Creative And Unique Fundraisers: Raise Money

The face of fundraising has changed. Usually, after the word ‘fundraiser' is said in any organization, there is a collective groan. Car washes and bake sales are a thing of the past, as is going from door to door if you plan. No longer are there only a few options when it comes to church fundraisers, school fundraisers, or sports fundraisers; fundraising has become customizable to the target audience or need, as well as a little more fun.

Websites, blogs, email, and automated invitation systems can all help take the collective groan out of the crowd the next time there is a fundraiser.

Unique Fundraisers include: dog treats, cheesecake, frozen pizza, kitchenware and even customized scratch off tickets for a lottery. There are just as many ways to creatively raise money as there are reasons for needing money. You can even have your own Mall of The World so that your target audience can choose from hundreds of different products. Sites like www.fundraisingweb.org will show you the vast array of items that you can use in fundraising to help make a unique fundraiser. Don't become overwhelmed at the amount of merchandise because the first step doesn't start with figuring out what to sell.

The major question, before anything else is considered, is about money. After all, you are trying to raise funds so you'll have to understand your monetary goal. Once you understand your goal, you will have a better understanding of what you should sell and how to market it. You'll need to look at your group of sellers, whether they are kids, parents, teachers or volunteers–what would they enjoy selling? These individuals may range vastly in age, interest, background and skill so it is important to fit your merchandise to something they can all talk about and be interested in.

If you are an organization raising money for homeless pets, you might want to focus your merchandise on pets. Don't forget to include your community in your efforts: Have there been successful fundraisings in the past in your area? Check out local schools and volunteer organizations to see what works for them. You will get an understanding of your buyer quickly when you tap into resources that have already dealt with them.

Now that you've probably narrowed down some ideas, when do you need to have your fundraising money in hand? Deadlines are essential in fundraising so make sure you'll have enough time to sell, order items and get them to buyers; don't forget the lag time, if there is any, in receiving your profit.

While you are figuring out this timeline, take some time to understand the items that you'll be selling. Are they high quality? You'll want people to not only be happy with their purchase, but also be driven to buy from your organization again, assuming you'll do another fundraising event. If you ensure that the products are of high quality and your sellers are following up, you'll have customers coming to you.

There is one more question to answer before the fundraising can begin. Evaluate the prices of the merchandise you are selling. You want to make sure your merchandise is affordable by enough people to make a profit. If your prices are too high, people will go elsewhere. Remember that with fundraising, there is always another option for buyers, especially around the holidays when there are so many different organizations looking to raise money. Keep the prices reasonable and be a quality checker.

After understanding your target audience a little better, use technology to make the process easier. Be creative in your planning and setting up! Investigate setting up a blog to track your progress, gather up email addresses of buyers so you can follow-up with them after they've received their merchandise and save that information for your future unique fundraisers. The more creative processes you put in place in the beginning, the more efficient and effective you'll be. If you spend a little time at the start getting organized and knowing your sellers and buyers, you might be able to understand the ‘fun' in fundraising and the collective groans could become barely a whisper.

1200+ Fundraising Companies: Fund Raising Ideas for your Fundraiser! Updated: November 24, 2006. Date Accessed: November 26, 2006.

Fundraising: Sell handmade cheesecakes that are sure to please even the most discriminating taste. Date Accessed: November 26, 2006.

Fundraising. Wikipedia. Date Accessed: November 26, 2006.

Skratchers.com. Date Accessed: November 26, 2006. .

Shure Pets Fundraising. Updated: November 27, 2006. Date Accessed: November 27, 2006.

Welcome to Ultimate Fundraising.com. Date Accessed: November 26, 2006.