Polar Bottle

Groups use our brochures to sell popular consumer-based products and keep a percentage of the sales. Here's how our brochure fundraiser works:

1. Each participant receives a brochure and order form.
2. Participants ask neighbors, family, and friends to purchase products from their brochures.
3. Participants gather orders, and money is collected.
4. Participants turn in their order forms and money envelopes.
5. You deposit any brochure money in your account, and submit your order to us for processing.*
6. You receive a sales report.
7. We'll email you an invoice for what you owe, and you keep the rest as profit.
8. The order is packed and shipped to the group.
9. Participants deliver the merchandise to their buyers.

*NOTE: We will invoice you for what you owe for brochure sales, and you will receive a profit payment or credit for any online sales.

We don’t provide physical flyers or participant packets, so there is no supply fee. Before your start date, you will receive any brochure PDFs to print out and provide to your participants at your kickoff meeting.

Yes. Buyers can pay by check, cash, money order, or cashier's check.

Yes. Our prize programs are optional but recommended. Incentivizing your participants can boost sales. It's important to discuss your incentive plan at your kickoff meeting. Then, continue to remind your participants about your prizes throughout your campaign. This will keep them motivated to sell.

Sponsors receive a prize flyer PDF with their 'fundraiser supply kit' email.

There is no cost to the group for our incentives.

Learn about our prize programs

You'll receive an agreement to sign after you submit our Start a Fundraiser form. We recommend having your fundraiser kickoff meeting at least one week after we receive your agreement and process your order.

More extended sales typically don’t translate into more earnings because they can lead to increased seller procrastination and worse sales results. We’ve found two weeks optimal, so your end date will be set accordingly by default. You can always let us know if you need to extend your sale about three-quarters of the way through. To succeed, focus on creating a sense of seller urgency, getting out of the gate quickly, and establishing early momentum.

To succeed, focus on creating a sense of seller urgency, getting out of the gate quickly, and establishing early momentum.

We do not recommend placing our bottles in the microwave or dishwasher. A care card is placed inside each bottle, and it's suggested that they be hand-washed instead.

For laser-etched designs, we coat every stainless steel bottle with a color, such as red or white. The laser follows a design path to etch away the color applied over the raw silver steel, leaving the logo design behind. The silver color will then show through where the logo was engraved.

Yes, selling online is essential to your Polar Bottle fundraiser. Before your start date, you'll receive instructions so your participants can register. Once registered, they can invite friends and family to shop at your store.

Raising money online adds a 2^nd way for your group to raise money.

Registration is the most effective way to promote your fundraiser online. Once registered, participants can invite friends and family to your online store using text, social media, and email. They'll also be able to log into their sales portal anytime and track their online sales. If you’re offering one of our prize programs, online sales count towards earning prizes.

When more potential buyers click on the link that your sellers share, your store will experience increased traffic and sales. Once at the store, the participant's name appears at the top of the page, which helps to personalize the fundraiser. Encourage your sellers to personalize the visitor experience even more by uploading their pictures when logged into their dashboard.

(NOTE: Participants who add their picture are ten times more likely to get supporters than those who don't!)

Registered sellers will also be eligible to earn credit toward prizes. We encourage groups to supplement our prize program with their rewards. This can bring in even more sales. Here are some incentive ideas.

Registration is Key

Getting your group to register is vital to your success, and you want to start strong. 46% register on the first day, and 80% of registered participants sell, translating to an average of $100 in sales per seller! Here are some ideas:

Pro Tips:

• Meet in person or over Zoom to discuss the importance of registration.
• Offer low-cost or no-cost incentives (extended recess, duct tape the principal to the wall, water balloon the principal, etc., based on reaching a set registration level such as 40-50%.).
• Offer a registration prize (or everyone who registers by tomorrow goes into a special drawing).
• Email your parents, asking them to register (principals send an email for school-wide fundraisers).
• The goal is 100% registration, so continue to remind your group throughout your sale.
• Use our leaderboard to promote and boost sales throughout your fundraiser.

There are two ways to promote your store:

1. Registration: We'll provide a link to pass to your participants to register. This way, they can log in and track their sales progress. When they share your store with friends and family using social media, text, and email, visitors will see the participant's name when they arrive.
2. Direct Link: If your group members don't want to register, they can send out your online store link.

By promoting a direct link, you can only track online sales as a group, not by individual sellers. As a result, participants would not receive prize credit for selling online.

Online Ship-to-Group Orders

Another limitation to sellers not registering is getting products to online customers who choose the ship-to-group option. Typically, when participants register and send out their unique links, and customers make a purchase, orders are automatically tied to a particular seller.

Any products shipped to the group are already packed inside the seller's box with their other brochure products. Participants then deliver these products to their customers.

But with the single link option, you must let any ship-to-group buyers know to pick up their order because it won't be associated with any seller.

People can donate in increments of $25, $50, $100, and $250. Your group receives 70% profit from all donations.

You can turn off this feature if you don't want a donation option in your store. Let us know before your fundraiser start date.

The online store is set up so that only one participant receives credit for a particular sale.

Once you let us know that you have entered your brochure order forms into your online portal, we will close your store.

We will send your online sales profit check once we receive your brochure sales invoice payment.

No order requirements exist for a Polar Bottle fundraiser.

You must know your group size and participant goal. Here's how you can estimate your profit:

Calculation Steps

1. Participant Count x Participant Product Goal = Products Sold
2. Products Sold x Average Retail Price = Gross Sales
3. Gross Sales x Profit % = Group Profit

Example

1. Let's say you have 60 participants and set your participant product goal at 10. The products sold would be 60 participants x 10 products/participant = 600.
2. Next, determine your gross sales. The average retail price is about $35, so your gross sales would be 600 products x $35 = $21,000.
3. Since your profit is 40%, your group profit would be $21,000 x 40% = $8,400.

Keep in mind our example is only an estimated profit. In reality, participants probably won't sell the same number of products. In addition, the average retail dollars sold per seller will vary.

Brochure: You probably won't know how many orders you get until you collect your order forms. Yet some strategies can give you a ballpark idea. Learn how to track your fundraising progress

Online: You can track online sales in real time. By logging into your dashboard, you'll see the following:

• Which participants have registered
• Individual participant and group sales progress

Brochure Sales: Money and order forms are turned in at the end of the sale. The money gets deposited in the group's account, and the order forms are uploaded for processing.

Groups receive sales reports and invoices once orders are processed. The group sends a check for the invoice amount and keeps the rest as profit.

Online Sales: Once we receive your brochure invoice payment, we'll send your online sales profit check. We'll send you a check for the difference if you raise more money online within five business days after your order is shipped.

Ship to Buyer: Payments are processed within five business days after any prizes are shipped. If no prizes are shipped, payment is processed within 15 business days of the close of your store.

Donations: Any profits earned from donations are factored into your online sales credit.

Groups make 40% off all brochure and online sales.

You also receive 70% of online donations.

(Use the 'Calculate Your Profit' calculator at the top of the page to learn how much money your group can make.)

Certain states require that we collect and remit sales tax on your behalf to your state's Department of Revenue. We will need to charge sales tax if your state has determined that we have established nexus and you are not tax-exempt. See our brochure fundraising tax guide for more information.