This is the time of year to host a used clothing fundraising drive!

This is the time of year to host a used clothing fundraising drive!

The perfect change of seasons from Winter to Spring with a few summer days thrown in there just to remind us that we need to do some spring cleaning!

By and large, everyone will be rummaging through closets, tubs, boxes or basements looking to replace long sleeves, jackets, sweaters and mittens with shorts, skirts and swimwear!

Get out the inflatable pool!

__________________

So, we've established that the time is right.  What else is there?

First off, you have to make an important event.  There is no value in playing.  You have to organize an impactful event!

The markers of your success include being able to generate enough donations in time to inspect the clothing and make sure it's hung and marked clearly. 

Additionally, you'll want to price things right so you are not too cheap to make no money, but are not so expensive that people limit their buying.  It's best to have no clothing leftover after the sale!

Organizing the sale by categories will allow people to best find what they are interested in.  Look to clothing stores as examples of how they sell.  Mixing boys and girls shirts on a rack for instance, is a proven don't.  Every store you go into doesn't do that so do you think you'd have a different outcome if you did?

Lastly, you need to get the word out so you have traffic!  Everyone that passes through the doors is a potential customer.  Realistically, if someone comes to the sale, they will be expecting to purchase.  If they don't, something happened to turn them off or they are just not in the market for the goods sold.  The moral of the story is, get more people to the event and you WILL have higher sales.

If you have time and the ability to do so, you can involve the entire community in your sale.  Many of the most successful used clothing fundraising drives involve getting donations not only from the parents of children at the schools, but also donations from the community at large!  Then, invite the community to purchase goods as well! 

There are very likely only a few hundred kids in your school, but there are thousands upon thousands in your community!

If you are hosting a used clothing sale and are looking for helpful hints, I hope you've found them but just know, there is a lot of information online about used clothing pricing strategies and even instructions on how to host a used clothing drive. 

I hope you have a great sale!

Ok, until next time!

__________________

Leave comments below or keep the
conversation going at twitter.com/believekids


elementary school fundraiser