Fruit Fundraiser

Selling Fresh Fruit To Raise Funds

Another great way to raise funds is a fruit fundraiser. This works well as a fall fundraising activity because the holidays are coming up and fresh fruit is a real family treat. Plus, moms love it because a holiday fruit bowl makes an attractive centerpiece!

Getting started
Your first decision is what type of fruit to sell. One big seller is citrus fruit. You can sell fresh oranges, oversized juice oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, tangelos, and other winter favorites. Or you can offer fresh apples in a wide variety of flavors.

Once you've made your selection, find a fundraising company that offers good prices and most importantly, high-quality sales brochures. Your customers are going to be ordering based on the pictures, the prices, and the sales pitch, so it's important to select a good supplier.

Sales pitch
For your sales pitch, you want your sellers to emphasize three things - your group, your cause, and asking for their help. It's not enough to just show up at someone's door with a brochure, say your church or school is selling fruit, and hope somebody buys something.

There's an art to a direct sales pitch when it's used for fundraisers. Here are some key tips:

1 - Look people in the eye as you smile and introduce yourself while extending your brochure.

2 - Clearly state the name of your group and name a specific reason why you are raising funds.

3 - Ask for their help and use the word "because" as part of the request. The word "because" is a proven subconscious psychological trigger word and using it will greatly boost your sales.

Example: "Can you help us out because we really need those new uniforms?"

Fundraising tips
You can easily offer more than one type of fruit and even include foods that compliment them. Consider offering fresh pecans or other nuts. Certain types of candy or seasonal items also go well with fresh fruit.

You can also combine offerings from different suppliers in the same fundraiser. For instance, you can offer holiday poinsettias along with citrus products. Or, Christmas wreaths and trimmings also go well with November order-taker fundraisers for holiday delivery.

Calendars are another year-end top seller that you could include. Offering other choices creates additional revenue from incremental sales by offering another choice to those who don't like fruit, those want to help even more, or those who are willing to help, but don't want to spend that much.

If you have a small group, consider partnering with another group to reach minimum order requirements for best pricing. For example, a school club could partner with a church youth group and both could benefit from better pricing without overlapping sales too much or saturating the market.

Summary
A fresh fruit fundraiser can raise a lot of funds with the right sales approach. Work with a good supplier and make sure your sellers know exactly what to say to maximize sales.

To further boost sales, combine complimentary items with your fruit offering such as Christmas wreaths, poinsettias, or calendars. Usually, sales volumes are quite large because you're selling fruit by the box, case, or bushel. As a result, individual sellers will exceed several hundred dollars in gross revenue, making this a great way to raise funds.

Collect payment with the order and provide free home delivery within a scheduled timeframe. Then sit back and plan next year's annual fresh fruit fundraiser!

Related Pages

Fundraising Product Ideas - How to select the right fundraising product for your group - Top ten products for school or youth group sales.

Fundraising Products - Ideas for fundraising products that always sell well - Picking the right product for your fundraiser is critical to your success.