| by Howard Gottlieb, President, Easy
Fundraising Ideas
Discount Card Fundraising: Offering Product Value
Part Two
One of the problems with the product fundraising industry
overall is how to satisfy the many hands grabbing at the
profit pie while still offering some type of value to the
end-use customer.
It is a problem that desperately needs a solution. And there
is one - it's just not the one most groups find. A typical
fundraising group selling products risks becoming too comfortable
with the same programs. When the results do not live up to
expectations, the natural tendency is to increase the number
of sales. This is the worst possible scenario.
The fact of the matter is that people will support a good
fundraiser but will withhold some level of support when they
think that that same student who sold them cookie dough today
will be knocking on their door in a couple of weeks wanting
to sell candles. Worse yet are the groups that actually sell
candles three or four times a year and wonder why their profits
have disappeared.
I run a product fundraising company, so, obviously, I am
not trying to discourage anyone from selling products. Rather,
what I am advocating is taking time to consider the best
fundraising products to sell and the best time at which to
sell them. It doesn't take much planning to fix a lot of
the diminishing returns in fundraising.
Your first and foremost concern is choosing a product that
will sell well and offer some kind of actual value to the
person willing to lay out the money. The two most common
complaints are that there are too many fundraisers and that
the products offered are junk being sold at high prices.
Someone might give you $10 once for something he can buy
for $.50 in the import store, but the odds are he won't do
so twice. In fact, you will probably see him hiding behind
the curtains if you come knocking with another fundraising
catalog in your hand.
The first thing you need to do is choose your fundraising
product. Ask yourself if you would pay the asking price for
your product and feel good about it. If the answer is no
or maybe, keep looking. You see, you should be typical of
the customer to whom you'll sell. If you think you are not
getting real value, neither will your neighbor or coworker.
We will explore some top-notch fundraising products that
both offer good value and extraordinary quality and are easily
sold.
In this mini-series, I would like to talk you through the
possibility of selling discount
fundraising cards . Discount fundraising cards actually
offer the best value in fundraising. There are many different
options available, but universally, the profit margins are
higher for these than for any other fundraising product.
The most successful discount card fundraisers are those
that are customized for your group with the help of local
merchants. A good discount card will contain 10 or more deals
or offers to people presenting the card to specific local
merchants. The best deals are buy-one-get-one-free deals.
Everyone loves to get free food or merchandise. Typically,
pizza establishments and sandwich shops are likely to provide
these types of offers.
You can let your imagination run away with you when you
start thinking about all the local stores and service organizations
that would like to promote themselves by advertising special
deals to supporters of your group.
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