Fundraising is a crucial endeavor for many organizations, schools, and groups as it provides vital resources and support for their activities and causes. To make the most of your efforts, it’s essential to maximize your fundraising profit while also minimizing the time and cost it takes to get there. This blog post will explore a variety of tips and strategies to help you do just that. From setting clear goals to engaging supporters to leveraging an online store, we’ll cover a range of tactics to help you boost your fundraising revenue. Whether you’re raising funds for new computers, a group trip, or updated equipment, these tips will help you maximize your impact and achieve your fundraising goals.
Table of Contents
- Start Early and Set Clear Goals
- Choose the Right Fundraiser
- Maximize Each Seller’s Efforts
- Utilize an Online Store
- Engage Your Supporters
- Monitor and Evaluate Your Progress
Start Early and Set Clear Goals
To make the most out of your fundraiser, you need to start planning early and set clear, achievable goals. Begin your planning process by determining how much money you need to raise and what the funds will be used for. This will help you set a realistic fundraising target and create a clear plan of action.
Having a well-defined goal can also motivate your sellers and supporters, as they will have a clear understanding of what they are working towards. Additionally, starting early allows you to take advantage of the full fundraising timeline, so you can get a jump on promoting your campaign and reaching out to potential supporters.
Choose the Right Fundraiser
(A print-ready version of this checklist can be downloaded here.)
When it comes to picking a fundraiser for your group, you have a lot of programs to choose from. Selecting the right one is crucial if your goal is to maximize your fundraising profits. There are several things to consider before you sign up for a fundraising program, such as:
- What are your group’s needs and goals?
- Who is your audience? What products or services are likely to appeal to them?
- Does the fundraising company you’re considering partnering with share the same vision, values, and commitment to success as you do?
If you want to learn more about the steps you can take to ensure you’re picking the right fundraising partner for your group, check out our blog post Tips on Finding the Right Fundraiser for Your Group. It covers all the questions above and more.
Choose a Program with High Per-Item Profit
When selecting a fundraising program, it’s essential to consider the per-item profit. Fundraisers with lower per-item profit may require you to put in a lot more work to achieve your goals, as you can see illustrated in the infographic above.
Fundraising programs with high per-item profit, like Butter Braid® Pastry fundraisers, offer substantial returns for the effort invested. These types of programs allow groups to achieve their financial goals faster and with fewer resources, ensuring that most of the funds raised go directly to your group.
Maximize Each Seller’s Efforts
Maximizing each seller’s efforts is key to maximizing your fundraising profits. To do this, encourage each seller to set their individual goals based on the number of supporters they aim to reach rather than the number of units sold. This strategy offers two key benefits. Firstly, it challenges sellers to achieve a more difficult goal. Secondly, setting goals based on the number of supporters tends to increase the number of products sold per seller.
On average, each supporter purchases around two items from a fundraiser. If goals are set based on units, sellers may stop fundraising once they reach the desired number of units sold. However, by setting goals based on supporters, you could double the number of items sold. This approach not only enhances individual seller performance but also significantly boosts overall fundraising results.
Maximize Fundraising Profit by Utilizing an Online Store
Integrating an online store into your fundraising strategy can significantly boost your profit and overall success. Online stores offer several advantages that can enhance your fundraising efforts.
- Increases Visibility: An online store increases the visibility of your fundraiser by making it accessible to a broader audience. Supporters who may not have been able to participate in a traditional peer-to-peer fundraiser can now easily support your cause.
- Higher Seller Averages: Groups that sell both online and in person often see higher sales than those who don’t use an online store. In Butter Braid® Pastry fundraisers, groups that have implemented this hybrid approach have increased their sales by up to 54%.
- Simple and Convenient Purchasing Process: With the online store, supporters can order and pay online using their credit card or mobile wallet.
- Easier to Manage: Programs that have an online store option often come with an online management system. For instance, when you choose to use the online store with your Butter Braid® Pastry fundraiser, you get access to the Group Leader Portal. This system allows you to tally, review, and submit order forms online. Plus, online orders auto populate, so progress is shown in real time.
Engage Your Supporters
We’ve covered the importance of engaging supporters extensively on this blog (i.e. Tips to Keep Supporters Coming Back and Effective Strategies for Promoting Your Fundraiser). That’s because, when supporters feel personally connected to a group or cause, they are more likely to contribute and support your fundraising efforts thus maximizing your fundraising profit. Here are some key strategies to effectively engage your supporters:
- Personalized Communication: Tailor your communication to each supporter based on their interests, past engagements with your group, and/or the platform you interact with them on. Personalized emails, messages, or calls are more likely to resonate and keep supporters engaged.
- Social Media Campaigns: Leverage the power of social media to engage your supporters. Share success stories, videos, and updates about your fundraising efforts. Encourage supporters to share your posts and spread the word about your cause.
- Update Supporters Regularly: Keep your supporters informed and excited about your fundraiser by sending regular updates via email, social media, newsletters, website updates, etc.
- Meet Supporters Where They Are: It may be hard to believe, but not everyone gets their information about community events online. Utilize other methods of promoting your fundraiser to ensure you reach the maximum number of potential supporters. These other methods could include word of mouth, flyers, posters, newspaper features, and postcards.
- Keep Communicating After the Fundraiser is Over: Don’t let the end of a fundraiser be the end of your connection with your supporters. Find fun ways to foster positive, emotional connections with your supporters all year long.
Monitor and Evaluate Your Progress
After you’ve put in the work to detail your group’s needs and goals, pick a fundraising program, promote your fundraiser, and motivate sellers, it’s time for the most important step of your whole fundraiser: monitoring and evaluating your progress. Tracking and assessing your fundraising efforts allows you to gain invaluable insights into what’s working, what’s not, and where adjustments need to be made. Taking this proactive approach means you can optimize your strategies, enhance engagement, and, ultimately, maximize your fundraising profit.
Here’s how you can effectively track and assess your fundraising efforts:
- Set Clear Metrics: Define key performance indicators such as funds raised, number of supporters, and average units sold per supporter. These metrics will help you measure the success of your fundraising campaign.
- Regularly Review Progress: Check in with your sellers and see where your group is in relation to your goal. This will give you an early insight into any areas that need improvement, and you can make adjustments as needed.
- Collect Feedback: Gather feedback from supporters, volunteers, and sellers to understand their experience with your fundraising campaign. Use this feedback to make improvements and enhance future events.
Take Your Fundraiser to the Next Level!
Maximizing fundraising profit is a multifaceted process that requires careful planning, strategic execution, and ongoing evaluation. All of which can feel a little overwhelming at times. However, by following the tips and strategies outlined above, you can significantly enhance your fundraising efforts and achieve greater success while minimizing time and money spent. With dedication, creativity, and a well-thought-out plan, you can make the most of your fundraising endeavors and achieve all your goals.
Happy Fundraising!
