Parents What do you prefer to sell as a fundraiser?

[gymmom-n-coach]

Well, I may have put my foot in it...

Our booster club has a fundraiser going on at most times, which are optional, with the proceeds to go into the girls' personal accounts. So far this year, we have done coupon books, Tupperware, Joe Corbi's frozen foods, and are now doing frozen pies. On the schedule for upcoming months are candles, coffee, and Smencil's (scented pencils).

I emailed our fundraising coordinator asking if we can sell roni rolls/hoagies/etc...some type of "lunch food". The reason is because I hate to keep bothering the same people over and over for random items... but I have found it really easy to sell lunch items - just put the sheet out and people will sign up.

I think I upset her though, and now feel really bad! I made sure to tell her that I really appreciate the efforts she's put in. Its a tough job, and impossible to please everyone. I (and a few others, who complained but chose not to tell her their feelings) simply prefer to sell low-cost food items, because I think they are more effective...any opinions?

 

[nettyinpa]

What makes you think you upset her? Our fund-raising people are always open for suggestions. That's the kind of job that you can't be possessive about, you have to be willing to at least listen to other ideas, especially ones that might be successful. Find out all you can about the fundraiser you're interested in and present it to her on paper, with all the facts to back it up, like the amount of profit you'll make on each item. The worst she can do is say no, but is it only up to her? You say you have a booster club so it sounds to me like it should be up to the whole 'club', not just one person, no? JMHO! Good luck!

 

[cathiann]

You guys sell alot of stuff! I know what you mean about bugging the same people though--I just put a sign up at work and if people want it, they'll sign up. Butterbraids have sold the best for me. To address your particular issue--did you suggest a company that sells the lunch items you're looking at? Maybe offering to organize it would help??

 

[gymmom-n-coach]

I did offer to assist - and today she took me up on it! So, I've called all the local pizzaria's to get prices. I'll give it to her tonight at the gym. Hopefully no hurt feelings!

 

[cher062]

two fundraisers in my area that aways do well are
cookie dough and pizza kits.

Our gym doesn't do fundraisers but we are doing what we can to convince the owners otherwise especially in these hard economic times.

here is the cookie one in our area and they ARE GOOD!!! Otis Spunkmeyer Cookie Dough by Aim Fundraising - Otis Spunkmeyer Cookie Dough | School Fundraising | Cookie Dough Fundraising

here is the pizza one Little Caesars Fundraising Program - Little Caesars Pizza

Some of the other fundraisers that do well in the area are

Pizza hut - it has a day and time range you set up to get 25% of the profits during that time. You just have to pass out flyers announcing it and the people just have to bring the flyer in with them.

Applebees - in our area they do pancake breakfasts for any youth organization. they provide the tickets to sell, posters to post, and all the supplies and staff to cook and of course the use of the restaraunt for folks to eat in. You just have to sell the tickets and provide ticket collector/sales person at the door, wait staff and bus boys on the day of the events. Tickets are $5 each and you get $2 or $3 of that sale and Applebees gets the rest to cover the cost of the supplies.

 

[gym monkeys mom]

Our big fundraisers this last year were, Pointsettias at Christmas time, Garage Sale, and Slice night before open gym.

The slice night is before Open Gym that is right after team practice. We get's cooked pizza from a local pizza place for cheap. Then have the parents donate soda at different times during the year. We sell 2 slices and a soda for $5 it takes about 30 mins total and nets between $80- $120. This year we are going to do it every friday and swithc it up a little by doing Subway sometimes or a sub place.

the garage sale was a huge hit we had people dontae thier stuff priced it to sell and made a decent profit for 2 days work.

We do the Christmas one because people buy that stuff anyways and it is an easy deal to sell.

Good Luck

 

[AlexsGymmyMom]

Our gym has great success with TJ's Pizza. Here is a link but I don't know how far they reach. They are a St Louis based company but they have Great Pizza at a great price! TJ's Pizza & FundRaising Co.

Good luck! Fundraising is hard. We are also having a Trivia Night in a couple of weeks so hopefully it is successful!!

 

[Gymdad2]

We have done all of the fund-raisers over the years - pizza kits, cookie dough, christmas wrap, etc, but it seems like we end up selling the same stuff to the same people over and over. Grandma can only bake so many cookies.

We have found that we can make much more money by holding a meet. We also bid every year on state and regional meets. If we get one of those as well as our home meet we make good money. Its takes some time to get a started, but if you put on a good meet (the three rules to a good meet are: 1. have a nice venue with good seating and lighting and fun decorations; 2. have good concessions and nice awards; 3. start and end on time and keep on schedule). If you do these things and promote your meet well, it can be a real money tree. We started with a small meet 9 years ago, just compulsories and 2 sessions, but now we have a full weekend. The other good thinkg about a meet is that everybody participates. There is so much to do ahead of time and so many jobs to be done that weekend that we get everybody involved.

One other comment on booster club fund-raising. I know a lot of clubs put funds directly into dd's account based on the funds raised but you need to be careful. If you are a non-profit registered with the IRs (and most clubs are) then you need to follow IRS rules on how funds can be distributed. Best to check with the IRS or a Tax accountant or attorney to be sure you are doing it within the rules.

 

[sportzmomov3]

A more "passive" way to fundraise is to bring in local vendors and have a bazaar day where they can sell their goods/services/food. The vendors agree to giving back a % of the proceeds to the gym. If your booster club is an IRS approved nonprofit, it's a win-win for everyone. The participating vendors get publicity as supporting a children's organization, they get a tax write-off, and the gym gets money! An even easier option is to hold a fundraising event at a local business that provides some type of service - maybe a spa-night for moms- again, a % of proceeds goes back to the gym. These are more FUNdraisers and you're not directly soliciting anyone.

Good luck!

 

[snowbound]

Our gym rarely sells stuff. For the last ten years we have done a fundraiser called "night at the races" where you sell "horses" (it's a ticket- you get to pick the name for the horse)and then for each race they show a video of an actual race. they number the tickets before the race begins, and the people holding the number of the winning horse get some money. There was also a cost for the ticket to get in, and for drinks, but food was included. It was kind of fun, but it was getting old.

This year they are doing a comedy night. they have booked a local reception hall, and they are selling tickets for dinner and a show or just a show...some local company has produced it, so all we have to do is sell the tickets and maybe come up with some raffle prizes.

The last two years the fund-raisers have not covered any of the gymnast expenses (before that they did) but this year they said that from the ticket profit we will get to split it 50-50 with the gym to cover meet fees. I think this is going to be fun!
Snowbound

 

[mtbmom]

Candy works the best for me. I sell $20-30 every night at work. But... I work in a 32 bed ICU... So there are a LOT of people. And everyone gets the munchies around midnight.

Right now, I'm out of candy due to gym shutdown in early September. I have a lot of disappointed customers!

And good grief if the lady is upset because you had a fundraising idea, she is nuts. Some people like to be in control.

 

[iggy1988]

I concur with Gymdad, we have a very big meet every year that goes for 3 days. It takes a lot of work and volunteers but we do raise a good deal of money that goes into our team fund.

We also have one big fundraiser and that is our silent auction. We always sell out the event and it is great opportunity for mom and dad to get a nice night out. It takes a lot of work as well but a very nice payoff for our booster club..

Sean