Schools, Churches, Clubs, raise money easy with local business discount cards.

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Unique and highly profitable fundraising discount card. Markets open in Colorado, Iowa, Idaho and Texas. Coming to all areas. Makes a ton of money for your group.

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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!

The comedy team of Wild Card Comedy, Ace Aceto, Mary Ellen Rinaldi, & Kevin Sullivan perform at a fundraiser for the American Lung Association in Providence, RI.

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Send Out Cards Presentation

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www.DonationsTravel.com/info

The ultimate high-flying fundraiser! Great for high schools, bands, football teams, or any organization that needs money! Coupled with a discount card that is good at major retailers and restaurants in the U.S. and Canada, it’s time to make money for your group!

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Learn how to make money with my discount card fundraising business.

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I volunteer at a dog shelter and I was wondering if christmas cards of past/present dressed up dogs would be a good fundraiser? They make a calender every year, but not cards, but I saw a greyhound place was using cards. Where would be a good place to get them made? And would they get some kind of discount? I think it would be awesome fun to organise it all, but I am kind of scared of talking to the office-ladies. Should I find out all the info about price and such before I propose the idea? Or would maybe the same place that makes the calanders be able to help or something do you think?

I am a Fund-raising Specialist. You should defiantly get all the information together before you approach people.
I believe there are places that have calendars already made for fund-raising groups.
My company uses candles, pictures and recently added food items. We give fliers and help the groups through the process.
I think the other companies do some what the same thing.
Good luck with the fund-raiser!!

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

Online fundraising, does it really work?

Online fundraising sounds so easy and profitable, how can you refuse? “Just place our banner on your site and every time someone purchase a product from our site you will earn a percentage of that sale, get 300 people shopping and your organization could earn $600 a month!”. Sounds good right?  The problem is that your organizations patrons will not just click on your link and shop.

A study of a soccer club’s website with a to-good-to-be-true online fundraising banner (on the main page) showed the following.  The banner thoroughly and concisely explained the benefit. It explained on the banner the three short steps to help their organization: 1. Shop, 2. Get discounts/savings and, 3. Your organization gets a donation on every purchase.  The organization has two seasons each year with about 300 children participating each season. Registration information, game schedules, camp information, directions to the field and, contact information are all included on the site, so we can safely suspect that nearly every parent checks the website at least once per season and most parents visited the site a number of times each season. The site AVERAGES 300 visitors per month. In the last 20 months the banner has not generated a single donation or anyone signing up for a free shopping membership to even check it out… not one…

So why has it failed?

The biggest reason for failure is no requirement to help the organization. In generally when people go online to get information they do just that, get the information and head on their way. If they are going online to shop they go to where they shop (usually from searches) and then shop. Most people will not make the effort, even spend 30 seconds getting a free membership to an online mall to check it out. This is why most fundraisers require pre-payment, you pay up front for the product, then pocket the money when you make a sale. What if your pee wee football team was having a candy bar sale to raise funds.. but it was optional? I would wager that less than 10% would sell one candy bar… hence prepayment.

Now I am not saying they do not work at all, perhaps some funds could be raised if you were required to get a free shopping membership before you could register, and then include direct requests for action through email. But what I am saying is don’t expect to add a link or banner to your site and sit back to watch the funds roll in. Instead expect to spend a lot of time and energy promoting , cajoling, reminding, and promoting the fundraiser some more to earn a few bucks. Then maybe over a few years time your non-profit organization can earn a few hundred dollars a year.

What works then?

Fundraising discount cards work! On the front of the fundraising discount cards is your organization’s name, logo, and, expiration date. The back contains twelve (12) to twenty (20) local merchants who are the sponsors for the card, each giving some kind of offer or discount usable on a continuous basis for the one year period.  The same soccer organization mentioned above just completed their first fundraising discount cards and the results crushed that of online fundraising. The 300 child organization sold 700 cards so far (2 weeks). Each card is sold for a profit of $8 (larger organizations can make more than $8 per card) you do the math. I suspect we will end up selling about 1200 cards.

Happy and profitable fundraising!

Mark South
Fundraising Discount cards
http://www.easyfundraisingcards.com