Church children running through a field                                        fundraising discount cards        
    

Archive for April, 2010

School discount cards are a great way for any school group or organization to easily raise the funds they need. Every year, dozens of school groups need to raise money for new equipment, trips, uniforms and many other reasons. The football team may need new equipment, or band members may want to plan a summer trip. No matter what the need, school discount cards are one of the easiest ways to raise money, and they offer an incredible profit margin.

When you begin to plan a fundraiser, there are many things to consider. What product will sell easily, but offer a good profit margin at the same time? You want to make things as simple as possible for everyone concerned, including those who will be selling the actual product. Some items are cumbersome or heavy, making it more difficult for those responsible for the selling. School discount cards are an item that sell easily, and are perfect for the students as they can simply carry them in a pocket or purse, and have them ready upon receipt of the money.

What you want to avoid is choosing products that force you to sell an enormous number in order to reach your monetary goal. Your desire is to choose a product that offers value to the customer, as well as good profit margins for your group. This way, you can raise the funds you need by selling far fewer products! School discount cards offer savings and specials on services and products at your local merchants – things that most people in your area use on a regular basis. Everyone loves a good deal, and knowing that in supporting your cause, they are also supporting the local community merchants.

Another benefit of school discount cards is that fact that the more you buy, the higher your profit margin is. For example, say you have 500 students that will be selling in your fundraiser, and that the average sales per student will be 2 cards. That means that you order 1000 cards, and your profit margin is 100%! There aren’t many items you can choose for a fundraiser that are so easy to sell, and offer incredible profits for you as well.

School discount cards offer savings on dining, auto services, activities and other goods and services in your area, which means they help your local merchants by drawing in new business. There is no other item available for fundraising that benefits your cause, your customers, and local merchants all at the same time. When you choose school discount cards for your fundraising needs, you are in effect supporting everyone in the area! Customers are always happy to spend $10 and get so much in return; they also realize that they are helping support your school and all of the merchants in the area.

Sure, you can sell candy bars, cookie dough, beef jerky and other perishable items that you have to lug around – and the profit margins aren’t so great. Or, you can opt for catalog sales in which those involved will be responsible for taking orders, then going back to the customers a second time to deliver the goods. Why make things more confusing and less profitable, when it can all be so easy? For your next fundraiser, choose the method that is super easy, highly profitable and the least work for everyone – school discount cards! Avoid all of the unnecessary hassles, and do something that is fun for all who participate.

Mark South
Easy Fundraising Cards

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