Jail-and-Bail Fundraiser

The Canadian Cancer Society’s Jail-N-Bail involves a mock jail set up in a high-traffic public area, such as a shopping center. The event begins with someone calling the sponsoring agency requesting the “arrest” of their boss, spouse, a politician, friend or co-worker. An off-duty police officer or volunteer “arrests” the unsuspecting participant, serving them with a warrant. He or she is then whisked off to “jail”. When the participants arrive at the “jail”, their bail is set by a judge. With telephones and telephone books provided by the sponsoring organization, the jailbirds make pledge calls to friends, relatives and co-workers to earn their bail. Most incarcerations last for one to two hours.

Alternative: In a jail-and-bail in Pinawa, Manitoba, Canada, you could pay $2.00 to have a summons issued to have a victim arrested and taken to the jail set up at the Pinawa Beach. When you filled out the summons you included the crime for which your victim was arrested for. This person was required to spend 15 minutes in jail or pay $2.00 to bail themselves out.

We have included a number of do-it-yourself fundraising ideas in this section that offer a break from traditional product sales. They were developed by groups just like yours in an attempt have a little fun with their fundraiser. Some of them are tried and true while others show a lot of creativity … and even wackiness in some cases. All of them are obviously not appropriate for every group, but sometimes, with only a little modification, your might find some fund raising ideas that are perfect for your group. If you have an idea for a do-it-yourself fund raiser you are willing to share with others, please send it to us via email. Include anything and everything you would want to know if you were hearing the idea for the first time.