Selecting The Right Fundraiser
797
Finance > Fundraising
Mar 1, 2007
hitsusa
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. Greg Reynolds writes about fundraising for school fundraisers, church capital campaigns, and youth sports teams. Signup for the free monthly newsletter at www.fundraiserhelp.com and get free samples from top suppliers.
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. Greg Reynolds writes about fundraising for school fundraisers, church capital campaigns, and youth sports teams. Signup for the free monthly newsletter at www.fundraiserhelp.com and get free samples from top suppliers.
Write a Review
Add to My Favorite
Refer it to Friend
Report Article
Other links owned by this user
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
Category:
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
Category:
Other links at Finance > Fundraising
School budgets are short. Cities even need help. On top of that, there are all sorts of organizations that are looking to make so extra money to help fund them. Fundraising is the perfect thing to do just that. If you are looking for so remarkable
Category:
Perhps nothing mtches the enthusism nd zel of elementry school children. This crries over to elementry school fundrising events where young students strive to complete every ssigned fundrising chore with determintion nd dediction. Techers
Category:
Copyright 2006 William Hamilton Benevolence, good will and philanthropy are honorable principles to adhere to and run by, but when bills start amassing, a nonprofit or charitable organization will not be excused from payment despite its
Category:
Fundraisers have changed somewhat from when I was a kid. We sold one thing and one thing only, y. Candy for the school basketball team, y for the local baseball league and yes, y for the football team too. Don?t get me wrong, it was good
Category:
Hopefully, you've already read Part One of these tips for organizing your school fundraiser. A smart plan can make your school fundraiser much easier. Here are some other considerations: Using a consultant Consider using a
Category:
Site Sponsor
Directory Statistics
Articles: 68222
Categories: 501
Yahoo Entertainment
