Nonprofit Fundraising - Where Do the Funds Come From?

It is important to understand where the majority of funds come from for nonprofits. Individual donors are the number one source of funding for nonprofits. In 2005, individual gifts amounted to almost two hundred billion dollars. Because that is such an impressive number it's always good to focus on individual giving before moving on to explore other options.

Corporations are the second largest contributors to nonprofit fundraising. Most corporations seek publicity, exposure and respect in return for their gifts. The key factor to keeping your faithful corporate donors and to bringing in new corporate donors is finding creative ways to provide the public promotion they desire. Corporate funding has proven to work especially well for events or short-term projects.

If your nonprofit organization benefits the people of your area, especially social service programs and providers of education; government funds may be available to you. It is always worth checking to see if your organization qualifies.

Grants from foundations are another major way many nonprofits receive necessary funding. There may include private, corporate, community, and family foundations that provide grants to worthy organizations. Nonprofit organizations will benefit by employing someone on staff that is savvy in grant writing.

Two Major Fundraising Categories Considered by Nonprofits

• Ongoing Funding includes things like the annual fund, ongoing product and service sales, and multi-year grants. The support from these sources continues to provide funds all year. And, they are considered unrestricted. They do however; involve some extra attention throughout the course of a year.
• Episodic Funding includes particular grants, special events, or bequests. The support from these sources is usually restricted in their purpose, as they are devoted to the unrestricted use by the nonprofit.

Two Important Types of Fundraisers Nonprofits Consider

Beyond Ongoing and Episodic fundraising methods, there are two other important types of fundraising:

• Capital Campaigns are multi-year fundraisers that have specific goals, such as new building construction, medical research projects, endowments, and many other specific objectives.
• Planned Giving is the other type of support. Many nonprofits have introduced planned giving campaigns to enable donors to give large gift amounts while receiving income or confer gifts at the time of their death. Both of these special types of fundraisers supplement the usual ongoing and episodic fundraisers to help nonprofits accomplish more during the year.
  

The most successful nonprofits have a balance of all these fundraising strategies, even though unrestricted, ongoing funds are the most important to secure. Not exploring the other sources of funding however, can deny nonprofits potential resources. When you establish a solid goal and construct a serious, nonprofit fundraising plan to meet those goals, then your organization will have the potential to grow and thrive in the future.

Fundraising for school and school groups has become a huge business now. In fact, you can look through your local yellow pages and search all of the major internet search engines and find tons of companies specializing in fundraising for schools.

So how do you choose a company to work with on your fundraising events at your school? Here are some things you should consider when choosing one:

• Does the company have experience working with school groups like yours? With such a large number of different types of fundraising groups, make sure the company you choose has worked with similar sized groups.
• What profit potential can you expect when fundraising for your school? School wide fundraisers should expect to earn at least a 40 percent profit margin on their sales. There are plenty of options that offer profits in excess of 50 percent. Do not settle for less unless there is a particular product you feel strongly about and are willing to sell for lower profits.
• Does the company provide all materials your school needs for fundraising? Are order forms free? Do they provide kick off letters and everything else that explains all aspects of your school fundraising program?
• How and when do you pay? Are there specific products that need to be paid in advance? Do they have pre sell or brochure fundraisers that do not require any up front investment?
• Does the company accept purchase orders on fundraising for schools?

Once you have the above information you can begin to narrow down the companies that are want to work with on your school fundraising project. At this point it is time to choose the best fundraising program for your school.

The major decision now is whether to do a direct sale or brochure sale for your school fundraiser. Here is the difference in the two types of fundraisers:

• Direct sale: If you choose direct selling you will be purchasing a product that your participants will have in their possession to hand directly to customers when making the sale. The most common items in this category are candy, lollipops and pizza cards. Profit potential ranges from 35% up to 90% on pizza cards.
• Pre sell or brochure sales: In this category members of your group uses brochures and order forms to sell merchandise. You collect the money in advance and, at the end of your sale, tally all the order forms and money together to place a bulk order. Once your bulk order is delivered, the merchandise is then delivered to the customer.

Armed with the above information, you are ready to begin fundraising for school and school groups.

Little leagues are a great way for children to spend their time. By playing sports, kids are able to stay active and learn many skills such as sportsmanship and physical fitness. As mentioned, though, this would not be possible without fundraising. The fees that the parents pay for their child to participate generally aren’t enough to cover the day-to-day expenses of the league. Therefore, league fundraising comes into play.

Fundraising within a league, whether it is a sports league or a math league, is something that needs to happen in order for the organization to survive. There are many things that take place behind the scenes that require additional money from time to time. Thank goodness there are many different ideas for fundraising within a league.

Some of these ideas include selling candy or discount cards. Candy is one of the top fundraisers for organizations such as little leagues; however, it is not always the most profitable fundraiser. Discount cards, on the other hand, such as the Domino's pizza card, give the organization the ability to make 90% profit. If you are going to do a fundraiser, why not do something that is going to make you the most money.

When a league is going to do a fundraiser, they must first designate a leader. This individual will be in charge of all that takes place regarding the fundraiser from the start to the finish. Although fundraising can be very easy, there are a few things to keep in mind. One is to make sure that it is the best fundraiser for you. For instance, depending on the league and the ages of the participants, one fundraiser might work out better than another. Adults might not want to go door to door selling cookie dough and feel that a donation system such as scratch cards would work best, while children might enjoy selling the cookie dough better than carrying a card around for people to scratch dots.

No matter the league, fundraising is a great way to help make ends meet. Many leagues add the cost of the fundraiser into the registration fees and then give the fundraising products to the participants for them to sell if they would like to make money back. This allows for the league to get their money up front instead of having to wait and collect money at a later date. However you do it, remember to do research first in order to determine what fundraiser would be the best for your league.

Pre-sell Fundraising Brochures and Catalogs

Easy Fundraising Ideas offers a wide range of fundraising brochures and catalogs for all types of products. Some of the brochures are extremely simple one page forms that consist of the product photo on the front and the detailed order form on the back. This is the most basic type of fund raising brochure.

Fund Raising with Seasonal Sellers Brochures

Other pre sell programs like seasonal sellers can be 30 to 50 page fundraising brochures filled with photos and descriptions of gift items and gift wrap. These books are designed to be used as sales tools so that your customers can easily see the merchandise you are selling. Seasonal shoppers fundraising catalogs are full of wonderful products any group would be pleased to offer.

Fundraising Brochures Makes the Sell for You

A brochure fundraiser is super easy. Instead of having the actual merchandise on hand, the fund raising participants use the brochures to show the products your group is selling. By simply showing your customers the fund raising brochures the products' pictures and descriptions sell themselves. As your customers make their selections from the brochure they simply record their order inside the brochure on the order form and pay you their total amount due. Your group collects all the money as you pre sell from the brochure.

Pre-Sell Brochures Produce Quick Profits

At the end of your selling period, which we suggest last for two weeks; you retrieve all the brochure order forms and the money collected from all your fundraising participants. Then you place a bulk order for all the items sold. You use part of the collected money to pay for the merchandise you are ordering – thus, no need for your group to have money up front before starting your fundraiser. After paying for the merchandise the rest of the money is the profit your group earned. You know immediately what your profit is and, that money is available instantly. Typical profits on brochure fundraising can range from 30% to more than 60%. We have worked with elementary schools, junior and senior high school groups, booster clubs, bands, cheerleading groups, sports leagues and teams, church groups and many other fund raising groups. Recognizing the simplicity of this fundraising program and the profits earned because of it many of those groups choose a new fundraising brochure every year for their main fundraising event.

Fundraising Candy Sales vs. The Vending Machines

The profitable and easy-to-sell fundraising candy bar made good sense to many fund raising groups. And it was a great marketing tool for the candy bar manufacturers as well. Did you know that once upon a time, fundraising candy bars was larger than the candy which was sold in vending machines and in candy stores? People buying those larger candy bars from fundraising groups were thrilled with the deal they were getting and everyone was happy. That is the way it was until the price of chocolate began to rise. Then it became apparent that fund raising candy could no longer be priced at one dollar per bar and remain bigger than the vending machine candy bars. The manufacturers considered raising the price of the fund raising candy to $1.25 instead of a dollar but research showed that people would not support a higher price point. The only other alternative was to shrink the size of the candy.

Candy Wrappers Benefit Fund Raisers and Customers

In order to maintain the competitiveness necessary, the candy manufacturers started offering incentives to fundraisers and their customers. The fundraising groups selling their candy and the customers who were buying the candy bars both benefited. Hershey's began offering one dollar off Subway sandwich coupons on the wrappers of each of their fundraising candy. The thought was that the customer could get the full cost of their purchase back by using the coupon at their local Subway Restaurant. Hershey's also included extra coupons for Foot Locker in each fundraising candy carrier as an incentive to be uses as needed by the fundraisers. Those incentives did in fact make the fundraising candy more marketable over the candy available in vending machines or a discount store which was sold at the same or at lower prices. These coupons also revived the market for fundraising candy.

A New Brand of Easy-to-Sell Fund Raising Candy

During the chocolate price turmoil, companies like Van Wyk Confections capitalized by creating new brands of candy that were larger in size and could still be sold for one dollar. Van Wyk developed the Original One Dollar Bar that now claims to be the largest one dollar chocolate fundraising candy bar available.

Recently the sale of fundraising candy has made a strong comeback and is beginning to show real strength and growth. That is great news to all the groups that have come to depend on fund raising candy for their main fund raiser.

Easy to Sell Cookie Dough Makes Good Fundraisers

For the most part, the cookie dough fundraiser is a pre sell or brochure type fundraiser. That means your group uses the cookie dough fundraisers order forms to sell cookie dough to family, friends, neighbors and others. You collect your money as you sell so there is no need for upfront cash.

Most frozen cookie dough fundraisers offer eight or more different flavor options. The cookie dough comes either in tubs or in boxes of pre portioned one ounce cookies. The prices may vary depending on the flavor and type of packaging you choose for your fund raising group.

Duration of Your Cookie Dough Fundraiser

The typical cookie dough fundraisers usually last for two weeks. During that time, orders are taken and cash collected by all those participating in the fundraiser. At the end of the sale, all the order forms are tallied together and a bulk order is placed with your fundraising cookie dough supplier.

Most cookie dough supplier will provide you with a pre determined delivery date. That is important since the cookie dough will come frozen and your participants and their customers will want to know exactly when the dough will be delivered.

Fundraisers That Generate Big Profits

A cookie dough fundraiser can generate profit percentages between 30% and 60%. The profit percentage is usually dependent on the number of tubs or boxes that your group sells. The more tubs you order the lower your price and the higher your profit. It is simple as that.

Fundraising Benefits With Cookie Dough

Many groups enjoy the benefits of a cookie dough fundraising program. They enjoy the fact that people will buy year after year, all year round. They like that there is no money required up front. And, of course, they like how easy cookie dough is to sell. Overall cookie dough fund raising receives very high marks from most fundraising groups.

Cookie Dough Delivery Day

There is a small down side to frozen cookie dough fundraisers though. Delivery day can be stressful because you are receiving a frozen product. This however, is not nearly as difficult as some may think. Arranging sufficient freezer storage beforehand can completely eliminate this concern.

Get the Fundraising Scoop from the Cookie Dough Supplier

When you are ready to get started, here are some fund raising questions to ask your cookie dough supplier:

• Do I have to pay anything in advance?
• Are the order forms free?
• Is there a minimum order?
• Are there any charges for delivery or shipping?

With any fund raising option, you may have a lot of questions; therefore, you may want to consider a business plan for fundraising. Once you are satisfied with the terms and conditions we know you will love the simplicity and the profits from cookie dough fundraisers.

There are a few reasons schools do hold the same fundraiser every year. Some are good positive reasons while others may be counter productive.

The obvious benefit of annual fundraisers is that people come to expect them and support them. A few examples of school annual fundraisers include carnivals, cookie dough sales and gift catalogs. When our children were in elementary school, the PTA held an annual carnival in the early fall season. Everyone who ever attended the school knew about the carnival and when it would be held and actually looked forward to it. All the students and their families attended and you would even see some old kids from junior high or even high school attending the carnival so they could see their old teachers. Carnivals, though, required a ton of work and volunteers. The PTA began work on the next carnival almost immediately after counting the proceeds from the current year.

Many elementary schools hold an annual school cookie dough fundraiser. Cookie dough fundraising has become so popular that in most cases it has become the main source of funds for many schools and PTA's. The schools that do really well at it plan the event to be held at the same time every year. They advertise it as an annual fund raiser and promote it well in advance to make sure every one in the neighborhood knows about it.

The schools that promote annual fundraising events get great results because new comers to the school know about the fundraiser before even attending and know they will participate. They may have supported other students by purchasing cookie dough. But the most important thing that makes school annual fundraisers so important is that people know about them. If you constantly change dates or products you must educate your supporters about this year's fundraiser. But if you have a fundraiser that has worked well in the past, promoting it as an annual event may be the perfect way to take advantage and build upon that success.

How Long to Hold a Fundraiser?

People ask us all the time, how long they should hold their fundraising programs. Our answer for all fundraisers is simply; two weeks! Here is why we suggest that:

1. We believe that less than two weeks is just not enough time for people to really get started on a fundraiser. And, you will probably not get the maximum number of sales in a period of time less than two weeks, thus your fundraiser is not as profitable as it could be.


2. Fundraisers lasting longer than two weeks run the risk of giving people so much time that the sense of urgency is lost. With no sense of urgency people do not feel motivated to get started and some people might never start. Giving young children a month to do anything is like giving them a life time.


3. Another reason to hold a two week fundraiser is the amount of time between the start of your fund raiser and the delivery of the fundraising product. If your group has a cookie dough fundraiser and someone buys cookie dough from you on the first day of a two week sale they will most likely be waiting four weeks for delivery. As a responsible fundraiser you do not want those good people who have supported your fundraising effort to wait any longer than four week to receive their cookies.

Choosing the Best Fund Raising Product

The next fundraising tip is to have group participation when it comes time to decide which fund raising product you choose. When people have a say in what product they will be selling they are likely to sell more. You want your participants to take ownership in the fund raising event and the best way to do that is to give them a say in the fundraising products.

A Fundraising Goal Helps Establish Success

You also want to make sure you set goals. If each person sells 25 items in your fundraiser but your need was for each person to sell 50 items, the fundraising event would not successful. Now, if each person sells 10 items but the goal was for each person to sell five items you would have a successful fundraiser. As you can see the first event would be deemed a disappointment even though each person sold more items.

Be realistic but optimistic; set a reasonable fund raising goal. Make sure everyone understands the goal, that way they know what is expected of them individually.

We believe these simple fundraising tips will help you get off to a good start and a successful fundraiser!

Give Your Fundraiser Results a Boost with Incentives

Many fundraising groups offer incentives to help drive up sales. The problem with most incentive programs is that they are geared towards rewarding the top seller. We believe that your top seller will be your top seller whether you reward them or not. But, if you make an incentive available to each of the participates we feel sure you will see better fund raising results. So why not motivate all your participants with an incentive and boost your fundraising outcome too.

Here is a great idea on how to enhance the results of your next fundraiser in a way you may not have thought of:

Choose a great age appropriate prize that each of your participants would like to win. For example, an Apple IPOD could be an appropriate prize for a Junior High age group.

Tell your fund raisers that anyone can qualify to win the IPOD by simply selling 5 tubs of a frozen cookie dough fundraiser, or 5 fundraising pizza cards as a great way to boost fundraiser results or 5 carriers of a candy fundraiser to experience a better outcome. You set the selling quantity based on your fundraising goal. Now each time a participant sells the predetermined quantity just add their name into your incentive drawing. Their name will be added each additional time they sell the determined amount. The more they sell the better their odds of winning.

Be careful to set the selling standard low enough that everyone can reach the entry point but high enough to be profitable. Your top sellers will still be your top sellers and will have the best odds of winning the prize. But hopefully everyone will have their name in the drawing at least once. You want the greatest number of people participating to maximize your fundraiser results.

1. Make sure you have a brochure that clearly shows all the flavors you are selling. The brochures for our cookie dough products can be found at the following links:
   • Chippery Tubs cookie dough fundraiser
   • Chippery pre-formed cookie dough fundraising
   • Dry Cookie Dough Mix fund raiser
2. Keep you brochure with you at all times.
3. Talk to people about how good the cookie dough
4. Tell potential customers which flavors are your favorite
5. Be sure to provide a definitive delivery date
6. Let supporters know about how easy frozen cookie dough is to prepare
7. Let people know why you are raising money
8. Be sure to identify your group
9. When someone places an order with you, thank them and ask if they know anyone else that would like to buy frozen cookie dough
10. For students, see if other people at your school who are participating in the sale will help you sell.
11. Ask parents to take your brochure to their office and show it to all coworkers
12. Be sure to put up signs wherever possible telling people about your sale
13. Let people know what you will do with the money you raise
14. Sell the dough at reasonable prices
15. Create hand drawn posters to get more attention
16. Remind people about upcoming holidays when they might want to bake cookies
17. If your group has a newsletter, be sure to talk about your sale in it
18. Get together with your friends and ask them to help you sell
19. Host a family gathering where you can have a free tasting party
20. Have a taste off at your church or religious center
21. Ask local businesses to let you advertise your sale
22. Set up a booth at your school or organization with brochures and products on display
23. Ask you local video store if you can set up the same type of booth in front of their store
24. Consider selling in the early fall to right after Christmas so you are not selling when most other groups are
25. Give prizes to people in your group that sell 10 or more tubs

1. Pick a day of the week when the largest number of walkers can participate.
2. Choose a fun place to hold your walk-a-thon event.
3. Consider parks or other places of attraction that draws a large number of people.
4. Set a specific goal for the walkers to accomplish such as 10 laps or 5 miles.
5. Make sure everyone knows what you are raising money for.
6. Advertise the Walk-a-thon by placing posters around your school, office or buildings.
7. Plan the event well in advance, have plenty of time for the participants to sign up.
8. Make it easy for the participants to sign up.
9. Be aggressive in recruiting walkers to help raise money.
10. Try to provide refreshments at the event. Possibly ask walkers to bring a case of bottled water to share. Local merchants may want to help supply refreshments as a show of support for your fundraiser, they may also like the opportunity to advertise at your fundraising event.

11. Ask all the walkers to wear a certain color or type of common apparel, hat or cap to create a team atmosphere. This will also help identify the walkers.
12. We suggest Saturday as the best day of the week to hold event fundraising such as a walk-a-thon.
13. Contact other similar groups to see if they will participate in your fundraising events.
14. Ask local merchants to offer prizes for drawings and awards.
15. Make sure walkers contact as many sponsors as possible.
16. Make it easy for people to pay their donations or pledges.
17. Use an online service like that offered at Choose-a-thon
18. If possible allow people to pay with credit cards.
19. Request as many lump sum donations as possible.
20. Make sure to ask all sponsors if they know other potential sponsors and contact them.

We feel sure these 20 walk-a-thon fundraiser ideas will give you a good start in planning your next fundraising event.

State Clearly the Reason Your Youth Group is Raising Money!

• This may sound basic but many groups never rally their members around a specific goal, and therefore never attain the results that are needed. For example, more people will generously support your youth group fundraisers if you say you are raising money for a mission trip or for specific projects rather than just saying you are short on money. By giving supporters information such as; the dates of the mission trip, where your youth group is going and what you hope to accomplish will involve supporters in your efforts.

Create Some Competition Among Your Youth Group!

• Everyone has some competitive juices. Even those who are not typically competitive alone will do more to support their team. We suggest all youth fundraiser groups divide up into teams and have a friendly competition to see who can raise the most. Prizes will help motivate the groups and many prizes don't need to cost anything. One suggestion could be that the groups that sell the least have to wash the cars of the group selling the most. Another possibility could be the winning group being served a meal which the other team members cook, serve and clean up after. You get the idea. Make the winning group feel special.

Choose a Product Relevant to Your Fund Raiser

• Consider our Walk with Jesus youth group candle fundraiser. This candle line is designed specifically for Christians, Churches, CE departments, and youth leaders. Your members will love selling these candles with the scriptural themes and specific Bible verse on each one. It is the perfect fundraiser for churches and faith-based schools. Here are three other great product choices that work well for youth group fundraisers:
• Youth Group Scratch Cards
• Premium Coffee Fundraisers
• M&M's One Stop Candy Shop Fundraiser Candy

If your youth group needs to raise money, we invite you to contact one of our fundraising specialists toll free (866) 874-8383. Or click here for a FREE FUNDRAISING CATALOG so you can review 24 pages of different fundraising options. Start planning your next youth group fundraiser.

Volleyball Fundraising Idea #1 - Domino's Pizza Fundraising Cards

This is the best volleyball fundraiser no matter how many people are selling. Why? Because the profits are extremely high and the cost to hold the fundraiser is very low. The program is simple. You are selling Buy One Get One Free Domino's Pizza cards good for a free medium one topping when you purchase a large one topping for $10 each. The card can be used up to 20 times. Your cost for the card is as little as $1 each. That means you can make 90% profit. The minimum order is only 25 cards and shipping is free. That's why we think this is the absolute best volleyball fund raiser.

Volleyball Fundraising Idea #2 - Volleyball Scratch Off Cards

If your team or group is looking to raise a lot of money, this might be your best option. Fundraising scratch cards are the perfect way to raise $100 per player. Players get potential sponsors to scratch off 2 of 50 concealed dots on the cards. It will reveal amounts between $.50 and $3.00. The sponsor is asked to donate that amount of money and, in return, they are given a sheet of valuable coupons as a thank you gift. The great thing about scratch card fundraising is that you have no product to deliver after the sale. You can carry the card in your pocket. And your group makes up to 90% profit!

Volleyball Fundraising Idea #3 - Premium Coffee for Volleyball Fundraising

Since volleyball fundraisers are typically held in the fall or early winter, this may be the right choice for your team. It is a pre-sell fundraiser, meaning you pre-sell using order forms we provide free of charge, collect the money as you pre-sell and then place one bulk order when your sale is complete. If you choose this option, you will be offering ground coffee in one-pound vacuum-sealed bags for $10. Your group makes 40% profit.

We want your volleyball fundraisers to be winners. Give us a call toll free (866) 874-8383 if we can help. Or, click here and we will send you a FREE 24-page catalog with details of all of our fundraising ideas.

But how does a group of individuals that have been spread out throughout the country work together to raise money? Of course they can just make cash donations. But that is not always possible. There is one perfect university alumni club fundraising idea that we would like the share with you.

We suggest you consider selling Domino's Pizza Fundraising Cards! Why?

• The cards can be used at more than 2,500 participating stores throughout the country. Click here to see a list of participating stores. In fact, there are participating stores in nearly every single state. That means the same product can be sold in New York, Texas or California or most any other state.
• The cards generate extremely high profits. You sell the cards for $10. Alumni groups pay as little as $1 each, giving you up to 90% profit.
• The cards offer real value to potential supporters. The holder of the card gets a free medium 1 topping pizza each time they purchase a large 1-topping pizza. It can be used up to 20 times. That means the card offers a value of over $150!
• The card lasts for a long time. The expiration is typically more than one year from the date you purchase them. That means there is no pressure to sell them before they melt or ruin.
• You do not have to make a large initial investment. The minimum order is only 25 cards. Buy as many or as few as you are comfortable purchasing. You can always buy more as you sell them.

University alumni club fundraising ideas no longer need be difficult. Click here to purchase your Domino's Free Pizza Cards today!

Please click here to request a free fundraising kit for your sports group.

Sell Scratch Cards for your Next Team Fundraiser:

• We have fundraising scratch cards for all major sport team categories
• Your group will make up to 90% profit
• We customize your scratch cards for your group
• Shipping is absolutely free

Team Fundraisers That Require No Money Upfront:

• Consider selling cookie dough, premium coffee or candles for your next team fundraising event
• We provide free order forms to pre-sell with
• You collect your money as you pre-sell, so there is no need for any upfront money
• You can qualify for free shipping on all fundraisers

Sell Candy for your Next Team Fundraiser:

• We have great candy favorites from M&M's, Hershey's and the Original One Dollar Bar
• We stock candy in 24 regional warehouses for fast shipping
• Minimum orders are as low as one case
• Shipping is free

Last year alone we helped more than 4,000 groups plan fundraising events. If you would like to discuss your fundraising activities, call us toll free (866) 874-8383.

Why do we highly recomend Softball Team Scratch Off Fundraisers?

They are extremely profitable and simple to use. Here is how they work: Each player gets one scratch card containing 50 concealed dots. The scratch card is good for baseball or softball. Players get people to scratch off two of the dots and ask for the amount revealed as a donation to the softball team. In return for the donation, the player gives that person a sheet of valuable coupons from national sponsors as a thank you gift.

Each card raises $100. If you need to raise more money than that simply buy more than one card per player. The cost per card is as little as $10 each, giving you 90% profit. Shipping is free too!

Check out our ALL NEW! Softball Scratch off card!

If you are interested in softball team scratch off fundraisers call toll free (866) 874-8383 today.

If you would like to consider some other easy fundraising ideas for softball teams, here are a few suggestions:

• Softball Candy Fundraisers
• Frozen Cookie Dough
• A great alternative to scratch off cards is to try one of our custom discount cards for softball teams

Hopefully we have provided you the information you need to make the best choice for your next fundraising product. If you would like more information, click here for a FREE information packet or call us toll free (866) 874-8383.

He had found sites with great baseball fundraising ideas and most all other sports, but none that focused on holding a softball fundraiser.

This article will quickly identify our top softball fund raising ideas and briefly touch on how to make sure you get the most for your effort. Our top softball fundraisers are:

• Softball scratch off fund raising cards
• M&M's Variety Pack candy fund raising
• Dry Mix Cookie Dough Fund raiser

The best way to make sure your team or league gets the most out of its fundraising effort is to plan in advance and get people involved early on. Remember, you are looking for a fundraiser for a team sport. Make it a team effort.

How do you make it a team effort? First you need to identify a team goal. Make the team goal as specific as possible. We want to hold this fundraiser to pay for our new uniforms. If we don't raise the money, you will have to pay for the uniforms yourself. In order to achieve the goal, each new uniform will cost $50. There are 15 people on the team. That means you need to raise $750.

By going through the simple exercise above, you will have set a specific goal - raising $750 for uniforms. You will also have made it a team goal since the amount needed would take care of all the players on the team. Now everyone is responsible for helping out the team buy new uniforms.

The second thing that helps teams wanting to raise money is by making the fundraising effort a contest and rewarding the friendly competitive spirit among teammates. One suggestion might be that the person with the lowest sales has to clean and polish the top-sellers shoes for 3 weeks. This plan results in players will not wanting to be the worst seller and thereby creating better participation from everyone. And, the reward of recognition for the top seller will motivate everyone to sell a little more.

Pick one of our three suggested softball fund raising ideas above and create a competitive spirit working for a common goal and you will be well on your way to exceeding your fundraising goals.

Playing softball can be an expensive proposition. If you don't play softball you probably have no idea how expensive new bats and other equipment can be. If you want to be competitive, you need to make sure you have the best equipment. Here are some softball fundraiser ideas to help pay for the equipment, league fees, umpire fees, travel costs and other expenses.

Softball Fundraisers Team Scratch Cards

We suggest softball scratch off fundraising cards as the top softball fundraiser.

Scratch cards provide the highest possible profits for your team. Each player is given one card which will raise $100. Your cost is as low as $10 each, giving you 90% profit. Players get supporters to scratch off 2 of 50 concealed dots. A donation for the revealed amount is given and the player gives the supporter a sheet of valuable national coupons as a thank you gift.

There are sports specific graphics for scratch cards and each card is personalized with your team name.

Dominos Pizza Fundraising Cards for Softball Fundraisers

This is one of the best softball fundraising ideas because the cards are accepted at more than 2,000 participating stores throughout the United States. If your team travels you can take your cards with you and use them or sell them on the road.

How often does your team stop for a bite to eat after a game? Just think about how much money you can raise and also save on meals!

Other Softball Fundraising Ideas:

• M&M's Candy Fundraising
• Sports Lollipop for Softball Fundraisers
• Premium Coffee Fundraising

Whether this is your first season raising money or you are a seasoned pro, Easy Fundraising Ideas has all the options needed for softball fundraisers!

Different teams choose different paths. The good news is that Easy Fundraising Ideas has great ideas for either option.

Before choosing the right product, you should answer these questions about your fundraising goals:

• Does your league want something simple that takes little planning or organization?
• Does your team want to raise funds only when specific needs arise?
• How much money does your soccer association really need?

In this article, we will identify a few soccer fundraising programs that will work no matter how you answered the above questions.

Soccer Fund Raiser: Soccer Lollipops

The first soccer fundraising idea is great for groups that do not need to make a lot of money and don't mind allowing the program to run throughout the season. Consider selling soccer lollipops at practices and games.

These great lollipops sell for only $.50 each. They are shaped like little soccer balls and are favorites with soccer fans. Because of the low price, many people will buy more than one at a time. They lollipops come in an assortment of flavors. You buy them in master cases of 576 lollipops. Your cost is only $.25 each so you are doubling your money. The good news about soccer lollipops is that there is only a one case minimum, so you do not have to over buy and shipping is FREE.

Sports lollipops are available in most major sports too!

Soccer Fund Raiser: Soccer Scratch Off Cards

The second soccer fundraising idea is perfect for leagues and teams that need to raise a lot of money quickly and do not have a lot of money to pay for fundraising products.

Each soccer scratch card raises $100. Typically, you give each player on of the fundraising cards. The cards come with 50 concealed dots. Players get supporters to scratch off two of the dots and ask for a donation equal to the revealed amount. Donations would range from $1 to $6. In return for the donation to the soccer team, the player would give them a sheet of valuable national coupons as a thank you gift.

The great thing about scratch cards is that there is no delivery after the sale. There is no real useful shelve life, although you do need to watch for the expiration dates on the coupon sheet. They are easy to carry. In fact, most soccer players brings carry bags to practice and games with them and the scratch cards can be conveniently kept with their soccer equipment to remind them why they are raising money.

Click here for more information on Soccer Scratch Cards

Soccer Fund Raiser: Jog-a-thon

Another fantastic soccer fundraising idea is holding a jog-a-thon. You would be quite surprised at the results this no cost fundraiser can produce. Results will be even better if you use tools like those provided by companies like Choose-a-thon.

Soccer associations and leagues find this fundraising event to be very fruitful. Players are asked to come to the soccer fields one Saturday morning and jog laps around a soccer field. Prior to the event they get people to pledge money for each lap they jog. Tools like those offered at Choose-a-thon provide all the administrative and marketing functions so there is no need for extensive planning. It even opens up the potential donor base to any who has email.

Typically soccer players will ask people to pledge between $1 and $5 per lap. The goal is to jog around the field 10 times. Just think, if a player got 10 people to pledge $1 per lap and they jogged 10 laps, they would raise $100. And there is no out of pocket expense.

Click here for more information on Soccer Jog-a-thons.

The soccer fundraising programs allow your team, league or association to meet or exceed its financial needs. After all, soccer teams all like to score a goal!

The main differences between a PTA and a PTO are fairly simple. The national PTA is a formal membership organization headquartered in Chicago. Local groups that choose to belong to the PTA must pay dues to the state and national organization and abide by state and national group rules. In return they get member benefits, and they get a voice in the operations of the larger organization. The national PTA maintains a Washington, DC, lobbying office and most state PTAs advocate at their respective state capitals, as well. The PTA carefully protects its name, so that - in theory - only dues-paying members of the group can call themselves "PTA."

For more PTA/PTO Fundraiser Ideas and Articles please see:

• PTA Fundraising Ideas
• PTA Fundraising

PTO, on the other hand, is a more generic term. It generally represents the thousands of parent groups that choose to remain independent. These are most often single-school groups that operate under their own bylaws.

Since there is no national or regional organization, PTO fundraising can be designed specifically for the one school it represents. There are no guidelines other than those created within their own bylaws that dictate the do's and do not's of PTO fundraisers. In other words, the organization can choose from any of the following options:

• Discount Card Fundraisers (a PTO fundraiser favorite)
• Cookie Dough Fundraising
• Candy Fundraising
• Read-a-thons (NEW PTO fundraising idea!)
• Lollipop Fundraisers

We strongly suggest your PTO explore all of the options available to it before choosing one particular product to sell. Click here, if you would like, and we will send you a FREE 24-page PTO Fundraising catalog.