2 Steps to Making Your School Fundraiser Delivery Easy

Learn why easy fundraising deliveries don't just happen.

We'd been working with this one elementary school for quite some time. They had always selected one of our large fall fundraising brochures. However, one year they expressed an interest in selling discount cards instead. We were curious because this was a completely different fundraising program from what they'd always done. Ordering and selling cards that offered discounts at local businesses was a significant change from selling novelty gift items out of a brochure.

After exploring a little deeper, it turns out this school was undergoing a major building renovation and didn't have the space to receive the big brochure shipment they were accustomed to. They'd never sold discount cards before, but their main reason for trying them was there would be no delivery space requirements. Discount cards come in a small hand-held box.

Was changing their program worth it so that they could have an easy school fundraiser delivery? It turns out that they made far less money than usual. Elementary schools typically don't do as well as secondary groups selling discount cards for various reasons. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. They would have stayed with what was already working if they had it to do over again.

Here are some things you can do to help ensure a smooth delivery, regardless of your school fundraising product or circumstances.

1. Formulate a Fundraising Delivery Plan

When planning for a fundraiser delivery, your most important goal is to distribute as much of your order as soon as possible. This requires knowing when your order will be delivered and getting the word out to everyone associated with the school, not just your students and parents. Sending out notices, posting information on social media, and simply talking to people beforehand will be necessary. This is especially critical if you're selling a frozen food or cookie dough fundraiser. Avoiding unaccounted-for boxes will make your life much easier.

When looking at any specific fundraising program, one of the considerations should be how the merchandise will be delivered. Ideally, as already mentioned, everyone will pick up their boxes on delivery day, but most of the time, some orders won't get picked up. Therefore, you'll need to ask yourself several important questions, including:

• How much space will I have available for short-term storage if necessary?
• Will the storage area be temperature-controlled?
• What kind of support will I have at my delivery?
• How responsive will parents be about picking up orders?

Based on your answers to these and perhaps other questions, you'll want to consider selling a product that will meet your fundraising delivery needs. However, there are other factors to consider when deciding on a program.

2. Plan Your Fundraiser Merchandise Storage Options

It will be essential to plan to have temporary storage space reserved for those parents who fail to pick up their orders on delivery day. What follows is a list of the more common types of fundraisers and what their storage requirements are:

• Gift Items: Temperature-controlled storage (room temperature or below due to chocolate).
• Frozen Food: Freezer space is necessary.
• Non-Perishable Items: Custom tumblers or jewelry (temperature control is not an issue).
• Discount Cards: No storage is required, and temperature isn't an issue.

What kinds of tips do you have that can help group sponsors experience a smooth and easy school fundraising delivery?

Author Bio

Clay Boggess has been designing fundraising programs for schools and various nonprofit organizations throughout the US since 1999. He’s helped administrators, teachers, and outside support entities such as PTAs and PTOs raise millions of dollars. Clay is an owner and partner at Big Fundraising Ideas.