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What You Need to Know About a Fundraising Product

Fundraising product sales has been the most potent way of getting your finances ready for a cause. Many smaller non-profit organizations choose the method as it is the most convenient way to garner more and more funds. The choice of products plays a decisive role in building your finances.

Now a days, the range and choice of products in fundraising sale has grown tremendously. The onset of consumerism has led to growing coffers in your basket with sale products ranging from candies, magazines, wrapping paper to non-perishable cheese and sausage to beam bulbs, birdseed, unsullied fruit,T-shirts and scads of souvenir items.

Among the fundraising product sales refrigerated and freezing foods like pizza and cheesecakes are gaining fame in the parades. The wide the range of products, the more is distribution and handling concerns. As a fundraising decision-maker, your major goal is to ensure a smooth but lucrative fundraiser. Be sure that the foods sold through fundraising are hygienic enough for the people to eat and enjoy.

The conception of having food in fundraising product sales as perishable is not a deterrence to your purpose. They are not different from products purchased from the grocer. Even the suppliers are ready to offer you discount on bulk purchasing. Only thing is to care during the distribution ceremony to keep it safe and appetizing. The means are good planning, contact and teamwork. Ensure to get advice or help from a professional fundraising organization with experience in selling frozen fundraising product sales.

The volunteers handling fundraising product sales must take care of the product quality, packaging and labeling. Take notice of the following:

 

  • Product is made by a trustworthy processor with good manufacturing practices. Check the ingredient statement.
  • Products are properly packaged and clearly labeled.
  • Product labeling must have instructions on storage and handling.

FAQs on Selecting the Right Fundraising Product

 

 

  • How much money does one require to raise? Fix a target based on your group’s needs and sound estimates.
     
  • Which products would a group enjoy selling? Choose the products depending on your choice, marketing confidence and motivation.
     
  • What has been success rate? It depends on your work and choice.
     
  • How soon do we need the money? If you need to raise funds within two weeks, we suggest you fundraise using our direct-sale products (ex: candy bars, lollipops, scratch cards). If you have 4 weeks or more to fundraise, an order-taker brochure may be ideal.

Fundraising product sales and their sales depend on your capability like offering apex quality merchandise, a range of prices and the premier profit levels in the industry.

 

Different Avenues for Non Profits Fundraising

Non profits fundraising usually revolves around specific projects, which are taken up primarily to serve the society. There are varied techniques of non profits fundraising. Every now and then, we hear of new methods that are used to raise money that is contributed towards non profits funds. The biggest source of funding in case of a non profits making organization is the individual. There are many persons who keep contributing towards charity on a frequent basis. Infact, in US, individuals make the maximum contribution towards the non profits fund.

Another avenue for non profits fundraising are the corporations, which usually look towards such funds as means to enhance their goodwill and credibility. The higher the credibility of the firm, the more will be the number of stakeholders. The basic idea is to show that they are responsive towards the needs of the society. Non profits fundraising provides these corporations an opportunity to earn community respect. Corporate funding is the best for initiating new projects.

The local and state level Governments also make an incredible contribution towards the non profits funds so as to fulfill their commitment of serving the nation. Government has large sums of money, a major part of which mostly goes in granting aids. Strong backing of politicians indeed helps in procuring money for non profits fundraising. A large number of social service campaigns are organized including the educational ones to raise money for noble causes.

There are federal funds like United Arts, Combined Health Appeal and United Ways, which serve as potential sources for furthering the social causes. However, these funds are more often used to provide aids to the well established non profits making organizations. It is undoubtedly a challenging task to obtain money from federal funds, due to the lengthy procedure involved. These funds are used merely for providing social services and therefore they have a well defined priority focus.

There are several foundations, which can make an immense contribution towards the non profits fundraising. However, their grants can differ substantially. Private foundations have enormous assets and making donations for them is not such a big deal. In a similar way, there are corporate foundations that have their endowment funds, which serve as wonderful sources for making contributions. Even, the community foundations render tremendous support to the non profits funds. Community foundations are almost similar to large foundations in terms of set up. These foundations usually pool the assets of a large number of donors.

There are family foundations which receive donations from individuals as well as families. Large family foundations have a professional staff and thus, approaching them is not very troublesome. As regards donations, they usually have clear cut policies. Even, the small family foundations are highly cooperative, when it comes to making grants for non profits fundraising. In such foundations, personal relations with the board members is of great value. When it comes to providing in kind services, the churches and social institutions more often occupy the vanguard position.

Finding Unique Fundraising Ideas

There are numerous unique fundraising ideas that can be used to raise money for varied purposes. The purpose can be anything, ranging from contribution towards charity, funding a high school trip, organizing the youth camp and last but not least rendering support to the poor, needy and victims of a catastrophe. Fundraising indeed requires a concept that can be used to raise money from the target audience. Fundraising is not everyone’s cup of tea and requires an idea, which is unique but at the same time easy to understand and implement.

The theme that you choose to raise fund must have some relevance. To put succinctly, the idea should be in accordance with the purpose for which the money is being raised. Fundraising has become a very common thing in the contemporary times. It can be for the attainment of social as well as professional goals. There are large number of non profitable organizations, which collect money to help the underprivileged people, who truly need our help and support. For social causes, no one really minds contributing a small amount, which is very meager for the rich and affluent people, but can bring a smile on the faces of many unfortunate and deprived people.

One of the prime considerations that one has to bear in mind, while choosing the idea for fundraising is the size of the target group. Some ideas that can prove to be useful for making the fundraising campaign successful are:

Fundraising Ideas for Small Groups

In case of small size groups, where the target audience is not more than 50 people, it is better to avoid selling as the strategy to raise money. However, those who have a prior experience of earning profit by launching direct selling campaigns can use this idea for fundraising. Scratch card campaigns have been increasingly gaining popularity, due to the ease in set up. Do not forget to invite the sponsors of your campaign to be a part of it. You can even team the scratch card program with the free online magazine fundraiser program.

Fundraising Ideas for Medium Groups

For medium size groups consisting of near about 60-100 people, it is best to combine scratch card program along with personalized chocolate hampers. Online magazine fundraising also serves as a great idea to earn profits. You might even come across some people, who are ready to extend their help but do not wish to buy any of the products offered. For such people, scratch card program is the most excellent option.

Fundraising Ideas for Large Groups

If you have a large number of volunteers to deal with large audience consisting of more than 100 participants, it is best to organize a sales campaign. If the target audience is quite large in number, selling frozen foods can be pretty beneficial, as the profit margin is high. Pre prepared frozen food has most of the times been a big hit amongst people, especially youngsters.

These are only a couple of unique fundraising ideas, but there can be much more ideas for fund raising that are even beyond our imagination.

Fundraising Event Ideas: Which Ones are the Best?

Event fundraising is the most publicized way of raising funds. It involves everyone in the community and sure to attract greater financial gain. Getting the community occupied and having fun earns more attract and the result is more funds. Even if your group is low on fund raising, the event garners maximum gain with minimum effort. It is also a good accolade to any product tilting fundraising you do all through the year.

FAQs for Event Fundraising Success

 

  • Get Advertising and Publicity For Your Fundraiser – The most important aspect of fund raising is to involve and activate the whole community for the cause. Be sure that everyone is aware of your fundraising event. Give the clear information like who it’s for, when, what it’s for, where and how you are trying to move up. The best way to promote the event is to employ local radio and TV stations, community places, newspapers, school and church newsletters.
  • Get a Central / Well Known Location – Choose a location that is known to and reachable by most. The address is a deciding factor in attracting the crowd. Be sure that the location can handle the expected crowd.

 

 

  • Pick the Right Day – Weekends are the best time to fetch a large crowd as most of the people are at home and ready to go for outing. But get yourself certain that you are not rival to another big event or holiday.
  • Get Trusted Volunteers – Make sure you get the commitment of your fundraising event volunteers. Your fundraiser will fall short if you can’t rely on your helpers. Have backup volunteers lined up in case of absent helpers. 

Best Fundraising Events

 

 

  • Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner Fundraising Event – Dining is the best fundraiser. Go for a fundraising breakfast, lunch or dinner event and keep it as plain as possible. Just think about a Hotdog event fundraiser. No doubt the idea is great. Ask your local grocer to contribute the hotdogs, buns, condiments, pop and chips. Borrow a propane BBQ or boiler for the cooking. You can raise funds more, faster by selling them at a little high price in the parking lot itself.

 

 

  • Car Wash – Render a service to the vehicle owners and ask more a recognizable donation instead. Prepare a group of volunteers and pick up a good location known for high traffic. As many as cars you will wash, the more funds will flow to your account. Just sell some snacks and beverages to passerby and earn extra.

 

 

  • Bake Sale – Collect an assortment of home baked goodies and offer them to community members in lieu of a little donation. Bake some lip smacking cookies using the cookie dough from a well-liked cookie dough fundraising brochure and raise further money.
  • Book Sale – Ask your community members to donate old books and offer the people to buy them as a good read for a good cause.
  • Rubber Duck Race – Organize fun events like rubber dock race and get kids involved. Offer tickets to participants and supporters Ensure that the event is publicized enough to have a fun turnout and give prize to the best racers.

 

 

  • Bingo Night – Bingo nights are among popular fundraiser event ideas. Do selling of cards and call information in your school sports club. Offer donated local businesses items as prizes along with recognition certificates.

 

Church Fundraising Ideas

Church fundraising ideas has high hopes for those who anticipate for good work and uncorrupted deeds. It includes various methods like Christian fundraiser and youth group fundraising. Quality is the hall mark and faith is true prospective for Church fundraising ideas.

Fast Church Fundraising

Merchandise quality counts more in Church fundraising ideas. An assurance for best worth of your money is crux of the drive for Church fundraising ideas. The quality and range of products is a deciding factor in it and sure to affect your orders in a more comprehensive way most notably the second time fund raising. When the quality is higher, the attempt to highlight a cause becomes more and more pronounced. Even the supporters become more eager to join you and your fund raising campaign will touch new heights.

Fundraising Order Forms/Takers

When you are confronting the lack of finance to buy fundraising products up-front, it is better for you to go for order forms/takers. The order form fundraiser happening costs you zero. What you need to do is just to collect your money up-front and then put the order with your fundraising firm. This saves both money and time and sure to ensure more money in the simplest way. The most important products on the Church fundraising ideas are related to faith & inspirational, safety and holiday shoppers. The choice of products and the cause for fund raising are more attractive than the products in Church fundraising ideas.

Cookie Dough Fundraiser

Cookie dough fundraising as a part of Church fundraising ideas is pleasing to many groups working for the cause now a days. It is indeed difficult to defy the tasty, delicious, gooey and chummy cookies which shed mouthwatering tastes when scooped & baked. The chocolate flavor is the most demanding among them. Just sale theses delicacies at the Church, the people are sure to support your cause and you will earn a handsome fund raising. Cookie dough fundraising gives between 30 – 55% profit in the fund raising. When it is in an order form/taker fundraiser, the profit margin is almost cent percent.

Candle Fundraiser

Candle fundraisers as a type of church fundraising show case Honor, Courage, Strength, Prayer, Give, and Faith followed by a wonderful verse labeled through the candles. In the US where 9 out of 10 households purchase around 38 candles each year, the idea of fundraising through it is a good idea. As most candle fundraisers are order taker fundraisers, financial constraints are almost zero here.

Scratch Cards Fundraising

Scratch cards fundraising is the latest version of the Church fundraising ideas. With a profit margin at 80% – 90% twice more than other kinds it is mostly practiced at present. Scratch cards are pocket sized booklets having scratch off dots and a token pad in the middle. The facade cover can enshrine a group / team name and logo written on it. Swift, simple and easy, it is far from any order-taker fundraising. As there is no deliveries required and you bring together your money on the speck. You can offer the donors a good value that estimated to be around $50 in coupon savings from accepted merchants.

What You Need to Know About Fundraising Companies

In our modern, high-tech high-speed world, what more natural thing than we "outsource" fundraising to companies specifically devoted to that endeavor? But, just because a firm says they are out to help a group raise money does not mean the organization should just accept them at face value. Like any other field of human activity, there are good companies and bad ones. People need to look at a fundraising company as if they were a new employee or a business partner, and chose carefully.

There are a number of factors to consider when selecting a firm. The Association of Fund-Raising Distributors and Suppliers (AFRDS) is an excellent source of information. Their website even has a checklist containing questions a charitable group should ask a prospective company. Looking at just a general overview, here are some factors to consider:

Is the company providing a truly professional program, do they stand behind their products/services? If this is to be some sort of school fundraiser, how does the company handle door-to-door sales? These days, many parents are uncomfortable with the idea of their minor child(ren) knocking on strangers’ doors, unless an adult is along. What about promotions? Does the firm handle that, or the group? If the company, are the fliers, posters etc. of good quality?

A very important issue is the expected profits. If the company is providing some product (e.g. nuts, candy bars, candles), what is the price the group must pay, and what are the items to be sold for? Not many people are willing to fork over five bucks for a candy bar they can get for a dollar at the grocery store, even if it is for charity. Do the items have to be paid for upfront? Will the company help with keeping records and dealing with the state sale’s taxes, if any? On the other hand, the funds could be a percent of the total sales. Now, seventy percent may sound great, but the group needs to ask what (realistically) they can expect to make, in real dollars.

What about damaged and/or returned products? Does the company deal with problems in a timely and orderly fashion? And, of course, there’s the matter of references: will the firm provide any? Checking with other groups that have used a fundraising company in the past is an excellent means of determining just how reputable they are. The single best question to ask a reference: would you use this firm again? The answer to that inquiry speaks volumes about the quality of the company.

Raising Money With Fundraising Websites

Fundraising websites are becoming increasing popular to garner funds. Its merit lies in giving funds continuously and without any special attention. Problems like leaving the home or those generally associated with traditional fund raisings are almost non-existent in case of fundraising websites.

Fundraising websites are generally free from need to galvanize volunteers, search suitable places or organizing endless meetings with numerous phone calls. On the other hand, the funds keep coming year after year without any intervention. Gone are the days when high sounding corporate with enough money can do business in the internet. Now any one can make money with it.

Words sale on the internet. The following tips are useful when going for fundraising websites.

 

  • Sell products you purchase through wholesalers and have them drop-shipped
  • Earn commissions through affiliate programs or affinity programs
  • Sell traditional fundraising products such as cookie dough, candy or magazines
  • Sell advertising on your site to local companies

 

The anticipation surrounding Internet fund-raising and almost irresistible lure appeals to every one. It has global reach, effective generation capacity, low cost and prolific time-response schedule compared to other fund raising methods. You can get the know how from many organizations and numerous individuals tutors online.

Fundraising websites on Internet offers innovative ways to exchange a few words with donors and request gifts. It works as effectively as one-on-one solicitations at listed appointments. Online commitment though is not reliable but is convertible to large sums of money. Experts agree that a crisis-driven Internet plead like aftermath of hurricane, flood, earthquake, or other disaster can net considerable amounts of money. The response after WTC terrorist attacks of September 11 is testimony to that.

The idea behind fundraising websites is to attract the visitors to contribute for charitable purpose. Even the gifts are charged through these portal sites by charging a fee. Space sales are also growing in popularity. To have better result such sites must take care of the following facts:

 

  • Competitions are with many other organizations for potential donors.
  • Success is conditioned by the portal ability to attract visitors.
  • While relying on the internet the organizations must not neglect tried and true fund-raising methods and practices.

Many non-profits organizations with fundraising websites are getting handsome donation. Even many market players offer expertise and services ranging from web hosting to marketing and networking are offering to augment your fundraising but with a price. Though the risks are there, still the fundraising websites is the true way to go global and earn maximum with minimum effort.

School Fundraising: How You Can Help

A school fundraising project is just about as old as school itself. It is quite possible that Socrates sent his students out to raise money for various school activities. For modern day students, there are a number of tried and true moneymakers.

First off, of course, is the question of scale, just how big and fancy a fundraiser can a PTA or individual class do? They certainly are not in the same league as something like First Book or the Red Cross. No, they have to shoot for something smaller. But then, they generally need smaller sums. One excellent method of raising some cash is the bake sale. Each parent and/or student gets a simple cake mix (the Jiffy brand is usually quite inexpensive) for a couple dollars, bakes it up, ices it, and brings it to school. Even selling each slice for only a quarter or fifty cents will bring in a return on their investment. For a class trying to raise money for a field trip, it is a splendid idea. As is having the children do some kind of arts and crafts and then selling them. Again, the initial cash outlay can be minimal and the children have great fun doing it. Also, very often the parents will buy the items (no matter what their appearance, just because their child made it).

Now, if it is the whole school that is getting involved, something larger can be done. There are many companies that sell nuts candies, fruits, candles etc. specifically as a way for schools to raise money. Normally, this requires the children to go door to door and solicit orders. Some parents tend to shy away from that, these days they don’t like the idea of their little ones knocking on strangers’ doors. So, there is the rummage sale. All the families donate any unwanted items from their home, the children run off fliers, and then they set the stuff out on tables – usually in the gym or cafeteria, any large multi-purpose room the school has.

Finally, every school has some kinds of clubs, and they too often need to do some kind of fundraising. With them, often the method is tied to what they do. Cheerleader squads and football teams will sometimes work together on a car wash. If the school has a JROTC unit, they will do a turkey shoot. A chess club might hold a contest; let the parents try their hand at beating the best students. Very often, a local trophy store will even donate the awards given out to the winners. So, it’s easy to see that there is a wide variety of school fundraising ideas to select from.

Company Fundraising: What You Need to Consider

Most company fundraising is related to charity. Some do it out of a sense of philanthropy or social responsibility, like McDonald’s creating the Ronald McDonald House. Others see it as good publicity or promotion, or it gives them access to new markets and/or increases their sales. Some also consider it a wise investment for the future.

After the why, there is the how. Some firms just make a direct cash donation of a specific amount. Other will match the amount given by their employees. Then there are the non-monetary items: gifts, staff to fill volunteer roles, sponsoring an event, doing advertising, and doing marketing for an event. And, how big the company is has little to do with how big (or small) their support will be, it all comes down to the results. What will the firm’s involvement yield to the group?

Things to consider: go after an appropriate contact person in the company. Sometimes it is public relations, a charity coordinator etc. Keep an eye on budget. As stated above, some companies won’t give monetary contribution. With those companies, talk about advertising, marketing etc. In a lot of cases, the company may require a proposal. If so, do your homework and write up one designed to catch the attention of relevant staff.

So, that brings up the next point: drawing up a proposal. What do you want to put in it? First, look for a link between your group and the company, something in common that they share. Do you share the same interest? If the firm likes to help put books in the hands of needy kids, and your group is First Book, you have got a match made in heaven. If they’ve got some sort of criteria for making a contribution, get it. After that, match your group up to as many points as possible and outline all of them in the proposal. Then there is the question of organizational skills. Are you looking for a company to partner with, or just get a financial contribution from?

Finally, when doing company fundraising, look to establish a one-on-one relationship with the staff. Very often, some sort of PR officer will control the flow of information up the "food chain" to a senior manager. So, a key to opening doors is building a good rapport with that lower staff member.

Need A Great Non-Profit Fundraising Idea?

Are you looking for a non-profit fundraising idea? More often than not, such groups have very limited budgets. Not always, but as a general rule of thumb. After all, the Red Cross and UNICEF are non-profit, yet they definitely do not lack for funds.

But, we’ll focus on the small-scale non-profit groups here, as they are the ones with the least resources and the greatest need for raising money. A lot of such groups, look for some kinds of simple fundraising methods. It makes sense. A new group usually has very few members, limited resources and almost no money.

First, what is a way for a non-profit group to raise money? Often times they are grade, middle or high school organizations and need ideas that are low cost. The students can hold a bake sale, paint artwork on t-shirts, have a turkey shoot, even sell candles, nuts etc. Turkey shoots are an excellent way to involve the students who are members of the school’s JROTC program. All it requires are some frozen turkeys (normally donated from a local grocery store) some cards for people to buy little targets on, and then the students to shoot a hole in each card.

Then there is the fundraising gift card. There are a wide variety of national companies that will give "two for one" cards for pizza, soda, sandwiches, movie tickets etc. Many have websites and/or 800 numbers to allow groups to easily contact their Public Relations (PR) Departments. For a non-profit group, fundraising cards are an excellent choice. Many of these companies even prefer to deal with small non-profit organizations; they like to feel they are helping local groups working to aid their communities.

For church and other charitable groups, many other kinds of fundraisers are possible, beyond those listed above:

 

  • Door-to-door sales
  • Letter writing campaigns
  • Holding a fair or bazaar
  • Rummage sales
  • Raffles

 

So, no matter the size of the group, not matter the makeup of its members, there is a non-profit fundraising idea out there that will help just about any non-profit group to raise money. It all comes down to the members, what are they willing to put into it?