Choosing a Time Frame for Your Direct Sales Fundraiser

Hosting fundraisers in direct sales is a wonderful way to find new customers and to possibly recruit new team members.

Choosing the length of time you’ll host the fundraiser is crucial to the fundraisers success.

My suggestion is to consider starting your fundraiser on a Thursday and running it for twelve days. Your fundraiser would then end on a Monday. By running it for twelve days starting on Thursday, you’ll capture two weekends.

One mistake I’ve seen is fundraisers that last too long. As a distributor I know you want more sales and I know you want to allow more opportunity, but what happens is folks procrastinate as they know they still have a week or two left.

If you cut the fundraiser short, you’ll miss out on sales from those who might be busy during the short timeframe and might not have the opportunity to sell the products. By offering twelve days, this can almost always fit into anyone’s schedule.

It might be helpful to create a timeline for the fundraising participants. Your timeline might look like this:

Thursday – Look through the catalog and begin letting your family and friends know you’ll be taking orders to help support the organization.

Friday-Sunday – Make sure you take the fundraising catalog with you through the weekend. Also take plenty of order forms and pens to document the orders.

Monday-Friday – Continue taking orders and begin to assemble the order forms so that you can turn them in on Monday.

Friday-Sunday – Again, take your fundraising catalog with you to all your weekend activities. If you’re at a sports event, let the other parents know what you’re doing. If you’re at the beach with friends, let them know how they can help the organization.

Monday – Submit all orders and payment before 5:00 p.m.

I really believe that by holding the fundraiser over a two-weekend period you maximize the amount of sales.

About the Author: Audrey Okaneko has been in direct sales since 1983. She can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or you can Become a Tupperware Consultant.

Secrets for Easy Fundraising

I'd say that most all of you have been involved at one time or another with fundraisers. There are plenty of good causes that need to be supported. And having a fundraiser is a good way to accomplish that.

Here are some of the main types of fundraisers:

1. Direct Sales - This type of fundraiser is when the product being purchased is being resold. Up-front payments are required. You have to be prepared to deal with collections, delivery, inventory, and many other details. Direct sales is what is called a 'high work' fundraiser.

2. Order Taker - This fundraiser is also known as 'pre-sales'. Others call them brochure or catalog sales. You just take the orders, and then they get tallied up and sent to the fund raising company. The company then fills the order and ships the merchandise to the contact person for your particular group. The members, along with some volunteers, then go out and deliver these products to the supporters. This type of fundraiser is a 'high work' event as well. There are times when the company will go the delivery and collection, and this really cuts down on the work-load.

3. Bake Sales and Service types - these fundraisers are things like car washes and bake sales, etc. Again, high work events.

4. Online Fundraising - These events are generally handles by putting a coded link on the website of your organization. This link sends your visitors directly to a personalized page where the supporters are encouraged to purchase directly through the link, and then the group will get a percentage of the proceeds.

This online fundraiser is the easiest by a long shot, and is also very effective. The only problem they may have is that some of the smaller groups might not have a website. If the youth group from your church wanted to raise some money to go on a mission trip, you would need a website to pull one of these off.

There are some new companies with fresh innovations that are attempting to make things much easier for fundraising groups. And they're experiencing some great success. They actually will develop a web page and give it to you to use. They help you create an effective sales letter and help promote your cause. They coordinate all the sales, all deliveries, collections, and the orders. All that's left is for you to publicize your page.

You can do this by sending out emails and posting on social sites like Facebook and Twitter. You can also post on blogs and in forums. You can print out literature to pass out at school or church events. They really have made it a much easier undertaking for people wanting to host fundraisers.

You can in fact ask a company if they'll do a fundraiser with you or for you. Most of the major fundraising companies have the online fundraisers already set up. You need to be careful though and keep an eye on the prices, as there are some companies that change them quite often.

If you should want a company's help on a fundraiser, and they don't have one already established, or at least not one you like, then see if they can accommodate you for getting what it is you want. Smaller companies may be more inclined to work with you in this fashion. Have a talk with the manager or owner. All you need from them is a page on their site that you can direct your potential donors to. This page needs to have all the necessary information on it, all about the organization you represent and what they are about. Then you want to let the company handle all the other work like the orders, collections, inquiries, deliveries, and the sales. You want your cut of the sales for bringing the business their way. You'll want to choose a product or a service that has a wide appeal so you can expand the scope of potential donors.

Once you've done this, you're on your way to having a successful fundraiser. It's easy, and you can get set up quickly. No hassles and easy expansion. You can even promote more than just one cause. These steps and tips are easily repeatable.

Could your organization use an additional $500? How about $5,000?

Celebrating Home's fundraising program is community minded, with 50% of all sales benefiting an organization's goal. With so many groups and organizations in need of funding, it is our goal to give back to local communities.

Our fundraiser program offers jar candles, designer soy candles, reed diffusers, food mixes, gift bags/wraps and other accessories.

View our fundraiser catalogs

For more information, visit your state for a Celebrating Home Rep.

How To Make More Money With A Tupperware Fundraiser

Tupperware? That was my initial thought, too. I pictured the Tupperware parties of which I'd heard so often - and the sole party I intended. How could you raise money with a Tupperware fundraiser if everyone had to attend a party somewhere? And who would host all those parties?!

No Party Needed!

Then I learned that a Tupperware fundraiser is not based on parties. A Tupperware fundraiser is run much like any other fundraiser, except that you offer a quality, durable product instead of cheap consumables.

Think back to the last fundraiser you had. Maybe you offered an array of candles - or coupon books. Many of your workers felt they were pushing products people neither wanted nor needed. Instead of appealing to the buyer, they were trying to sell products that were easy to get at low prices.

It all boiled down to a basic feeling that you were dealing with mediocre products, which produced mediocre sales efforts.

Tupperware Fundraisers Are Successful

The Tupperware company offers Tupperware fundraisers for non-profit organizations and schools - and a Tupperware fundraiser is likely to be highly successful.

Tupperware fundraisers offer a straight 40% profit! How much can you raise? How much are you determined to raise?

Imagine you commit to raise $12,000 for a new, public playground. The children in your neighborhood have no place to play. Parents have no place to go and play with their little ones. You need swings, sandboxes, brightly-painted jungle gyms, and some open, green space.

You manage to round up a group of 200 volunteers who are willing to participate in your Tupperware fundraiser. Each volunteer is encouraged to set a goal of 5 or more customer orders, and told that the average customer will usually place an order of about $30. They believe it, and set out.

At the end of your Tupperware fundraiser, each volunteer turns in orders totaling over $150. Some submit orders totaling $200 or $300. Together, your group sold a total of more than $30,000 retail! Your 40% profit comes to much more than $12,000. You reached your ambitious goal - and Tupperware pays all shipping for Tupperware fundraisers.

Your Tupperware fundraiser was successful. Your public playground will soon be a reality!

Products

Tupperware fundraisers succeed in part because of the product's reputation. Most people are familiar with the Tupperware line of products. Some may have wanted to purchase but did not want to attend a party, or could not find a local dealer.

A Tupperware fundraiser succeeds because you sell exclusive Tupperware products that are not offered in other catalogs. People are eager to get these unique products, and order readily. Baby Boomers, who grew up with Tupperware, are especially positive toward Tupperware fundraisers.

Running a Successful Tupperware Fundraiser

Tupperware fundraisers are simplified by the fact that the company provides everything you need - including a fundraising manager for guidance and advice. There are things you will want to do, though, that go beyond the fundraiser packets.

Here are a few tips to make your Tupperware fundraiser successful.

1. Volunteers should be clearly taught how your project will help the people to whom they hope to sell. Customers want to know "what's in it for me" more than how wonderful the cause itself is. If your Tupperware fundraiser is to raise money for a playground, how will it benefit the Baby Boomer on the corner whose children are grown adults? She may like your Tupperware, but she should also be shown how your playground will benefit her.

2. Volunteers should believe passionately in your cause. They should be so involved that they can see little red and blue swing seats, with happy toddlers running toward them. They should have a keen desire to make that vision come true - a desire that will carry them beyond rejection.

3. Volunteers should believe passionately that your Tupperware fundraiser is the best possible way to raise the money you need. Your fundraiser manager will likely give a demonstration of the products. Be sure every volunteer attends and accepts the product enthusiastically.

4. Teach volunteers to convey the "I like you" message to every potential customer. People like to be liked, and will more readily order from your Tupperware fundraiser volunteers if they appear to like each customer sincerely.

5. With the "I like you" message, convey trustworthiness. The two together tend to convince customers that you have their best interest in mind.

Tupperware fundraisers have been successful for many groups. They can be so for your group, too, but you must work smart to make it happen.

About the Author: Anna Hart. Anna Hart invites you to read more of her articles about Tupperware's products and services at http://www.tupperware-blog.com. If you are eager to learn more about how easy, fun, and successful a Tupperware fundraiser can be, you won't want to miss her other articles on the topic.

Have you heard about Longaberger's fundraiser program?

I love Longaberger's new fundraiser flyer! They offer products with a range of prices...from $6 on up. You will find baskets, gourmet food and more. Please check out their fundraiser flyer at:

Longaberger Fundraiser Flyer

For more information, please check you state for a Longaberger Rep!