Lesson 1: Identify Your Path

As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” The same can be said of running a fundraiser. It’s easy to set up, run, and sell, but truly successful fundraisers start with gathering important information and planning your next steps. We recommend outlining these three key factors in your planning: your purpose, your profit goal, and your sales type.

Step One - Identify Your Purpose

Congratulations, you are eager to raise money! But what is that money going to be for?

Naming your fundraiser purpose helps in many areas of planning, such as deciding your fundraiser timeline, setting your profit goal, and providing a platform for telling your story. You will need to consider if your need is time-sensitive, such as an event happening within the year, or if it is a general need for funds that can be raised and pulled at any time. Does your need affect everyone in your group the same way (e.g., a general PTO fund)? Or does each person have their own individual goals that they may need to tailor to reach (e.g., paying for a school/sports trip)? Though it may seem like a small part of your fundraiser, it provides a foundation for decisions you make later on.

Step Two - Identify Your Goal

Now that you know where the money will go, it is time to set your fundraiser goal.

Your goal can either be to reach a certain profit (e.g., $1,000) or to reach a certain number of sales (e.g., 150 pastries or cookie dough boxes). You may even give each seller in your group an individual goal to reach, so that the overall goal is attained through teamwork (e.g., if each person in a 10 person group has a goal of 10 items, that is 100 units sold!). Set your goal so that you have a finish line. As you strive to reach that goal, track your progress and share it with your sellers and supporters. The closer you get to that finish line, the more everyone will be motivated to cross it! If you need help figuring out how much you need to sell to reach your goals, [we have a handy calculator available for you!]

Step Three - Identify and Plan By Your Fundraiser Type

Fantastic! You’ve got a direction and you’ve got a goal. Now it is time to pick your path.

Here at Integrity Fundraising, we offer three sales types: traditional paper sales, online store only sales, and the hybrid duo of paper and online sales. Whatever your fundraising path you choose, make sure to activate your group portal on MyFundraisingPlace.com as that is where all final totals must be entered. So which one works best for your group? Let’s dig a little more into each of them.

Traditional Paper Sales: Paper sales are the good, old-fashioned way of running your fundraiser. It’s quick, easy, classic, and a great way to connect with your supporters!

Pros:

• It encourages your sellers to meet the supporters. This gives them the chance to ask questions about your purpose and feel like they are making a personal difference.

• It is accessible! As a low-tech solution, it doesn’t extra steps from your supporters.

• You have your sales record physically in your hands.

• It has simple steps! Step 1: Sell and gather order information. Step 2: Gather all paper orders, and put the totals into the group leader portal. Tada!

Cons:

• Your sales products are limited to only what is available on the paper order form. If your supporters want the products that we offer online only, then you will need to set up an online store

Online Store Only Sales: Welcome to the 21st Century! If you are aiming for a fast, modern approach that allows you to reach more supporters beyond your neighborhood, this may be the path for you.

Pros:

• Your sales reach is wider! Share your online store link via email or social media and you can reach dozens more supporters, rather than walking door to door.

• Within your group leader portal, you will have a seller leader board that you can use to encourage your sellers with incentives.

• The online store expands your products list with extra goodies, such as gluten-free cookie dough and savory breakfast dishes!

• Your online platform also includes donation options for supporters out of state that you can’t deliver pastries to! Your sellers keep 99% of the donation as profit, as we only take a $1 processing fee.

Cons:

• [technologically hard for some people?]

Hybrid Sales: With paper and online sales, you get the best of both worlds! We recommend this path as most groups on average find that they increase their sales 30%?

Pros:

• With a diversified way of selling, you can reach many supporters! Those beyond your neighborhood and those right next door! Our paper order forms include QR codes for seller self-registration and the online store for maximum efficiency.

• …

Cons:

• You will need to remember to enter paper orders in your group leader portal alongside all the online orders and make sure your sellers know who their online supporters are.

Plan and Get Signed Up

[get a link here for signing up and talk about timing]

Final Thoughts

Well done! This is the end of the first fundraiser bootcamp learning module! Now you should have the basic building blocks for your fundraiser to get started. In the next lesson, we will be exploring the processes and tools you need to get started, along with how to get your sellers ready to sell.