Direct Fundraising's Blog | Team Fundraising Without Selling

Social media is all the buzz these days with the fast rise of Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Many collegiate level coaches are even on board to help with recruiting and exposure of their programs. Kentucky Basketball Coach John Calipari, who is known not to be tech savvy, has over one million people following his Twitter page.  Coaches and Booster Clubs must also be aware of the benefits that social media can have on the exposure of their team’s fundraiser. Below are two tips that your team can easily implement and will cost you next to nothing.

1) Make a Facebook Fan Page: Creating a Facebook Fan Page for your team is a great way to engage supporters of your program with updates on your team and fundraiser. To make a Facebook Fan Page, you must first have a Facebook profile. Then you can create a Fan Page here. Choose “Brand, Product or Organization,”  select Sports/Athletics on the pull down menu and name your page. Next you will need to put in a picture for the pages profile image. That’s really the basics to making the page. To see a good example of a collegiate program’s Fan Page, visit Ohio State Buckeyes – lots of updates, pictures and discussions.

Now comes the important part to your Facebook strategy: getting a fan base and creating page content. First, you need to get people connected to your program to become fans of your page. Each Fan Page has a link at the top that reads “Become A Fan.” Users just click that link and they will receive your pages updates. Make all the players on your team become a fan along with their parents. Then have each of them send a message out to their Facebook friends to also become fans of your team page. This will create an immediate fan base. Second, you will need to be active in creating content for your page.  The page should rarely be used to promote your fundraiser. A good rule of thumb is that about 95% of your pages content should be non-fundraiser related. The primary use should be to give updates on your team, game results and best of all, pictures of your team. People love to look at pictures on Facebook.  Only every once in while post a note with an update about your fundraiser with a link to an online giving page.  You should be putting 5 – 8 updates a week on the page to keep your fans engaged.

2) Insert “Share” Widgets: A share widget is a small button that can be put on websites that allow users to directly relay information from that site to their social networks. An example of a share widget on a team fundraiser web page can be found here under “Help Promote Our Fundraiser.”  On the widget, if a user selects Facebook, then a brief description of that website will be added to this users Facebook profile. The benefit is that all of the user’s Facebook friends will see the post about the website that was shared. So with just one click of the mouse, your fundraising page can get a lot of exposure.

To insert a widget to your fundraising website, you will need your web masters to insert HTML code (this is easier then it sounds). A good widget to add to your website is call “Add This” and can be found here. Get the code for the widget and add it to your fundraising home page. Once the widget is in place make sure to encourage visitors of your page to click on the widget and help promote your fundraiser.

These are two quick tips that can help spread the information about your fundraiser at no cost at all using social media.

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Ask not what you can do for your fundraiser, ask what your fundraiser can do for you. Translation: You are paying a fundraising company to help you raise money, therefore the fundraiser should be easy and efficient for your team. Below are five tips your team should be aware of so that your fundraising campaign runs smoothly and effectively.

1. Check the Profit Margin: It’s all about the profit margin with team fundraising. Profit margin is the amount of money you actually end up with after the costs associated with your fundraiser are paid. Many sales based fundraisers have lower profit margins due to the cost of the products you are selling. A typical candy fundraiser has around a 50% margin – so you are only getting to keep half the money you bring in. The other half pays for the candy. Your team should look for fundraisers that have a 70-90% profit to them. For the effort you are putting into raising money, you should be able to keep a majority of the money.
2. To Sell or Not to Sell: Selling products such as candy, magazines, and discount cards can be time consuming and take away from your real focus: a successful season. Furthermore, athletes can grow tired of the selling process and sales usually drastically drop off towards the end of your fundraiser. For these reasons, it may be best to utilize a fundraiser with little or no-selling involved. There are many fundraisers out there that involve direct mail and online tools to raise money without selling. These usually have much higher profit margins because the costs associated with their production are low.
3. Watch for Upfront Costs: Many fundraisers that involve sales make you pay a large fee upfront to purchase the products you are selling. This can be a problem because there is no guarantee that you will be able to raise money once you make this payment. Look for companies that guarantee you a profit and don’t make you pay a fee until money starts coming in.
4. How do You Look: A fundraiser is an extension of your sports program – anything you are selling or sending out to potential donors reflects on what people think about your organization. Make sure to choose a fundraiser that makes your program look professional and not commercialized. Does selling cheap candy or discount cards really make your team look top notch? Probably not. Furthermore, make sure your organization’s branding is consistent in all your fundraising activities. Branding is the specific colors, logos and overall look that your team has incorporated over the years. Your branding should be well represented on any marketing materials that are going to be in potential donor’s hands.
5. Check with Your School: Finally, before actually choosing the type of fundraiser you will utilize, check with your school administration on their fundraiser guidelines. You do not want to start a fundraiser to find out that you are not in compliance with the proper procedures. If your fundraiser is done incorrectly, it can take time and headaches to get back on track. Some things to watch out for include:
   1. Mailing Guidelines – many schools have specific rules for how mail pieces are sent out.
   2. Donor Gifts – After a person makes a donation to your fundraiser, schools may require that the donor receives a gift.

These are just some of the things you should look into before starting to raise money and choosing your fundraiser type. Remember, you are paying these outside companies to help you raise money – so this should not require a significant effort on your part.

Please comment or make helpful suggestions on this article

Direct Fundraising LLC

http://www.directfundraisingllc.com