In every community there are people who stand out for one reason or another — it might be local news anchors or athletes perhaps, or a well-known local business owner. One way of fundraising for your group is to set up some guest speaker events.
You'll need recognizable members of the community who are willing to donate some time to speak about their professions, overcoming adversity, how they got to be where they are, or any other similarly inspiring topic. The event doesn't have to be particularly long (an hour would do) and you can sell tickets to anyone who's interested.
Encourage participation and increase excitement about the talk by selling a set number of tickets (and letting everyone know that seating is limited, so they need to move fast).
You can also choose to sell concessions, but bear in mind that for this type of event it's probably a better idea to charge a little more for tickets, and have the snacks and beverages as complimentary extras.
There are plenty of possibilities: you don't have to restrict yourself to high profile community members. You could ask a firefighter to speak about their their job and what it entails, or you could invite a single parent who works and runs a household at the same time to offer tips for the benefit of other parents. All of us have stories and information to share, no matter who we are or what we do for a living.
