OK, I have been in the fundraising business for quite a while and I have heard all types of stories about crazy fundraisers. I don't know whether or not it's right for me to share some of the disasters or stories I've heard.
So, I figured I would just ask all of you to please help me out and post your most outrageous fundraiser ever. Would you do that please?
I am looking for crazy fundraising ideas that no one would have ever thought of. I would prefer ones that made money but would be interested in hearing any most outrageous fundraiser story you have.
I will pick the most outrageous and make you temporarily famous by including you in our newsletter that currently goes to more than 80,000 people.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Visit Our Mall
I wanted to take a few minutes to make sure you had heard about owning a free online fundraising mall from Visit Our Mall.
If you have a group that needs to raise money you should consider looking into this program.
You build a free online mall that has hundreds of stores. At last count there were more than 800 stores in these malls. Your group is paid cash back when people shop in your mall. The percentage of cash back varies but can reach as high as 30%. You tell everyone you know about your mall and get them to shop there.
They can buy anything from electronics, clothes, office supplies, shoes, sporting goods, computers and just about anything else imaginable. You are even given free materials to promote your mall with.
This is one of those no brainer fundraising ideas that everyone should take advantage of. No cost. Free materials. Earn residual income for years. It makes sense for everyone.
If you have a group that needs to raise money you should consider looking into this program.
You build a free online mall that has hundreds of stores. At last count there were more than 800 stores in these malls. Your group is paid cash back when people shop in your mall. The percentage of cash back varies but can reach as high as 30%. You tell everyone you know about your mall and get them to shop there.
They can buy anything from electronics, clothes, office supplies, shoes, sporting goods, computers and just about anything else imaginable. You are even given free materials to promote your mall with.
This is one of those no brainer fundraising ideas that everyone should take advantage of. No cost. Free materials. Earn residual income for years. It makes sense for everyone.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Simple Fundraising Ideas
If you were going to search for a fundraising idea, what would you look for in a search engine:
1. Simple fundraising ideas
2. Easy fundraising ideas
3. Best fundraising ideas
4. Great fundraising ideas
I ask the question because we have researched this extensively.
People really like simplicity so choosing simple fundraising ideas makes sense. Easy fundraising ideas is really similar. We found slightly more people chose easy over simple but not by as much as we thought.
When we asked people about best and great fundraising ideas fewer people opted for these two choices. When asked why we were told that these adjectives are more objective. People were fairly unanimous about wanting something to be easy. No matter what the end result easy could still be easy. It was a statement about the process not the result.
Best and great were more descriptive of the end result. It did not make sense that the best fundraiser was an easy one that produced lousy results.
Our research continues though and we would love to hear your answer. If you were searching for a fundraising idea, which adjective would you tend to preface that phrase with?
1. Simple fundraising ideas
2. Easy fundraising ideas
3. Best fundraising ideas
4. Great fundraising ideas
I ask the question because we have researched this extensively.
People really like simplicity so choosing simple fundraising ideas makes sense. Easy fundraising ideas is really similar. We found slightly more people chose easy over simple but not by as much as we thought.
When we asked people about best and great fundraising ideas fewer people opted for these two choices. When asked why we were told that these adjectives are more objective. People were fairly unanimous about wanting something to be easy. No matter what the end result easy could still be easy. It was a statement about the process not the result.
Best and great were more descriptive of the end result. It did not make sense that the best fundraiser was an easy one that produced lousy results.
Our research continues though and we would love to hear your answer. If you were searching for a fundraising idea, which adjective would you tend to preface that phrase with?
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Trusting a Fundraising Company
OK, I struggled with whether to write about this in this blog or not but decided I should.
The question is how do you know whether you can trust the online fundraising company you have found. And it is not an easy question to answer. But here is my two cents.
There are a ton of fundraising companies online and most are legitimate. The interesting thing is that you can not tell legitimacy by the quality of the website although there are some tell tale signs you should look for when choosing a company.
The first is to look at the lines that they carry. If they are associated with national brands that is a good sign. Certainly national companies can make mistakes by associating with the wrong distirbutors but over time those relationships usually fall apart.
The second thing to look for is more difficult to spot. You want to see if the company is ethical in the way it presents its website. Here is the dead give away that someone is willing to cheat. Scroll to the very bottom of their home page. Make sure you get to the bottom. There are many unscrupulous sites that use what is called black hat seo tactics to get short term traffic to their site. When you scroll past the what you think is the footer and find a huge list of virtually meaningless links, that is a site that is cheating in the search engine game.
The search engines are designed to provide you with the best site based on the info you search for. You would hope the SE's would look deep into the actual content to see if the site really offers what you are looking for. These companies try to fool the search engines with those meaningless lists. If they had the info you needed they should be able to win with that info alone and not need the black hat tricks.
I have not hidden that fact that I am associated with Easy Fundraising Ideas. We strive to bring you the best legitimate content on the internet. Being a leader in online fundraising means we sometimes need to educate people on more than just fundraising products.
The question is how do you know whether you can trust the online fundraising company you have found. And it is not an easy question to answer. But here is my two cents.
There are a ton of fundraising companies online and most are legitimate. The interesting thing is that you can not tell legitimacy by the quality of the website although there are some tell tale signs you should look for when choosing a company.
The first is to look at the lines that they carry. If they are associated with national brands that is a good sign. Certainly national companies can make mistakes by associating with the wrong distirbutors but over time those relationships usually fall apart.
The second thing to look for is more difficult to spot. You want to see if the company is ethical in the way it presents its website. Here is the dead give away that someone is willing to cheat. Scroll to the very bottom of their home page. Make sure you get to the bottom. There are many unscrupulous sites that use what is called black hat seo tactics to get short term traffic to their site. When you scroll past the what you think is the footer and find a huge list of virtually meaningless links, that is a site that is cheating in the search engine game.
The search engines are designed to provide you with the best site based on the info you search for. You would hope the SE's would look deep into the actual content to see if the site really offers what you are looking for. These companies try to fool the search engines with those meaningless lists. If they had the info you needed they should be able to win with that info alone and not need the black hat tricks.
I have not hidden that fact that I am associated with Easy Fundraising Ideas. We strive to bring you the best legitimate content on the internet. Being a leader in online fundraising means we sometimes need to educate people on more than just fundraising products.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Hershey's Candy Fundraisers
Hershey's fundraising candy is the most popular fundraising candy product available.
If you are wanting to sell candy for your next fundraiser you should take a look at Hershey's. They offer more variety packs than any other national brand. Variety is what drives strong candy sales because you have more choices available for a larger customer base.
You can choose from four different variety packs. You buy candy by the case and each case typically contains four handled carriers of candy. Hershey offers two different sized carriers.
While some people question whether candy is a good fundraising idea others are out there making a ton of money selling it still. And, if you decide to sell candy, be sure to consider Hershey's.
If you are wanting to sell candy for your next fundraiser you should take a look at Hershey's. They offer more variety packs than any other national brand. Variety is what drives strong candy sales because you have more choices available for a larger customer base.
You can choose from four different variety packs. You buy candy by the case and each case typically contains four handled carriers of candy. Hershey offers two different sized carriers.
While some people question whether candy is a good fundraising idea others are out there making a ton of money selling it still. And, if you decide to sell candy, be sure to consider Hershey's.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Planning a Fundraiser
A lot of people do not plan a fundraiser from enough ahead and are scrambling when the time comes to pick from the available fundraising ideas.
We see it more with smaller groups, especially in November as they try to get their fundraiser started and completed so products can be delivered before winter breaks in school. As a business it hurts to turn those people away but Easy Fundraising Ideas is one of of the few companies that would rather turn people away rather than helping them start a project destined for failure.
So when is the best time to plan a fundraiser? You will hate the answer. But you should plan as far in advance as possible! Take your lead from some of the larger groups like PTA's who plan their fundraisers as much as a year in advance. When it comes time to start their fundraiser they can focus on execution instead of first choosing the program.
Of all the last minute fundraisers available a candy fundraiser might be the easiest, most stressless fundraiser for procrastinators. But even when choosing to sell candy you need to allow a week or two, which might be cutting it close in the busiest of the fundraising seasons.
We see it more with smaller groups, especially in November as they try to get their fundraiser started and completed so products can be delivered before winter breaks in school. As a business it hurts to turn those people away but Easy Fundraising Ideas is one of of the few companies that would rather turn people away rather than helping them start a project destined for failure.
So when is the best time to plan a fundraiser? You will hate the answer. But you should plan as far in advance as possible! Take your lead from some of the larger groups like PTA's who plan their fundraisers as much as a year in advance. When it comes time to start their fundraiser they can focus on execution instead of first choosing the program.
Of all the last minute fundraisers available a candy fundraiser might be the easiest, most stressless fundraiser for procrastinators. But even when choosing to sell candy you need to allow a week or two, which might be cutting it close in the busiest of the fundraising seasons.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Fundraising in the Summer Time
If you are involved in the fundraising industry you know that the summer is the absolute slowest time of year. Schools are out, sports leagues have ended, church groups have already raised money for summer programs.
But some people still need to raise money and are looking for practical fundraising ideas.
The great news is that summer may really be the best time of year to be fundraising precisely because so few groups are holding fundraisers.
Candy may not be the best option because the summer heat will melt chocolate. Here are our three top summer fundraising ideas:
1. Build a free online fundraising mall with Visit Our Mall
2. Hold a flower bulb fundraiser
3. Go talk to a local restaurant and get them to advertise on a sandwich shop fundraising card.
But some people still need to raise money and are looking for practical fundraising ideas.
The great news is that summer may really be the best time of year to be fundraising precisely because so few groups are holding fundraisers.
Candy may not be the best option because the summer heat will melt chocolate. Here are our three top summer fundraising ideas:
1. Build a free online fundraising mall with Visit Our Mall
2. Hold a flower bulb fundraiser
3. Go talk to a local restaurant and get them to advertise on a sandwich shop fundraising card.
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