All About Fundraising

The Little Souls Dolls

2010-02-19T21:50:00.001-08:00

Little Souls dolls are valuable and unique treasures created by children who are in need. Sales benefit those very children and part of the sales go to the Children's Hope Foundation.

The concept behind the toys is as sweet and endearing as the faces themselves. Each doll is created by hand, just as you would suspect. The beauty lies in who makes the Little Souls Dolls and who benefits from the sales.

They reminded me of something my great-great grandmother would make by hand for a beloved child. When I read about the history to the Little Souls Dolls, I knew that I had to have one.

Little Souls Dolls look like folk art, each one with a unique and loving face that is sure to warm your heart. Upon looking at the collection of dolls available online, I immediately fell in love with the quaint toys that beckon the onlooker to another time and place.

The children create the dolls while staying in the hospital. Each child is given instructions and materials necessary to create the doll. They also make up a story about the Little Souls Dolls they build. Many of the children who make the dolls are quite ill and they find great joy in attending the doll making class and they find great joy in creating a new friend.

The Little Souls Dolls that you buy are not the same ones created by the children. Those stay with their makers, but the doll company takes photographs of the dolls and they write down the stories that accompany the toys. The photographs and stories are sent to Ardmore, Pennsylvania where they are duplicated by the employees of the Little Souls Doll Company.

Proceeds from each sale benefit the very children who make the precious toys. The concept behind the toys is quite brilliant and moving. It takes quite a bit of time and money for the company to send employees to various hospitals across the United States. The materials for the dolls are donated by the company as well.

The stories, on the other hand are completely free. Perhaps the stories created by the children are of more value than the dolls themselves. I find the Little Souls Dolls to be of great importance. They represent the many lives of children who struggle with illness at such young ages. They are reminders of how very delicate our lives really are.

The Importance of Location in Fundraising

2010-02-18T21:52:00.001-08:00

Location, Location, Location!

There are few things that are more important than location. It not only

applies to real estate, but to fundraising too.  Here are some tips to

expand your horizons when trying to maximize your fundraising efforts.

Traditionally, fundraising efforts are concentrated on:

-Friends

-Neighbors

-Relatives

-Co-workers

Besides the usual suspects, there is a whole lot of money in other places right under your nose.

You have to go where the money is. The big money in fundraising is being located where people are shopping. They are out and about with cash or checkbooks in hand.

There's no better time than that for offering a quality fundraising product at these locations:

-Drugstores

-Home Improvement Stores

-Grocery Stores

-Shopping Malls

Drugstores - Nice entry-level sales spot. Generally have good sidewalk space available.

Home Improvement Stores - Big weekend traffic spots. Lots of do it yourselfers diving in to their next project.

Grocery Stores - Prime hunting grounds for product fundraisers. A small, high-quality food item does real well here.

Shopping Malls - Hard to get approval for outside space, but a location near the food court is golden.

And don't forget the 800-pound gorilla: Wal-Mart - The Holy Grail of fundraising locations. A day spent fundraising in front of this high-traffic retailer is like being in fundraising heaven. You'll have more potential prospects than you can shake a stick at.

Because of the sheer volume of Wal-Mart shoppers, you'll

need oversize signage to get your fundraising message across quickly before

your prospects hurry on in

Casing the Joint Ahead of Time

You want the best location for your weekend fundraising table. Scope out the lay of the land. Check which entrance gets the most foot traffic.

Find out who is in charge at this location. Often it's the store manager, but occasionally it might require approval from the regional manager or

shopping center management. Don't expect them to drop everything to speak with you. If necessary, set up an appointment to seek permission

Be prepared with a two-minute overview of

Who - Tell them who you (and your group) are

What - Describe what your fundraiser involves

When - Have a primary date and an alternate one picked out

Where - Identify the exact spot you'd like to use

Why - Give the specific reason you are raising funds

How - Summarize your proposed activities at their location

It's a good idea to have everything written up in a well-prepared letter. Stick to the basics as described above. If you have group letterhead, use it!

Make sure that everything will go smoothly. Ask for the name of the contact person for your chosen date. Get permission, preferably in writing, just in case the weekend manager didn't get the memo.

Setting Up for the Big Job

After you've cased the joint, you want to be prepared to pull off your fundraising bank job.

Location - There is often a separate set of entrance doors. You want to stake your claim right there. There should also be plenty of room for people to get by.

Signage - Look for good places to hang your signs and posters. They should be bright and bold with wording visible from thirty feet away. Highlight major benefits of the product and be sure to identify your purpose

Table Space - You want a large folding table, preferably 36x72. Place folding chairs on the side away from the door. Use a full-sized tablecloth to improve presentation.

Staffing - Schedule your fundraising teams with overlapping adult/child pairs. You want two adults and two children covering each 90-minute shift. Stagger the start/departure times by 30 minutes to avoid resource shortages.

Pulling It Off

To really break the bank, you have to have everything well planned. Timing and presentation are everything. You only have 30 seconds to capture your prospects attention and convince them to stop. Your fundraising should be well thought out in these areas:

Product - Make sure to choose a high-profit, cash and carry fundraiser. Fast food discount cards are excellent. So are quality food items such as cookies and gourmet treats like fudge. Sales items should be small, highly portable, and attention getting in their own right.

Samples - Product samples should be well-displayed and readily offered to each prospective client. In the case of food items, plates or trays of small nibble-sized morsels should be offered by the children involved.

Presentation - Sell the sizzle, not the steak! Accentuate product benefits, not features. Would you rather have a juicy, mouth-watering, flame-broiled Whopper or a hamburger?

Sales Patter - Talk a good game! Work from a loose script. Write down your best talking points as itemized bullets. Keep it short and simple. Tell them about your cause and be sure to ask for their help

Location Wrap

As you've seen, a great location delivers hundreds of potential customers right to you. All you have to do is stake your claim to the prime turf and go for it!

Don't wait for your next fundraiser to suddenly grow wings. Plan ahead and pull off your own bank job instead.

Maximize your fundraising success with location, location, location!

The Hard Task Of Coming Up With A Fundraising Idea

2010-02-17T21:48:00.001-08:00

When trying to get a fundraiser set up probably the hardest decision you will encounter is trying to decide which fundraising idea will work best for you. Choosing a fundraising idea is not as easy as one may think with the variety of ideas available. Many companies do business supply products as fundraising ideas for various organizations. Not only will you have to decide which product to sell, but you have to choose one of the many ways to conduct fundraising.

Some of the fund raising ideas for the product itself range from chocolates, cookies, candy, pet supplies, magnets, candles, books, posters, and the list goes on. Your next step will be deciding how you are going to get these products to the people. Maybe your fundraising idea will be to sell from door to door. This has the advantage of talking to the people face to face about your fundraising, but be prepared that everyone you talk to will not welcome you with open arms and will close the door in your face.

Another fundraising idea you have is direct mail. This is not by selling a product, but by asking directly for donations. It can be a bit costly because letters have to be made up. To have these done properly, they should be done by a marketing firm, which can cost you more than you anticipated. This fundraiser idea will have to have self addressed envelopes included for donors to respond, and there is really no way of telling how much money your fund raising will solicit from the donors out there.

Out of all the fund raising ideas that are out there the donation boxes as got to be among the easiest and the cheapest way to coordinate a fund raiser. This is where you place containers in the businesses around town. These boxes are usually clear with the group's name printed clearly on the container. Be prepared though, the drawback for this fundraising idea is that the boxes fill up very slowly and you can't depend on this for your whole fund raising. This fundraising idea is a supplement for other fund raising ideas.

Another way to make a fundraising idea work is to team up with other groups. In this way you have all the fundraising help you need and the results can really pay off. Combining schools and churches for instance can make a very successful fund raiser. There are many more fundraiser ideas that you can explore. It is you that will have to decide which fundraiser ideas will work best for you and your cause.

There are lots of fundraising ideas, but you have to know what you need, plan it and do it well for it to succeed.

The Four Major Forms of Fundraising

2010-02-16T22:59:00.001-08:00

Fundraising is, without a doubt, extremely challenging work. For any of you with experience in this line of work, you will understand what I mean. For the rest of you, go out and volunteer your time with a local non-profit organization. After that, I think you will understand. While this can be a challenging profession, it continues to be quite rewarding in many respects. This article was drafted with the new fundraising coordinator in mind. So listen up, kids!

There are four major forms of fundraising. When one mentions fundraising to the average person, the image of a well-meaning person going door-to-door begging for support immediately comes to mind. While most of us have been there at some point or other, there is a lot more to this business than meets the eye. And yes, my friends, this is a business. We are in the business of managing relationships; relationships which, more often than not, are the key determining factor for success.

The first major form of fundraising is dealing with institutional grantors. These organizations are often the most difficult to deal with, due to the inherent bureaucratic nature of these types of organizations. On the other hand, grants and endowments from these organizations can often amount to incredible sums of money. For this reason alone, they should not be dismissed. You may have to invest a lot of time and energy into convincing these institutional organizations into supporting your particular cause, and this where the business of managing relationships comes into play. A single grant from one of these groups could secure the future of your non-profit activities.

The next significant form of fundraising is the promotion of special events and product sales. While this area could potentially include thousands of ideas, there is a central theme between them all. What is the donor getting in exchange for their donation? These types of fundraisers are labor intensive, and require a lot of detailed planning. In the case of event planning, spend the majority of your time on ticket sales. While you may want to obsess over every little event detail, it won't really matter if people do not show up.

Direct marketing is another one of the major fundraising types. This approach includes direct mailings, telemarketing, paid advertising, public service announcements, and door-to-door canvassing. Direct marketing can be extremely effective, as it affords your organization the ability to reach out to a vast number of potential donors. In this area, it is crucially important to have a reliable donor list. There is no point spending resources trying to ask individuals or organizations for donations, if they are not connected with your cause in some way. Be sure that your direct marketing efforts are highly targeted, and you will undoubtedly achieve the desired results.

Last, but not least, we explore the idea of approaching individual donors. This approach is very similar to that of institutional donors, but it is geared towards well-to-do individuals. Individual donors can contribute to your cause in a number of different ways. One area that is common to individual donors is the planned gift. In simple terms, this refers to the choice of an individual to leave a portion of their estate or life insurance policy to your organization. Approaching individual donors should be left to your more experienced team members. As we mentioned before, fundraising is the business of managing relationships. A mentor once told me that "80% of your money should come from 20% of your donors". Wise words, indeed!

Soccer Fundraising Ideas

2010-02-15T23:17:00.001-08:00

It seems like soccer fundraising is either a season-long effort or a quick hitter that doesn't cover all your needs.

Well, the good news is that there are some ways to make money quickly, or even all season long, that merit your consideration.

What are your fundraising goals?

Many youth sports teams and leagues want:

1 - Fundraisers that can be done with little effort

2 - Fundraisers that may be done sporadically

3 - Fundraisers that will produce significant results

Soccer fundraising programs

In this article, we'll examine several soccer fundraisers that are quick hitting and sure to score.

The three soccer fundraising programs are:

Bottled water

Shot cage and radar gun

Fast-food discount cards

Soccer Fundraising: Bottled Water

The first soccer fundraising program is selling bottled water. Consider for a moment that each team member will bring water to every practice and to every game. That's at least a couple dozen bottles right there and probably a whole lot more.

Add in sales to spectators and you've got at least 500 bottles that could easily be sold. Sure, you can buy in bulk at a warehouse club, but you can add extra value to your soccer fundraising with private branding of your bottled water, either as a team or as a league.

The initial setup for each label is $75 and afterward, the unique label with your logo emblazoned in color costs nothing extra. Prices for the bottled spring water are wholesale, which allows your group a comfortable 50% profit margin.

When you think about it, doesn't it make sense to capture the wholesale-to-retail markup for your group while building team spirit at the same time?

Soccer Fundraising: Shot Cage

The second soccer fundraising program is best suited for a league-wide effort. On Picture Day, during a tournament, or at any other event with high attendance, set up a soccer "shot cage" with a radar gun to measure velocity.

Every player will want multiple chances to show just how fast their shot speeds toward the goal. You can set up contests with prizes for various age ranges, team awards, Top Gun, etc.

Soccer fundraising featuring a radar-equipped shooting cage is actually an inexpensive event to host.

Several companies rent the equipment by the week with radar gun, cage, and freight all included for less than $350.

You can also find suppliers who will put together a soccer fundraiser with a hosted radar cage and do a revenue split with your group, so there would be no upfront cost.

To maximize your soccer fundraising success, price shots in a multi-shot package, such as two for $1 or other combinations.

Count the number of players in your league or potential shooters at a tournament event and determine if this type of soccer fundraising is right for your group.

Soccer Fundraising: Fast-food Discount Cards

The third soccer fundraiser is one that your group can use once or use to raise funds all season long. And that's selling fast food discount cards.

This is a simple item to sell. Each fundraising discount card contains a certain number of two-for-one meal packages at a well-known fast food outlet.

Participating companies include McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Subway, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Dominoes Pizza, and other large fast-food chains.

Your group purchases a certain number of these cards in advance and sells them to families or individuals that will appreciate a substantial discount. The number of two-for-one deals on each card varies by company.

Pizza Hut's card offers a free pizza with the purchase of another pizza up to a maximum of ten. The McDonalds card seems to offer the least number of "double deals" but its also one of the most popular.

Each card retails for $10 and costs between $1 to $2. Each one features the fast-food company's logo on the front along with a message stating that 80-90% of the price of this card goes to support your soccer fundraising group.

It's a nice way to tap into the consumer spending revenue stream with an attractive product that benefits both parties.

Find out more about fundraising discount cards from a supplier that handles all the different cards, Krazy Kard Fundraising.

These programs allow your group to reap an excellent return by offering quality products that require only moderate effort.

They are guaranteed to score a goal every time out with your players and your supporters.

Soccer Fundraising

2010-02-14T22:53:00.001-08:00

It seems like soccer fundraising is either a season-long effort or a quick hitter that doesn't cover all your needs.

Well, the good news is that there are some ways to make money quickly, or even all season long, that merit your consideration.

What are your fundraising goals?

Many youth sports teams and leagues want:

1 - Fundraisers that can be done with little effort

2 - Fundraisers that may be done sporadically

3 - Fundraisers that will produce significant results

Soccer fundraising programs

In this article, we'll examine several soccer fundraisers that are quick hitting and sure to score.

The three soccer fundraising programs are:

1 - Bottled water

2 - Shot cage and radar gun

3 - Fast-food discount cards

When you think about it, doesn't it make sense to capture the wholesale-to-retail markup for your group while building team spirit at the same time?

Every player will want multiple chances to show just how fast their shot speeds toward the goal. You can set up contests with prizes for various age ranges, team awards, Top Gun, etc.

Soccer fundraising featuring a radar-equipped shooting cage is actually an inexpensive event to host.

Several companies rent the equipment by the week with radar gun, cage, and freight all included for less than $350.

You can also find suppliers who will put together a soccer fundraiser with a hosted radar cage and do a revenue split with your group, so there would be no upfront cost.

To maximize your soccer fundraising success, price shots in a multi-shot package, such as two for $1 or other combinations.

Count the number of players in your league or potential shooters at a tournament event and determine if this type of soccer fundraising is right for your group.

For additional information, you can contact national supplier Absolute Amusements.

Soccer Fundraising: Fast-food Discount Cards

The third soccer fundraiser is one that your group can use once or use to raise funds all season long. And that's selling fast food discount cards.

This is a simple item to sell. Each fundraising discount card contains a certain number of two-for-one meal packages at a well-known fast food outlet.

Participating companies include McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Subway, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Dominoes Pizza, and other large fast-food chains.

It's a nice way to tap into the consumer spending revenue stream with an attractive product that benefits both parties.

Find out more about fundraising discount cards from a supplier that handles all the different cards.

These programs allow your group to reap an excellent return by offering quality products that require only moderate effort. They are guaranteed to score a goal every time out with your players and your supporters.

Selecting The Right Fundraiser

2010-02-12T22:52:00.001-08:00

Selecting the right fundraiser is the most important decision you'll make. Among the key factors are the timing of your fundraisers each year, the quality of the merchandise, selling considerations, delivery considerations, and ultimately, the net profit to your organization.

Think of yourself as running a small business building a reputation for innovation and quality products. What are your financial goals versus expected unit volume numbers, sales revenue versus profit percentage, quality of goods versus cost, acceptable market price points, etc?

If you think like a business leader, then you're on the right track.

First choose a type of fundraiser

There are different types of "best" fundraisers and you have to select what's best for your organization at this particular time.

Your fundraising choices are:

1 - Event-based fundraisers

2 - Direct donation fundraiser

3 - Fundraisers with immediate product delivery

4 - Fundraisers with delayed product delivery

The first decisions you have to make are on the fundraiser category, selecting a fundraising company or distributor as your supplier, and then the actual fundraiser itself.

Decision factors

How do you make that decision? A professional fundraising consultant can often be a big help. You can also check the web, use your personal contacts, review your group's past records, etc. Most importantly, take some time to gather the information you need to make the right decision.

You can design a simple survey that you can give to past organizers and other key influencers such as local merchants and organizational leaders. Offer clear choices to ease evaluation of replies. Print it out and get quality feedback from within and without your organization on what's worked well before and what needs improving.

Then, put together a spreadsheet for evaluating and ranking fundraisers. Break the ranking criteria into categories with sub headings in text boxes across the spreadsheet. Numerical rankings should be assigned to what criteria are most important to your group at this particular time for this fundraiser.

Things to consider when evaluating offerings:

1. Quality of the merchandise items offered

2. Quality of support materials provided such as catalogs

3. References of supplier

4. Availability of free samples or catalogs

5. Service level of supplier such as pre-sorting goods, etc.

6. Hidden costs such as freight, paying for brochures, etc.

7. Hassle factors like replacement goods and refunds policies

8. Special delivery needs such as refrigeration for some foodstuffs

9. Specific needs of organization

10. Previous vs. projected financial performance

Seek wisdom from past experience

Results will vary with the amount of fundraisers done previously, number going on at same time (yours and others), time of year, etc. Look at this fundraiser in context of others - done this one before, done it every year, competing group just did it, or our cheerleaders did this one before and it was a big hit.

Successful past fundraising ideas could and should be repeated, but remember that your customer base is often close to eighty percent the same customers from year to year. Spice it up; try something new and different that will increase your revenue.

School Fundraising Ideas - Part Three

2010-02-09T23:13:00.001-08:00

Looking for a good school fundraising idea?

Offering something families use and spend discretionary income on is a great idea. The good news is that there are other school fundraising ideas besides coordinating a special event or conducting a catalog-based fundraiser.

These often end up overwhelming your supporters with multiple fund raising products that aren't everyday items for most people.

In this series, we'll take a look at three school fundraising ideas. Part Three looks at Prepaid Phone Cards.

These are simple products that your group can offer that provide these benefits:

1) They are easy to sell

2) They offer good value

3) They produce excellent results

School Fundraising Ideas: Prepaid Phone Cards

What do I need to know about prepaid phone cards?

Phone cards can be used for fund raising purposes just like the discount cards. Several suppliers offer a $10 card that can be customized with your group's name and logo.

For an extra fee, you can even get custom artwork on the front of each card, thereby reinforcing your "brand."

Prepaid phone cards are also available in different face values with variations in minutes included, international rates, access charges, etc. Most common are denominations of $20, $25, and $30.

Profit margins on prepaid phone cards are similar to other school fundraising ideas that are product-based. The trick is to source ones that offer excellent value to your supporters.

Think in terms of potential users, i.e. families with college students, distant relatives, people that travel frequently, or individuals who make international calls.

Look for features and offerings that would appeal to these user groups. Because of the variety, customization, and large market, phone cards are great school fundraising ideas.

What you'll usually find is that you can't equal the best deal offered by mega-retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, and K-Mart while still maintaining a desirable 40% profit margin.

So, in evaluating school fundraisers like phone cards, you face a choice of staying with a $10 card that offers decent value or leveraging the best offerings available in the retail market.

Consider putting together a one-page brochure based on the AT&T phone cards offered by Wal-Mart. Instead of a 60-70 minute card that sells for $10, think about reselling the AT&T 120 minute card for $15.

While putting together your sales pitch, play up the value of being able to add additional minutes in the future either through Wal-Mart or AT&T at a great per minute rate.

You can make a three or four choice brochure with profit margins in the 25% to 35% range. The phone cards still offer excellent value and name brand recognition. A 120-minute card costs $10, a 250-minute card costs $18, and a 500-minute card costs $30.

Use your brochure for order taking and try to arrange a special bulk discount with your local Wal-Mart. They are fundraiser friendly!

Phone cards are also among the top school fundraisers for overall profitability each year.

Selling discount cards and prepaid phone cards positions you for a better chance at a larger portion of your supporters' spending.

And, because of their high unit volumes, healthy profit margins, and ease of sale, they are excellent school fundraisers because they'll produce exceptional profits.

Make sure your group gets your share!

School Fundraising Ideas - Part One

2010-02-08T23:02:00.001-08:00

Looking for a good school fundraising idea?

You're not the only one. The good news is that there are other school fundraising ideas besides coordinating a special event or conducting a catalog-based fundraiser.

These often end up overwhelming your supporters with multiple fund raising products that aren't everyday items for most people.

In this series, we'll take a look at three school fundraising ideas. Part One looks at Discount Shopping Cards.

These are simple products that your group can offer that provide these benefits:

1) They are easy to sell

2) They offer good value

3) They produce excellent results

Using Discount Shopping Cards for your school fundraiser has benefits that are easy to explain to your supporters, they have widespread appeal, and each can be offered for immediate sale or sold via a simple brochure.

School Fundraising Ideas: Discount Shopping Card

What exactly is a discount shopping card?

It is a wallet-sized card packed with a selection of prearranged discounts at local and national merchants in your area. Most usually contain a dozen special offers that save the bearer either a fixed amount or a percentage discount.

Each card usually retails for $10 and provides for almost unlimited usage of the special offers. The only exception is when you custom design a card to feature a special one-time only discount from a sponsoring merchant.

This type of premium offering is often worth half the purchase price all by itself, such as a $5 discount from a national oil change company.

Other money saving examples include free drinks with a fast food order, $1 or more off on a submarine sandwich, savings on video rentals, haircut discounts, free ice cream, and other special offers.

Because of their high perceived value (what family doesn't want to save money these days?), these are excellent fundraisers.

Discount cards can often produce impressive unit sales per participant. It's not unusual for each seller to make ten or more sales.

Another interesting benefit is the unique customization of the discount card. Many suppliers can place your schools' name and logo on the front side of each card. This firmly affixes your group's value proposition in their minds for the next time around.

Cards are usually good for a one year period and bear an expiration date on the front. This creates a built-in market for repeat sales.

In the supplier cross-reference section of my book, Fundraising Success, I list 27 suppliers for these discount cards.

As with any type of fund raising product it pays to do more than a little supplier research.

Costs for 1,000 unit batches begin at $6 with many of them and drop as low as $1.00 from the best suppliers.

Among school fund raising ideas, discount shopping cards are a perennial favorite. They also make a good overlay or add-on item for a catalog fundraiser.

Using Discount Shopping Cards for your school offers a great profit for the school and a great value for your customers.

School Fundraiser Organization Tips Part 2

2010-02-07T23:04:00.000-08:00

Hopefully, you've already read Part One of these tips for organizing your school fundraiser. A smart plan can make your school fundraiser much easier. Here are some other considerations:

Using a consultant

Consider using a fundraising consultant to assist your organization with larger fundraisers, first-time events, or mission critical efforts. Among the benefits of using professional help are the following: increased market penetration, increased sales per client, higher average sales volume per participant, and smoother logistical flow.

Use a fundraising consultant to take the hassle out of organizing your event and put the "fun" back in fundraising again.

Protect your reputation

Offer only high quality products. Remember that no one feels good about overpaying for something or getting shoddy merchandise in return for a contribution. Take the high road and build loyalty within your customer base.

Profit percentage

Place less emphasis on the percentage profit offered by the supplier and focus more on the total net profit generated. Higher unit prices will mean higher total sales revenue and often, higher profits per customer.

That's not to say that percentage isn't important, but consider other factors as well. Look at whether sales incentives are included, hidden costs that may arise, sales brochures that cost extra, poor quality merchandise that can hurt future sales, and so on.

Incentives

Rewards will increase participation and that can positively effect the net proceeds from your efforts. The quality of the incentives is an important motivator. If appropriate, consider rewards from among the products you're offering. Look to local merchants for supplemental prizes.

Insist on best value

People will be more inclined to buy if you're offering quality goods at the right price. Higher-priced goods will actually generate more net from each sales transaction to your organization than the cheap stuff that offers a higher percentage profit to your group.

Price points

Many times, different organizations conduct similar fundraisers at coincidental times. Make sure that the prices asked are comparable to other fundraisers in your community. Check prices ranges via the Internet and with other nearby organizations. Look at other catalogs, retail merchant pricing for similar goods, and trust your gut instincts.

Beware of perfuming the pig

There's an old saying about making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. It means that someone is trying to assign a higher value to an item than it is worth. Another phrase often used to reference the deceptive selling of overpriced goods is "perfuming the pig."

If you overcharge your customers for common items, they'll resent it, consciously or subconsciously. Compare results with records from past fundraisers to check what price points were offered before on similar items. Be certain to give fair market value for the items your group is offering. You want those customers back the next time, don't you?

Setup calling trees

Once your fundraiser has begun, don't forget to utilize your calling tree for immediate feedback. Ask if there are any problems, check on initial reaction from participants and their families, keep the enthusiasm level high, and don't let your initial positive momentum slip away. Regular polling of team leaders and participants will keep you informed.

Doubling Up

Double check all order forms and check payments to be sure they're correctly filled out. Double-team all money handling facets of the fundraising process. Have double dates (makeup days) planned in advance in case of inclement weather or other unforeseen delays on delivery day.

Use co-chairs for each mission critical function. Cross train on all tasks. Keep duplicate records of important details in a different location as part of your backup plan. In the world of technology, this is called disaster recovery or disaster prevention. Double count all deliveries coming in and going out.

Record Keeping

Accurate records are a lifesaver and a source of information for future fundraisers. Follow audit guidelines just as if you were a small business. As a non-profit organization, you have to be able to document the source of your funding as well as how those funds were spent.

Setting goals and deadlines

Do this well in advance, mapping out campaign timelines and strategies before the school or fiscal year starts if possible. Your goals should be realistic and based upon solid data from previous results. Take some time to think what extra offerings you could add that would double the net proceeds from each customer.

Always have a hard deadline for the sales period to end, nothing more than 17 days. Seventeen days is two weeks plus an extra weekend, the prime selling time.

Don't forget to smell the roses

A well-planned and well-executed fundraiser will leave you time to bask in the glory of your success. Remember to have fun and good luck!

School Band Fundraisers

2010-02-05T23:01:00.001-08:00

Talk about your hard workers! Band groups are awesome when it comes to putting forth the effort it takes for fundraising success. The key is making sure they have the right fundraiser that will leverage all that energy.

In this article, we'll consider three band fundraisers that:

Take some effort

Are perfect for medium-sized groups

Produce excellent results

Citrus Fruit

One band fundraiser that fits the easy fundraiser formula is selling cases of citrus fruit shipped direct from the Florida groves.

Here, the band members use an order-taker brochure to explain the offering to prospective supporters.

You really need to go door-to-door or sell from a merchant table to achieve the kind of numbers where you'll raise substantial funds. This is perfect for a band group with enough members to canvass entire neighborhoods by working in pairs.

Customers can choose from Navel Oranges, Tangelos, Tangerines, Red Grapefruits, and mixed cartons. Order sizes range from ten pounds all the way up to forty pounds.

A common size is 2/5 of a bushel or 20 pounds. Generally, you can expect to pay roughly $8 for this size and make a profit of $4 each. These are rough prices because citrus fruit can vary in price based on weather patterns and availability.

Citrus fruit is a wintertime offering with availability best between mid-November through mid-April. There are discounts for large orders and bonuses for ordering a whole truckload.

Christmas Wreaths

Another band fundraiser that's a good fit is selling Christmas wreaths via an order-taker brochure.

It's another late fall fundraiser that takes advantage of a holiday "must have" decoration.

Since they're made fresh, you can get an early jump on the retail stores and conduct your fundraiser as an order taker before Thanksgiving.

There are a number of offerings in addition to the traditional door wreath.

Suppliers also offer door swags, mantelpieces, centerpieces, candle wreath packs, and fresh cut holly. Prices range from $17 up to $50.

Profits are approximately 40% of the selling price on most items, so it makes a great band fundraiser because the total revenue is high.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how quickly your band profits can add up with an aggressive marketing campaign. You need to set some high goals for each band member, such as ten sales each before Thanksgiving.

Delivery is easy, with each wreath sealed in a plastic bag to preserve freshness. Get your orders in early and allow two weeks minimum for delivery.

Coffee Fundraiser

A third band fundraiser that produces great results is a coffee sale. Like the other two fundraisers we've already discussed, a large selection of pre-bagged coffee products are sold via an order-taker brochure.

Your supporters can select from twenty or more flavors. Most suppliers have small "dollar bags" or the better selling half-pound package.

Usually, the cost for a half pound of quality coffee is $3, and the retail price is $5 or $6. You can offer a choice of whole bean, or ground varieties.

The idea here is to tap into the market for something that almost every household buys regularly, then expand upon it with multiple flavors.

Their names conjure up images of a cup of coffee wafting delicious aromas throughout the kitchen - flavors like Hazelnut, Toasted Almond, Hawaiian Coconut, Butterscotch, or Morning Glory.

Again, success is best achieved by presenting your offering to large numbers of prospective supporters. Set up a table at any event that draws a large crowd. Offer samples from tiny paper cups. Get the word out to as many people as you can.

Your band group works hard. Make sure you pick a band fundraiser that works just as hard by being impossible to resist.

Salvation Army, Not Just A Religion, A Charity Worth Giving To

2010-02-04T22:56:00.001-08:00

Last year during Christmas season I started to enter a store that I had shopped at regularly for years. I stopped at the store entrance because I felt that something was wrong. Then I realized that there was no bell ringing and no Salvation Army volunteer with his or her red kettle. I went into the store and asked the manager if he knew why the Salvation Army volunteer was not outside. He stated that the company had gotten complaints from people who were unhappy that a religious organization was soliciting donations in front of the company's stores. He stated that the company had decided that they would no longer allow the Salvation Army to have a space outside the stores. This way the company would not offend people. I told the manager that they had just offended me. I walked out and have never again shopped at that store or at any of that company's other stores.

Every year I know it's the Christmas season when I see the Salvation Army volunteers ringing their bells and standing next to their red donation kettles or buckets. Every time I see one of those red buckets I put $5, $10 or $20 in the bucket and thank the volunteer for being there and allowing me to make the donation. I thank them because I believe that they are doing me a favor by allowing me to help people through the Salvation Army. They are the ones that have to stand for hours ringing their bell while all I have to do is put money in the bucket. They don't get paid for doing this they just do it out of love for their fellow humans. I not only donate at Christmas time, I also send in anonymous donations (For my own ideological reasons most of my donations to most entities are made anonymously.) at other times of the year and when there are various disasters.

I am not connected in any way with the Salvation Army nor have I ever recieved aid from them. The Salvation Army is a christian religious organization and although I am a Christian I am a Catholic. Some people ask me why I give to the Salvation Army instead of the Catholic Church. I tell them that I do give to the Church, but I also give to the Salvation Army. As far as I am concerned the Salvation Army is one of the finest charities around. They try to help any and every person regardless of race, nationality, color, sexual preference or religious beliefs. They have never tried to convert anyone I know of and they never seem to engage in any type of politicking. The only thing I have ever seen them do is help people. They have their beliefs but as far as I have seen they do not try to force those beliefs on others.

The Salvation Army is a religious organization, they do have ministries, they do have members, and they do preach the gospel of Christ to people, however, as far as I know they do not preach to people that do not want to hear them and they never require people that they are helping to join them. When I was young, I knew a girl whose family belonged to the Salvation Army. Not once did they ever try to "convert" me, not once did they ever try to talk me into going to services with them and not once did they ever try to do anything other that to be nice to me. At that time I was an Agnostic and they knew this but they never tried to change my mind and they never judged me.

According the Salvation Army, "83 cents of every dollar collected by the Army goes directly to client service", this is one the highest percentages of any non-profit in the world. Among the services that they provide are disaster relief services, day care centers, summer camps, holiday assistance, services for the aging, AIDS education and residential services, medical facilities, shelters for battered women and children, family and career counseling, vocational training, correction services, and substance abuse rehabilitation. More than 30 million people a year are aided in some form by services provided by The Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army is actively involved in fighting the international crime of human and sexual trafficking. The battle is fought on two fronts: shaping public policy in Washington, DC, as well as providing basic services and advocacy for victims. They run 120 adult rehabilitation centers across the nation, these centers focus solely on defeating substance abuse. Individuals with identifiable and treatable needs go to these centers for help when they no longer are able to cope with their addictions. They receive housing, nourishing meals, and necessary medical care, and they engage in work therapy. The Salvation Army also operates 18 locations across the United States, which provide a comprehensive treatment program for men and women struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. Clients are primarily homeless, with limited or no access to other treatment or social service programs. Educational assistance along with classes such as relapse prevention and anger management prepare graduates for independence and meaningful employment. Each year, thousands of older adults are served by The Salvation Army through a myriad of programs. At Salvation Army community centers, seniors may find educational classes, adult day care, hot-lunch programs, and the "league of mercy," a community care ministry that sends volunteers to hospitals, nursing homes, and directly to the homebound to provide a listening ear, a caring heart and a helping hand.

They provide needy families with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, gifts for children, coats and shoes for kids with none to wear, and visitation to the elderly and imprisoned who have no one to care for them. Families who are in desperate need of basics such as food, clothing and household items during the holidays are placed in the care of the Army's Adopt a Family program. Each family creates a wish list of items and is matched with a volunteer donor team. Businesses, families and school groups adopt families in this program, generously meeting the family's needs and instilling hope in those who have none.

The Salvation Army may be a religious organization but their main function seems to be to help those in need. As such they are a charity worth donating to. A charity that deserves your donations, not just at Christmas time but year round. Help them help others. You don't have to be a Christian to give to them, you don't even have to believe in God. All you have to believe in is helping other people.

Preventing Fundraiser Burnout

2010-02-02T23:19:00.001-08:00

Since many schools and other organizations today find themselves suffering from a chronic state of under-funding, they are increasingly forced to hold multiple fundraisers through the course of the year. Unfortunately, this can lead to a complete 'fundraiser burnout' for many customers as well as for fundraising salespeople.

So the critical question is: how do you maintain real interest on the part of customers so as to keep support for your group strong, and how do you keep your salespeople from flagging, losing energy and interest in raising money for your organization? Although there are many potential solutions, here are just a few examples to get started with.

In order to keep customer interest high, and as a way of maintaining goodwill, sell different products during each fundraiser throughout the year. There's nothing wrong with repeating a successful fundraiser, but once a year is probably more than enough - even an extremely popular fundraising option can quickly lead to customer burnout if it's repeated too frequently.

As a matter of maintaining customer goodwill, offer useful products and services in your fundraisers - everyone loves cookies and chocolates, but there comes a point where customers will only be buying them to support the organization; some will just quit buying them at all. If you find a way to provide goods or services that supporters of the organization already want, then they are able to support your organization by buying something that they might have somewhere else anyway - a win-win situation.

As a corollary of this, be sure not to have too many fundraisers - you're better off with a few wildly successful ones than a dozen mediocre fundraising programs - customers will buy more readily when they're asked to buy less often, and salespeople can stay excited if they're not asked to sell constantly.

To keep your salespeople excited, offer creative incentives to encourage them to compete with one another. Depending on your organization, the chance to throw pies at a principal or dunk some other authority figure could go over very well. Also, make the connection obvious - show your salespeople the benefits that the organization will see from fundraising and by extension the benefits that they themselves will see.

There are many other ways to keep fundraising fun and ensure that your customers and salespeople stay interested - just make sure to use common sense and think positively and creatively - your organization is bound to be successful!

Political Fundraising Online

2010-02-01T23:02:00.001-08:00

Looking for low cost political fundraising tips? It's obvious that the campaign fund raising system is badly in need of reform. This article covers a dozen ways political candidates can raise money quickly and easily online.

Getting elected to any type of local, state, or national office is hugely expensive. As a result, most politicians are beholden to special interest groups who contribute heavily to fund their election and reelection campaigns.

There are plenty of ways that political candidates could raise money the right way, but that requires work and quite frankly, a lot of them take the easy way instead.

If they'd only use their brains and build grass roots fundraising organizations, leverage the power of the internet, and avoid wasting money on ineffective advertising, they could get elected without compromising their beliefs.

Remember how Howard Dean shocked everyone in 2003 with his fundraising prowess? Well, that success is a huge arrow pointing at new ways to raise funds online.

12 tips for online political fundraising:

Website name capture

Your candidate website should be designed to capture the names and email addresses of as many visitors as possible. Use the technique known as name capture that presents a special page to visitors asking them to be added to your mailing list. That way, you can add as many as 50% of your site visitors to your follow-up autoresponder messages.

Offer RSS feeds

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) distributes new website postings to everyone who've signed up to receive your info. This is great for getting media coverage, creating a lot of links back to your website, and keeping supporters updated.

Blogging

Add a blog to your website explaining your positions on the issues. Blogs are all the rage these days and having one will get you additional exposure within the political community. Be passionate in your postings! Allow visitors to add comments, but set them to be approved.

Podcasts

Doing podcasts explaining your positions on important issues is another great way to push information out to the public. Create multimedia presentations for others to view such as speeches, hot topics, requests for donations, etc. You can get setup to podcast for under $100.

Position papers

Post detailed position statements on your website on how your views contrast with opponents. This will attract people searching for information on the issues.

Press kits

Provide summary info on your website in PDF document format for press kits to increase media coverage.

Collect donations online

Howard Dean stunned everyone back in 2003 with his online fundraising capabilities. Do the same in your race. Make it easy to receive campaign donations with one-click donation buttons.

Interactive website

Include interactive content on their site such as blog comments, forums, streaming videos of speeches, audio files, photos, "tell a friend" capability, etc.

Sell promo materials

Sell tshirts, hats, campaign buttons, bumper stickers, polo shirts, supporter kits, lawn signs, banners, placards, etc. Put the profits into your campaign fund.

Voter Registration

Provide detailed voter registration information for your area. Ask people to sign up for registration drives and Election Day turnouts.

Show Passion

Tell us exactly how you will MAKE US BETTER!

Start using these online political fundraising tips today.

Planning A Charity Golf Tournament

2010-01-31T23:13:00.001-08:00

Looking for tips on planning a charity golf tournament? There are many factors to consider, so I'll stick to the four main ones for this article. The success of your charity golf event revolves around maximizing player turnout, increasing pledge sizes, obtaining sponsored prizes, and planning tips.

Player Turnout

Your success depends on how many players your golf event draws and how actively you have your players solicit sponsors for their own rounds.

To maximize turnout, you need to get major publicity for your event. That means putting out multiple press releases, getting local media coverage from newspapers and television stations, and placing ads in the sports section of the local paper.

For the best results, put your press releases out through PR Web. Appoint a spokesperson to handle all media contacts and follow-up. For more tips, read my article on fundraising publicity.

Charity Pledges

The key is getting each player to collect a certain amount of pledges. I recommend a minimum of $100 per player in pledges. I've also played in tournaments where that number was $250 per player.

Obviously, you want to motivate the participants to raise as much money as possible. Some groups offer incentives for the top pledge getters. Others seek corporate sponsorships for that firm's players.

Pledge amounts determine the success of your charity golf event, so get input from experienced golfers and golf pros in your area.

Top Golfer Prizes

Generally speaking, you'll draw more golfers if you have great prizes for longest drive, closest to the hole, hole in one, lowest team score, lowest actual score, and best adjusted score (handicap).

You solicit local merchants to sponsor those prizes. Work with an insurance-related prize company for things like the hole-in-one contest. That way you can offer a bigger prize for a much lower outlay.

Aim to get 100 golfers (25 foursomes) and your small group could easily raise $10,000 or more. Larger turnouts will net even more with some charity golf tournaments drawing 500 golfers competing for big prizes.

Plan Ahead

Obviously, bigger pledges, more golfers, corporate sponsorships combined with massive publicity will work wonders for the bottom line of your charity golf tournament. With the right combination of these factors and good advance planning, you can certainly raise $75,000 or more for a charitable cause.

Contact local courses for group rates. Be sure to mention that you are planning a charity event and ask for discounts on cart and greens fees. Once you decide on your preferred location, reserve the date and tee times well in advance.

Charity Golf Event - Final Tips

Plan ahead to maximize the success of your charity golf event. For best results, pick a weekday when courses and large blocks of tee times will be easier to reserve. You'll often get the best rates by going to the course in person and talking to the pro or pro shop manager.

Corporate sponsors are another good way to go. Get some celebrities to golf with corporate bigwigs and you can easily raise $100k-$150k. Of course, convincing celebrities to donate their time takes some doing, but it's well worth it.

If it's your first golf tournament, be open to suggestions from other golfers. Consider working with a fundraising consultant who specializes in organizing charity golf tournaments. They work for a percentage of the gross, but you usually end up raising more funds due to their experience and sponsor contacts.

Pizza Fundraiser Ideas

2010-01-29T23:13:00.001-08:00

Fundraising with pizza is a great idea for most any size group. It provides your buyers with something everyone wants, and can be very profitable as a fundraising idea.

There are three different types of pizza fundraisers:

Sales of pizza by the slice

Sales of pizza fundraising discount cards

Sales of pizza supplies - make your own kits

Each of these fundraisers varies in effort, requirements, and profitability. Let's take a brief look at each one.

Pizza Fundraising By The Slice

This is a quick and easy profit source for just about any type of youth sports team. You purchase your pizzas at a quantity discount and have them delivered piping hot to your event.

Papa Johns and Dominos both offer the delivery service from any location. Of course, you'll need to pay cash when the pizzas are delivered.

Sell the individual slices at close to 100% markup so that your team receives $2 for every $1 in cost.

That markup covers any unsold or damaged slices.

Tips: Don't overbuy, reorder instead. Also, sell them fast before they cool off. Plain cheese is the most popular followed by pepperoni.

Pizza Fundraising Discount Cards

A pizza fundraiser card is a discount card with an offer tied to a single merchant, usually a national chain. It often provides a two- for-one offer on every order and is tends to be priced at $10 for a card good for a one-year period.

Offers vary with most being tied to either a single location or a small group of outlets for a national chain. Pizza Hut cards are good for eat-in dining while most others are aimed at the take-out or delivery market.

Given how popular pizza is with younger children as well as teenagers, pizza cards are excellent school fundraising ideas.

The cards for Pizza Hut and those for some of the other chains place a limit on the number of times you can use the card, often 21 times. That is a lot of free pizza for $10. Usage is tracked via holes punched in marked spots on the card.

Some of the offers also specify that your initial order must be for a large pizza while your free pizza is a medium size. When you think about it, that works well for most adults because they usually want a different set of toppings than what their children enjoy.

Profit Tip: Pizza cards can be obtained from many suppliers. Most offer the same set of national chains and prices can vary widely, so it pays to shop around.

All in all, pizza cards are among the best easy fundraisers based on profitability and ease of sale.

Fundraising Sales of Frozen Pizza, Supplies, or Kits

Little Caesars and several other companies offer a "do it yourself" pizza kit that many schools, youth groups, and sports teams have successfully sold.

The basic concept is the same as a cookie dough fundraiser. Your sellers use an order-taker brochure, collect payment upfront, and deliver the goods after you receive your bulk shipment.

As with all order taker sales efforts, there is slightly more work involved than with immediate sale items. The delivered product must be received, counted, and sorted by customer.

Pricing is generally close to the price the customer would pay at retail. Profit margins are in the 30%-40% range.

Tip: Because the dough is frozen, deliveries need to be timed well. Your customer pickup/delivery needs to take place within 4 to 6 hours after your bulk delivery.

If you are looking for a great fundraising idea for your school, youth group, or sports team, try pizza this year!

Oh, No! Another School Fundraiser!

2010-01-28T23:08:00.001-08:00

If you have children still attending school, then you probably know all too well the feeling you get when you receive a flyer stating the need for yet another fundraising event! That horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach that says you're going to have to contribute in some way, either buying something you really don't need and really can't afford, or by donating hours of your time, hours that you don't have either.

But do not despair. Life for fundraising people has got easier because of the Internet, and with computers in general, as you can use the computer to make your life easier in many ways. You can document the jobs needed to be done by volunteers, you can email volunteers to keep them all informed of meetings, jobs and the like, and computers can help you keep track of donors, donations, and so much more.

The trick with fundraisers is to find something that people want to buy from you, either a product or a service, and that you want to sell and promote. And of course, if the event is because you are fundraising for your school, ideally it should be something that will inspire as many students as possible to participate.

That rules out the good old favourite bake sale, as it is hard to devote the time to helping preschoolers bake for a bake sale, but with so many food allergies around, and fear of food contamination, I think those days are over. I remember how awful I felt when I baked for the school fundraiser, only to find that my daughters had bought the goods so they could see what mommy's baking tasted like! I must admit, baking didn't happen very often because of a shortage of time, but I didn't realize my family felt so deprived!

Then there are car washes, and this one I like because the time involved can be limited to one day, or one weekend, and the kids can take part themselves, under adult supervision of course. Kids love to get wet on a nice hot day, so summer car washes often work well, and aside from advanced advertising, there is not a lot of preparation to do in advance, and very few funds need to be spent on supplies.

There are school fairs that can be lots of fun and they can raise significant income, but the level of organization means it is not for everyone. And there are so many more options, too many to list here.

Ok, so how else can computers help you, other than with the organization of your fundraising events? There are websites out there that provide you with a ton of advice and loads of suggestions that you can look at to see what fundraiser best suits your group. They suggest how to go about organizing it, how to advertise and promote it to your best advantage. There's information about how to target your fundraiser, in other words, lots of information about aspects of fundraising that you may not have even considered in the past.

One of the problems I always encountered with fundraising, was that I provided some goods to sell, but then was expected to buy some at the event too, so it seemed like a double hit to me. Instead, see if there is a section of the community that you can target. For example, our daughters always did very well when they were collecting donations by standing outside a liquor store. I don't know whether it was a guilt thing or not, but people entering the liquor store seemed to give more readily than those entering a grocery store! ( Not all municipalities permit this kind of fundraising, so you need to check first.)

You need to consider what your expenses will be especially those needed in advance of your fundraising. Do you have the funds to cover this? Is it worth paying for advertising? Is it worth mailing to companies to ask for donations, or to others to ask for support? Who is likely to support your fundraising cause? Are there others out there that could be reached? Easily?

Yes, it will take a little time to read all this information, but it can be well worth it, as it may save you from having to organize a second event if the first one does not raise the funds you need. It gets you thinking about who you can sell your goods or services to, other than those already involved in your organization, who will benefit from your product or service, and how you can reach them without huge expense and without a huge commitment of time.

So get a coffee, take a deep breath and re-evaluate your school fundraiser!

Officially Licensed Products Give A Kick To Your Youth Or School Fundraiser

2010-01-27T22:24:00.001-08:00

Fundraisers have changed somewhat from when I was a kid. We sold one thing and one thing only, candy. Candy for the school basketball team, candy for the local baseball league and yes, candy for the football team too. Don't get me wrong, it was good candy, but we didn't have the choices today's organizations do.

Everything imaginable is generating funds for our children's sports these days. The local or school leagues genuinely need this money too. Many struggling families in today's economy would be unable to enroll their children in some of the wonderful programs out there. Programs like Pop Warner that emphasize scholastics as well as sports. In many cases these programs would be doomed even though they are adequately priced.

One great fundraising campaign I recently became aware of was the Spirit Cup program offered by BRAX Fundraising. This program distributes Officially Licensed NFL, MLB and Collegiate drinking cups to youth and school fundraisers across the country. These amazing 3D cups have a version for every NFL and MLB team as well as some specialty versions. Their unique design, and BRAX's no upfront cost program, has enabled skyrocketing earnings for youth and school fundraisers across the country.

For over 20 years the principals of the BRAX team have been actively involved in sports marketing on a national scope. Through BRAX's various license affiliations, they have gained a clear understanding of the power of collegiate and professional sports merchandise when aligned with fundraising.

The BRAX partners have coached at the high school and collegiate levels. And their sales associates have backgrounds in youth, high school, college, and even professional sports, as participants and/or coaches.

"We believe strongly that our sales associates will provide the best customer support and care to your organization because we are aware of the many challenges your organization faces," states Pete Hexter, one of BRAX's principals.

"We want to keep our approach simple, and appeal to the passion of the American sports fan by offering these team related products. In turn, the sports fans are happy knowing they are supporting their local youth sports organizations."

The BRAX goal is to always provide the best possible pricing, customer care, and ongoing support to all of their fundraising partners. They do not develop relationships anticipating that this is a one time opportunity rather the beginning of a long term partnership. It is this foundation that has maintained their outstanding reputation as leaders in the sport marketing business.

Come to think of it, that candy wasn't so good after all…

-Dave

Non-profits: Raise Funds without Buying Ads or Mailings

2010-01-26T22:47:00.001-08:00

When non-profit organizations aren't out changing the world, they're appealing to supporters and the public for donations. Fundraising is a constant challenge for non-profit organizations and it's not because people don't want to give the money - it's because people don't always know that there's a need.

Fundraising efforts include direct mailings, advertising, and marketing campaigns. Each of these is costly and there's no way to guarantee return on investment. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to gain exposure and elicit donations without having to dip into the coffers? You can - they're called "editorial placements," or as we in media relations like to say "free advertising."

Newspapers and magazines live and die by their content. If people don't want to read what they're printing, they're in trouble. Being able to offer a print publication (or even a broadcast network) with a story that will entertain, educate, or inspires its readers is a challenge, but well worth it if it's printed.

Which of the following newspaper placements do you think will garner more public response: an ad placed in the "weekender" or "volunteer opportunity" sections describing your organization and asking for donations; or a touching feature story about how the organization is making a difference in the community? The feature story will almost undoubtedly send more people to an organization's Web site than an ad, and the funny this is that the feature story cost the organization nothing to secure.

Why does the public respond more strongly to a feature than an ad? Because appearing in the media provides instant legitimization. People tend to trust the organizations or people they see in the paper or on TV. If you run a non-profit animal shelter that is featured on the weekend nightly news' adopt-a-pet segment, chances are the public will think of you first when looking to adopt a pet as opposed to if you simply placed an ad in the Sunday paper every week.

So how do you obtain "free advertising?" By reaching out to the media every chance you get. Smaller organizations that utilize community support can offer personal feature stories on certain overachieving volunteers. The media loves a good "feel good" story: how one volunteer has made such a difference, how a beneficiary of the organization's services is thriving now, and so on. How did your organization start? Did someone sell their business to establish a women's shelter? Does a local mother care for homeless animals on her farm? Here are some ideas to help inspire you to develop a story for your organization or cause.

Every person has a story.

Discover the stories behind the people in your organization and make the media aware of them. By "story," I mean a simple, conversational story - the type you might tell a friend. Pitching a story to the media doesn't mean you have to write it and offer it in its entirety. When you pitch a story, you simply let your media contact know about it. They'll decide if it's a fit and pursue it further.

To get an idea of the kinds of stories the paper and local networks like, spend a few weeks tuning in or scanning the pages. It will be obvious the kinds of things they're looking for.

Pay close attention to the journalists and reporters who write on topics related to yours. These are the people you are going to want to contact with your story.

Local outlets want local stories, and this can represent multiple opportunities for media coverage. For instance, if the person your story focuses on lives in a town other than where your organization is based, you can pitch the story to both locales.

Let the world know what's happening.

Hosting or sponsoring an event can garner more attention than a two-line announcement in the calendar section. What is the story surrounding your event? If you're launching a clothing drive for professional attire to help women get jobs, highlight a success story, such as a woman associated with your organization who overcame hardships and landed a great job that changed her life. If you're hosting a casual fun-day dog show for kids to benefit a local animal shelter, find a pet owner who plans to enter his or her adopted shelter dog.

Even your fundraising events can be promoted through editorial placements. You don't have to have a high-profile MC or a gala to make the news. If this is an annual event, how do you expect to surpass last year's donations? How were the funds used? If they built a library or added a wing to a senior center, what's the story behind that?

Announce Everything

Organizations in large cities face direct competition for donations and media coverage. To help improve your chances of media attention, do everything you can to stay in the news (or at least in the minds of the news writers in your area). Is there a staffing change or new hire (a positive one)? Announce it. If you've added a service to your organization, announce it. In sales and marketing, a consumer needs to hear about a product seven times before he or she will buy it, on average. The same is true for donations to non-profits. The more often the public sees your organization in print or hears about it on the radio or on television, the more likely they will be to consider donating. Keep that in mind the next time you've got news to share!

Media relations is about building relationships and having an idea of what the public wants. It's not as complicated as it may seem, after all, you are the public. What do you want to read? What would be interesting to you? Talk to your co-workers and friends and find out their opinions. Identify the media people in your area who cover the types of things you and your organization do and begin to build a relationship. Before you know it, you may have them calling you for a story.

Non-profit Fundraising Ideas

2010-01-24T22:51:00.001-08:00

Need a new way to pump up this year's fundraisers at your nonprofit? These six fundraising ideas will definitely maximize your results.

1 - Auction off premium event seating

2 - Grab Google Grants for publicity

3 - Leverage eBay for donations

4 - Swell your revenue stream with credit

5 - Multiply donations with upfront requests

6 - Explode your results by going OTT

Auction Premium Seating

Heard about the Minneapolis church that auctioned off their three front pews for the Christmas Eve service as part of their school fundraiser? The bids topped $6,000 or $1,000 a pew. Not bad for something that went for free most other places. Just imagine what you can get for the premium seats at your own events.

Google Grants

Are you hip to Google Grants? The world's favorite search engine provides free advertising for registered 501c nonprofit groups. The Google Grants program is like Google's pay-per-click AdWords program without having to pay for the clicks.

To be eligible, groups must have a website, non-profit 501(c)(3) status and not be religious or political in nature. Google picks new grantees every quarter. To apply for Google's free advertising program, fill out an online application at http://services.google.com/googlegrants/application

eBay Giving Works

Got eBay? Not in your fund raising plan? Then go to the world's largest market place and sign up your nonprofit group for online donations. eBay Giving Works puts the power of the eBay Marketplace to work for nonprofit organizations.

Anyone can sell items on eBay and donate part or the entire final sale price to your nonprofit organization. Donations from the sales of eBay Giving Works items will be collected and distributed to you, and tax receipts will be issued to the seller on your behalf. Find out more at http://givingworks.ebay.com/nonprofit/

Increase Revenue With Credit

Did you know credit is better than cash? Not only are people more likely to honor a pledge backed by a credit card than an ordinary phone pledge (100% to 70%), they are also much more willing to give more if you split the amount into smaller monthly pledges.

Instead of asking for a $100 donation, ask for $10 a month. Make sure you set it up as a recurring billing where you can bill the monthly amount for periods up to 36 months. Find the monthly sweet spot of your donor base and explode your donations on autopilot.

Make It Easy To Donate

Shy about asking directly for money? A small Illinois nonprofit held a fundraising dinner for their supporters and raised $6,000. They prominently placed a big donation jar at the registration table and raised an extra $18,000.

Don't be shy about asking for help and don't be shy about making it as easy as possible for supporters to give financial support at any event. Just be upfront about your needs and give them high visibility.

Explode Results By Going OTT

Know the secret of OTT? Over the top is what you want your fundraising event to be, the must attend occasion topping the social calendar. Pull out all the stops to add glitz and glamour. Be sure to provide multiple attractions that encourage participants to join in the fun (and open their wallets) wherever possible.

Silent auctions, live auctions, raffles, door prizes, entertainment, sponsorships, celebrity presenters, and glamorous settings work wonders by boosting turnout through free publicity and word of mouth. By going "over the top" with your fundraising event, you'll magnify your donations mightily.

Put these fundraising ideas to work for your nonprofit group and make 2006 your best year ever.

New And Unusual Fundraising Ideas

2010-01-22T22:50:00.001-08:00

Need some new fundraising ideas? When your organization or group needs to raise money for a trip or project, there's nothing wrong with another bake sale. Do something a little different, though, and you may get more volunteers for the event. You might also get more media exposure, meaning more people will participate, which means more money raised. Why not try one of the following ideas.

Mobile rummage sale. Having a rummage sale is a common fundraising idea, but how about a mobile rummage sale? It requires collecting donations of things to sell, and the cooperation of someone with a pick up truck. Sort the things as neatly as possible in the back of the truck, then go door-to-door, explaining to the residents that you are raising money for your cause, and asking them to take a look at your sale. Maybe they'll also want to donate things to sell. Take the sale to the beach or other busy places too.

Dog wash. A car wash is one of the most common fundraising ideas out there, but a dog wash is less common. Find a place where many people walk their dogs. A brush, dog shampoo, and a source of water are all you need. You could also sell dog toys, dog snacks and other pet-related things for even more profit.

Business clean-up. Many businesses need to have the area around them cleaned up. Restaurants might have trash around the edges of their parking lots, some businesses may need their signs washed, and others could need their sidewalks and lots swept. A crew of young people could clean up a property in an hour for a set fee, and the business could write off the contribution on their taxes.

Online donor recognition. When you collect donations for a project or regular event, you can promise donors that they'll be recognized on your group's official website. They get a bit of internet immortality as one of the people that made your event, trip or project possible. It is common that donors get their names put on a plaque, but the website is accessible to all their friends anywhere in the world, so they can show them how they helped.

Treasure hunt. This could be a big event, even an annual one if your organization needs a regular fundraising event. The basic idea: Rope off an area of a beach, bury silver bars and coins in the sand, and let people hunt for them for an entry fee. Let's say you bury 4 quarter-ounce gold coins, 20 one-ounce silver bars, 1000 various foreign coins (some coin shops sell these for ten cents each), 500 dimes and 2000 pennies.

At today's prices it would cost you about $1,000, which you might first raise through donations. With 3524 coins, almost eveyone would find something. 300 people paying $10 each would net your group $2,000, plus you could sell hotdogs and drinks during the event.

Except for the last one, these are all relatively cheap events to plan. Tell the papers about your plans, of course. The more unusual fundraising ideas are more likely to get some free press coverage.

MostExpensiveDomainSold.com Announces Official Launch With Domain Charity Raffle

2010-01-21T23:25:00.000-08:00

MostExpensiveDomainSold.com has announced its official launch in February 2008 with a raffle that will further assist the worthy causes supported by this project. Never before has a charity drive been created to sell a domain for charity.

Buyer of this domain held by this domain charity will be certain to receive substantial media attention, as is always the case in a worthy charity drive. Therefore, participants will benefit not only from taking part in the Most Expensive Domain Sold raffle charity drive, but they'll also be able to take advantage of a few notable moments in the spotlight.

Most Expensive Domain Sold is an online

which makes a donation from the sell of this domain for charity. Anyone can sign up as an affiliate to help this noble cause. It allows people to donate their time and creativity in order to collect necessary funds for commendable charities. Charities currently include: Feed the Children, Seacology, and the American Red Cross. The number of

benefiting from the charity drive will grow with the program.

The Most Expensive Domain Sold raffle will allocate 50 percent of the price of the domain sold for charity for to the worthy cause. Then, 25 percent will be awarded to the first place winner, 10 percent will go to the second place winner, and 5 percent will be won by the third place winner. The remaining 10 percent will be applied to the development and upkeep of the Most Expensive Domain Sold domain charity. Each raffle winner is free to spend their winnings however they wish. Official receipts and final totals will be disclosed on the website upon completion of the raffle.

In order to earn raffle tickets, participants must sign up for the Most Expensive Domain Sold affiliate program. Membership in the affiliate program is entirely free. It is then up to the participants to begin producing traffic to the MostExpensiveDomainSold.com website. For every referral sent by an affiliate, that affiliate is awarded one raffle ticket. Therefore, the greater the referral efforts, the better the chances of winning the raffle.

Participation is simple, free, and good for the heart. Anyone can take part and build funds for charities in ways they'd never otherwise be able to achieve.

For more information about Most Expensive Domain Sold and its domain charity raffle, visit the website at

Make The Money You Need With Candle Fundraisers

2010-01-20T22:40:00.001-08:00

If you're thinking of a fundraiser what could be better than candle fundraisers? This product is as popular as cookies and cakes - maybe more so. Selling candles will make a very successful fundraiser for your cause. Candle fundraisers are welcomed by everyone and are very popular. Depending on the foundation having the fund raiser for or how many supporters you have to work with you, it can bring a generous amount of money for your cause.

If you are working towards a church fundraiser then you will likely have all the help you need form the congregation where you can get your candles very easily by asking each member to make their own candles. Candles are not that hard to make and can be scented and decorated to suit the time of the year. This will prove to be a very profitable way to have a candle fund raiser as your cost will be very little. If you have your candle fundraisers near a holiday, then use that theme of the holiday to decorate your candles. Make sure that each person understands what they are expected to do and how many you will need them to make.

There is another way you can have candle fundraisers and that is by ordering them from a company that does just this, provides candles for fund raiser. They have a set price and you can make your own decision on what you charge for each candle, but this is also an excellent way to have a fund raiser. These candles burn nicely. Some of them are not made with paraffin but made with soy. This allows them to burn cleaner.

You will find that these candles come in two sizes and with a wide variety of scents. You can contact these companies on the Internet where you'll find a wide array of candles for your fund raiser. The reasons for the candle fundraisers will give you a good idea of how many you need. If you are having candle light service for a certain cause, you will find you need many of these candles. If you are having a sale of candles at a candle fund raiser, then the amount you need might be somewhat less.

Whatever candle fund raiser you decide on, it is sure to be a hit. Everyone loves candles -most especially the scented ones. Candle fundraisers are a sure winner when it comes to fundraisers and will make your fund raiser a very big success that will provide many donations.

Selling candles can be surprisingly effective, if done well.

Krispy Kreme Fundraising

2010-01-19T23:10:00.001-08:00

Krispy Kreme fundraising has been helping schools, youth sports groups, and churches raise money since 1937. Krispy Kreme doughnuts are a great fundraiser. Raise money by selling fresh doughnuts. Works well for school fundraisers, churches, clubs, and youth sports teams.

Krispy Kreme fundraising has three different programs:

Traditional doughnut sales

Gift certificates

Partnership cards

Krispy Kreme Fundraising - Traditional Doughnut Sales

Perfect for the fund-raising needs of schools, clubs, churches, and other non-profit organizations. Doughnuts are made fresh and packaged by the dozen in special fund-raising boxes.

Customers buy them by the box and your profit is generally 50% or more per box. Pricing and availability will vary.

Contact your local Krispy Kreme store for fundraiser group sales pricing.

Krispy Kreme Fundraiser - Gift Certificates

They are an alternative to actual product sales. Customers redeem each certificate for one dozen Original Glazed Doughnuts at any participating Krispy Kreme retail shop.

Certificates give your customers the option to help your organization and pick up their doughnuts at their convenience. Minimum order required. These work especially well for smaller groups that may not have as many volunteers to draw from to help with pick up and delivery. Consider using gift certificates to sell during another fundraising event. This is called an overlay and can increase profits without having an additional fundraiser.

Contact your local Krispy Kreme store for gift certificates for fundraisers.

Krispy Kreme Fundraiser - Partnership Cards

These partnership cards allow customers to get a free dozen Original Glazed Doughnuts with the full price purchase of any dozen of their choice.

Ten punch cards allow the customer up to 10 free dozen doughnuts with the purchase of 10 dozen. (Limit of 3 free dozen per visit with the purchase of 3 dozen.)

Pricing allows for 50% profit for each card sold.

Program availability varies by market and cards may not be valid in all Krispy Kreme locations. Minimum order required.

Contact your local Krispy Kreme store to purchase your fundraiser partnership cards.

How To Write a Better Fundraising Letter

2010-01-18T23:05:00.001-08:00

Looking for tips on writing a better fundraising letter? Use these quick tips

to craft your next donation request letter. Feel free to modify the sample

letter below to fit your specific needs.

-Good news - Always start the letter with a series of good news

-Use bullets to build momentum and make entire letter entertaining and informative

- Use foreshadowing to tease your reader and keep him or her reading.

- Create a widow at the end of the first page (a thought that's finished

on page two)

- Make your reader turn the page

-Describe what you want to do next

- Tell what you're going to do.

- Why you're going to do it.

- How you're going to do it.

- What results you expect.

List suggested contribution amounts

- Use even numbersin graduated amounts

- Offer a monthly auto charge credit card option ($10 a month is $120 a year)

- Include a blank line for write-in amounts

-Remind readers that their contribution is your budget - Your successes have been possible because of their past contributions

- Thank them!

Use P.S.'s for skimmers

- May titillate skimmers and get them to read the entire letter.

- To create a sense of urgency.

Sample Donation Request Letter

Date

Dear Name of sponsor,

On (date of event), I will join hundreds of others to help end the devastating effects of multiple sclerosis by (riding/walking/skating) in the MS (event name). By making a pledge on my behalf, you are supporting research and local services to those affected with this unpredictable disease.

Give details - Tell your story: I have a personal stake in this particular event. My (dad, aunt, sister) has MS. Not only do I want to help him/her, but also the many others diagnosed with MS. MS is a disease that affects the central nervous system. Some symptoms of MS may include loss of balance, impaired vision and hearing, fatigue, muscle weakness and, in some,

paralysis. Even simple everyday living skills become increasingly difficult.

Everyone is affected differently by these symptoms.

My goal is to raise at least (specify dollar amount) this year, which represents $1 for every person with MS registered with our local MS Chapter. Please help me reach that goal with your pledge. Your donation is tax deductible. If you wish, you may mail all or part of your payment amount today in the self-addressed stamped envelope enclosed with this letter.

Otherwise, I will collect your pledge after the event. Please make your check

payable to the National MS Society. My deadline to get my pledges in is (deadline date). Following the event, I will send out a brief recap of the MS (event name) to all my sponsors.

Thank you in advance for your support. Please call me if you have any questions or comments about the MS (event name). I can be reached at (phone number).

Sincerely,

Your name

How to Build and Manage a Successful Fundraising Team

2010-01-17T22:53:00.001-08:00

For larger fundraising projects you should put together a team to help you otherwise you will be stretched far too thin and stand a good chance of failing. The ideal team from a cost perspective is volunteer-based but you might have to occasionally hire someone especially if it's for a specialized task that most people can't do.

Many people dread being asked to volunteer and do so begrudgingly but you will be surprised at how many people you ask will be more than happy to "roll up their sleeves" and pitch in for no other reason than to help out a good cause.

The best people to approach in building your fundraising team should be individuals or groups that are sympathetic to your cause. Example: Parents with players on the football team have a vested interest in helping the team get new uniforms.

Others are just naturally giving in their time and are usually involved in several projects at once. If you can land one of these types of go-getters on your team they often have the drive and ambition of several volunteers.

To find volunteers just use common sense. Try the people that are tied to the cause first and build from there. You might consider placing ads in your local grocery stores if they have free Community Bulletin Boards in the entrance and exits. Another idea is to approach your local paper and see if they will donate a small ad for you to use to find help.

Talk to your prospective volunteers and tell them exactly what you are trying to accomplish and what you would expect from them in terms of time and effort. It's a good idea to have some type of fundraising plan drawn up that you can show them as this not only shows that you are organized and serious but they will also be better able to see how the time and skill requirements fits into their schedules and abilities.

Training should be done by you or someone that knows the exact role the volunteer will be performing and you want to be sure to thoroughly go over any tasks and duties they will be performing so there are no misunderstandings later on. Be careful to not talk down to them or lecture them. Remember, they are giving you one of their most precious resources, their time, so respect that and them as a person and you will go far.

It is important to match the task with the person when making job assignments. You probably wouldn't want someone who is an expert in selling to stuff envelopes when they would be more valuable and happy working the phones trying to solicit donors.

If you are working from an office environment be sure and make it as pleasant and comfortable a place as you can. Easy access to snacks and drinks (maybe provided free by a generous donor?) should be available and any other creature comforts you can add will be most welcome.

If it's a long project you might want to consider some type of event for reaching a milestone. This would of course depend on your budget but it could be something as simple as bringing in pizza to celebrate.

Always keep an eye out for overwork and stress. People that have volunteered want to help you so respect them and if it looks like they are being overwhelmed it's time to bring in some more help. The key idea is to keep them happy and wanting to continue to help rather than feeling like they are stuck because they are too polite to quit.

Be sure and give praise and say thanks often to each and everyone of your volunteers. Let them know how appreciative you are of their help.

Keep an eye out for any personality conflicts and work swiftly to resolve them. This might be something solved easily like relocating someone to another part of the office or it might mean asking the person to leave. Don't be afraid to do this if you have to because you ultimately are responsible for the group as a whole and the success of the project falls on your shoulders. Be a leader!

Follow these simple steps, communicate frequently, respect and thank your team often and you will find that your fundraiser will be a great success!

How Can Fundraising Consulting Help Us Raise Money?

2010-01-15T22:23:00.001-08:00

If you need to hold a fundraiser and don't know where to begin there is help out there for you. It is time for you to seek fundraising consulting advice especially if your fundraising event is going to be on a larger scale. Fundraising consulting will help you organize and take you through the steps to ensure your fund raising efforts will be successful.

A fundraising consultant will advise you where to start and the process you will have to go through to get where you're going. Usually you know what you need the funds for but don't know where the money will come from. All fundraising events start the same way regardless of if they are already established or something new. Using fundraising consulting services will help you add a professional look to your fund raising campaign.

The first advice you will get from a fundraiser consultant is that to start asking those closest to your organization for help. Depending on the size of the fund raising and your organization you will need the following: a board of directors, staff, volunteers, vendors, community businesses and individuals and finally a foundation. The second most important bit of advice you will receive from a fundraising consultant is never lose sight of the ones that started this with you. Start with those that are the closest to you to ask for help and stay with them throughout your fundraiser, these are the people that will get you through. They are your donors and will be critical to the success of your fundraiser.

A fundraising consultant will tell you that if you approach a new person for help, the first thing they will ask is what other sources of funding do you have. They will check to make sure where your support is coming from. If you have a strong support group it can go a long way in convincing someone that the fundraising is worth it. Through fundraising consulting, you will learn whom you can do business with. You will learn what vendors give donations and which ones don't. If they don't care to donate to your fundraising directly, they may give you a discount on your purchases.

Fundraising consulting is the only way to go when trying to organize on a large-scale project. The advice you will get from your fundraising consultant will mean more dollars in the end for your project. Once you establish a connection with a fundraising consulting service, you can use them for all your fundraising needs in the future.

How can fundraising consulting help us?

High School Fundraisers

2010-01-14T22:51:00.001-08:00

High school-a constant hub of activities, studies, and events-and the last years of our school days shared with friends. High schools always hold a variety of events to raise funds for the many extra curricular activities that makes school fun.

High school students are old enough to realize that in order to have a successful fundraiser, a business plan should be in place. The plan should begin with the question, "what are we raising funds for?" What expenses will be incurred is also another consideration for your plan. Research the most successful fundraisers for high schools to produce. There are many Internet websites that have hundreds of ideas. Don't use the same fundraiser year after year if profits have continuously declined. Recruit a lot of volunteers who are willing to work for the cause, and check your calendar to make sure there aren't a lot of other charity events going on at the same time.

Once your plan is in place, think about the type of fundraiser you would like to hold. Successful fundraising ideas include scratch off cards, discount cards, car washes, bake sales, candy sales, seasonal gift catalogs and book fairs. You can find lots of information about any of these on the Internet.

Finally, make sure students alert the community about the fundraiser and promote it by placing flyers throughout the community. You might also try to get a radio or television station to sponsor your event, thus gaining greater exposure. Make sure thank you notes are sent to all those involved.

Getting the Best Return on Investment for your Fundraiser

2010-01-13T22:56:00.001-08:00

Return On Investment (ROI) is a fundamental business concept. Its also something that every fundraiser needs to take into consideration.

A business investment consists of working capital, physical assets, and peoples time.

ROI is the net gain that results from a business spending money and utilizing physical assets, along with the expenditure of employees' time, in an effort to produce tangible profits.

So, the investment in a fundraiser consists of: any up-front expenditures that are required the costs associated with the assets that are utilized the value of people's time spent fundraising

Some key points about ROI in fundraising:

1- Analyze your up-front expenditures vs. your net gain

2- Lowering costs boosts your ROI, but maybe not your net

3- Always consider the hourly value of each volunteers time

Put an ROI value on upfront expenditures

The most important point is to analyze all of your up-front spending versus the net gain from each expenditure. Obviously, don't spend money if nothing is actually gained.

One example would be evaluating advertising expenses for a capital campaign. Before you commit to it, run a small series of test ads to determine the response rate.

If you don't get the desired response, either revise your ad campaign or consider not spending any more money on advertising.

Look for areas where the returns are greatly magnified for every dollar spent. This generally includes effective publicity, quality communication, targeted prospect lists, and timely reminder campaigns.

Put an ROI value on cost reduction vs. net profits

Lowering costs boosts your ROI measurement, but your net can be impacted by the lack of investment. If there is an area where money spent in the past produced excellent results, then be sure that this year's plan provides additional investment capital for that effort.

A good example involves possibly cutting the funding for your capital campaign mailing. Sure, you can cut your expenses by not mailing to anyone that didn't respond last year.

However, the law of large numbers will catch up to you. Less people contacted means less money contributed.

Remember, it doesn't always take money to make money, but not spending money where it is really needed can seriously impact your results.

Put an ROI value on your fundraising volunteers time Another important ROI point to remember is the value of each volunteer's time. Each volunteer-hour worked to raise money for your fundraiser should at least be equivalent to minimum wage. Otherwise, your group is wasting their time by not working smart.

An example would be spending a total of 1,000 volunteer hours coordinating an auction event that only raised $5,000. Chances are that many groups would be happy with the $5,000 net, but the ROI on everyone's time was marginal.

Put an ROI value on your merchant partners

In this instance, you want to maximize the value of everyones time by giving them specific tasks and full instructions. Don't take a scattershot approach by going all the area merchants and asking for donations of merchandise.

Instead, develop rapport with those merchants by providing value for them all year long before you ask them for a large donation.

Ways to improve your fundraising ROI

Focus your efforts where you'll get positive responses and avoid wasting your time on unproductive endeavors.

Each person who helps out in a fundraiser is offering their time in exchange for something that benefits everyone.

Give them specific assignments that focus on maximum results. Don't waste people's time or you will discourage future participation.

Why your fundraising ROI is important

Watch your ROI. It's a good indicator of the health of your non-profit organization. If the number is too low, your group will be constantly recruiting people to replace those who aren't interested anymore.

Your donors and volunteers won't return because their time wasn't valued, they saw their money being wasted, and they also saw penny-pinching where open purse strings would have been a better solution.

Design your organization to maximize your fundraising ROI and you'll position your group for success for many years to come.

Fundraising With Food

2010-01-12T23:16:00.001-08:00

Fundraising with food has been a long time favorite for sports team fundraising. It is effective, provides something most people like and are willing to pay for, and the variety is vast. Whatever type of food fundraiser you choose for your team, there are three things you must do to get the most out of your efforts.

Food Fundraisers: Go For Mass Appeal

First, choose a popular product that will appeal to the greatest number of potential customers. Your choice should be appropriate to your target audience, be priced fairly, include a good profit margin, and be seasonally viable. For example, don't sell sweets while the Girl Scouts annual cookie fundraiser is in progress!

Once you choose a product or group of products, use publicity to get the word out. Use school publications, posters, and all the usual suspects.

Take it to the next level by issuing a press release on local radio and newspapers. Most local publications offer this as a free service for non-profit organizations. This will spread your reach beyond the team, their families, neighbors, and friends.

Prepare and Execute!

Secondly, design your plan for execution. Everyone, including your team should know your group goal, your stretch goal, and their individual goal. Create a sales script for the team. Rehearse it at practice in a role playing way.

Would you rather make a purchase from an unprepared athlete who mumbles at his shoes, or from one that is prepared with what to say and looks their potential customer in the eye while conveying the appropriate message?

That message should briefly tell what product they are offering, who they are raising money for, and how the money will be used. (New uniforms, equipment, trip to the play-offs, etc.)

Offer Sales Incentives

Offer incentives for top sellers. Rewards should be quality prizes, not junk. Many fundraising suppliers include prize incentives for top sales attainment. If there is an additional charge for incentives, or if the incentives offered are not appropriate for your team, ask local businesses to donate prizes.

Have a recognition party announcing the top sellers. Everyone likes to be recognized for a job well done in the presence of their peers. If you tally your numbers daily, the top selling player has to run five less laps than the rest of the team.

Go Where The Money Is

As part of your execution plan, consider boosting your reach by selling your products from a table at a shopping center. These are customers that you may not reach otherwise, and can more than double your sales.

Approach the management of a shopping center for permission first. Then organize your volunteers in teams to cover the sales tables in shifts.

Advertise clearly at each sales table. In large print on posters, tell who is selling, what they are selling, and how the money will be used. Use not only multiple locations, but multiple tables at each location.

Give Extra Options

Third and finally, provide several ways the community can help your cause. Offering a variety of products helps ensure there is something that will appeal to everyone.

Or offer an overlay fundraising item. Not every customer will want the food products you have chosen to sell.

Offer a fundraising discount card in addition to your primary offering. Whether it is a two for one discount pizza card, or a fast food discount card, these can add substantial profit to your bottom line.

By offering your primary product and an overlay item, you could double the likelihood that a purchase will be made.

Don't forget the most obvious overlay: a donation.

If a customer does not want to make a purchase, always ask if they would prefer to make a donation to help your cause.

Fundraising with Entertainment coupon Book

2010-01-11T22:52:00.001-08:00

Entertainment Book is one of the most popular fundraising tools and benefits all types of organizations. During the last year, more than five million books were sold by over 10,000 organizations all over the world.

An entertainment book contains hundreds of valuable offers fro the best restaurants, theaters, attractions and sports events in the area. The organizations who provide these offers introduce new customers as well as supporting community fund raising.

There are number of coupons that provide you with 50% discount or offers such as buy one and get one. Therefore you can find everything you want at the most discounted prices with such discount coupon book. At the same time it helps a family on a budget with $5 off each month at the local grocery store. Because it works both as a consumer and a fundraiser, it is really a worth to have.

Entertainment Book is a great fundraiser because of the following reasons:

1. There is no upfront cost involved that means you pay only for what you sell.

2. You can use these books and can offer them to your out of town family and friends.

3. The local representative shall help you in making the most money with minimum efforts.

4. You can also go from kick off to wrap up in weeks.

5. There are many planning and promotional materials in this book.

6. It also includes free reward programs to motivate the sellers.

7. It provides money saving services to your supporters.

8. You can get these books on consignment and can pay only for the books actually sold.

Most commonly these books are sold as fundraisers in the months between September and January. Most of the times, people already reserve the edition of each year for themselves in advance because there is a huge demand for it when it is published.

To know more log on to <a href="http://www.entertainment-coupon-book-2006.info">entertainment-coupon-book-2006.info </a>

Fundraising With Discount Cards

2010-01-10T23:02:00.001-08:00

Looking for ideas for fundraisers? You're not the only one. Every group is searching for easy fundraisers that produce big results. Well, selling fundraising discount cards is one of the best fundraisers around.

Discount cards deliver considerable revenue for your group at $10 each. They usually produce average sales of 10 units per seller. Coupled with their 80%-90% profit margins, they also generate considerably more profit than most other fundraising products.

These are simple immediate-sale fundraiser products that your group can offer. Discount cards provide these benefits:

-They are easy to sell

-They offer good value

-They produce excellent results

Three types of fundraising discount cards:

-Shopping cards

-Pizza cards

-Fast food cards

Each of these fundraisers has benefits that are easy to explain to your supporters. They have widespread appeal and each can be offered for immediate sale or sold via a simple brochure.

Discount Shopping Card

What exactly is a discount shopping card?

This type of premium offering is often worth half the $10 purchase price all by itself, such as $5 off from a national oil change company.

Other money saving examples include free drinks with a fast food order, $1 or more off on a submarine sandwich, savings on video rentals, haircut discounts, free ice cream, and other special offers.

Because of their high perceived value (what family doesn't want to save money these days?), these cards are excellent fundraisers.

Discount cards can often produce impressive unit sales per participant. It's not unusual for each seller to make ten or more sales.

Another interesting benefit is the unique customization of the card. Many suppliers can place your schools' name and logo on the front side of each card. This firmly affixes your group's value proposition in their minds for your next fundraiser.

Cards are usually good for a one year period and bear an expiration date on the front. This creates a built-in market for repeat sales.

In my book, Fundraising Success! you can find a supplier cross-reference section where I list 27 suppliers for these types of cards.

The reference section can be found on my website at www.fundraiserhelp.com

As with any type of fund raising product it pays to do more than a little supplier research.

Costs for 1,000 unit batches begin at $5 with many suppliers and drop as low as $1.00 from the best companies.

Among ideas for fundraisers, discount shopping cards are a perennial favorite. They also make a good overlay or add-on item for candy fundraising or a catalog fundraiser.

Pizza Discount Card

What is a pizza card and how is it different?

A pizza card is a discount card with an offer tied to a single merchant, usually a national chain. It often provides a two- for-one offer on every order and is tends to be priced at $10 for a card good for a one-year period.

Given how popular pizza is with younger children as well as teenagers, pizza cards are excellent school fundraising ideas.

Pizza cards can be obtained from many suppliers. Most offer the same set of national chains and prices can vary widely, so it pays to shop around.

All in all, pizza cards are among the best easy fundraisers based on profitability and ease of sale.

Fast Food Discount Card

What do I need to know about fast food discount cards? Well, they are usually specific to just one fast food chain and often are limited to just one or two locations of that particular chain. They retail for $10 and usually cost less than $2, so they're a great moneymaker. Offers vary by company, but they usually provide a matching main item with purchase of the same. For example, at Burger king, you might get a free hamburger. At Subway, you usually get a free soda, chips, or cookie with each sandwich purchase.

The cards are limited in duration and number of uses. Usually, they are good for up to one year and restricted to roughly ten uses. Again, the offers vary by chain, so check the details closely.

Participating national chains are:

McDonalds

Burger King

Subway

Dairy Queen

Pizza Hut

Dominos Pizza

Papa Johns Pizza

Fundraising Discount Cards Recap

So, what's the bottom line on discount card sales?

The excellent consumer value of all these cards makes them an easy sale. Their $10 price point makes a cash purchase a simple transaction yet a higher amount than most fundraising items.

Their great value, small size, light weight, and easy handling requirements make selling these cards a breeze.

Most suppliers will provide the discount cards and pizza cards to your group on easy credit terms. That makes them great school fundraisers because you can offer them to your supporters as an immediate sale item, thus simplifying the delivery process tremendously.

Instead of relying on your supporters' discretionary purchasing power in these tough economic times, why not tap into your supporters' everyday spending on fast food meals?

They're not quite necessities, but they are an ingrained spending habit with many families.

Selling fundraising discount cards positions you for a better chance at a larger portion of your supporters' spending. And, because of their high unit volumes, healthy profit margins, and ease of sale, they are excellent school fundraisers because they'll produce exceptional profits.

Make sure your group gets your share!

Fundraising Tips - The Follow-Up

2010-01-08T23:16:00.001-08:00

The key to continued fundraising success is to follow-up afterwards: Supporters and participants need to be thanked.

Merchant contributors need to be debriefed on their results from participating. Records need to be gathered, copied, and stored.

Communicate the results to everyone involved.

Informing everyone who took part in your most recent fundraising is of utmost importance. Nothing charges up your organization for the future better than a group celebration.

Give recognition to your volunteers.

Enjoy the sound of "We did it!"

Conduct a post-mortem analysis of the fundraiser just completed.

Gather information and record impressions while everything is still fresh. Make notes about supplier relationships, any process problems, and what aspects need fine-tuning for the next time around.

Gather those recommendations for future fundraisers.

Brainstorm with your team and write down all the possible ways to improve. Circulate a written evaluation form to gather multiple viewpoints for the permanent file.

Make plans while everyone is still excited from this success.

Strategize how to increase the number of volunteers. Plan to promote those who excelled this time around to positions with more authority.

Ask your merchant supporters what you could do better.

In the long run, it's important to help them even more. Now is a good time to ask them for increased participation during your next big drive.

Review all records for completeness.

Work up the statistical analysis covered in the section on Goal Setting (in my book Fundraising Success!). That will save time in the future when you want to set your benchmarks.

Post the results on your website.

Let everyone see how ell you did along with multiple pictures of your team in action. When describing your success, be a shameless namedropper. Everyone likes to be thanked publicly.

Most importantly, put the funds you've raised to good use.

Your fundraising follow-up is the foundation for your future success. Don't give this area short shrift. Pave the way for even better results next time.

Fundraising Sales Secrets

2010-01-07T22:56:00.001-08:00

How do you maximize your fundraising sales? Here are some fundraising sales tips from my book,

Fundraising Success!

1- Emphasize setting a personal challenge goal

Have sellers make a commitment to be their group or sub-group's best salesperson. Structure their sales efforts to emphasize achievement, not failure.

2- Have sellers state their solo goal out loud

By publicly stating what you'll accomplish to your peer group, you've reinforced the commitment. Who wants to say publicly that they'll fail to achieve?

3- Make a prospect list

All sellers should make a list of prospective customers before they start. Review it and make sure they have at least ten targets.

4- Define your best customers

Stick to the people you know - friends, relatives, neighbors, etc. Don't forget co-workers and out-of-town contacts for your major fundraisers.

5- Rehearse the sales pitch

Have everyone practice your group's sales pitch at home. Fine tune your two-sentence value proposition and make sure that every seller uses it. Be armed and dangerous

6- Be prepared

Sellers should carry their order form and sales materials wherever they go. You never know when a good prospect will emerge!

7- Smile and introduce yourself

Remind all your sellers to smile and introduce themselves before launching into their two-sentence pitch. Use the power of the word need when stating the group's goal and your first request for help. It's an extremely potent trigger word. We need your help because our band needs new uniforms.

8- Ask for the order

Always include a direct request for an order in your sales script after the because statement. Can you help us meet our goal?

9- Personalize by picking favorites

Tell each seller to find one or two items that they like and then promote those enthusiastically.These green ones are great.

10- Ask for more business

After the initial order is placed, offer supplemental items for more revenue or ask for referrals, etc. Ask these questions:

Can I show you another program we're offering because it's a great deal too?

Can you think of anyone else I should contact?

11- Make it easy to buy

Do everything you can to make buying your offering easier. Offer to fill out the form yourself. Remind the prospect that a certain item makes a good gift or that it's all for a good cause.

Follow these fundraising sales tips and you'll maximize your fundraising sales success.

Fundraising Publicity Tips

2010-01-06T22:49:00.001-08:00

The success of your fundraiser depends on how much publicity your group can attract. Community awareness of your fundraising need and your fundraising offering will always increase your results.

Here are some fundraising publicity tips:

Publicity Tip #1 - Use your website

If you don't have one, get one. Use it to communicate your goals,thank your sponsors, highlight periodic offerings, recognize successes, honor individual contributors, etc.

Promote your web site on all your materials.

Publicity Tip #2 - Actively seek more publicity

Get the word out about your fundraiser in as many ways as possible. Get into as many neighborhood newsletters and other public forms of communication as you can.

Send out press releases to the local media and invite coverage with photo opps at your fun events.

Publicity Tip #3 - Utilize any gathering

Make announcements at other events to spread the word, display products, take orders, make sales, and recruit volunteers.

Take a joint venture approach to marketing your group by giving something of value back to all those who join your team.

Publicity Tip #4 - Goal awareness

Heavily promote the goal of your fundraiser in all communications, particularly between sellers and buyers. A good cause gets the money out.

Make sure that all participants know the specific reason why the money is being raised.

Publicity Tip #5 - Communication

Use all available means of increasing awareness of your group's efforts including roadside signs, e-mail lists, phone calling tree, newsletter, flyers, posters, bulletin boards, recorded hotline messages, etc.

Publicity Tip #6 - Sponsorship decals

Offer these free to supporting merchants. Sell to membership level supporters. Use the glass stick-on type for storefronts or vehicle windows.

This "branding" gets the word out to the community that your organization has a strong support base.

Publicity Tip #7 - Bumper stickers

Sell your organization year round with every fundraiser by offering one that says "Proud Supporter of _____." Give one to every volunteer and group member.

Publicity Tip #8 - Flyers everywhere

Hit local mailboxes (follow postal regulations) and car windshields in shopping centers. Give fundraiser details in your flyer in a way that promotes sales and gives contact information.

Put a coupon or free gift offer into the flyer that will keep it from being thrown away. Your merchant base will help provide the offers because this is free advertising for them.

For example, a flyer including a car wash, dry cleaners, or oil change coupon. (Or even all three!)

Publicity Tip #9 - Build an e-mail list

Ask for an e-mail address for a newsletter distribution when you're fundraising. Have opt-in links on your web site.

Build an online community of supporters by offering them extras available only at your site.

Put your fundraising publicity plan in place today. You'll reap the benefits in continued growth and additional fundraising success for years to come.

Fundraising Ideas For Your Next Fundraiser

2010-01-05T22:56:00.001-08:00

Here are four keys to better nonprofit fundraising results.

Non-profit fundraising is all about multiple streams of income, so how do you make more money for your organization?

Simple. When you put together your annual plan, you need to include as many ways to raise money as possible.

So, you're probably thinking: 'That's easy for you to say, but how exactly do I go about it?' Easy! You just have to be "smart" about it, with a well thought-out plan that doesn't make too many demands on any one facet of your organization.

Every fundraiser that you conduct places various demands on your volunteers, your supporters, and your leadership. Those demands can be time consuming, expensive, and stressful.

The more large-scale fundraisers you conduct in one year's time, the greater the load you place on the people you depend on.

You need to be 'smart' in how you go about your fundraising.

Four Keys to Non-Profit Fundraising:

Think Smart

Plan Smart

Work Smart

Be Smart

Non-Profit Fundraising - THINK SMART

Thinking smart means taking the time to review past results and strategizing about how to do better this year.

If you don't spend some time brainstorming some new and creative ideas to increase your bottom line, how are you going to rise above last year's results?

Define your three best income streams. Now, daydream a little about what changes or enhancements you can make that will add additional volume to those streams.

Non-profit fund-raising is all about reaching more people with a compelling message that inspires them to take immediate action to assist your organization.

How can you reach more people? By exploiting two things - personal networks and personal motivators.

Your non-profit fund-raising has to be structured to achieve maximum leverage of everyone's self interest by providing sufficient incentives for giving time or money to your cause.

How can you make your message more compelling? By giving it 'story-like' visual imagery that speaks to your supporters emotions.

Decisions are made on an emotional level, not a logical one. A 'story' allows people to visualize their contribution having a positive impact on what they've visualized.

How can you inspire a higher percentage to immediate action? By combining your story with a call to action.

A call to action leverages the immediacy of the emotional reaction to your story with a request to help now BECAUSE their contribution will have a positive impact.

Everyone wants to help. They just have to be properly coached about your situation and motivated to act now.

Non-Profit Fundraising - PLAN SMART

Planning smart means taking concrete action to put your ideas into an annual business plan. Yes, I did say 'business plan.'

No self-respecting, non-profit fund-raising organization should be without a written business plan to guide their fundraising efforts.

Your plan should spell out roles and goals along with detailed instructions on how you'll get there. It should be grounded in the past and targeted at the future.

Each non-profit fund-raising activity should be broken down into the necessary action steps that will produce the highest level of results with the most cost-effective effort.

Everyone should know exactly what's expected of them. A well-organized team where everyone understands their role is able to execute their mission flawlessly.

Everyone should know and be able to state your group's value proposition.

If they can't articulate, in two sentences or less, a convincing reason why you are raising funds, then you need a plan that helps communicate your message more effectively.

Non-Profit Fundraising - WORK SMART

Working smart means taking your plan and putting it into action with an eye towards getting the most bottom line results from every facet of your organization.

You'll get the best long-term results if you stay focused on not overburdening your volunteers, your supporters, and your leadership. Overworking volunteers will ensure that many will not be around to help next year.

Too many demands for small donations will alienate your group's supporters. Structure your non-profit fund-raising requests to two or three campaigns in a year's time, no more.

Size those non-profit fund-raising campaigns to get the most from each time your supporters are asked to make a contribution.

Continuous fundraising will wear out your leadership as well. Your key personnel will be spending most of their time on organizing and conducting campaigns.

You want to keep everyone fresh and motivated. Do that by having a well thought out plan that maximizes the value of everyone's time, energy, and contributions.

Non-Profit Fundraising - BE SMART

Being smart means taking the time NOW to begin a 'Get Smart' effort about your non-profit fund-raising efforts.

Start the brainstorming process now.

Get a small journal and start recording any and all ideas you have, day or night, about improving your fundraising. Some of them will be duds, but others will be gems.

Sure, the gems will be rough and will need polishing, but you won't have any gems at all if you don't let your creative juices run wild.

Just write them down as they occur to you and keep adding to the ones that make the most sense in the light of day.

Hey, if it worked for Edison and Einstein, it can work for you.

Start writing down all the ways that you can think of to create multiple streams of income for your organization.

Get your non-profit fund-raising planned and organized, then watch the money flow in.

Fundraising Ideas: Keep It Safe

2010-01-04T22:29:00.001-08:00

When your youth group is doing a fundraiser, it is imperative to make sure that the proper safety precautions are followed.

Never allow door-to-door sales without direct adult supervision. Period.

In a sad case, an 11-year-old boy selling candy for a PTA fundraiser came to the door of a 15-year-old boy who was home alone at the time. The youngster was invited inside, sexually molested, and then murdered.

This is not an urban legend. The murder happened in Freehold, New Jersey on September 27, 1997 and it raised the fundraising safety issue to national prominence.

I'm not usually an alarmist, but I included the example above to heighten awareness of the safety topic.

I am by nature a trusting person, but not when it comes to my children! Nothing is worth such devastating consequences.

Develop An Appropriate Safety Focus

So, how do you build the appropriate safety focus into your program?

You start by stressing safety from the top of your organization to the bottom. You have to make sure that safety is a focal point in all your communications.

1) Use written selling guidelines

Put it into writing that all selling should be supervised. Your organization needs this as a protective measure and so do the children. If an adult cannot commit to accompanying a child, the child must not perform that type of sales activity.

Make sure that each child's parents are aware of these guidelines. Get the message to them that their children are not being encouraged to sell outside their comfort zone by your group.

Tell them that they should focus on their core contacts - family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers of parents. In other words, e safe by selling only to individuals who know your parents.

2) Repeat the message

Put up fundraising safety posters at convenient locations to remind young sellers. Make them friendly, but firm.

Example: "What's the last thing you do in a fundraiser? Sell without an adult present."

Print a safety message on all of your sales literature. Look for this from a quality supplier. Put the "Keep It Safe" message on all communications.

Repeat the safety message at every opportunity. Cover it in your kickoff meeting, during sales brochure distribution, in the take home package, etc.

If your fundraiser is school-based, have teachers reinforce the safety message in the classrooms.

3) Put safety into practice

Don't encourage inappropriate behavior such as risk taking, unsupervised sales, shopping center sales activity without prior approval and adult supervision.

Your group's policies and procedures may vary from this approach.

The important thing is to develop a written policy and make sure those guidelines are followed.

Summary

The best way to avoid an unsafe situation is by not going there. Many other youth programs also carry a strong safety message. Make sure yours does too.

Fundraising Fundamentals

2010-01-03T22:33:00.001-08:00

Successful fundraising requires following certain fundamental steps. Here are two things you have to do with every fundraiser:

1) Increase community awareness of your need

2) Increase community awareness of your offering

Everybody reading this instantly thinks, "Yep, we've got that covered. Everybody in our group knows what we're doing."

Let's take a closer look and see, shall we?

Creating Awareness Of Your Fundraising Need:

1) Can your need be expressed in a single sentence?

2) Has everyone in your group memorized that sentence?

3) Is expressing your need a part of your approach to all supporters?

Test your group from top to bottom.

Randomly ask individuals to tell you why your group is raising money.

I absolutely guarantee you that you'll be surprised at how weak the various answers are.

In many groups, more than 50% of those involved with the fundraiser will not be able to tell you in a single sentence the specific reasons why they are raising money.

What about outside your group?

Can you honestly say that you've exhausted every possible approach in getting the word out to the community about your fundraiser?

Does everybody know why you need money?

Have you done each of these?

Flyers

Posters

Press release

Roadside signs

Newspaper coverage

Public service radio announcements

Pre-kickoff letter, postcard, or email campaigns

Or, are you assuming that all you have to do is tell someone that you're doing a fundraiser and that they'll be glad to help?

Two problems with that approach. One is that most of your group can't effectively communicate your need.

The second is that you are already assuming that your group has more than enough prospective supporters to meet your goal.

Both these problems limit your potential results.

Consider these three points:

One, if your need isn't communicated clearly and concisely, it will not be understood and internalized as a deserving cause by your prospective supporters.

Two, if your sellers don't really understand your group's need, then they won't push as hard to meet that need.

Three, if your need isn't general knowledge in your community, then your fundraising job will be that much harder.

Think of "getting the word out" as being similar to softening up the beachhead during the Normandy invasion. If you don't do the advance prep work, you're much more likely to meet a hostile response.

Creating Awareness Of Your Fundraising Offering

The second fundraising fundamental goes hand-in-hand with creating an awareness of your need.

Creating an awareness of your offering is just as important as telling people why your group needs money.

Your fundraising need and your fundraising offering should be closely linked in all your communications.

At the same time you are getting the word out, you need to make sure the message gets through on exactly what your group is doing to raise funds.

Just as with expressing your need, everyone in your group should be able to sum up your fundraising offering in a single sentence.

That sentence should also reinforce the emotional foundation that is derived from recognition of your need.

So what in the heck does all that mean?

Put simply, if someone believes your need is real and agrees with the value proposition of your offering, they will help you.

And what's your fundraising value proposition?

It's a summation of your offering, combined with a reminder of your need, that's expressed in a way that informs each prospective supporter of what's in it for them.

In other words, your prospect needs to:

1 - Be aware of your need

2 - Be linked to it on an emotional level

3 - Be in agreement that your offer has real value in it for them

Getting your need and your offering across to as many potential supporters as possible is the essence of fundraising.

Take the time to develop single sentence statements for your fundraiser covering both of these fundraising fundamentals.

Teach everyone in your group how to communicate these basic value statements when they talk to prospective supporters.

Conclusion

Executing well on these fundraising fundamentals -- communicating your need and communicating your offering -- ensures that your fundraiser will be a smashing success.

Fundraising For Youth Groups

2010-01-01T22:45:00.001-08:00

Youth Groups are almost always in need of funds. Holding fundraisers to finance important trips like tournaments, museums, and musical events are just some of the needs that have to be met through fundraising. Others include the need for uniforms, sports equipment, art supplies, musical instruments, and more.

There are a lot of different ways your youth group can raise the funds they need. In this article, I will explore some of those with you and try to help you avoid some of the pitfalls. I will let you benefit from my experience and I will help you avoid some of my mistakes.

Let's start right off with candy. I have tried to use candy as a fundraising tool on more than one occasion for more than one youth group.

Pros and Cons of using candy as a youth group fundraiser.

Pros: Candy is cheap and can be sold for a great profit for your youth group. Everyone likes candy, so it's a fairly easy sale, especially if you go with name brand candy. The candy is cheap enough that most people have enough money in their pocket to purchase it.

Cons: Candy melts. Trust me on this. Candy melts and when it does, your profits melt with it as you try to clean whatever it melted all over. The members of your youth group eat Candy and when the parents have to pay for all the candy YOU let their child eat, you get phone calls. Trust me on this. You get a lot of phone calls. Candy smells. Trust me on this. Wherever you store the candy will smell like candy forever. Bigger children steal candy from smaller children and again parents end up paying for the candy and you get the phone calls.

Coupon Books are another commonly used Youth Group Fundraiser.

Pros: Some coupon books are filled with free stuff and everyone loves free stuff! Your youth group can raise as much as $10 per coupon book so they need to make less sales to reach their goals.

Cons: Everyone still has last year's coupon book. None of the coupons have been used. They never have it with them whenever they go somewhere they might have been able to use it for. I have been to a door to sell coupon books and had a guy hand me 7 unused coupon books as his donation. He said if I resold those, I would be able to raise more money than if he just bought one again this year. Coupons expire. They usually have a cost of about $10 to $15 per book, but of course the children in YOUR youth group will never lose any of them and their parents won't be calling YOU, like with the candy.

Basically, every fundraiser your youth group takes on will come with responsibility and they all have their pros and cons. However, if you look for a product that has the following features, I believe you will have a more successful fundraising opportunity for your youth group.

1. Choose products that do not melt, expire, rot, or otherwise perish.

2. Choose products that do not have a large cost per unit, no matter what the profit.

3. Choose products that everyone uses and will get a lot of uses from. Something they will remember being very useful will get them to continue supporting your youth group.

4. Choose products that do not require a lot of storage space.

5. Choose products that are popular like things with the donor's favorite major league baseball or football team logo on them.

If you follow those simple rules, your youth group fundraiser will be easy to manage, you won't end up stuck with a lot of leftover product to store, your storage area won't smell, you won't need to clean up messes, and best of all, the parents of your youth group participants won't be calling you.

Fundraising and the Business of Relationships

2009-12-30T22:53:00.000-08:00

The golden key to effective fundraising is an organizations ability to manage relationships. While some may consider this an oversimplified explanation of a complex non-profit business model, our experience has shown us that this is one of the most overlooked, yet lucrative, elements of our fundraising efforts.

The backbone of any fundraising campaign is the appeal to donors for contributions. The problem many organizations run into during this phase of their fundraising efforts is that they have neglected to keep their donors engaged with their organization since their previous appeal for support. The donor no longer feels engaged by, or attached to, your organization in any meaning way. What distinguishes your organization or non-profit from the next?

We advise all of our clients to develop strong relationships with their donors and supporters. In the non-profit sector, these relationships play a significant role in the success of any given campaign. In some cases, these relationships can make or break an organization. Keep in mind that appeals for support are not always of the monetary type. Organizations of every type need support staff, and your donor list is an ideal place to search for new recruits.

One of the most important elements of fundraising is strategic planning, and your donor list can provide you with a lot of useful information. For instance, a well organized donor list can provide you with information about the types of causes a certain individual tends to support. By studying the types of initiatives an individual supports, you can make relatively educated guesses about their receptiveness to your current efforts. By organizing and tracking this data, you can save your organization valuable time and resources that could be used more effectively in another area.

A number of organizations purchase their donor lists from a third party. While this may be the most convenient solution, it is certainly not the most effective. It is imperative for any organization that is serious about fundraising to develop a proprietary donor list. This is a significant point that is often overlooked. By building your own donor list, you become engaged with the people in your community. These are the people that will support your organization over the long term, and the ones most likely to get involved.

Fundraising, Successfully

2009-12-29T22:47:00.001-08:00

School budgets are short. Cities even need help. On top of that, there are all sorts of organizations that are looking to make some extra money to help fund them. Fundraising is the perfect thing to do just that. If you are looking for some remarkable method of fundraising to turn your school or organization around, there are plenty to choose from, but they may not all be remarkable. In fact, sometimes the simplest of plans works the best.

In fundraising, you need to consider two things. First, you need to understand what the percentage of sales you will receive through the fundraiser. This information should be in writing and put right in front of you before you start with the company. Simply, how much are you going to make off of each sale that is made?

Secondly, you'll need to insure that the products that are being sold as a fundraising tool are worth it. Perhaps they are marked up some to help you get your profits, but they still have to be some type of product that people need if you want them to purchase it. For example, you may want to have a fundraiser that provides Christmas purchases at that time of year. Or, in the middle of winter, a fundraiser could be hot chocolate, candies and candles. When the product is something that the individuals will want, they will be more than likely to make a purchase.

How you present the information is important as well. Make sure to tell your prospective customers that you are raising money for the Boy Scouts or you are helping to afford the school a new computer. When they know what the money is going towards, people are more generous as well.

By taking the time to plan well for your fundraiser, it can be more successful than you realize. If you plan to do fundraising, do it with your best foot forward every time.

Fundraiser Candles for Your Group

2009-12-28T23:01:00.001-08:00

Looking for a good fundraising idea? Candle sales are easy and profitable. What, exactly, is a candle fundraiser?

Candle fundraisers are your basic order taker fundraiser. You need to do more than just show pictures of candles. Showing fragrant samples will dramatically boost your candle fundraiser's results.

The basic concept is the same as all order taker fundraisers. You equip your sellers with a brochure, an order form, and a basic sales script.

The brochure describes the various candle selections and provides details on color, aroma, size, shape, weight, and container type. Price points are usually on the order form itself.

Unlike candy or cookie dough, it's easy for your sellers to carry samples. Their non-perishable nature makes them a great fit for weeklong sales efforts.

One of the great things about candle fundraisers is how the aroma of your samples makes the selling process so much easier. Most buyers will sniff several samples and imagine how the candles will fill their homes with their pleasant smells.

Perennial favorites are french vanilla, bayberry, apple, pumpkin spice, apple cinnamon, holiday pine, melon burst, and citrus breeze.

Candle sizes range from small two-ounce votive candles all the way up to giant three-pound ball or bell-shaped versions with multiple wicks.

Several fundraising companies have candles in decorative shapes like various fruits, animals, wizards, trees, and figurines. In addition, large rectangles, cylinders, half-rounds, and tapers are always readily available.

Some companies also offer container-based candles which burn more slowly and safely. They also avoid messy cleanup problems. Popular styles are Mason jars, jars with handles, jars with screw tops, and square glass containers.

Profitability

Most fundraising companies offer their candles at a 50% discount. Some suppliers also offer a larger discount for higher volume sales.

The average seller makes five to seven sales. Many of these sales are multi-unit buys, so they average about $80 in revenue. That translates to roughly $40 in profit per seller, which is quite good.

Factors affecting your candle fundraisers profitability include freight charges, quantity discounts, quality of the brochure, number of available candle choices, the motivation level of your sellers, and the duration of your fundraising activities. And of course, the most important factor is having fragrant samples in the hands of your sellers.

This product works well for both elementary school and high school fundraising.

Larger groups can easily earn a quantity discount above 50%. As always, do an RFQ fax quote to the candle supplier list and lock-in your best possible discount up front.

Fun Fundraising Activities

2009-12-27T22:51:00.001-08:00

To get the most out of any fundraiser, every participant needs to give their all from start to finish. This includes your team members, parents, coaches, and other volunteers.

To keep everyone's interest from waning, make sure that you include fun in your fundraiser each step of the way.

Ten ways to put fun in your fundraising:

1- Do fun things

2- Use fun incentives

3- Take pictures

4- Show appreciation

5- Give out fun merchant prizes

6- Build in fun goals

7- Blend fun, food and fundraising

8- Create fun completion activities

9- Say thank you

10- Have a cast party

Do fun things

Don't make it drudgery to be a volunteer or a participant. Remember that they're giving up their free time to help.

Plan fun things to do during each stage of the process that will reward everyone. Not only will it be a more rewarding experience for everyone involved, but you will keep your participants and volunteers eager for the next fundraiser.

And we all know there will be another one sooner rather than later!

Make sure they remember the fun, not just the hard work.

Use fun incentives

Offer a Cream Pie Attack party to all sellers or participants reaching a certain level. Have a fun day where key organizational figures do funny things for meeting goals.

Extreme examples include shaving their heads or dyeing their hair blue.

Some safer, less long-lasting examples could be wearing a funny wig, dressing like a clown, risk the dunking booth, and so on.

Be creative and use an idea that is appropriate to your group.

Kids and adults love these types of incentives and they don't cut into your hard earned cash.

Take fun pictures

Everybody loves to see themselves in a picture. Take plenty of candid shots. Have everybody pose and ham it up for a group photo.

Be sure to post them where everyone can enjoy them. You could even reward your picture posers with prizes for the best smile, the goofiest pose, or the worst dressed.

Ask volunteers to take pictures throughout the fundraising process so there will be a variety of photos and you can be sure that everyone will be included.

If possible, have a "movie" made of your group during each phase of the fundraising process and show the movie at a wrap up event.

Show appreciation

Show your appreciation to all levels of your organization and supporter base. Be sure to do fun things that aren't fundraisers.

For example, line up discounts on tickets to athletic events, go on group outings, provide goodies for volunteers during working sessions.

Give out fun merchant prizes

Work with local merchants for great prizes that mean the most to

your group.

Work deals for movie passes, merchandise discounts, gift certificates, miniature golf, or IMAX theater trips for your top performing participants.

As always, make sure there is something in it for the merchant, otherwise you are just another stranger begging for their money or services.

Build in fun goals

Do an event based solely on having fun. Have key organization members commit to doing crazy things once certain revenue goals are reached, in whatever increments are most appropriate for your group and goals.

Let things build to the climactic moment where the head cheese does the ultimate "fun thing" as a way to reward the group for all their support.

A fond memory in the making is for the coaching staff to stand on their heads and sing "Row, row, row your boat" in rounds.

Blend fun, food and fundraising

Remember that you can blend fun into even the most traditional fundraising events.

Everybody knows what a bake sale is, right? Use a cake walk to sell a large portion of your donated sweets.

Kids love it and you'll get more for the desserts than if you sold them outright. Consider having awards for the various submissions and then auctioning off the best dessert.

Create fun completion activities

These will motivate your sellers and volunteers as much or more as winning actual prizes.

Think about low cost fun events that you could tie to completing certain tasks, for example:

Top sales group gets a water balloon fight, all volunteers play in a Powder Puff touch football game, or an ultimate Frisbee match.

Say thank you

You can't say thank you often enough to your supporters and your participants. Show your appreciation with heartfelt words and deeds.

Have a cast party

Have one for all volunteers at conclusion. Get together at someone's home or in the fellowship hall with everyone bringing potluck.

It's a nice way to build goodwill and reinforce a sense of community for future recruiting.

Conclusion

In remembering the fun in fundraising, be sure that each activity, prize or reward is age and group appropriate.

Also, remember the other volunteers… the parents and other adult volunteers that make it all happen. Be sure they are rewarded directly, even if it is a simple remark of recognition and thanks.

Print simple awards on the computer and present them at your wrap up event. Individualize each one: "The Go-To Guy Award", "The Worker Bee Award", "The Daddy War Bucks Award", and so on.

Remember: Make it fun and everyone will come back for more!

Free Easy Fundraisers

2009-12-25T22:07:00.001-08:00

When your youth group needs to raise money quickly, you need a fast free fundraiser that you can rely on to generate the necessary revenue. The amount you make on these free easy fundraisers will depend on how much time you have to prepare and how well you execute your plan.

Here are three time-tested projects to raise some fast cash:

1 - Car Wash

2 - Yard Cleanup

3 - Community Cleanup

Car Wash Fundraiser

Car washes have proven to be great fundraisers in virtually every community. All you need are willing volunteers, a high-traffic location with good visibility, and some attention getting signs. You can put your car wash fundraiser together on short notice.

Here's what you need to do:

1 - Line up a location with good main road frontage

2 - Ensure it has water access

3 - Assemble supplies list - hoses, buckets, wash towels, dry towels, squeegees

4 - Assign each volunteer an item from the supplies list

5 - Make 8-10 poster board signs in high-contrast colors

6 - Arrange your volunteers in 2-hour shifts

7 - Wash cars for six hours (Saturday preferred)

8 - Have dual lines so you can wash two at once

Your car wash fundraiser's success will of course depend on the weather. If you can wash 12 cars an hour (one every 10 minutes in each line), you can easily raise more than $500 in one day.

Remember to put together a quick flyer that includes the reason why you're raising funds and clearly states the price. You can even offer some extra services such as Armor-All tire treatment or interior vacuuming for an additional fee.

Alternatively, you can advertise a free car wash and just ask for donations for your cause. Often, this can raise more cash than stating a specific price, because people will see a group of volunteers working hard and having a good time, and may pay more than you would hav asked.

Keeping safety in mind, be sure to get volunteers to hold and wave signs toward passing traffic, not just volunteers to wash cars. If you have time, advertise your car wash event in the local newspaper, and post signs a day or two in advance.

Yard Cleanup

A yard cleanup fundraiser is extremely fast and easy to put together. Simply create a set of instructions for your group detailing what to offer, what to say, and how much to charge.

Like most fundraisers, the target market is family, friends, and neighbors. Depending on the age of your participants, your offerings can range from simple lawn care all the way up to mulching flower beds or pruning tree limbs. In many climates, autumn is a great time to do this fundraiser, because leaf clearing is always a needed service during those months.

Create a flyer describing your fundraiser and clearly list your prices for the various cleanup options. Assign a fundraising quota to each participant.

Offer some individual and group performance bonuses. There's nothing like a team pizza party or movie passes to motivate a youth sports group.

Community Cleanup

A community cleanup, also known as a trash bag fundraiser, performs a valuable community service while also providing a significant revenue opportunity. Organizing a community cleanup project is a way to raise funds and send a positive message about your group at the same time.

This type of one day or weekend fundraising event is very similar to the Athlet-A-Thon or Fun-A-Thon concept. Here your group's participants solicit pledges from the usual suspects - family, friends, and neighbors. Have local businesses donate trash bags and recruit parents and relatives with trucks to haul what you collect.

Pledges are tied to a specific attainment goal such as the number of pounds of trash collected or the number of road miles cleaned of debris. You'll need to create a one-page overview of your cleanup program and a pledge signup sheet.

It works best if your overview specifies a suggested range for donations, say anywhere from a penny to a dime a pound for a large project. An amazing amount of garbage can be collected from a local stream or illegal dumping area, so it's not a bad idea to also put a maximum limit on pledge amounts of $20.

Have local businesses donate trash bags. Recruit parents and relatives with trucks to haul what you collect.

Do the math. You'll be surprised at how much money you can generate. Assuming 50 participants, each of whom has five pledges of a penny a pound, if you collect a ton of garbage, your group will raise $100 per participant or $5,000.

That's not bad money for a free fundraiser! You'd be surprised at how easy it is to collect a ton of garbage.

Each of these fundraisers is fast, easy to put together, and a reliable revenue generator for your group. As with any youth group event, an adult should be in attendance at all times for safety purposes. Get started on your free easy fundraisers today!

Fair Trade Fundraisers

2009-12-23T23:05:00.000-08:00

Organizations everywhere are starting to see the benefits of staging certain types of fundraisers. As you may have discovered through trial-and-error, some fundraisers are simply more successful than others. We all want to raise as much money as we can for our respective organizations, but there are times when we ought to give pause to other considerations.

Coffee fundraisers have been massively successful in the United States and beyond. It should come as no surprise, mind you. Everyone loves coffee, especially really good coffee. It is estimated that over 200 million people in the United States alone drink coffee on a daily basis. At approximately one dollar per cup, you can imagine how staggering the profits can be. Organizations have an excellent opportunity to tap into this market, and to brew up massive revenues for their respective ventures.

The difficult part of doing coffee fundraisers, is convincing people to compromise their morning coffee routines. It may sound absurd, but many people feel very passionately about the coffee they drink. From what I have been told by some of our readers, Canadians are absolutely fanatic about Tim Horton's coffee. The challenge for people involved in fundraising, is to convince people to try something new. We have to appeal to their thoughtful side. It is for charity, after all.

One of our friends has had tremendous success by putting a new twist on the traditional coffee fundraiser. Instead of offering people unimpressive gift boxes of coffee, why not consider selling bags of Fair Trade Coffee? If you are not aware of the Fair Trade movement, you should be. It is essentially an effort to ensure that farmers in developing countries are properly compensated for their labor and their products. The movement also tries to address issues regarding the environmental impact of certain farming practices, as well as local economic sustainability.

There is a significant percentage of the population in America that truly cares about what is happening in the world today. The environmental movement has been going strong for decades now, and people have become both active and aware of the issues that affect citizens in America and beyond. These conditions create a wonderful opportunity for fundraisers, as we can give people an opportunity to support two wonderful causes; the Fair Trade movement and your organization! Let your conscience guide you in your fundraising efforts, and help make trade fair.

Elementary School Fundraisers

2009-12-22T22:44:00.001-08:00

Perhaps nothing matches the enthusiasm and zeal of elementary school children. This carries over to elementary school fundraising events where young students strive to complete every assigned fundraising chore with determination and dedication. Teachers and parents participate and guide the children to ensure their hard work is successful and raises a lot of money.

Candy is a favorite of children, and candy makes a great fundraiser for elementary schools. Gourmet, Hershey, Maredy Candy are a few companies that provide excellent fundraising programs. You can find out more about the companies and the programs on the Internet or by calling the company.

Selling perfumed candles is a traditional way for children to raise school funds and the returns are quite good. Companies offer attractive brochures for customers to browse through and place orders. The company, in turn, gives a percentage back to the school. Avia Candles, Botika Candles, and Christ's Light Candles are some of the companies who offer a variety of attractive candles for fundraising.

Book fairs and carnivals are excellent ways to raise funds for elementary schools. School carnivals could include game booths, talent shows and bake sales. Sporting events with parent/child participation have also proven to be successful fundraisers for elementary schools.

An important point to remember with any elementary school fundraiser is the children participating need close supervision throughout the event - safety comes first above everything else.

One thing to keep in mind is that if elementary students want to fundraise door to door, a parent or guardian should accompany them.

Cookie Dough Fundraisers

2009-12-21T23:19:00.001-08:00

Looking for good school fundraiser? Cookie dough sales are an easy moneymaker. What is a cookie dough fundraiser? The basic concept is the same as all order taker fundraisers. You equip your sellers with a brochure, an order form, and a basic sales script.

Your group does catalog sales of a three-pound tub of cookie dough. Average retail price is $10 per three-pound tub. The dough comes in a wide variety of flavors, including some that are sugar free.

Some suppliers are now offering the dough in pre-sliced packages to further simplify the baking process.

Others are offering it in a dry mix that doesn't need to be refrigerated. All you do is add water, mix by hand, and you have your cookie dough ready for baking.

Profitability

Most fundraising companies offer the three-pound tubs of cookie dough at a 40%-50% discount. Some suppliers also offer a larger four-pond tub for slightly more.

Cookie dough needs to be refrigerated, so this fundraiser requires a little more delivery preparation.  Kids like selling this because it's something that they enjoy themselves.

The average seller makes ten sales or approximately $100 in revenue. That translates to roughly $50 in profit per seller, which is quite good.

Factors affecting your cookie dough fundraiser profitability include freight charges, quantity discounts, quality of the brochure, number of available cookie dough choices, and the need to keep the dough refrigerated.

This product works well for both elementary school and high school fundraising.

Larger groups can easily earn a quantity discount above 50%. As always, do an RFQ fax quote to the supplier list and get your best possible discount up front.

Sales Tips

Here's what they need to do to sell:

1 - Smile, use their name in greeting, and introduce yourself

2 - Use the power of "because" (give a reason why)

3 - Ask for their help (ask for the order)

4 - Make eye contact and suggest a favorite

Example sales script: (Keep it short & sweet)

Hi, Mrs. Johnson! (Smile & make eye contact)

I'm Jimmy Roberts from down the street. (Hand over sales flyer with large bold print)

Our school is doing a cookie dough fundraiser because we need new computers.

Can you help us out with a $10 contribution? That gets you a three-pound tub of cookie dough. My favorite is the chocolate chip, but peanut butter is real popular too!

(Pause and wait for a response)

The important points are to smile, use a sales flyer, use the word because, ask for their help, and suggest an order size, then wait for a response.

Each prospect has a potential dollar value to your organization. Don't waste prospects by not being prepared. Make sure all your sellers know what to say and how to say it.

Cookie Dough Fundraisers

2009-12-20T22:39:00.001-08:00