, churches, stadiums, and other events.
The current overall record is $40,979 at a church in Loma Linda California. Click here to read about their exciting success.
Canyonville Academy in Oregon raised $7,352 on an alumni day when they were raising money for a grand piano. They came right out and said, "Let's try to set the one day record for the Spiral Wishing Well by passing all the coins, bills, and checks through the Well."
Records are not set at retail locations from walk-by traffic. Even if you placed a Seven-Footer in a 50,000 seat coliseum, it would be difficult to set a record from walk by traffic. However, if someone at a microphone said, "Be sure to stop by the Spiral Wishing Well and empty your pockets..." then you could easily set a record with a large crowd. Applying the suggestions in the green box above would almost guarantee it.
The most likely setting for record income will be at an event where you are raising money for a cause or project and you encourage people to pass their bills and checks through the Well too, and if you get a company or individual or two to "match" the amount raised.
Records are set when the Wells are the focus of the event. It is amazing how people will step up and make some very large donations when the goal of setting a record is promoted.
To maximize your kick-off income, be sure and do as many of the promotional ideas on this page as possible.
Remember, ALL THE MONEY AND PLEDGES THAT ARE PASSED THROUGH THE WELL COUNT! So if someone has pledged a $2,000 or $10,000 or $50,000 donation to your event, don't just accept it. Use it as a matching grant at an event with your Well. Use it to get a lot of other people to donate $5, $10, $100 or more. Promote your event as an assault on the record. Encourage people to bring all the coins in their home. The average home has about $50 worth of coins stacking up on Dad's dresser and in seat cushions. Give away the toy mini-Wells FREE for a $25 or greater donation. And at the end of the day, pass EVERYTHING through your Well! We would love to publish your one day results. Just let us know! Good luck. |
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Free Goodies
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Offer something in exchange for a quarter or dollar tossed into the Well. For instance, the American Heart Association placed a Well in a shopping mall for a weekend, right next to a cookie store. They arranged with the cookie store to give away a small cookie in the shape of a heart to anyone who tossed in a quarter. The charity raised $1400 worth of coins over the weekend and the cookie store had record sales because "nobody can eat just one!" This same concept has been done many times with other giveaways such as small ice cream cones, a Pepsi or Coke.
You can also line up some prizes such as bicycles, cameras, televisions, or other popular items that are provided by local stores. Then run a promotion such as, "Toss in a quarter (or dollar) and enter a contest to win a free television." Have everyone fill out a little entry blank and toss it into the Well or into a box. Then have a drawing for the winner at the end of the event.
Additional revenue can be generated by getting a company to sponsor the contest. They will get their name on the entry blanks along with a tear-off coupon or something similar. Depending on the size of your event, that sponsorship alone can generate another $1,000 or more.
Some of the most successful events have been promoted on local radio (sometimes with a remote on-site broadcast) that encourage people to gather up all the coins in their house and go have some fun and win a prize at the same time.
Big Contests
Toss in a Quarter - Win a Trip
If you have several stores or locations, you can benefit from a big contest. A 100-store regional chain gave away a free trip to the Bahamas at the end of a 6-month campaign using the "toss in a quarter and win a trip" entry blank concept. Since quarters are worth 25 times as much as pennies, they increased their coin-revenue dramatically and drew a lot of attention to their charity. They also instructed their cashiers to make change with a lot of coins and to cheerfully suggest to the customers to "...have some fun with the Spiral Wishing Well and be sure to enter the Bahamas trip contest on the way out."
Stores love it because they can't afford to conduct a contest like this on their own.
As a bonus, the sponsor received the entry blanks every week, and sent "thank you" notes to the contestants, along with a special offer to get a free month of service. This is a GOLD MINE for a sponsor.
So it is fantastic for everyone. The charity raises LOTS more money, the stores love it, and the sponsor gets great exposure and a valuable call-to-action device.
BIG BIRTHDAY PARTY IDEA Consider getting a large floor model Well, use it for your birthday event, and then donate it to your school, church, library, YMCA, Humane Society, or any local charity you choose! Your son or daughter can then have a sense of participation in the ongoing income and charity for many years to come. You could even put a brass-like engraved plate on the rim that says, "This Well is sponsored by [your son or daughter's name, or your family name]." This could become the focus of a project throughout their youth and into adulthood. See the example in the picture to the right-middle. A family in Ohio did exactly that. Rather than have a birthday with traditional wrapped gifts, they invited everyone to "bring all your loose change from home" and during the party, they took it to a local Kroger Grocery Store where they had placed a Well for the local Food Bank (pictured below right). They also divided into teams with the goal of purchasing as close to $50 worth of groceries as possible. One team got it right to the penny! The result was as follows:
Click here to read more about their "Amazing Birthday Charity Rally." If you are interested in this idea, we will provide a significant discount or grant for you. Please contact us for more information, or call 1-937-384-0003 (Eastern USA). Birthday Facts: Every week in the USA there are:
Source: Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza, Dayton Daily News |
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Churches and Schools
Churches and schools have two important elements in common:
1) The ability to communicate to members and students before and during campaigns (as opposed to depending on customers to stop by the Well as they walk in and out of stores), and
2) Members and students have a vested interest in the project (as opposed to store customers who might not have a relationship with the charitable recipient)
That means that schools and churches can raise much larger amounts of money with their Wishing Wells than store placements. Many have reported completely paying for their Well in one day or a week by using some of the suggestions on this page. This is discussed in more detail farther down this page.
But a downside of a church or school setting is that the same people will be passing by the Well on a regular basis, so the income often tapers off over time.
Therefore, we recommend a variety of ideas on this page (above this section and below it) that will maximize the advantages and minimize the disadvantages.
Loan/Rental Program
If you are a small church or school and have a tight budget, you will love this idea.
You can loan your Well to other churches, schools, charities, and fund-raising events in your city FOR HALF THE COIN REVENUE!
And your name can be on the sign over the door on the bottom as shown here, which can be a great advertisement for your church or school.
We receive rental requests on a regular basis from charities that just want to use a Well for a day or a weekend. But because of the shipping costs, that is impractical. We would love to be able to refer inquiries from your area to you.
To help spread the news that you have a Well to loan out, we have suggested wording for a press release that you can send to your local media to start the requests coming in. Additionally, there will be hundreds of people at these events who represent other charities and projects. When they see the Well, they will contact you to arrange to borrow it for their events. With athletic events and other school programs around the city, it is possible to have your Well loaned out all the time, or as often as you want.
Not only is this great exposure for you, the income will be very significant. One day events are always heavily promoted, and 50% of the coin revenue (not including any bills or checks that are donated) will be very significant. It is simple too. They come pick it up from you, bring it back, and hand you a check for half the coin revenue. It doesn't get any easier than that.
Said another way, this is a great way for you to let other people pay for your Well. This loan program makes it possible for a small church or school to be able to afford a Well that might not otherwise have enough members to justify it.
Click here to see suggested wording for a one-page "rental agreement". This document is also a great "brochure" to give to organizations that are still thinking about whether to rent a Well or not.
BONUS INCOME: You can raise even more money by "giving away the mini-Well toys FREE for a $25 or greater donation. Click here to read more about this extraordinary bonus income.
One of the most successful campaigns was in Portland Oregon where a high school placed Wells all over town to raise money for a classmate that needed a bone morrow transplant. The local media picked up the story, promoted it heavily, and they raised $248,000 in 45 days. People also put checks and bills into the Wells...even $100 bills! Because of the media coverage, they received calls from stores asking for a Well. The life-saving transplant was paid for, with some money left over that matched up with other grants for other surgeries.
This kind of campaign can also generate quite a few prizes donated as it became very popular for stores to participate. The cost of the Wells for a project like this can be covered by asking the stores to purchase the Wells, and when the campaign is over, they can use them to raise funds for their own favorite charity.
In other words, when it comes to promotions, you are only limited by your imagination. The Wishing Well becomes the focal point for the fund raising event, but you are not limited to coins.
Vortx Spin-A-Thons
Some schools have conducted "Vortx Spin-A-Thons" where the students get pledges of $1 per hour for the continuous spinning of the same coin. This is similar to a "work-a-thon" or "walk-a-thon" and can raise several thousand dollars, and they attract media coverage because of their uniqueness. The events usually begin on Friday evening and include parent volunteers, food, various movies on monitors around the gym, and a great social event atmosphere. By moving the Vortx in a circular motion, the inertia is maintained and the coin keeps on spinning as long as the student has enough coordination to keep it going. The record is 33 hours and 16 minutes by one person with the same coin! These kind of campaigns require some organization, but they can be very lucrative. If you want to put one together, we will help you from start to finish. Don't hesitate to ask.
 Click here to see a YouTube movie clip about how to keep a coin spinning. |
HINT: Change the name of the Well to match your campaign.
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