Planning a successful fundraiser can seem like an overwhelming task. Where do you start? How can you ensure that all of your hard work pays off in the end? At Halenda’s, we’ve helped teams and companies raise money for countless causes and turn a profit quickly. Here are our 10 tips to help you organize a profitable fundraiser.

Plan Out Your Time

Before you begin planning the details of your fundraiser, you need to ask yourself and your team how much time you have to dedicate to the project. When do you need to start fundraising and how long will you give your team to raise money? The earlier you begin planning the more elaborate your event or project can be.

With a Halenda’s pepperoni stix fundraiser, we require a two week lead time from the time you place your order to when the project will be in your hand. Our pepperoni stix do not need to be refrigerated and they are shelf stable for 365 days which means you can plan a few weekends or events to sell our product. We recommend looking into rib fests, golf tournaments and school events, our stix are high protein and healthy so they will sell themselves!

Collaborate With Your Team

Meeting with your team to discuss what resources are available to you is a great place to start. In that meeting, ask yourselves questions such as:

• How many volunteers do you anticipate?
• What is your budget for your fundraiser?
• What assets does your team have available to utilize?

These are important questions to ask before you can begin to plan out the best route to ensure a successful fundraiser. If your team doesn’t need to worry about renting a tent or table this can significantly reduce your cost to set up a booth at a community event. If you have a contact that works for an event company, planning a raffle may provide significant profit. Your team is your best resource, don’t go it alone ask for input!

Set A Fundraising Goal

Do you have a specific fundraising goal you are trying to reach?

The best way to organize yourself is to take the time to set a fundraising goal. Decide how much money you need to raise for your specific needs and what would make this event a profitable success for you and your team. Halenda’s makes it easy to calculate your profit with our simple to use profit calculator. We will help you work backward from the amount you would like to raise to establish the number of cases you will need to order.

Establish A Financial Budget

It is easy to get carried away when planning events. If you don’t plan out your budget ahead of time, small costs can really build up over time that will eat into your overall profit. The more organized you are the more you can anticipate these costs and make sure you make the most out of your fundraiser.

Depending on the type of fundraiser you do, you will need to invest in various resources. Here are a few to think about: signs, marketing, manpower, rentals, tents, t-shirts, transportation, product and licensing.

Promote Your Fundraiser

Once you have decided on how you will be fundraising you want to get the word out to make sure it is a successful event. The more people who know how they can donate to you the more likely you are to be successful. Utilize everything you can. Market your event with social media, online forums, community boards and through word of mouth.

Our packages make it easy for you to promote your event. We provide a custom insert for your pouches that will tell your audience about our product and why you are fundraising. We will also provide a social media kit to help you post online. Be sure to tag Halenda’s Fundraising so we can help promote your event as well!

Get Out From Behind Your Table

If you are selling, the most common mistake people make is sitting behind your table. Stand outside your booth. Draw people in with conversation, samples and engage with your potential customer. Let people look around. If you are sitting behind your table waiting for a customer to come to you will miss out on 75% of customers. Mingle and get excited about why you are fundraising. When people see energy and passion, they will want to donate.

Smile!

Make sure your team is smiling. Fundraising is hard work but it should be FUN. Make sure your team is smiling and your customers will feel your passion and want to contribute. Selling is all about attitude. Try and keep your team motivated with games and encouragement. The more fun you are having, the more likely people will want to stop by your booth and make a purchase.

Be Prepared On The Day Of Your Event

You can never be over prepared for anything in life. Halenda’s will provide you with a sheet of frequently asked questions so that your team will know how to answer any questions about our product that will come your way. Bring the information with you to the event so that your team will know where to find answers to questions customers may have. There is nothing worse than answering “I don’t know” to a potential customer. Avoid losing the interest of a customer and make sure your team is prepared.

Check The Weather

Make sure you check the weather leading up to your fundraiser. If it is going to be sunny, remind your team to bring water and sunscreen. Make sure you set up somewhere with shade or have a tent available for your team to rest in. If it is going to rain, see if you can organize a space indoors at a mall or workplace.

When planning your event it is always a good idea to make a rain plan. Set aside some emergency funds just in case you need to change to plan B.

Remember To Say Thanks

Make sure you take the time to thank all of your contributors. You should thank every customer with a smile or a note when they make a purchase. If you receive larger donations, send an email or give them a call to follow up and let them know how much their contribution means to you.

Not only should you remember to thank the people who gave funds but you should also give a big thank you to anyone who donated their time to help this be a successful event. Volunteers are so important to fundraising and if you take the time to appreciate them, they will be more likely to join you on future endeavours.

Looking for more ideas for planning a fundraiser? Check out our past blog post with many easy concepts to raise money quickly for your cause.