I used Dutch mill bulbs last year and ecobags. The bulbs was a fun prepaid sale. I still have hard copies if you would like to use them. There is also alot of information in their website. for the ecobags im not sure i didn't do them. We also sold little ceasers pizza but they are really costly.
I think the key is rotating. No one wants to buy or attend the same function year after year. We have very little catelog sales of any kind anymore. We sell Enjoy the City and every other year, Square One Art (our kids art on a variety of products) just before the holidays. Our biggest fundraisers are actually events. Walk-a-thon, Bunco Tournaments and this coming year we are trying a Golf Tournament. We are a small rural school with about 300 students in a large geographical district of about 4200 students. (5 elementary buildings) I think the number I've heard is about 52% or better of our students are on free/reduced lunches. I often marvel at the $$ thrown around as profit from different fundraisers I've read about. We are pleased each year if we can reach our goal of $10,000 total profit from all that we do.
By the way, as the PTO President, there is nothing I'd like more than to be able to have a Family Carnival with fantastic prizes free of charge..... but for most, that's just not going to happen. As a parent, I hate the cheap prizes too. But I've come to think of these events as opportunities to get families out together, socializing and getting to know your neighbors - Builidng a stronger community!
Best of luck to everyone in these tough economic times and keep sharing ideas. They are all very helpful.
The most successful sales I had a few years back were pocket calendars. Just little $2 things that gave us 50% back. I had people that wouldn't spend $10 on a pizza buying 10 little books for $20 so that they had 10 stocking stuffers for holiday gifts. Maybe smaller items in larger quantities is something to consider if the traditionals aren't working?
The company we will be using is actually a direct sales company (like Home Interiors) that has a gourmet food mix fundraiser and a candle fundraiser.. we set the candle price at $10 leaving us a $5 profit for each candle sold.. ( you can set the price of the candles yourself) we also don't have to worry about the shipping/distribution because the company took care of that for us. It's not just candles either.. there are things like gift bags and other home decor
If this one goes well we will be looking forward to the gourmet mix fundraiser to see how it does.. I think it will be a big hit because it's one of those thing where no refrigeration is needed, the samples we received tasted amazing and they were affordable. To us this option is a better idea than the regular cookie dough fundraisers.
We live in Michigan and times are really hard on our Parents. The PTO's need to find alternatives, since prices have gone up on these areas and parents, grandparents, Aunts and Uncles are tired of buying these items. We hold a FunRun/Walk for the last 3 years. We have raised $ 50,000 in the last 3 years. Parents want to donate a 1 time fee. We ask for $ 50 per student and we do not get everyone to participate at $ 50, we get a wide range of $, but it all helps out.
We supplement with Restaurant nights, Raffle and have added a $1 to some of our smaller events. This helps us cover costs and still make a few dollars.
This coming year we are looking at doing a cookie dough fundraiser, since we have not done one in 5 years. Our thought is, since we have not done it in so long, we may get a large turn out with it. It does not hurt to try!
We are closing our account with Market Day, since we do not get enough participation.
Sometimes, you just need to scale back and work with what you get in.
I have been reading your blogs concerning on how selling fundraisers do not work anymore. I was at the PTO today expo in Marlboro MA in March and came across a fundraiser that made the most sense to me. While the concept of selling candles, cookies and chocolats were the same as most companies, the profits returned back to the schools, as well as participating students was definitely head and shoulders above the rest. Incentives offers a new concepts on rewarding students for their efforts. While profits returned back to the PTO or other sports organization are in the 40 to 50 percent range, students who participate are also provided an opportunity to earn a percentage of their sales in scholarship money. No other program offers this. Parents and students seem very eager to participate knowing they can expect more than a "gift" for all their hard work. I cannot imagine using another company for fundraising efforts.
