Fundraising Ideas - Understanding Frozen Cookie Dough Fundraisers

Here's the low down.  The last few days have been a discovery and summary of the most successful elementary school fundraisers. 

By that, I mean a school or group can feel accomplished in a few main ways.  First off, customers are happy.  Secondly, there is lots of profit and goals were met.  Lastly, the fundraiser was easy to manage.

The first exploration was into Fall Catalog Fundraisers and specifically gift & wrap catalog fundraisers. These fit all 3 categories best in my opinion.  The fundraiser is easy to run without volunteers, offers very substantial profits and customers are left happy if a reputable company with quality products is chosen.

Next, we took a look at school auction fundraisers.  These offer substantial profits and parents love it.  Unfortunately, it takes a lot of work to organize the event.  There really is no nationwide component so the fundraiser auction is aimed at parents and usually not the community at large.  Inviting community members that are not parents of the children at the school may be a good way to extend the sale a bit.

Today, I want to explore frozen cookie dough fundraisers.  What folks don't know about frozen cookie dough is that elementary schools can raise a tremendous amount of money selling a product that is in demand.  As a commodity, food is something we do acquire and consume on a regular basis.  Then, add to that the fact that a good sweet is hard to resist.  This makes selling cookie dough profitable. 

The quality of product these days is top notch. 

There are quality ingredients and the dough is not made in someones kitchen.  This is pretty big business, all things considered, so cookie dough is made in large production facilities - the same facilities that handle making the dough for retail, restaurants and food service. This means the product is safe and held to the highest standards in food preparation.  The reason to point this out is that our first rule above is now met and customers are happy to cook up some delicious cookie dough. 

The cookie dough is delivered frozen which means that distribution is a bit more challenging than a gift catalog.  The product cannot sit out for an extended amount of time.  So, the day of delivery can be stressful on the PTA, PTO or volunteers helping with distribution.  In the end, deliveries happen smoothly but I do think schools have a bit of apprehension thinking that parents will not come and pickup the frozen product in time. 

Notifying them ahead of time when the delivery is becomes very important.

The pros - very substantial profits selling something that has a high customer satisfaction.

The cons - delivery day can be a bit of a challenge for the fundraising chair as they wonder if parents will be showing up.

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Until tomorrow!

Fundraising Ideas - Understanding School Auction Fundraisers

So, yesterday I talked a bit about Fall gift and wrap fundraising catalogs.  I  believe them to be the easiest fundraisers to host that raise significant funds in a short amount of time. But there are a number of top fundraisers out there that schools succeed at regularly and with some consistency.  A type of fundraiser with a proven track record is a school auction.

An auction is a great way to raise a significant amount of money.  Classes and businesses provide the items to be auctioned off and then an event is held that includes an auction of those items.  Most of the time when it comes to elementary schools, theme baskets are put together.  For instance, a 'Chocolate Dream' basket may include a gift certificate to a candy store, some chocolate bars, a chocolate fountain and perhaps a gift certificate to a fondue restaurant that ends every meal off with a chocolate fondue.  This is just an example, however, there are many themes from hollywood to travel which makes the items being offered fun and exciting.

There are, of course, many variations on how to throw and auction from silent auction styles to live auctioneers and combinations of many other fun things that can be integrated to earn more money.  Being good at an auction is somewhat of an art but first-timers can have success as well.  I believe that a first-time event does get traction because it's new.  If the schools pulls of the auction the first year, it should be repeatable with similar returns.

The pros - on the upside, a very significant amount of money can be earned and parents will enjoy a great night out.  A successful school auction can be an annual gala offering proven success over and over again.

The cons - hosting an auction is a very big deal and requires many, many hours of work to organize.  Volunteers are needed throughout the process as well both on auction day and during the organizational process.  If baskets are paid for with cash, it is possible that the income does not exceed the value of the item.  This means that it is best to arrange donations from parents or businesses instead of paying full price for auction items.

Alrighty... So, today is school auctions and tomorrow we'll discuss cookie dough fundraisers!  Until then!

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