Selling Value

In today’s economy, you need an edge if you’re going to raise funds successfully. People are trying to save money not spend it. Think value or “What’s in it for me?” Think about saving them money with 1) discount shopping cards, 2) pizza cards or 3) scratch cards.

 These school fundraisers are successful because they give good value. You’re giving your supporters something tangible with discounts. The discounts are for items that they would normally buy anyway. Who wouldn’t want save money on these items and support the organization.

 So let’s look at how each of these fundraisers works.

 Discount Shopping Card Fundraiser

Sell something of irresistible value with profit margins of up to 90%. That’s what makes discount cards so successful. So what is a discount card?

Discount cards are wallet-sized cards with specific discounts for goods and services in your area. The most successful cards are general shopping cards. These provide discounts like “buy a sandwich, get a free drink”; “$5 a Tires Plus oil change”; and a host of other discounts.   

The card supplier partners with merchants in your area. You can usually select 15 to 25 merchants you want from a list of dozens. Each one will have a specified discount.

Cards cost on average about $5 each. And sell for $10, $15 or $20 depending on the card value and the profit margin. This means using them 2 or 3 times saves the buyer the cost of the card—a no-brainer sale. Cards are valid for 1 year.

Here’s a sample price, volume and profit schedule from one supplier:

Sell 250-499 your cost is $5.00 and profit is 50%.
Sell 500-999 your cost is $3.00 and profit is 70%.

When considering a card supplier, look for these factors:

  • The discount card business is very competitive. Shop around for profit margins above 60%.
  • No upfront payment
  • No minimum order
  • Volume discounts
  • Free shipping
  • Allows you to select the merchants

When raising funds with discount cards, everyone wins—your organization, your supporters and area businesses.
Pizza Card
Grab some of the $3 billion annual pizza business with a pizza card fundraiser. This is another way to make easy sales with big profits.

Most cards are tied to a national chain such as Pizza Hut, Papa Murphy’s, or Domino’s. Cards typically sell for $10 and offer discounts like:

  • Buy any pizza, get one free
  • Buy a large pizza, get a large pizza free
  • Buy a large pizza, get a medium pizza free

Cards cost from $3.50 to $5 each. Some suppliers have partnerships with pizza chains. Others may require you to find that partnership. These suppliers will charge less per card.

The pizza chains sell cards directly. Here’s an example of a Pizza Hut card program:

Cards cost $5 each.

Sell for $10 with discount values of $95.

Each card has 12 peel-off stickers that contain two offers.

  • The stickers are coupons: e.g. Buy any large pizza at menu price, get a medium one-topping pizza free or $5 off a purchase of any large pizza.

Cards are good for 1 year or until the coupons are used up.

 

Scratch Card Fundraiser
Selling scratch off cards is a fun and profitable fundraiser. It’s like playing a lottery scratch card except everyone wins all the time. Here’s how it works.

A card contains about 50 “scratch off” circles. Behind each circle is a donation amount usually between 50 cents and $5. The “scratcher” donates the amount “scratched” and receives a coupon sheet.

The sheets contain coupons from national chains with values often up to $100. This makes the scratch card a win-win for the supporter, organization and local businesses.

Here are several sample coupons from one supplier:

  • Pizza Hut $2 off any large pizza
  • Save $3 on Jiffy Lube oil change
  • 35% off AMC movie theaters
  • 35 Free music downloads from emusic
  • 2 Free cookies at Mrs. Field’s

Purchase cards for $5, $10 or $20 each from scratch card companies. Each card raises $100. Volume discounts are given. And profits range from 50% to 90% depending on volume sold.

 

Summary
In today’s world, it’s not enough to simply ask for donations. Run your school fundraisers with the idea of creating value for your supporters. When you do that, you’ll have success raising money.