How Easy Fund Raising can be when you Take charge and Kick Face

[Mark South]

Easy fund raising - if you have been put in charge of raising money for your group or organization before, you may think there is no such thing. In your mind, it required a lot more planning and organizing than you thought it would. There are times when it is necessary to raise funds for a school organization, church group or other benefit and you want to accomplish your needs in the simplest way possible. Easy fund raising can be a reality, but you do have to put some thought in to all of the details before you ever get started.

To begin, you want to consider the monetary needs and the ages of the group who will actually be raising the money. Children have a one-track mind; with this age group, you want to offer a product that is available instantly upon payment, so they don't have orders, catalogs and other things to keep up with. Easy fund raising begins with choosing the most profitable product that is suitable for the age group you are working with. By keeping things simple for younger children, you save yourself a great deal of stress and hassle as well.

Also, consider the actual products you choose, how easy they are to deliver, what is required as far as shipping, and what the profit margin is. Ideally, you want a product with a great profit margin. This means you do less selling, as fewer sales equal more money - easy fund raising for all involved! Common products sold to raise money are candy bars, jerky, popcorn, cookie dough, candles and catalog products. With many of these products, the profit margin isn't that great and you have to wait for them to be shipped, at which point you must go out and deliver them. This all amounts to added work that you would probably rather avoid.

There are other ways to accomplish easy fund raising that don't involve going out and selling or delivering products. Here are a few ideas that work well for school organizations and church groups:

Sponsor a festival in your community - A festival is an easy way to raise a portion or all of the funds you need for your cause. Include activities that are cheap and easy to offer, such as face painting, a Frisbee toss, sack races, volley ball and other things. Hold your festival at a local park or other location that is convenient for those who attend, and charge $2 or $3 for admission.

Raffles - Selling raffle tickets for a nice product is a simple and effective way to raise some of the money you need. When you can get a hundred or so people to buy a $5 raffle ticket (or more than one), it doesn't take long to build up a nice sum of money.

Discount cards - This is one idea that greatly contributes to easy fund raising, because of the perceived value and ability to support the local community. Neighbors, friends and others in your area won't mind spending $10 for a card that gives them access to great discounts at many local merchants! In the long run, your customer saves more than they spent on the card and feels good knowing they contributed to the community.

In order to accomplish easy fund raising, organize everything well ahead of time. If you have been responsible for planning in the past and realize mistakes you made, learn from them so that it's easier next time. Hold a meeting with everyone who will be involved, from those who will organize to those who do the actual selling. Everyone can discuss what action to take, and offer their opinion with ideas that will make the entire process simple and enjoyable for all involved. Prepare a plan of action, and you will see that there really is such a thing as easy fund raising!

Mark South
Easy Fundraising Cards