Fundraising Solutions
Programs And Selling Tips To Help Raise More Money For Youth Sports
By Marcia Bradford
When the Hollywood AllStars began making plans to attend the Top of the World cheerleading and dance competition, held in Anchorage last March, the squad faced a challenge of raising approximately $35,000 to cover all the costs involved. Fortunately, this cheer and dance team from the Indianapolis area had a lot of enthusiastic participants and parents who pitched in and got the job done, according to Coach Patrick Cowherd.
“One of the fundamental principles of this group is that we don’t refuse anyone who wants to participate but can’t afford it,” he said. “There are some parents willing and able to write a check to cover such things as tournament participation, others who can’t pay anything and many who pay part of the cost. The difference is made up through fundraising.”
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Steps To Fundraising Success
Representatives from various fundraising companies offered these tips to help youth sports groups with their fundraising efforts. • Assess your needs and resources by listing everything you hope to achieve, such as the purchase of new sports equipment or travel costs. • Determine the amount of money needed and when it is needed. • Make a list of resources, such as number of volunteers and available selling locations. • Know your fundraising product so you will be able to answer questions. • Show enthusiasm for your fundraising product and keep your goals in mind. • Begin by selling to family and friends to build confidence. • KISS – Keep It Short and Simple. • Identify why you are raising money—people love to support a good cause. • Never go door-to-door alone. • Look good; dress for success. • Smile. • Always be polite. For more information: Fundraising With Flowers www.fundraisingwithflowers.com (866) 478-3598 Smart Circle www.smartcirclefundraising.com |
One of the newest types of fundraising that Cowherd has had great success with involves time-share sales. Parents, relatives and friends of cheer and dance participants agree to attend a 90-minute sales presentation on the time-share and then donate to the team the $100 gift they received for doing so. His group has raised about $60,000 from this approach, Cowherd said.
When it comes to getting kids and their parents to participate in fundraising, Cowherd said he often wins them over with a simple argument. “I’m a big believer in Karma,” he said. “I point out that being part of a team is all about helping each other, and if you help a kid today, maybe someone will help your kid if you fall on hard times and can’t afford the cost of your kid being on a team.”
Blooms For Boosters
In 2006, when Gardens Alive, a mail-order company specializing in bulbs and perennials for more than 30 years, decided to diversify into fundraising, the first group to test the idea was a youth soccer team from Dayton, Ohio. “I know that it works because I have three kids who play youth soccer and used ‘Fundraising With Flowers’ to raise money for their teams,” said Craig Harmer, director of fundraising for Gardens Alive.
Like many other types of fundraising drives, “Fundraising With Flowers” involves kids making door-to-door sales, or reaching out to family, friends and co-workers of parents. They collect the money for the products sold, including a $3 shipping fee, and keep a percentage of the profits based on the total units sold. Gardens Alive ships the flowers directly to the people who placed orders and handles any problems that may arise. “The fact that the kids and their parents don’t have to make the deliveries has been a big advantage for these products,” Harmer said. “Also, a lot of people like these products because they aren’t food and are competitively priced.”
In the spring, 150 teams sold bulbs and perennials from Gardens Alive to raise money, Harmer said, adding that approximately 20 percent of the fundraising division’s business comes from youth sports groups. Typically, a team can raise about $500 per seasonal sale, while a league or a group of teams from a specific area can raise about $3,000.
Discounts Drive Sales
Discount cards provide a fundraising opportunity that benefits both buyer and seller, according to Cindy Seguro, quality assurance leader for Dallas-based Smart Circle International. “It’s easy to raise funds when you sell something of quality that customers want or need and at values they couldn’t get on their own,” she said. “Smart Circle provides groups a way to make more money with fewer sales and offers them the option of selling over the Internet or by e-mail rather than making door-to-door sales.”
Smart Circle International specializes in referral worldwide marketing for major companies, building traffic through enhanced brand loyalty, filling unused capacity and generating new customers; Smart Circle Fundraising is one of the networks used in this marketing effort, Seguro said. “Smart Circle negotiates with top-notch partners in a community so that youth sports groups, among others, can sell exciting values on name brands that people know and love, such as Pizza Hut and discount cards to Texas Rangers games.”
Groups interested in Smart Circle Fundraising provide basic information, such as their name, address, a contact person and their fundraising purpose, and Smart Circle matches the fundraising groups with appropriate discount cards. Groups can purchase cards upfront at 50 percent off the retail cost (Smart Circle agrees to buy back any unsold cards) or take orders for the cards using order forms and materials personalized for individual groups, Seguro said. On average, groups make $12 to $15 per card and, while there are no minimum or maximum limits, free shipping is offered for more than 100 cards.
Smart Circle discount cards include offers valued at 10 times their normal cost, Seguro said, adding that restaurants and pizzerias offer meals valued at $250 for only $20, or tickets to professional basketball and hockey games valued at $450 for only $40. “These are values customers find very attractive, but they are available only inside the ‘Smart Circle.’”
Partnership Programs
Many national and international companies have formed partnerships with national sports organizations, which allows local and regional teams to tap into existing programs rather than starting their fundraising efforts from scratch. USA Hockey, for example, partners with Reader’s Digest/QSP (Quality Service Programs) to help raise money for local youth sports groups around the country. Through Reader’s Digest/QSP, participants have the opportunity to offer magazine subscriptions for more than 650 publications at up to 85 percent off the cover price. Through eFundraising, a division of Reader’s Digest/QSP, a program called eMagNet enables players to send e-mail messages about their team’s fundraising activities to family and friends. According to Nancy Nardella, director of media relations for eFundraising, the e-mail message directs recipients to the team’s customized website, where they can purchase magazine subscriptions; 40 percent of the proceeds will be returned to the local team or league.
The eMagNet program also includes the sales of specialized scratch cards, chocolates and gifts, Nardella said. “The scratch cards offer supporters valuable brand-name coupons in return for selecting nominal contribution amounts. Ninety percent of the funds collected from this are given back to the local program.”
Established as the Universal Fundraising Group in 1991, eFundraising has helped more than 11,000 groups in North America raise more than $70 million, according to Eric Boyko, president of eFundraising, based in Montreal. “Experienced fundraising consultants and field sales representatives are available to help USA Hockey and other programs with all their fundraising needs.”
Chuck Menke, media relations director of USA Hockey, based in Edina, Minn., said that eFundraising programs are important ways “to help local programs meet the necessary annual costs associated with playing our sport.”