Fundraising Ideas - Understanding Fall Catalog Fundraisers

It's not always easy to understand the different fundraising options out there for you and your group and what is best for your school.

In the next few days, I'll explore the most successful fundraising efforts and give some pros and cons.  With this information, you will have a better grasp of what will be best for you and your school.

Presumably, you've already realized that the Fall fundraising season holds the most hope for your school fundraising.  The time of year in combination with less competition from other activities and events means that school fundraisers held in the Fall have a great chance of success.  The earlier in the school year, the better your chances are at having a successful fundraiser. 

So what to offer?

There are many Fall fundraising options but among the fundraisers that make the most, one stands out in my book.  Yes, my company offers this but read on and you'll see my rationale -- this isn't self-serving.

The top four in my opinion and in no particular order are... school-wide auctions, magazine sales, frozen cookie dough fundraisers and fall gift and wrap catalogs.  Out of these fundraisers, one offers items in multiple categories - The Fall Gift & Wrap Catalog.

Most elementary schools fundraise with a gift and wrap catalog because it is proven to raise top-dollar while remaining the easiest for the group to host.  The benefit to the group is offering true value and selection while peaking the interest of the community. This program is often misunderstood.  The items offered are in demand and because there are so many categories of items represented the fundraisers perform better than most other fundraising efforts.  All this, without the need for volunteers or hours of setup or upfront costs of any sort.

Fall catalog fundraisers make a very good logical Fall fundraising choice because of the proven track record of the fundraiser and the low barrier to entry for a school.  Just choose a quality fundraising company and fundraiser and follow just a few simple steps to succeed at running the fundraiser. 

A note on finding a good fundraising company.  You should be able to ask for statistical histories from each company that calls on you.  If you get the average participation rate of similar fundraisers in your area as well as the dollar average sold per participating student, you should be able to estimate what fundraiser is likely the most profitable!

Tomorrow, I'll cover the other top fundraisers and their pros and cons.  Until then, the best thing you could possibly do is to pass on information you learn to others.  If you feel this is such a resources, please tell someone about it:

www.believejay.blogspot.com

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Elementary School Funraising Ideas 

Elementary School Fundraising Blog

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Candle Fundraising Ideas - Why Offer Candles on Your Next Elementary School Fundraiser?

So, you're hosting a fundraiser and are online looking for school fundraising ideas.  You may run across a candle fundraiser or a chocolate fundraiser or even a magazine fundraiser.  But did you know that these fundraisers can be combined right into one school fundraiser?

Most large elementary schools already know that a fundraising gift catalog offers hundreds of items in various categories including gifts, jewelry, chocolates, candles and magazines but there are still a lot of folks out there that don't realize more product offerings are better than just one.  

Even candle companies put other items into their catalogs such as gift items.  The reason is simple... variety is the spice of life!

So, while candles may be popular, they are also limiting to people who don't want to purchase a candle through an elementary school fundraiser.  By offering a gift and wrap fundraising catalog, buyers have a wider range of types of products to purchase.

Hey, so the next time your looking for elementary school fundraising ideas, look for something that includes more than just one category type.  If you need proof, just compare fundraising companies based on their average per student sale and participation rates... you'll see what I mean. Sales with more than one category perform better.

You can thank me later for the suggestion :)

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Jay Moneta is the Vice President of Believe Kids Fundraising and blogs here at believejay.blogspot.com -- information on elementary school fundraising ideas can be found at believekids.com

Keep the conversation going on twitter - twitter.com/believekids or comment below.  I would appreciate any sharing you're willing to do to help me get the word out on my blog. 

Yes, we do school fundraising and yes, that's a bit of a small thing in the whole scope of things.  ANY referrals to my blog really helps me feel encouraged to get more info out there.

As usual, thanks and we'll see ya tomorrow!

Weirded out - Elementary School Fundraising Ideas for PTA PTO and Principals

Every time I think of this time of year I get a bit weirded out.

Let me explain.

In the next two months, thousands of elementary schools set out to find the fall fundraiser of their choice.  Unfortunately, every year schools choose fundraisers that fall flat.  What's more, many will fail.

They fail in terms of low revenue, significant time demands or fall flat by making the PTA PTO or Principal look bad in one way or another.  So, why does that weird me out?

I want elementary schools to make their decisions on the following considerations:

1) Ease
2) Profit
3) Happiness

Instead, I know schools will choose fundraisers over and over again that fall short in one of these basic 3.  They may shoot for ease but spend 100's of hours preparing for their fundraiser or sell an easy program that believe will make them happy but not make any profit.

So, I'm not saying that there are endless amounts of fundraisers that achieve all of these 3 basic premises but there are enough to allow every single elementary school to have a very successful fall fundraiser - one that is easy to handle, very profitable and leaves schools, PTA's, PTO's and Principals happy and looking good!

If you are involved in your school and you're getting ready to choose a fundraiser, shoot for all three of the items above not just one or two.  You can do it!

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More information on elementary school fundraising ideas is available at the BelieveKids.com website and of course, other quality companies can be found on sources online.

Elementary School Fundraising Ideas

Elementary schools all across the nation are being affected by budget cuts.  School programs are being cut, there are less teachers and less money to purchase much needed supplies and technology for learning.

Having said that, there have also been a number of changes in the fundraising industry.  The economy has taken a toll on several industries and some school fundraising companies have not been able to adapt. 

Today, parent groups such as PTA, PTO, PTSA and PTSO groups want to do their own thing.  They want exciting, new and unique school fundraisers.  The thing about new and unique is that sometimes it doesn't perform.

So, if you are a parent group such as a PTA, PTO, PTSA or PTSO and you have not chosen your fundraiser, keep the following in mind:

The numbers won't lie.

Any fundraising company you consider needs to be able to offer you a sales history so you know what to expect.  You take what you know about your past sales and determine if a fundraiser will perform for you or not.  If something seems out of place when you speak to a fundraising company you will know they just want to earn your business and not keep it.

Elementary school fundraising companies should want to offer you their REAL sales figures.  This protects the school from estimating their income too high and being disappointed and it but the fundraising company will look great when it sells in excess of what it estimated.

In the end, when you choose an elementary school fundraiser, get the numbers and compare them against what you know about your past sales.  If you are going through the trouble of fundraising, make it count! 

If you want new and unique elementary school fundraising ideas and you don't get the estimated sales figures, don't be surprised at the results!

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Thanks so much for looking.  I encourage comments (both good and bad) below :)
You can always take a look at the Believe Kids Elementary School Fundraising Ideas.  Thanks!

Top Elementary School Fundraising Ideas for Fall 2010

School fundraising has had an interesting go of it for the last few years. The economy and other factors have really created some confusion as to what works best in the fundraising world. On top of that, it's harder to get parents and the community involved. Hopefully, In just a few short paragraphs, I can shed some light on the most popular fundraising ideas for elementary schools.

If you are in the market for an elementary school fundraiser that will be school wide, you need to know that there are really no new and unique fundraising ideas that will out-perform the traditional fundraisers everyone is accustomed to for a large school-wide fundraiser.

Right now the top 3 fundraisers are:

1) Fall Gift Catalog
2) Frozen Foods (Cookie Dough)
3) Well-promoted Event (Auction, A-thon, Carnival)

Hands down, these three are the only way to raise the big bucks. There are plenty of single product fundraisers out there such as shopping bags, batteries, popcorn and chocolate bars. There are also some brand new fundraisers being tested - things like gift card sales for online shopping, voucher programs, etc. Although, it's possible to raise money with these other fundraisers, they may be suited for smaller groups.

School-wide fundraising is really a challenge so when it comes to fundraising ideas and getting unique fundraisers going - be cautious. Take into consideration the fact that the money may not be there in the end to the same extent you would have received through a gift catalog, frozen food fundraiser or a school-wide event.

What is clear today is that the more consistent and focused fundraisers are these days can determine their success. If a school gets behind a fundraiser, they can get out of it as much as the individual fundraiser will allow.

Gift catalog and frozen foods are the best performing product sales and work best for school-wide sales because of the support that comes with the programs such as incentives and prize programs. It's not a labor intensive operation so schools can run these sales pretty easily. Frozen food delivery does require help though because it's generally a lot of product being processed quickly during the pickup times.

At Believe Kids, we don't have anything to do with event fundraisers, but we think they are amazing if done well. Auctions, any A-thon such as a jog-a-thon etc. and school carnivals are tremendous. They do take a bit more volunteer effort but by hosting a good event can really galvanize a community while raising a lot of money.

We do recommend schools limit their fundraising efforts and most of the time, we suggest that schools do a fall gift catalog in the fall and a carnival in the spring. Frozen foods appear to perform very well in both fall and spring. Just be careful not not to overdo it. Fundraising fatigue is a bad thing. If parents are hit up too often they will resist more of your fundraisers expecting another to be right around the corner. Your school doesn't need this type of fundraising reputation - just stay focused on the big stuff.

All 3 of our fundraisers listed, when proper focus is put on them, can create an activity that can be repeated every year with an ability to anticipate the outcome to a certain degree. I have seen many events that have been a yearly endeavor and it becomes a 'thing'. When you have an expected activity like election day, a holiday or Black Friday for instance. They gain a certain marketing prowess. Everyone knows about the event and the result is that people get involved.

Hope that helps!

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Jay Moneta is the Vice President of Believe Kids fundraising. I encourage comments and feedback here on my blog or at twitter - twitter.com/believekids Thanks for looking!

Author note: I am very aware that I have a personal interest in promoting catalog and food sales and it may seem a bit self-serving :) Unfortunately for any skeptic, I do not have an ego about these sorts of things and I don't supply information without the ability to back it up. I feel it's important to get the information out there and have folks think about things on their own.

Alrighty, till next time!