College fundraising is a fantastic way to raise money. Whether you are fundraising for a college society/group, for charity or just to help support yourself through what can be a very financially challenging period, with thousands of students around campus to appeal to, your fundraising efforts can be very fruitful. Here is a selection of college fundraising ideas.

Fundraising discount cards

Fundraising discount cards can sell very successfully in college. With so many students spending their money on similar things, there are many companies competing for their custom. Prime examples of companies competing for the orders of students are take aways. Another example is bars and clubs.

Arrange discounts by approaching local businesses. Ask for exclusive offers in exchange for promoting their food to students. Offers may include buy one get one free deals on pizzas before a certain date or perhaps free entry to a certain club on certain nights.

These discounts can then be collated on to a discount card, which comes about the size of a credit card. These cards are produced in mass for anywhere between 1 dollar and 4 dollars and can be sold for 10 dollars, leaving a healthy margin for profit.

Bar crawls

Students love to drink. And bars love to take money from students. Approach bars and ask for discounts for a large number of students on a specific night, perhaps 50-100. Maybe arrange an initial payment in return for a free drink and entry for everyone on the bar crawl. Then sell tickets for the crawl, advertising the free drinks and entrance to the various bars. These tickets can be sold to members of a student group or course. Make sure to let them know the time and bar in which the bar crawl will start!

Fun runs

If you are raising money for a charity, a great way to get people involved and to bring in sponsorship money is through fun runs.

An example a fun run is a Santa run. Advertise around campus to get people to sign up for a Santa run for charity, in which as many students as possible gather in Santa suits to run for perhaps 3-5km. Ask for a pledge of a minimum sponsorship of $10  in exchange for a free Santa suit. Get people to sign up to a mailing list if they are interested, give them a sponsorship form (making sure that it explains on it what the charity does), and buy (cheap, under $10) Santa suits for everyone in advance.  Then, a few days before the date of the run, advise people to bring their sponsorship money to you, in exchange for their Santa suit.  Set a specific start time and course of the run (perhaps around campus).

Sport tournaments

Holding a tournament is a great way to raise money for charity. Book out a college playing field or indoor sports hall (depending on the sport) on a specific day, and advertise the sport tournament around campus. Ask for a fee for teams to get involved. Make sure people know who the money will be benefiting, or perhaps offer a prize for the winners.

T Shirts and bracelets for college groups

A good way to raise money for fraternities, sororities or college groups is to sell T-Shits or wristbands with the name or “brand” of the group on it. These can be produced in bulk cheaply, and can be sold to members of the group. Perhaps the T-shirts or bands can also be personalized with the name of the member on them.

College Fundraising is easy with Fundraising Discount Cards

Most organizations need to raise money at one time or another, and fundraising discount cards are an effective way to do it. Schools, churches, youth groups and other organizations often want to raise money for trips, new playground equipment, and other things that may be beyond their budget. Fundraising discount cards are a fun, simple way for your group or organization to raise the necessary funds for any purchase or event.

Some of the common methods used to raise money are candy and jerky sales, catalog sales and candles. While these do work, they do not provide continued value. Fundraising discount cards allow the user to save many times the price of the card. When you offer discounts and savings for as many as fifteen merchants in your area, those who buy will use the card over and over. Because of the value, selling fundraising discount cards is even easier than selling goods that are consumed. People want to perceive value in any purchase they make, especially in light of the economy.

When you decide it is time for your group to raise money, you need to provide a specific cause to potential buyers. People are much more apt to buy fundraising discount cards if they feel they are contributing to a good cause. You will want to inform prospective buyers that the money is going to be used for new band instruments, summer youth camp, or whatever your purpose is. Another reason that these cards sell so well is that buyers get instant gratification – you have the cards with you, so no waiting for a product to come in.

Why would merchants want to participate by offering discounts, free goods, or cheaper services? When hundreds or thousands of fundraising discount cards are in circulation, this drives new business to that merchant. This means new customers and increased profits. Most are happy to oblige, and you don’t even have to contact them yourself! By choosing a company that only deals in fundraising discount cards, you can rest assured they know how to communicate and negotiate with merchants, so that you have great deals to offer on the cards your organization sells.

Additionally, when you choose this route to raise the money you need, you support your local community. Those who purchase fundraising discount cards from your group will patronize local vendors, which is good for businesses in your area. As you can see, not only does your organization benefit from the cards, but those who buy them as well as the businesses who offer their services all win. Your group can easily raise the needed funds, those who buy get great deals, and merchants draw in new business.

When you decide that using fundraising discount cards sounds like a great solution for your group, make sure you choose a company that is dedicated to exceptional customer service. They will secure the merchants for you, print the cards and even educate you about organizing your fundraiser. Add to that the fact that there is no up front cost to you, and this is an excellent way to raise the funds your group needs. The best fundraising discount cards are very impressive! Your organizations name and logo, along with the expiration date, are printed right on the front of the card. These cards are the size and consistency of a credit card; not thin paper cards that are easily destroyed or lost.

For your next project, do something different. Instead of offering candy, popcorn, candles or catalog items, offer fundraising discount cards! The entire community will benefit, and you will have the funds you need. This is an easy and fun way to raise the funds you need and support your own community!

Mark South
Easy Fundraising Cards
http://www.easyfundraisingcards.com

Fundraising Discount Card Explanation.

Fundraising Discount Cards are a proven money maker for schools, church and youth groups, sporting teams and non-profit organizations. Fundraisers have always been a necessity and we can make your Fundraising cards as easy and profitable as possible.

On the front of your fundraising card will be your organization’s name, logo, and expiration date. The back will contain twelve (12) to fifteen (15) local merchants, each giving a buy one get one free offer or some other discount (we pit the merchants against each other in order to get your members the best deals, the better the deals the easier they are to sell). The cards are valid for one (1) year of continuous use by the bearer.

Ideas are sometimes hard to come by when looking for a way to raise money at a church fundraising event. Although second hand donated item sales, raffles or entertainment can be very lucrative for the church, do these things actually provide value for the people who attend your fundraising event? Selling fundraising discount cards at your event will provide great value for the attendees, will help out local businesses, and will also create margins for high profits at your fundraiser.

What are fundraising discount cards?

Fundraising discount cards are the size of a credit card, and can be easily slotted in to a wallet. They entitle the holder to discounts at a number of local stores in the area, due to prearranged agreements with the merchants. Typically, each card will come complete with around twelve offers.

In most cases the card will allow the bearer to unlimited discounts from the participating stores. However sometimes one merchant, who is sponsoring the event, may display a one time special offer on the card.

One massive benefit of the discount card is that it will be worth more than the purchase price to attendees of the fundraising event. Consequently, not only will you be making money, but also anyone who supports their local church and buys a card will actually save more money than they spend. This means that your event will provide some value for the people who attend, on top of helping raise money for a cause they believe in. In addition, it will also make for an easy sale.

The discounts that the card will allow the holder can be varied to suit all types of people who may attend your event. Money could be saved from a hair cut at the local hairdressers, a movie from a DVD rental store; it could entitle the holder to a free soft drink with a meal at a local takeaway, or money of gas.

With the current economic climate, the perceived value of the discount card is even higher. Who would not want to support their local church as well as save money for their family in the process? In addition, selling fundraising discount cards will help local businesses by encouraging people take advantage of the discounts and use their services.

Where is it possible to get fundraising discount cards?

There are many companies who will make the necessary arrangements with the merchants and manufacture the discount cards for your church fundraising event. It is important when selecting a service that adequate research is taken in order to get the best value for the money you spend, and to also maintain a good product for the people who the cards will be sold to.

Many discount card supply companies can print the Church’s name or logo on to the front of the card. This will remind buyers of the value that the Church provided to them at the fundraising event. Every time they use the card to gain a discount they will compare how much they spent on the card to how much it has saved them. This will reinforce the value provided, and will encourage them to return to the next fundraiser held by the church.

How is money made form the fundraising discount cards?

The production of the discount cards usually come in blocks of 1000, and the price that would be paid per card can range from four dollars, down to one dollar.

The cards are usually sold at ten dollars each, leaving a profit margin of six to nine dollars per card sold. When considering the quantity of discount cards to order remember it is not unusual for one customer to buy multiple cards for other extended family members or friends.

Using fundraising cards to raise more money for the church in the future

The fundraising cards you order will come with an expiration date. They are usually valid for discounts at the various merchants for a year. This is a great opportunity for repeated sales.

When selling the discount cards, collect the email addresses (or home addresses) and names of the buyers on forms. Get them to tick a box to give consent to be notified of other discounts available in the future. When the validity of the current discount card is coming to a close, send out emails to the buyers offering them a new discount card with other exciting discounts. It is also possible to send emails to the buyers inviting them to future fundraising events help by the church.

Fundraising discount cards are a great way to raise money at church fundraising events. As shown, they provide value for everyone involved; the buyer benefits from discounts, local stores benefit from the promotion, and they are a very effective method of raising funds for your church.

Fundraising has always been a necessity for churches, youth groups, and non-profit organizations. Most people realize that funding is a tool to do God’s work and the amount of funding earned helps to determine the effectiveness of our giving.

One of the most common promotional fundraisers, fundraising discount cards can raise the greatest profits for your fundraising cause.

Fundraising discount cards are a great option for a close community, especially if you have specific, local merchants in mind. Most fundraising groups know where everyone in their area goes for oil changes, flowers, and pizza.

How Fundraising Discount Cards Work:

Groups sell the fundraising discount cards to their supporters, just like they would sell candy bars or pop corn. They sell typically for $10 and cost as little as $1.50 each. Each supporter can usually sell 10 – 20 cards. The fundraising discount cards can have one to a few offers from local and major chain merchants. The discount cards are the size of a credit card with the details of the offers written on them. Some cards have scratch off dots or some sort of counter to control the amount of times the card can be used. Merchants usually prefer a counter since they can calculate the exact cost to them.

Customized Fundraising Discount Cards:

A few companies offer this popular option with their fundraising discount cards. It allows you to pick the merchants in which the cards can be used. The offer with each merchant can be negotiated as well, but most merchants are ready with a standard offer. A typical offer is ” buy one get one free ” or ” get a free drink when you buy a sandwich ” and many more. If this is not the way you want to proceed, only a few companies offer to get the deals for you for a fee.

Fundraising Discount Cards Tip:

Since a discount card fundraiser is also a great opportunity for the merchant, most of them will stay with a group fundraiser year after year. That means that most of the setup work is done. For the next one, the merchants on the card just need to be asked if they want to change their offer for the following fundraiser. Some groups actually form waiting lists of merchants to get on their fundraising discount cards.

Things to look out For:

Quality Of Printing – Make sure the company will guarantee the printing on the card
Return policy – Some companies will offer returns for unsold cards, consider these first.
Watch for quality – Choose cards that can last so your supporter can benefit from the card offer for the entire period.
Offer Counter – Most merchants prefer a counter, so this option may work better in your area.
Free Shipping – Make sure you can get free shipping included so you don’t get surprised at delivery time.
Name & logo – Some companies will print both your group name & logo on each card free of charge, some will only print your name and some not at all. Try to get both as it will show your participants and donors you are serious about your fundraiser.

Reprinted from an extremely helpful site http://www.fundraisingideas.com/fundraising_discount_cards.htm , These guys offer great information about fundraising check them out!

Fundraising With Discount Cards

Looking for good school fundraising ideas?

You’re not the only one. The good news is that there are other highly profitable school fundraising ideas besides conducting a catalog-based fundraiser.

Catalog sales often end up overwhelming your supporters with multiple fund raising products that aren’t everyday items for most people and don’t provide good value for the money spent.

Lets take a look at three fundraising ideas:

These are simple products that your group can offer that provide these benefits:

1) They are easy to sell
2) They offer good value
3) They produce excellent results

The three products are:

Discover the secret to having a successful fundraiser even in an economic down turn.

During an economic down turn fundraising can be particularly important, many organization count on sponsorship from small businesses and donations from individuals. Unfortunately when times get tough, giving tightens as well. Some families have already been hit with less income or decreasing business, for others they are seeing others struggle and tighten their belt a notch to make sure they don’t run into the same difficulties.

This comes at a time that people are not participating in extras. During an economic down turn many organizations see lower turn out. Many times though turn out decreases, expenses stay the same or even increase. This is a time when many youth organizations turn to fundraising for the first time or need to redouble their efforts to raise even more funds, but they don’t know what you are about to learn.

Let me ask you a question. When you are having trouble making ends meet, do you go out to eat more or less often? When money is tight, do you spend money on extras? Do you go to the movies, bowling, or golfing as often? When you go to the grocery store to you buy the cheap toilet paper or the soft cushy stuff? And while you are there  do you make a bee-line for the scented candles and grab a handful of candy while in the checkout line. If you are like most people we all like the little extras, but we know those costs add up so we go without.

When the family budget has a pair of vise-grips squeezing the life out of it, people will not spend money on the extras. But they will spend money on items that have a great value. In an effort to keep the same buying power coupon and discount use increases, Coupons and discounts have GREAT value, they cost nothing and they save you money.

How do you think your fundraiser would go if you are selling something that most people consider extra like candy or candles, the results will probably not be that great.  So what will people spend money on when things are tight? Fundraising discount cards work, the consumer would spend $10 for a card because they will save $100′s. Fundraising discount cards work like coupons, they allow people to enjoy some of the things they like without spending as much, Fundraising discount cards offer discounts like buy one get one free offers. Think you can continue to have family pizza night a little longer if it costs half as much?

How about entertainment? Or an oil change for your car? Or flowers or discounts on golf or bowling. You may not be able to go out to eat every week, but if you could save 20% on your local restaurant maybe you could swing eating out twice a month.  Oh yah and how can you live without that occasional fast food treat!  Well thanks to the fundraising discount cards, your favorite burger, sandwich, or sub won’t break the bank.

The best part is because business is a little slower for many stores, they are more willing to participate and offer even greater discounts to keep the customers walking through the doors.  So instead of giving a 10 or 15% discount merchants are willing to give 15 to 20%.  Since there is no cost for the merchant to place an offer on the card they have nothing to lose, but alot to gain. They gain customer loyalty, a greater standing in the community and much needed customers walking through the door. Fundraising discount cards really are a win win situation, even in a down turned economy!

So when it is time for fundraising make sure to use recession proof fundraising discount cards and a company like Easy Fundraising Cards, Inc.

Mark South

http://www.easyfundraisingcards.com

About the Author
I started in fundraising as a reluctant volunteer for a small soccer organization in Florida, now fundraising has become a way of life!

Perhaps you have read a few of my other articles and may have noticed my author profile, “I started in fundraising as a reluctant volunteer for a small soccer organization in Florida, now fundraising has become a way of life for me”.  Now I will give you “the rest of the story”

Though I was a member of the local soccer board 8 years ago, I was hardly the ideal volunteer. I was not at a point in my life where giving of my time was a priority. So as a board member I did a little to earn my keep, but I would be the first to say, “I did not make a difference”. Well low and behold, my youngest daughter decided that soccer was also “her thing”…

The timing was perhaps by design, the previous board members had done a really good job, but I had heard that most of them were leaving and was concerned about the future of the soccer club with the remaining board members. So I stepped up, and somehow ended up being president of the organization (as well as a coach) anyways getting back to how I became involved with fundraising discount cards.

One day the parent of one of my players approached me about cards we could sell to raise money, it had 4 national fast food chains on it and was 4 laminated paper cards attached together that folded like an accordion. I didn’t think much about it at the time but knew that our organization was really going to need a lot of funds to accomplish all that we wanted to do. So at the next board meeting I brought up the idea of venturing back into fundraising and showed everyone the cards… what I have yet to mention was that the cards sold for $10.00 each and for every card we sold we kept $2.00 (what a rip off) the worst part is that most of us thought that the cards had value and that $2.00 profit per fundraising cards sounded reasonable, wow were we wrong. Well fortunately someone had gotten a card from a soccer convention they attended and brought it to the meeting, So rather than decide on the original cards we decided to check out this other company.

Well I check out the website listed on the card, which should have been the first clue. It was very unimpressive and gave no information but said to call.. so I did, he described the plan over the phone while I wrote everything down… this company was going to get local merchants for our card, print them and send them to us for only $2.00 per card. I was glad we checked with this company… $8.00 profit for each fundraising discount cards. Seemed really good compared to the last cards, so we signed a contract and set a date for deliver in about 60 days… well over the next couple weeks I called to check on the progress a few times.. sometimes without a return phone call and sometimes when I did get a call back was told not to worry it would be done..

Fast forward to three days before our season registration on a Saturday. I called him on Wednesday afternoon (I had expect to already received the cards) to make sure the cards were already shipped. To which he replied,  “we have a little problem, I only have 6 merchants”. I was flabbergasted.. I had no idea what to even say…what if I had not called? Thoughts were racing through my head, my reputation is on the line, I signed the contract and said it was a good deal, said it was all going to happen, I am letting the kids down, what do I do? It took nearly every ounce of thought to keep from rambling off a few swear words and hanging up…. but I kept thinking , “I am letting the kids down.” Well, my background is in sales and I had too much at stake, this was not the time to play the blame game. So I asked when was the last minute that he could have the merchants and have them to us on Friday, he replied 3:00 on Thurdsay afternoon… so Thursday morning I put on my suit and started going business to business finding merchants to make it happen… it was not fun and it was not easy but at 2:30 I got a signature from our 18th merchant and faxed them all in.

Friday afternoon I received some of the cards (because of printing time he could not get all of them to us by Friday)….. UNREAL!!!!  they were florescent orange laminated paper cards… I had just assumed they would be credit card stock, and we were going for Orange and navy blue (like the Denver Broncos) our soccer clubs colors. He had stated that sometimes with that color combination the navy sometimes looks blackish….. well I can surely state Black print most certainly looks black and florescent orange most certainly is not orange. Laminated paper  was not expected, nor was a black outline of our logo. Well at that point there was no choice, the show had to go on. We did manage to make lemonade out of lemons despite all of the issues, we end up raising over $5,000.

So it got me thinking…. what if?  What if the cards were printed on credit card stock? What if the cards were printed in color? What if the merchants had been found in a timely manner (allowing us to be more selective and gaining better deals)? What if our logo was bright crisp and clear on the cards? What if? What did he do for us? well I started researching the cost of a card production machine, I knew I could get the merchants (I just performed a miracle in gaining ours in 6 hours) I am proficient at online marketing, I have the software to make crisp clear logos. I have run a couple other large businesses before. What if I could charge less than the rest of the companies and produce a superior fundraising discount card? What if?

Mark South
http://www.easyfundraisingcards.com

About the Author
I started in fundraising as a reluctant volunteer for a small soccer organization in Florida, now fundraising has become a way of life!

You did your research and found that fundraising discount cards are the fundraiser for you. Fundraising cards provide the greatest percentage of profit along with a product of real value and are a win-win for everyone involved. But now you must relinquish some control and hire a company to do some work for you. Choosing the right fundraising cards company can make you a hero and your organization much needed funds whereas choosing the wrong company can be disastrous for your organization.

What to look for in a fundraising discount card company:

Perhaps the most important question one can ask is, “Will the fundraising cards company get the merchants or do they expect us to do the hard work?” Getting the merchants is the most important aspect of fundraising discount cards. Procuring the merchants takes a bit of skill, if you were to give it a try and the merchants are not so popular or only offer so-so deals then the value of the cards will be diminished. A company that SPECIALIZES in fundraising discount cards will be able to gain popular merchants in your area and negotiate great deals. This increases the value of the card and makes them easy to sell. Additionally, gaining the merchants takes a lot of time and effort, so leave this up to the professionals.

The quality of the cards will also be a factor in determining the ease of selling your cards and can make or break your fundraiser. Though the card quality does not determine the value of the card it does affect the PERCEIVED value. As a general rule when a product is valuable it is made of higher quality materials, which do you think would seem more valuable, a paper printed card that is laminated or one that is the same as a credit card? For this reason you will want to make sure your fundraising cards will be the same size (3 3/8″ x 2 1/8″), shape (rounded corners), and consistency (30 Mil and glossy) as a standard credit card. The best selling cards have a colored card front with black and white on the back (it is easier to ready the offers). Make sure you are able to choose from a variety of card and ink colors so you can match your organization’s colors. The standard card layout should include your organization’s name, logo, and expiration date on the front of the card and contain twelve (12) to twenty (20) local merchants on the back of the fundraising cards.

Customer service would be the most important thing to look for in any company, except for if the two items above are not met the quality and substance of their service is a moot point. So make sure the company will get the merchants and uses good card stock. Since fundraising is seldom a 9 to 5 job you will want to make sure that customer service keeps extended hours, so they are there to help you when you need them. I also strongly recommend that you CALL the company BEFORE placing your order, just let them know your were considering placing an order and was calling to making sure they could be reached. Customer service will be influential in logo creation and getting you a proof, saving signed copies of merchants agreement, provide fundraising templates and fliers,  and offering instructional articles with step by step instruction and support. Those in customer support can be your biggest allies.

When choosing a fundraising discount card company for your fundraiser make sure to do your homework as there are many items you will want to take into consideration. Your decisions will make your fundraiser a success or failure. Whether this is your first fundraiser or you are a pro, I know that with the right company you will see the success you are hoping for.

Regards,
Mark South
http://www.easyfundraisingcards.com

About the Author
I started in fundraising as a reluctant volunteer for a small soccer organization in Florida, now fundraising has become a way of life for me