Fundraising may seem like a simple two-step formula—sell and earn—but there are a few things to consider if you want to boost your profits and make the most of your effort. Sales, customers, incentives, and services factor into your overall profit and earnings, but financial management doesn’t need to be complex. Focus on these key points to be the most successful in your fundraiser: 

Are You Considering Dollars vs. Percentages? 

It’s easy to add the dollars and come up with a total, but that simplifies the process to earning more money. If you want to sell for the most profit, then you want to move beyond the dollar by dollar calculation and work with percentages.

Think about your quantity of sales and the type of earnings you want. If you make a 50% profit from a $2 candy bar, you are getting a dollar back for every item sold, but you have to sell many, many items to get those dollars to add up. On the other hand, if you make a 40% profit from a $20 tub of cookie dough, you’ve just made $8, so you’ve sold less and still earned more. 

What Can Your Customers Afford? 

Know your audience and the amount they can afford to spend on your items. For example, teenagers, adults, and parents will spend their money differently and follow different trends. Parents will likely spend more on their children regardless of the item’s costs, but teenagers may be more willing to purchase smaller, cheaper items like granola and snacks. Adults may be more interested in quality or convenience items in return for their dollars, like candles or easy-to-bake, frozen items. 

So, keep your primary customer in mind and give some thought to what items they are more likely to purchase so you can best meet their needs and how much they’d be willing to spend so you can make the most of your effort. 

What Is Included In Your Fundraising Earnings?  

When considering your earnings, also include any additional benefits, like prizes or incentives for your group or additional services from your fundraising partner. Some fundraising programs offer prizes and incentives to keep your group motivated and increase participation. Stoller Fundraising offers incentives like tiered level rewards, tickets to Kalahari Waterpark, free products, and cash-back rewards. Keep in mind the value these prizes add in motivating your group to fundraise more. 

Fundraising programs also offer different levels of service. Think about each step of the fundraising process and how much time you are willing to dedicate towards keeping your group organized. Some fundraising partners offer multiple services to make your job organizing the fundraiser as easy as possible. Stoller Fundraising, helps you plan and promote your fundraiser, makes collecting money easy with an online ordering option, and makes delivery a breeze by pre-packaging each order alphabetically so you don’t have to sort through boxes of products. 

For the amount of effort you spend on a fundraiser, you want to make sure you get the most services from your fundraising partner. Be sure you have the right amount of support so that you don’t need to spend extra effort, time, or money of your own throughout the fundraising process. 

Stoller Fundraising offers simple, profitable fundraisers to help you raise money for your group. Learn more about the products, incentives, and services we offer so you can make the most from your next fundraiser.