How to Sell Things For a Fundraiser – Important Tips

(Newswire.net — August 9, 2019) — Do you belong to a local PTO and want to know how to sell things for a fundraiser in an efficient way? Look no further! As one of the most efficient fundraising ideas for every non-profit, sales have helped many independent bodies stay afloat, as long as you know how to do them correctly. 

Basically, the answer is simple: you just need to have fun things to sell for fundraisers and design a good marketing strategy. If you’re not sure how to design one, then keep reading. You’ll make any sales fundraiser a success by following these unique fundraising ideas for your group!

How to Sell Things For a Fundraiser

What to Do Before the Sale

1. Discover what other fundraising projects exist in your zone. Working with other schools and groups could help you spread your catalog and create alliances.

2. Organize a small committee meeting to check the project’s key dates and activities.

3. Choose your payment method. You can choose one of the three following options:

1. Prepayment. The customer will pay the student, who will pay the PTO in turn, before the merchandise is ordered.

2. Pay-on-pickup. The customer will pay the student, who will only hand you the cash when he picks up the money.

3. Post-pay. The customer pays the student when he receives the order, and then the student will hand you the money.

Choose wisely. Total sales are higher when the payment is deferred, but the collection can drag on for weeks; you also take the risk of not receiving any payment at all. Take into consideration how reliable your school’s parents are, how practical would it be for the students to carry the packages to their homes, how much money do you actually need… Well, weigh your options before choosing.

4. Schedule enough selling time. We recommend you to arrange your sale to span around 2 or 3 weekends, starting on a Thursday or Friday and ending on Monday or Tuesday. Raise awareness with audio announcements, fliers, newsletters, your school’s website, etcetera.

5. The teacher’s workload must be low. Send letters to the teachers so they can understand your project. Basically, they can also assist you, but they won’t solve any delivery issues. That’s why you should distribute the correct number of packets for each class so the orders can be done there. Teachers will be just passive supporters.

What to Do During the Sale

1. Start with a kickoff assembly. You’ll know you set your project on the right path if the students get excited during the assembly, as it’ll be more likely for parents to participate too. You can achieve this by setting up goals and rewards by the end of the project (how about the principal agreeing to kiss a pig?), as it will build excitement during the sale and raise the students’ interest. Another option is to simply introduce your fundraiser to each classroom personally to save you some time.

2. Ask your fundraising company if you can give the parents some samples of your products, be it through exhibitions, activities and any other kind of sponsorship.

3. Create catalogs with detailed cover letters in the front. They will explain the purpose of your fundraiser, the money goal, important dates, payment instructions, key contacts, incentives and similar stuff, and therefore raise interest.

4. Sometimes parents don’t want to purchase anything, but they do want to support you, so get sure to include a cash donation option in your letter.

5. Place a collection box in every room possible. There must be a box or envelope in each elementary school classroom and office (a big one in the main office, in the case of middle schools). Don’t place one in the lobby: the lack of supervision will attract trouble.

6. Remind students to return their orders through school announcements.

7. If you chose prepayment as your payment option, gather some volunteers to compare the order forms and prepare some apology letters, if any problem surfaces.

Pickups Planning

1. Keep parents informed about the time and date where they can pick up their orders.

2. Don’t keep unclaimed orders. Recommend the parents to get somebody else to pick up their orders (such as a neighbor) if they can’t do it themselves.

3. If you chose prepay or post-delivery payment, get some volunteers to help with bigger orders. Send notifications with the students and place the largest items in a central location. As we said, don’t expect the teachers to handle this responsibility.

4. Find an easy pickup location. Set up signs around school to direct parents and volunteers to help you with the merchandise distribution.

Money Management

1. Advice sellers to write the name of the student on each collected check. If you bump into a problem, at least you can check back to said student to find out what happened.

2. Get assistants to handle the money with. You’ll need them!

3. Collect the money as soon as you can.

4. Review each collected order. If you find any discrepancy, add it to a mistake log you can focus on later. This log will help you resolve payment problems, track issues and contact parents, if needed.

5. Approve the checks as you open the envelopes. This will save you time.

6. Organize the cash by denomination, coins, etc.

7. Rush to the bank! Deposit the money in separate sums right away (or lock it up safely until then), but not in a sitting.

8. Keep the bounced checks… If the bank tells you that a check had insufficient funds, contact the check writer and solve this issue together. Don’t throw it away yet; it could be accepted again, and it’s also your “claim check”.

9. …But only allow one bounce. If you can’t solve the bounce check issue with the writer, then refrain yourself from shipping the merchandise to the seller and simply send a letter explaining the situation. Try to solve the problem together before doing anything else.

10. Verify the amount with your fundraising committee chairman before you record the payment and send the check.

What to Do After the Sale

1. Prepare a wrap-up assembly and announce all the goals met. And if this means that the principal must kiss a piggy, then it’s time to do it!

2. Thank your key players via letters, bulletins, personal letters, etc.

3. Remind everybody the purpose of the fundraising to officially wrap everything up.

4. If you’ll do another fundraising project again later, keep a file of your sample fliers, announcements, videos of the kickoff and wrap up assemblies, etcetera, to know what to do and what not to do next time.

Still have some questions? Let’s check them out then.

What are the most profitable fundraisers?

We recommend big outdoor events, such as car washes, auctions, raffles, bake or yard sales, which tend to be a hit. If you want to keep it simpler and cheaper, though, special events, such as Jeans or Casual Dress Day, or simply handling fundraising cards, also work.

Why is fundraising important?

People tend to see mostly the monetary aspect of fundraising, but not the message and goals it also promotes. Fundraising is the only way many nonprofits can keep standing and stay global, and with it, the message it wants to spread. If you can ever help in a fundraising project, we recommend you to go for it. Not only you’ll help people doing the change, but also be part of the change!

With that said, if you opt for direct sales among other fundraising ideas, we recommend you to find fun things to sell for fundraisers in order for the fundraiser to be a hit! Our article gave you management tips, but truth be told, your project will only succeed if you find an attractive item that will make your customers drool for. Find some interesting merchandise and design unique fundraising ideas, such as activities and special events, to sponsor them and attract a larger crowd. You can actually answer this question – “how to sell things for a fundraiser?” – with just two words: be unique!