Fund Raising Is In the Air
Your 16-Step Guide to a Successful Program This Fall
By RaeAnn Slaybaugh
Whether you’re planning a harvest festival, bake sale or something much bigger, success is in the details.
1. Name a chairperson. Choose the right person for the job based on his or her reliability, availability, organizational skills, popularity and commitment to the cause.
2. Assemble a committee. For starters, experts recommend selecting one adult per 10 children. Once you’ve gathered all participants, young and old, list their names and phone numbers. Then, designate one person to be responsible for all the funds collected.
3. Set a dollar goal. Make sure it’s devised based on your group’s monetary need, not just a figure that sounds feasible. Also get specific — how much money will each person need to raise to achieve it?
4. Decide what to sell. Ask your group not only what they would like to sell, but what they absolutely wouldn’t like to sell. Its quality should be commensurate with its price.
5. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. Look to your organization’s successful past efforts for inspiration. Most likely, there is a sense of expectation among your buyers for that product, which translates to better sales.
6. Don’t rely on profit margin alone. As many experts point out, an item with a 50-percent profit potential might sound tempting vs. one that offers a 40-percent yield. However, that 40-percent-profit item might be of better quality and, therefore, more desirable to buyers.
7. You make the call: pre-sale or direct sale? Using a direct-sale approach, many items can be shipped from the supplier in as little as one day. This is ideal if your group needs funds fast. If, on the other hand, your group has four weeks or more to collect its funds, consider passing out pre-sale brochures and following up with order-taking.
8. Factor in hidden costs. Ignoring key elements — such as shipping costs and buying prizes for sellers — can result in major profit losses. One way to avoid this is to solicit sponsors for the prizes so your church pays nothing out-of-pocket. Also, ask sellers of all ages what they’d like to receive in the way of prizes so they’re truly motivated to succeed.
9. Speaking of prizes… Offer different levels of prizes to keep everyone motivated. These might include individual completion prizes (cash, movie tickets) for everyone who sells a pre-determined minimum amount; a best-seller prize for the person who raises the most money; and draw prizes (cash, other merchandise) in which every participant who sells a pre-determined minimum amount is entered.
10. Allow adequate prep time. Not only will this leave your group time to select the perfect fundraiser, it also lets you promote it in your church’s bulletin and on the Web.
11. Make sure your church’s fundraisers don’t overlap. When different small groups conduct programs at the same time, it can create an atmosphere of competitiveness that’s unflattering to the church. Additionally, it’s more difficult to sell two items than one.
12. Set a timeframe and stick to it. Without an end in sight, your group could start to lose its motivation. Many experts suggest putting a 10- to 12-day limit on order-taking.
13. Boost the energy! Remind all volunteers of fund-raising goals and deadlines to keep the program at the forefront of their minds. Also make sure they know how to share why they’re selling the item(s) with buyers; people are more likely to purchase if they support the cause.
14. Special tips for kids.
Encourage children to sell to family members and neighbors first, and to ask their parents to take catalogs and sign-up forms to work. Teach children to be cheerful and courteous when selling — to say “thank you” whether someone buys or doesn’t. Make sure they use the buddy system, or are accompanied by an adult, when selling door-to-door, and that they never enter a stranger’s home or venture out at night to sell.15. Avoid shipping and ordering problems. This can be as simple as looking over the order forms to make sure they’re legible and complete before submitting them to the distributor. Also keep copies of all order forms. Once your products arrive, double-check them against the items received to make sure nothing is missing or damaged.
16. Say “thank you”! When the program is finished, hold a wrap-up meeting or party. At that time, award top sellers with prizes, celebrate your successes as a group, and maybe even discuss the next fundraiser.
Sources: JustFundRaising.com, PartyPantry.com, eFundRaising.com, and FundRaiser-Finder.com
