Fundraising

Give your Fundraising effort some First Aid!

Programs vary not only is the products offered, but also how they are sold. Products and programs can be ordered thorugh sales people who represnt national or regional companies, local fund raising companies who market exclusinvely in a particular region, or from fund raiser catalogs. These programs vary not only in products offered, but also in how they are shipped, sold, delivered and distributed. Generally is it the fund raising coordinator's experience that determines from whom the products will be purchased.

There are two primary types of programs - order takers and direct sales.

Generally, order taker programs involve the following: consumers select a product form a brochure; students or volunteers log in the order on the formatted form; all orders are returned by a specified date and returned to the company; the company fills the orders and ships the products to the school; product is distributed to the student/family who then distribute it to the consumer. Funds are collected at the time of sale or delivery. There are companies that require the selling organization to perform all the tallying work, collections, sort merchandise upon delivery. Other companies have all this and more computerized and product delivery is pre-sorted and custom packed.

        No guesswork on how much product to order;

        Brochures allow organization to offer a wide variety of product;

        Convenient format for parents and students to assit with the selling;

        A good format for selling more expensive items

        Collection of money for contracted orders - this is probably the most cumbersome of the fund raising task. Recovery of Insufficient Funds from bad checks written         for the product (the customer already has the product--the PTA is stuck with a bad check and trying to collect on it).

        Leftover product for consumer who may have changed mind. (How many of us have had BOXES, and BOXES of cheese, sausage, or donuts in our freezers!!)

Programs generally involve the following: organization purchase an inventory of products; products are distributed to sellers who in turn sell the product directly to teh consumer; funds are collected at point-of-sale.

        Requires only one contact with individual consumers;

        The length of the program can be shorter (an important point if funds are needed quickly);

        Consumers can actually see the packaged product before making a decision.

        (Generally chocolate bars are the product of choice here) 

        Over ordering of product

        Distribution of cases of product to sellers

        Available space for storage of product

        Weather conditions (chocolate bars in REALLY hot spring weather is a bummer!!)

Perhaps the most basic question to answer is, "What are we going to sell?" There are thousands of products available. These can range from items such as candy, cookies and other edibles to wrapping paper, ornaments, jewelry and a wide range of gifts and novelties.

The first and most important step when narrowing down the product choices is to insist on high quality merchandise. Consumers will pay the extra cost for a product to help support a worthy cause; however, they do not want to pay for inferior or over priced products. Most fund raisers are annual or semi-annual events and success depends on repeated sales. If your PTA is associated with high-quality items, people will continue to support year after year.

Fund raising coordinators must assure that the organiation's profit will be sufficient to meet the financial goal set for the fund raiser. Be careful not to select a program based merely on the percentage profit offered. A higher percentage does not guarantee higher profits.

When settling on the price for the product(s) consider the income level of the community where the majority of the seeling will occur. Compare prices of similar products based on a cost per net weight basis, as opposed to total weight or total number of pieces. Is the retail price of the product representative of fair market price?

Choosing the best program for your organization depends on many factors. The age and number of your volunteers and their experience in fundraising must be considered in conjunction with your financial goals. Importantly, choose a program volunteers will be comfortable with because, contrary to popular belief, products do not sell....people do!!

When considering financial goals and product pricing, a common mistake by fund raising coordinators is to compare only, or place too much importance on, the % of sales which will be kept by the PTA. For example, one company might offer 45% of sales, compared to another offering only 35%. However, the 45% company may not provide important services like consulting, kickoffs, incentives, timely delivery, custom packing, which the other company provides, or its product may not be top quality or the most saleable. It may be better to choose a program with a smaller percentage return if the added value of the overall program will help ensure success.

Also, some companies may offer a higher percentage, but will inflate the cost of the product to copensate. The result is that the consumer is faced with a higher retail price and therefore more likely not to purchase the product.

If your organization considers incentives for its volunteers and sellers be clear up front on the cost for the prizes or if the cost is built into the % going to the fundraiser company--and how will it impact the organization's profits? Also, if student incentives are used---are they fair? Is it inclusive of ALL students? (Remember, not all student's have family members who work in offices or have access to places of business to sell product. Are you eliminating some students by having 1 overall prize?)

(Note - at re: Fundraising - we do not supply prizes. From what we've seen - it's a method to get kids excited about selling inflated cost products to recieve over emphasized prizes. We believe that if we supply good products at fair porices with a good margin of profit for the school - the sale becomes an evident choice.)

A wide variety of programs, products, and services are available today from fund raising companies. Use this checklist to compare companies and make informed decisions.

A. Rate the folowing on a scale of 1 - 5

(5=excellent 1=poor)

__ Product quality

__ Variety of product/price levels

__ Product retail prices

__ Incentive program quality

__ Caliber of Company material, brochures, promotional material

__ Professionalism of company representative

__ Educational value to students'volunteers

B. Provide a numerical response to the following questions:

__ Number of years company has been in fund raising business

__ Number of years representative has been in fund raising business

__ What are the projected profits to your organization?

C. Use a checkmark if the following services are included in the cost of the program; use a + sign if they are provided but cost extra; use - if not available.

ORGANIZATION

__ Order form tallying - if product choices are significant - how much extra for tallying and printing and bagging product??

__ Individual orders separated per classroom - cost??

__ Products pre-packaged per student - cost ??

__ Computerized printout itemizing student sales cost ??

__ Freight/shipping - who pays - where is it coming from??

COMMUNICATION/PROMOTION TOOLS

__ Kick-off assembly presentation and/or video - where applicable - how much did that cost?

__ Poster, product display - samples

__ Parent letter - help with letter for parents

__ Take-home packets - how much did they cost?

D. The following questions should be answered with

Y=yes or N=no.

__ Are product samples available?

__ Does the company address sales tax requirements, verbally and in the contract?

__ Are the product(s)guaranteed?

__ Is the company representative accessible day, night, weekend?

__ Does the program include a child safety message?

__ Does the program emphsize fun?

E. On the contract: The Contract should be in the name of the PTA - not the school, not the principal, not the fundraising chair.

__ Is the responsibility for state tax apparent?

__ Is there a cancellation clause?

__ Are all signatures clear and understandable?

__ Is there a minimum and/or maximum of purchase?

__ Can it be decided that another can be held responsible and not you? (i.e., the school administrator, PTA member?)

__ What happens if the company does not perform as promised?

__ Are beginning and ending dates apparent?

__ Is there a payment time for the vendor?

__ Who is responsible for spoiled or damaged goods? For unclaimed goods?

__ Are there state, local, or federal laws that apply?

We hope you found this helpfull - please feel free to make any suggetions by contacting us via e mail or by phone - Thanks and good luck!!!

(Part of Homeland Fundraising)

Ellington, CT 06029