The Importance of Location in Fundraising

The Importance of Location in Fundraising

The Importance of Location in Fundraising

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!

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Soccer Fundraising Ideas

Soccer Fundraising Ideas

Soccer Fundraising Ideas

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.

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Selecting The Right Fundraiser

Selecting The Right Fundraiser

Selecting The Right Fundraiser

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.

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Top 7 Youth Fundraising ideas

Top 7 Youth Fundraising ideas

Top 7 Youth Fundraising ideas

The most important rule in planning a youth fundraiser is to make sure that everybody has fun! These ideas will work well for a youth group, a church young people's group, non-profit group or a youth sports (e.g. football, baseball) group. Here are seven ideas to get your fundraising started:- Sales -if you type in “youth fundraiser” on any search engine you'll find offers to sell cookie dough, pizza cards, scratch cards, candles, sports goods and plenty more. Depending on the age of the children and the type of group, the locality, consider which of these are likely to be well received in your area. Using existing contacts with family, neighbours and friends alone can be quite profitable. Car wash - this can be a profitable way to raise funds. It will need good planning. A great free guide to organising a successful car wash event is available from www.carwashguys.com , called “How to run a successful car wash fundraiser” and is written by Lance Winslow. Fundraising auction - clear out the garage, spring clean the house, ask for donations - and then auction!. Publicise your auction well in advance around the neighbourhood, invite friends and family, have a printed list of auction items and get someone you trust to run the actual auction itself for you. Sponsored event - such as a walk, sleepover, or 24 hour sports event - your young people will have their own ideas as to what they'd like to do! Photos - arrange for a photographer to come for a day or evening. Book a time slot for families, children, publicise the event. Arrange a good level of commission on all photographs purchased and ensure plenty of flyers are available to distribute. Website advertising - does your group have a website? Could you set up a free blog to keep people informed? If so, consider selling advertising space to local suppliers who may be interested - e.g. the local sports shop. Dance/Disco/Live Music/Barbeque/Casino event - any event that will work for your locality. Obviously, some church youth groups might find a casino night inappropriate. However, most of these are suitable for young people to help to arrange and to attend. For other ideas to raise money, get your group together and do a little brainstorming. Everyone will have ideas that they can contribute and this will help to get them involve in the fundraising effort. Remember to follow some simple rules:-

• Never go out fundraising alone, but always in groups of at least two.
• Have some printed information about your project and how much you are planning to raise.
• Involve as many friends and family members as you can - they will want to support what you are involved with.
• Have fun!

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Tips for Organizing Your Fundraiser

Tips for Organizing Your Fundraiser

Tips for Organizing Your Fundraiser

1- Have a written project plan

Run your fundraiser like a small business. Have a written project plan that spells out all roles and responsibilities.

Slot motivated individuals into those roles and equip them with everything they need to do a great job.

2- Use your website

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

3- Review previous records

See what's been successful before. Look for ways to improve upon the past. 

What items sold best? Get more of them. 

Has your gift-wrap sale lost its luster with declining revenues?

Jazz it up with newer offerings.

4- Set a specific timeline

Make sure that your start date and end date are both firm.

The best selling period is 17 days, including 3 weekends.

Any longer and the drive runs out of gas; any shorter and you limit your prospects. 

Avoid any scheduling conflicts.

Plan ahead to avoid overlapping other important community events, holidays, etc.

5- Actively recruit volunteers 

Get more and better volunteers by going after them. Don't wait for them to come to you. 

Use a calling tree to root out prospects. 

Ask for dads, older siblings, and grandparents to get involved. 

Advertise for specific help via newsletters and word of mouth.

6- Identify needs and define roles

Do it ahead of time and match your group's needs to each volunteer's skills and availability by including it in each position's description.

7- Use different people

Double up, particularly for key positions. 

Fill organizational  roles well ahead of time with different people than on the last fundraiser, unless there is a good reason not to switch. 

8- Start early to broaden participation

Put the word out early and often about what volunteers you need. 

Get plenty of them so no one feels overworked. 

Offer a volunteer sign-up sheet for different events at every meeting.

9- Have a master sergeant

Use a strong communicator to help group and assign volunteers.

Some people are a natural for this key role.

10- Set small group goals

Break overall goal down into what's needed from each sub-group.

Set up each unit with their own goal and translate that into what's in it for them. 

Reward each sub-group based on their own success.  That will reinforce the correlation between funds raised and their own efforts.

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Seeking Grant Proposals for your Fundraiser

Seeking Grant Proposals for your Fundraiser

Seeking Grant Proposals for your Fundraiser

An essential part of fundraising is writing grant proposals and grant applications.  An effectively written grant application can result in large sums of money for your fundraising group.  Grant applications can be a long and tiresome journey, but in the end it will be worth it for your group!  In the following article, we are going to help you understand grants and what they entail.

Grant Applications Broken Down

Most grant applications will include some or more of the following components:

Letters of Reference – letters from those who can testify to your experience and good character.

Formal Proposal – a detailed explanation of what the grant money will be used for.

A Business Plan – detailing the finer points of your financial needs.

A List of Resources – detail the resources you have, and the resources you need.

Complete list of Group Members - including both workers and volunteers.

Goals and Plans – detail the short and long term goals of your group.

The grant application will list all the material and documents needed for submission.  It is vitally important that you follow all the directions exactly as they are stated when filling out the grant application.  One mistake could make the difference between getting the grant and getting turned down.  Many grant providers reject applications that didn’t take the time to follow the directions when submitting their application.  Prior to submitting your grant application have someone in the group proof read it and make sure that all the information is correct and in order.  After staring at the same document for days on end, it becomes difficult to notice any mistakes. 

Your grant application should stress the importance of your cause and the necessity of the grant.  How many people are you expecting to be able to help?  How will this project benefit them?  The more compelling your application is, the more likely you are to receive the grant money.  Most importantly, grant providers want to make sure the money is going to be used wisely and appropriately.  To help your cause, make sure you describe your goals and focus in clear detail.

Lastly, take time and fill out your application with precision.  Don’t rush through it, or you are bound to make some mistakes.  Give yourself enough time to provide all of the financial documents that are requested, and be sure to have someone proofread it prior to submitting!  A well-written application will stand out above the rest!

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Youth Sports Fundraising Ideas

Youth Sports Fundraising Ideas

Looking for some tips on improving your youth sports fundraising? Every youth sports league must fundraise to cover expenses and keep fees low. So, how do you raise more funds? Focus on these seven factors and you can easily double your results.

Product Selection

In youth sports fundraising, it's so important to select the right products to sell. The right selection is one that has mass appeal, an above average price point, and good profit margins.

Don't sell what's always been sold every year. Consider choosing items that meet the criteria below.

Product Price Point

Your product offering should be at an attractive price point. This means it should be neither high nor low, but rather right in the comfort zone that encourages people to open their wallets.

If you're selling a low-priced product, you are at a disadvantage because you aren't maximizing your revenue from each prospect. In this situation, try bundling a small quantity together and ask for more dollars. 

For example, if candy bars are being sold for $1 each, put together variety three-packs or a family ten-pack. Get your prospect thinking bigger numbers. Many of them will step up to the bundle.

Product Profitability

It's important that your fundraising product has a high profit margin. Ideally, you'd like to make 80% or more if you can. This would be products like discount cards for two-for-one deals at fast food places.

Many standard items have a profit margin of 50% and that's OK. It just means that you'll have to pump up the volume to make the same net that you would with higher profit items.

If the product chosen is one with a lower profit range of say 40%, then it needs to either be a higher-priced item or it needs to be likely to inspire quantity orders from each prospect. For example, cookie dough is often in this range, but price points are $10 & up. Many families will buy two or three units.

Sales Script

Don't send your sellers out unprepared. Part of youth sports is teaching and helping kids with their sales skills goes a long way toward building self confidence.

Here's what to tell them:

1 - Make eye contact, smile and introduce yourself.

2 - Say one sentence about why you are raising funds.

3 - Say second sentence that asks for their help.

4 - Make sure that sentence includes the word "because".

5 - Extend sample item, catalog, or order sheet.

6 - Suggest a personal favorite item or bundle.

7 - Always ask for the order.

Prospect, Prospect, Prospect

Now that your kids know what to say, they have to have prospects for their sales pitch. You can't set sales records without having a large supply of prospective customers.

Have everyone make a list of their potential customers. Have them do it as a team exercise and make sure they write them down. It's very important to do this and to have each seller commit publicly to doing their part.

Have each seller stand up in front of their teammates and state how many prospects they have. Then have them make a commitment to raising a certain financial amount. Set minimum amounts and encourage competition by offering prizes for various achievement levels.

Location, Location, Location

Another way to boost your youth sports fundraising is by going where the prospects are. Your group can reach incredible numbers of people just by setting up fundraiser sales tables at entrances to high-traffic retail locations.

Grocery stores, home improvement stores, and mass merchandisers are all places where hundreds of prospects are available. Get permission well in advance from the store manager.

Set up a small table to display your fundraising product items. Staff your spot with two adults and two kids for each 90-minute shift.

Decorate the area with league banners and large-lettered signs explaining your offer. Your signs must inform them well in advance of reaching your display and sales table. That way, those interested in helping your sports team will be primed to stop and will be more receptive to hearing each youth's sales pitch.

Example: 

"New Uniform Fundraiser"

"Tasty 3 lb. Cookie Dough - $10"

Imagine how many potential prospects there are at those locations who are completely outside your normal range of contacts. Now, go out there and sell them something!

Have Fun

Always make raising funds fun for the kids. Their emotions are subconsciously communicated to each potential prospect. 

If they are smiling while cheerfully communicating your team's need and asking for help, then chances are good they'll get a favorable response.

If they're looking down and mumbling some garbled sales spiel, then chances are more people will pass on the offer. The way to get them involved is to have some competition going, have some fun activities built around the process, and have some rewards waiting for success.

For example, post a list at each team practice of the top sellers. Everybody loves to be recognized! 

Do a fun activity just for those who help out by working the retail location sales table. Take the participants bowling or to a batting cage or a golf driving range. It'll bond fathers and sons and encourage increased participation.

Have a rewards party after the fundraiser wraps up. A simple pizza party or group picnic is sufficient. Just make sure that everyone gets recognized for pitching in. 

Allow the kids time to run around and enjoy themselves. After all, isn't youth sports all about having fun? 

Follow these seven tips and your team's fundraising effort will be a big success.

Keywords:

fundraising,fundraiser,fundraisers,youth sports fundraising,youth sports fundraiser,non-profit fundraising,school fundraising,PTA fundraisers

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Candle FundRaisers Are Highly Profitable For Your Organization

Candle FundRaisers Are Highly Profitable For Your Organization

Fund raisers are a great way to raise money for your school, sports team or other type organization. What’s also nice about them is that they are a very sociable way to earn money for a good cause because you’re out there meeting the community. For younger participants, fundraisers can even be an early lesson in sales and marketing. 

A very high-profit fundraising item right now is candles which are fun and very easy to sell because of their popularity. Candles are a much better choice than food or over-priced novelty items that tend to generate lower profits. They are a rapidly growing option that is more appealing to the public because they are a non-junk food alternative to fund raisers. 

Candle fund raisers can also be very lucrative because they come in so many different varieties of size, color and scents creating a great earning potential. For school fundraiser such as band or sports teams, you can purchase and resell candles in your school’s colors. For any type of organization, especially religious congregations, think about holiday themed candles for those times of the year. 

If your group has decided to embark on a candle fund raiser, a plan of action is a very important step for reaching your fund raising goal. You should start by determining the amount of money you want to raise. Next, figure out how many people in your organization are willing to take part in the campaign and then set your deadlines by deciding on when your group is planning to start and stop the fundraiser. 

Research the candle manufactures that get involved with fundraisers and supply these types of items for that purpose. You’ll want to start comparison shopping so that you can ensure the most profit. Once you’ve got your partnership in place, the next step would be to determine the ‘new’ sale price of each candle and the number of candles each participant in the fund raiser will need to sell in order to achieve your goal. 

Be sure to let everyone involved know what the expectations are and encourage them to use their best selling skills. Also, if you’re using brochures to sell the candles, you’ll want to supply your sellers with everything they’ll need to make meeting your fund raising objective as organized and easy as possible. Give them plenty of order forms and make them aware of shipping and delivery time periods so that they can let their customers know when to expect their items. 

By following a few guidelines and setting a fair, but profitable pricing structure, your organization should be well on its way to reaching its fund raising target! Good Luck!

Keywords:

candle fund raiser,fundraising,non-profit,raising money

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Being Creative With Your Fundraising Ideas

Being Creative With Your Fundraising Ideas

Being Creative With Your Fundraising Ideas

Have you realized just how much fundraising is going on these days? There is fundraising for little league, school fundraisers, and the college fundraiser, as well as  church fundraisers. Day cares need more funds, hospitals need new equipment, and cheerleaders need to fundraise for their costumes. And to think up new fundraising ideas that will be successful is becoming more challenging every day.

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An Action Plan For Raising Instant Cash

An Action Plan For Raising Instant Cash

An Action Plan For Raising Instant Cash

Have you every been in the frustrating situation where you need to buy something for your business and don’t have the money?

Maybe one of the following techniques will be the answer you’re looking for.

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About Non Profit Fundraising

About Non Profit Fundraising

Did you know that 85% of Non Profit Fundraising every year is acquired from direct individual donations?

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