• Finding funds for a children's museum can seem like a daunting task. However, with some creativity you can provide fundraising ideas that will excite your team and your donors. Since your museum will be catering to children and children's art, it is a good idea to involve children in any special events you will be hosting. Keep your ideas creative, but not complicated. You want your donors and workers to be energized, not confused.
  
  

Rock-A-Thon

• Ask your volunteers to take up donation pledges for this fundraising idea. The pledges should be by quarter or half hours. On the night of the Rock-A-Thon, provide each volunteer with a rocking chair. Time the volunteers as they rock, recording how long each one rocks in their chairs. Invite donors to visit the museum during the Rock-A-Thon. Keep your volunteers in one roped off area where they can rock undisturbed. After they finish rocking, sign each volunteer's sheet verifying the time that she rocked for the cause. Volunteers should then collect the pledges and turn them into to you. It is a nice idea to give the volunteers a "Rock-A-Thon" t-shirt or bumper sticker.
  
  

Bike-A-Thon

• This fundraiser will allow children to participate. Rope off an area in the parking lot of the museum for tricycle and bicycle riders to ride in. It should be free of potholes, debris and away from traffic. Before the Bike-A-Thon ask parents and children to take pledges for the children's biking. Participants in the Bike-A-Thon should take up pledges for each trip they make around the biking circuit on the day of the event. Let the tricycles and bicycles ride separately to avoid any injuries. Require your participants to wear safety gear to keep the museum safe from liability. After the riders have completed their race, verify how far they have ridden so they can collect on the pledges. Use the pledge money to benefit the museum.
  
  

Hand Print Art

• In your museum set a wall aside for hand print art. This wall need not be a permanent one, just used during the fundraiser. Enlist the help of local child artists to make artwork from their hand prints. The hand prints should be made of bold paints on plain white canvas. After the hand prints dry, artists can put their names on the canvas. Ask each artist to sell ten hand print art works to friends and family members. If they choose to, the buyers of the art can have the artwork sent back to the museum for display. Next to the artwork, place a thank you card listing the name of the artist and the buyer of the artwork.