Direct Sell vs. Brochure Fundraiser Parent Preference
Direct Sell vs. Brochure Fundraiser Parent Preference
Which of the above do you think your parents and customers would prefer?
If you chose $1 or $2 direct sale snack fundraisers your instincts are correct.
Let me tell you why your school, group, league, or organization should raise funds by selling affordable fundraising snacks.
$1 and $2 direct sales fundraiser items are simply easier for your participants to sell! Particularly successful are $1 items. Even the casual neighbor, co-worker, church member, or caring stranger at the community ballgame, local supermarket, or on the street will purchase one or more to support your cause at an astonishing 85% rate. Those profits of $.40 / $.45 / $.50 per item, depending on the quantity purchased, really start to add up fast when virtually everyone buys from you. This is even better news when you consider the average sale is for 2.5 units. It’s not uncommon to hear of a participant selling his entire box of 60 at church in 5 minutes or for mom to sell her entire box in 1 shift just by leaving the carrier on the breakroom table table with a note written on the side in sharpie. Support XYZ organization raise money for XYZ. $1 each!
Rinse and repeat this 5-10 times over the 2-3 week sale period and you will raise $150-$300 in Net Profit towards your school’s playground equipment, sports travel expenses, tournament fees, uniforms, or whatever your worthy cause is. The bottomline is the snowball of profits from a $1 Candy Bar, $1 Beef Stick, or $1 Pretzel Rods sale is easy to start, fast to transact, and will add up to quite the profit snowball in quick order. It’s easy so you can expect participation of 25-50% or more!
Juxtapose the above scenario with a pre-sell from a brochure. Whatever the item you select, you will often be asking for a minimum purchase of $10, $20, $25 or more for a customer to show their support by purchasing 1 or more items. A few of the popular pre-pay fundraising items you’ve probably had personal experience selling in this higher price point include cookie dough, pizzas, cheesecakes, magazine subscriptions, gift wrap, home décor, candles, tumblers, discount cards, bed sheets, and more.
When you asked someone for their support on a brochure fundraiser in the past, perhaps you remembered continually receiving one of the following responses :
- I left my wallet in the car
- I don’t have my checkbook on me
- I try not to eat sweets
- I already purchased some from the Primary/Cheerleaders/Baseball Team/etc.
- Now really isn’t a good time
At those prices it’s easy for a customer to find a nice way to tell you no. Whatever their specific rejection is, one thing is certain, 85% of the time they will tell you no. This process of being consistently rejected takes a particularly heavy toll on younger school age sellers. As the fundraising leader this will manifest itself in the form of many of your participants simply quitting after asking 5 people or less to look at their brochure. When they stop asking you lose money. Constant rejection is depressing. Expect participation of 10-25%
For the sellers that do persevere and meet a reasonable goal of selling 10-15 items I have more great news. 3 to 4 weeks after they’re done selling and the money and order forms are turned into the fundraising coordinator, there will be a delivery. The seller or his/her parents will be notified to come up to the school to pick up their items. If the items are perishable, they will be often told that the group doesn’t have the facilities to refrigerate their order and thy have to pickup their items tonight to keep their items from spoiling. Isn’t that sweet. Now they will make arrangements to pick it up, and often times will drive around town for the next 2 hours hand delivering those items. Others will be forced to clean out their freezer in an effort to fit these 10-15 in their residential sized side-by-side.
Does this sound convenient? By now you are probably screaming, “No, there has to be a better way!”. I have good news…there is! Do EVERYONE involved a favor as the fundraising coordinator and select a direct sale $1 or $2 item instead. $1 items eliminate all of these concerns and are universally preferred by parents and sellers because of how well they are received by customers and the community. With minimal effort your group can experience excellent results. Here are 9 different $1 and $2 items I’ve seen be the most successful :