Selecting The Right Fundraiser
Selecting the right fundraiser is the most important decision you’ll make. Among
the key factors are the timing of each fundraiser, 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. There are event-based
fundraisers, direct donation fundraisers, fundraisers with immediate product
delivery and fundraisers with delayed product delivery. The first decision you
have to make is on the fundraiser category, the fundraising supplier, and then
the actual fundraiser itself.
Decision factors
How do you make that decision? A professional fundraising consultant can often
help. You can also check the web, use personal contacts, review your group’s
past records, etc. Most importantly, I’ve included two forms with this book to
help you gather the information you need to make the right decision.
The first form is a simple survey that you can give to past organizers and other
key influencers such as local merchants and organizational leaders. It offers
clear choices to ease evaluation of replies. Print it out and get quality
feedback from your within and without your organization.
The second form is a spreadsheet for evaluating and ranking fundraisers. It
breaks the ranking criteria into categories with sub headings in text boxes
across the spreadsheet. Numerical rankings are assigned to what criteria are
most important to your group at this particular time for this fundraiser.
Things to consider when evaluating offerings:
- Quality of the merchandise items offered
- Quality of support materials provided such as catalogs
- References of supplier
- Availability of free sample kit
- Service level of supplier such as pre-sorting goods, etc.
- Hidden costs such as freight, paying for brochures, etc.
- Hassle factors like replacement goods and refunds policies
- Special delivery needs such as refrigeration for some foodstuffs
- Specific needs of organization
- Past 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 usually 80% to 90% the same year after year. Spice it
up; try something new and different.
Click Here for Selecting the Right Fundraiser - Part 2
Related Pages
Getting Started: Part 1 - The who, what,
when, where, why, and how of a successful fundraiser.
Free Fundraisers - Three time-tested
fundraising ideas for raising fast cash for groups of any size.
Donor Recognition - How to use donor
recognition to increase your capital campaign results.
Food Fundraisers - How to quickly boost your
profits when fundraising with food items.
Successful Fundraisers - Boost results
with organization, quality incentives, and sales preparation.
Organize School Fundraiser - Quick
tips on organizing your school efforts by planning ahead.
Tried and True - These
old standbys always produce good results for any-size group.
Sample Letter - Sample school event donation
letter where you can insert your specific information.
|
