For the Smart Money Cookie

Conducting a school fundraiser takes careful planning to be successful. In addition to choosing the perfect fundraiser for your group, for some fundraisers, you’ll need to select the best location and time as well. Additionally, if your group decides to sell products, you’ll need to have helpers to keep track of orders, incoming cash and checks, and distribution of the products to your supporters.

When choosing a suitable school fundraiser you’ll want to select one that is appropriate for the age group of the children who will be involved. And, be sure to have enough adult volunteers available to help so everything runs smoothly. Some popular products, such as cookie dough fundraisers, may require temporary storage and refrigeration to prevent spoilage, so this needs to be considered beforehand.

Here are some items to consider when choosing a company for fundraiser products:

• Shipping costs
• Payment terms
• Quantity discounts
• Quality of the products
• The company’s return policies
• Minimum purchase requirements
• Bonuses and prizes for your sales team
• Reputation of the seller and years in business (experience)

The best fundraiser companies will score well on most or all of those items and will help further by providing valuable tips on how to increase revenues and how to make your fundraiser run as smoothly as possible. It’s important to get the best bang for your buck, so choose wisely. While it’s tempting to go with the cheapest, that’s not always the wisest choice. The cost of the product is just one consideration, so don’t choose a fundraising company solely on product price.