Reports from Stores and Charities
Last Updated November 27, 2023
That is most-asked question we receive. We jokingly reply, "If you can tell us how many pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters are tossed in, we can add it up and tell you the total amount!" But seriously, there are many variables that affect Well income such as the number of people walking past and the location within the store or restaurant. For instance, we have Wells in two identical stores with identical foot-traffic data that produce far different results. One of them often has their Well hidden behind a stack of boxes in their Customer Service area and it only generates about $100 per month. The other store keeps their Well out in the middle of the entry and exit traffic pattern and they make sure their greeter has a pocket full of coins to drop in whenever children and parents walk past. They raise over $500 per week! Not every location has a greeter, but just the location of the Well in the store can make a huge difference. The most significant variable is the attitude of the management. The more they like it, the more they feature it. To help improve these variables, we have published ways you can increase your income. Therefore, the reports on this page cannot be used to predict income. The following excerpts are from some of the letters and reports we have received about the Spiral Wishing Wells in general locations. We have a separate page for public installations such as museums, zoos, aquariums, and planetariums. Our Guarantees Although we cannot guarantee the amount of money Spiral Wishing Wells will raise, after many years of experience and observations, we CAN guarantee the following:
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Danielle Sengel, Children's Miracle Network Coordinator, University of New Mexico Click here to read Ms. Sengel's report about how Spiral Wishing Wells are performing in 22 Wal-Mart and Sam's stores and why she ordered 10 more. |
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Shirl Davies-Morris, Wal-Mart, Beloit, Wisconsin "We placed it at the grocery entrance about two months ago and have consistently collected between $40 and $45 per day ever since. I am so pleased with its fundraising potential that I am ordering an additional unit to be placed at the general merchandise entrance." |
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CURRENT ONE DAY RECORD "We raised $40,979.37 in one day for our building campaign. And the Well is still bringing in about $200 per week. Everyone loves it and it helps us keep a focus on our campaign." |
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"This is a picture of our new wishing well and our 2 K9 Teams, Officer Lombardi with K9 Taya and Officer Mikelic with K9 Kenna. In the first 14 days, it brought in $111.17 in donations!!!!!" In a public space like this, Spiral Wishing Wells promote the organization and awareness while raising money at the same time. The restaurant, store, or mall likes it because it is an attraction that provides entertainment for children and adults. And very importantly, it is not a live solicitation, so customers don't feel uncomfortable. |
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$350 to $1,000 Per Week!!! "It definitely keeps all the members of the family busy, and because the money is going to charity the parents are happy to give! We raise anywhere from $350 in a slow week to $1000 in a busy week! And that's in just one of our locations with a Well. I am always able to stock the change machine from the well without having to go to the bank." |
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Wendy Congleton, McDonald's Manager "For the past two years, my company has experienced great success with both your two foot and three foot wishing wells which average about $300 a month. Not only does your company provide these wonderful fund raising tools, but the service is excellent." |
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Fran Rushman, K-Mart #4051 "We average about $300 per month and have increased the number of children we sponsor each year from 20 to 50." |
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Edward Ramsey, McDonald's Owner/Operator "We used to collect about $30 to $50 per month with the official collection canister. Since placing a Wishing Well, we've collected $300 to $500 each month." |
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Suzi Heminger, Dairy Queen, Plymouth, Indiana "We purchased our Well in 1990. We have been the #1 contributing Dairy Queen Store in Indiana for twelve (12) years now. This year, our goal is to reach the $10,000 mark, which we are very close to fulfilling. The population of our town is 10,000. Enclosed please find a photo of our manager and some of our employees." |
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Jay Mayfield, Wal-Mart, Minot, North Dakota "On average we pull about $150 to $200 out of our Well each week." |
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Craig Schrader, McDonald's Owner/Operator "Just an update on the six Spiral Wishing Wells we're using for the Ronald McDonald Children's Charities. We average close to $900 per month. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you." |
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Amy Sumner, Children's Miracle Network Program Director, Sioux Falls, South Dakota "We have two wishing wells in all 11 of our Wal-Mart Super Centers and Sam's Clubs, one for each entry. They are very effective fundraising tools for us. Our best location raises up to $700 per month with their two wells. They pay for themselves in no time at all. They are entertaining and an easy way to raise funds. It's silly to be without them, they are worth the investment, they last for years." |
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Tedd Galloway, Captain, Salvation Army "For the second year in a row, we have used one of your Spiral Wishing Wells in front of our local K-mart. We broke our own one-day record of $532 last year with a one-day total of $864 this year!" |
Click here to read how they raised so much money in one day! |
Doug Wead, Canyonville Christian Academy, Canyonville, Oregon "The count is in, and we brought in $7,352.39 in one day! Isn't that fantastic! Of course, many people put in wads of bills and some pretty large checks. Thank you for letting us use a Well for our event." |
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Captain Larry Burke, Kern County Sheriff's Office, Tehachapi, CA "We first placed our Well in the entrance of our local Wal-Mart store and brought in $125 a month. We then moved it to the exit area where it has jumped to $220 per month.Therefore, it paid for itself in about 6 months and has been all profit for our organization since. Please find enclosed our order for another Three-Footer." |
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The Kidney Foundation of Canada: "Thank you for contributing to the success of our fund-raising campaigns. Enclosed please find our cheque for 100 Wells. We anticipate other orders will shortly be forth-coming." |
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Brookfield Chicago Zoo, 3 Wells "Our wishing wells collect up to DOUBLE the amount of money as our static boxes! They are also very durable. The ones we got a few years ago look as good as new." Cathy Bazzoni |
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Robert Sheldon, Christian Record Services "One of my K-Mart Wells took in over $2,500 in five weeks." (Webmaster note: CRS has raised over $10,000,000 with over 300 Wells placed in stores using a revenue-sharing plan.) |
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Janice Harris, Area Coordinator of The Dream Factory "Thanks for all of your helpful hints. Our first Well has raised nearly $4700 in 24 months and we are really excited to order another one with the enclosed check." |
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Sue Hodell, American Heart Association "The Well brought in $1200 at the Mall, mostly on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday." (Webmaster note: The American Heart Association had a weekend event beside a cookie store that gave away a small cookie in the shape of a heart to anyone who tossed a quarter or more into the Well. The small cookies tasted so good, people bought large ones, so the cookie store had greater than normal sales. This is a very effective type of promotion because everyone wins.) |
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Rick McCormick, Burger King Manager "Currently we have 6 wells in our stores which are generating an average income of $5 to $7 a day, or about $180 per month." |
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Hoody Sexton, 7-11 Franchise Owner "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." |
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Jim Barr, Big Brothers/Big Sisters "I have 12 Wells in Arby's Restaurants raising money for Big Brothers/Big Sisters in this area of Florida. Arby's calls me when they open a new store asking for another Well, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters is very pleased with the results." |
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Kevin Feeney, Honolulu Zoo "We average $2,036 per month in our 3 wells." |
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American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums "From June through December, the Toronto Zoo received $21,650 in four Wells." |
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Frederick Wolf, Air Force Museum, Dayton Ohio "When visitors fill out questionnaires declaring what they like the best about the museum, many of them list 'the spiral wishing well' above the millions of dollars worth of airplanes, jets, rockets, and space ships!" (Webmaster Note: Over $2,000,000 has been tossed into this Well since it was placed in 1985.) |
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George W. Benz, Ph.D., Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga, TN "Our Wells have raised over $250,000 and just keep on bringing it in. They have far exceeded our expectations." |
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Jim Levesque, Hyannis, MA “We have had two Spiral Wishing Wells in our local shopping mall for over 20 years. They bring in $7,000 per year, and generate a lot of positive exposure for our club.” |
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Gerry Norkus, Norkus Enterprises, Inc., New Jersey "We had such success with our first wishing well, we purchased additional wishing wells for our other stores. We pick a different organization to fundraise for in the stores and hear such positive feedback from our customers - the kids just love them! It is not only great exposure for the organization but is a reminder to our customers that we are a community minded company." |
A 24 year report! (Webmaster note: Their Well has brought in over $28,000 for various community projects. That's about $100 dollars per month for 24 years with no signs of slowing down.) |
Jon Sullivan, Oskaloosa Chamber of Commerce, Iowa |
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Family Charity Birthday Party A family birthday party with a charity focus used a Spiral Wishing Well to raise $591.26 plus $300 worth of groceries for the Food Bank. Click here for more pictures and how they did it. |
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Patrick Paré, Zoo de Granby, Québec Canada "We purchased our first Well from you in January of 2005, a second in December of 2007, and would like to order our third now. We love how they pay for themselves and provide a fun way for our visitors to donate money to the zoo. They bring in more than $3,000 per year per Well, and we are only open 160 days per year! The Wishing Wells provide much-need funding for our zoo." |
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The Deep, Hull, East Yorkshire "As you can tell from the picture, the children love it. Thanks to the generosity of our visitors, the well brings in about £620 per month ($1,000 USD) with all funds going to our Penguin Exhibit. It has been so successful we would like to order another well for our Charity." |
Malcolm Pressy, Exmouth Rotary Club, United Kingdom "You will be pleased to hear that our club members are extremely pleased with the income that we are generating through our own wells (having been quite skeptical at the beginning), to date we have banked over £12,000 and we have just added a 6 th Well at one of our local holiday parks. Added to the other Wells we have distributed to other Rotary Clubs, we estimate the total funds raised so far at £60,000." Webmaster Note: As referenced in their testimony, the Exmouth Rotary Club also imports and distributes our Wells to other Rotary Clubs in the UK. They encourage UK Rotary clubs to work in partnership with local organizations wanting to raise funds and get their message in front of their community. The photograph to the right depicts a custom Two-Footer Well that Exmouth Rotary Club developed with the Exe Estuary Management Partnership which encourages local community groups to get involved in the management of the River Exe estuary. This is a great way for a service club to help support other local organizations. It combines an informative message with the fun of a Spiral Wishing Well while raising money at the same time. |
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7 Wells at Buck's County Free Library System, Doylestown PA
Martina Kominiarek, CEO Betsy Hafer, Finance Administrator for the Library System added, "Fund raising is really challenging. Wishing Wells are low-hanging-fruit." |
"The Bucks County Free Library has a wishing well in each of our seven branches. We bought three in December 2012. They were so successful that we saved up and got four more the following April. The kids love to drop in coins and watch them spiral downward. It helps parents to have a fun activity to do with their children right before they head home.
Click here for a full list of museums, zoos, aquariums, planetariums, libraries and other public institutions with Spiral Wishing Wells from around the world.