Discover a Delicious Way to Raise Funds with Our Cookbook Fundraiser!

[dwyerkim]

OK-before I loose my mind over this, let me see if I have it straight-this could potentially be a HUGE fundraiser for my nephew's marching band:

Let's say there are 40 band members and each kids sells 10 cookbooks. That is a $50 profit per kid (50x40) and there fore a $2,000 fundraiser for them.....................am I right??????????????

Now for the selfish part:
That is $6,000 in sales for me, which translates to 6,000 points toward the CRUISE!

Now for the technical stuff:
How would they get their money and wouldn't I actually take a loss-the order would be for a $15 cookbook that they get $5 of, so I would take a $5 loss on each one sold......HELP ME HERE!!!!

The cookbooks are the guest special for September, so you aren't taking any loss... you only are paying PC $10 each for them. So right off the bat, they could keep $5 per book sold, or $4 if you want to factor in $1 each for shipping and tax. Personally, I would do $15 each plus $1 s/h/tax--most people, I think, don't have a problem with $1 towards shipping. Anyway, figure out what your tax and shipping costs per book would be and factor that in so you know what the cost will be. I would figure from your above scenario, you would have around $50 per kid right off the bat in funds raised, plus don't forget the 15% PC is going to kick in when you submit it as a fundraiser show.

 

[dwyerkim]

The cookbooks are the guest special for September, so you aren't taking any loss... you only are paying PC $10 each for them. So right off the bat, they could keep $5 per book sold, or $4 if you want to factor in $1 each for shipping and tax. Personally, I would do $15 each plus $1 s/h/tax--most people, I think, don't have a problem with $1 towards shipping. Anyway, figure out what your tax and shipping costs per book would be and factor that in so you know what the cost will be. I would figure from your above scenario, you would have around $50 per kid right off the bat in funds raised, plus don't forget the 15% PC is going to kick in when you submit it as a fundraiser show.

Also, though, factor your incentive points on the actual cost of the book... it wouldn't be a $6K show but a $4 K show. Still it doesn't hurt you in reaching your goal!

 

[chefmeg]

well, DUH on me! I get it now! I am still really excited about the kids being able to earn that much money from a fundraiser! I have to get in touch with the band director tomorrow! Thanks for the help!

 

[Trish1953]

Okay, I went in and put a "dummy" fundraiser, to test how this would work. When I tried to enter one of the cookbooks (guest special) or the seasonings, it said these orders couldn't go on this kind of show. Can someone help me? How does this work when entering it in PP or PP3 ?? I have several groups that might go for it, so would like to know how it actually works.

Trish in Texas
Independent Consultant

 

[Trish1953]

Never mind. I had the wrong date.

Trish in Texas
Independent Consultant

 

[dwyerkim]

Never mind. I had the wrong date.

Trish in Texas
Independent Consultant

That's just what I was going to suggest... been there done that! ONly I called HO indignant that I couldn't get the hostess special on to my show!

 

[Brandi2007]

I love this idea! I need to get in touch with people to get the word out there! It makes the typical "fundraiser" seem so much neater! Everyone loves cookbooks! Thank you!!!!!!! I am so excited!

 

[LibrarianChef]

This sounds like such a great idea! Just trying to put it all together though, I get confused easily. How much "out of pocket" expense do you think we as consultants would end up with by doing this? I don't mind a little, but cannot afford to do much, my summer has been terrible.

Me, too. I need it carefully spelled out since I have yet to do a fundraiser.

And how does this all change if I donate my commission, as well? There's a non-profit group in town looking for a fundraiser and I think the advertising for my business would be fabulous and might help me "sell" the fundraiser if the group knows I'm not making a commission off their sales. Make sense?

 

[Brandi2007]

If you want to donate your commission you can. Just make them aware that it will be a personal check from you once you recieve your commission for that show.

 

[chefann]

And then you can write that donation off your taxes.

 

[MomToEli]

And remember that your commission rate is LESS on a fundraiser, so you don't promise more than you earn!

 

[LibrarianChef]

Thanks for clarifying!

Another question...there's really no way for me to use my PWS with this deal if we're charging something different for each cookbook than it is listed for that month, right? For example, if someone were to go to my site, go into that fundraiser, select their cookbook and enter their credit card number, it would only charge them $10 per book, right?

 

[chefann]

Right. The PWS system will charge $10 per book.

 

[pamperedtara]

I haven't made the transition to P3 yet, but in PP orders placed on your website still have to be keyed into the show by you , they don't automatically show up. Website orders will charge tax & shipping which should come close to the fundraiser price. (see earlier post) You will put in their CC info for the amount charged on the website.

You will just have to keep up with how many $4s that you will owe the school from these orders (Assuming that all payments are going to the school first). That shouldn't be hard to do because your website will show you how many web orders that you have; you will just have to count the total # of cookbooks ordered.

I plan on having payment go to the school first, then the school will pay me/PC $11 per cookbook ordered. Their remaining 15% will be mailed directly to them from PC. The reasons that I chose this method are
1) With an order this large, I don't want the risk of bounced checks. After working in the schools, I know that they have ways of getting their money that I cannot utilize as an individual (not releasing grades, ineligible to participate in extra curricular events, etc)
2) This is another perk for the school because they get most of their money immediately instead of having to wait for payment. Many people do not realize how long it usually takes for all of the fund raiser money to get turned in by students. Most companies will not give the school their % until they have received all payments. Often it is 2 - 3 months before the school actually gets the $$ from the fundraiser. By then, the school year is half over!

 

[dwyerkim]

And then you can write that donation off your taxes.

And my own personal recommendation is let them know the amount and ask them to have a tax receipt ready for you when you give them the check. I am waiting and hounding a friend for a tax receipt from a show in early June and it is making me a little crazy right now.

 

[LibrarianChef]

I haven't made the transition to P3 yet, but in PP orders placed on your website still have to be keyed into the show by you , they don't automatically show up. Website orders will charge tax & shipping which should come close to the fundraiser price. (see earlier post) You will put in their CC info for the amount charged on the website.

So I would just have to tell them that they wouldn't get their $5 per book on all orders entered on the website. They wouldn't like that, but if they wanted to use the PWS, they'd only get 15% off each book instead of $5 plus 15% of $10. Am I understanding correctly? Just making sure. It sounds like it's a better deal for them if they just collect checks made out to their organization and handle it that way.

 

[dwyerkim]

So I would just have to tell them that they wouldn't get their $5 per book on all orders entered on the website. They wouldn't like that, but if they wanted to use the PWS, they'd only get 15% off each book instead of $5 plus 15% of $10. Am I understanding correctly? Just making sure. It sounds like it's a better deal for them if they just collect checks made out to their organization and handle it that way.

If it were me, I wouldn't even bring up the PWS. I like the order form, girl scout cookie style, posted on here... I would just say check/cash only to be collected by the school and cashed out in one certified check from the school or the PTA.

 

[pamperedtara]

I would definitely make sure that they get their $4. The website is going to charge them shipping & tax on each individual order. So, one cookbook ordered on the web will cost $14.84 (6% tax in KY) if they round up that will be $15, the same that you are charging for the fundraiser. I would enter total orders for each student as one order instead of each individual order (easier to sort when they come in). If you have someone that orders multiple cookbooks on a web order, you may actually be out a few bucks, but the overcharge from combining orders should make up for that.

Let's say that the school had a total of 100 cookbooks sold (hopefully more).
and 20 of those are web orders. Their part should be $400 (@$4 per book)from those orders.

Your show total would be $1000 +tax/shipping.

They will have actually collected $1200 (80 x $15) from students and approx $300 will have been paid to your website. Instead of swapping $80 (what they should get from the web orders) back & forth, I would just deduct the total of what they get to keep from the total that they collected, so they would pay me $800.

I now have their $800 + the $300 via CC on my website.

Hope this makes sense. It isn't really complicated just hard to explain. Long story short. Subtract what they should get to keep from what they collected and you get the rest to add to the CC payments!

 

[LibrarianChef]

If it were me, I wouldn't even bring up the PWS. I like the order form, girl scout cookie style, posted on here... I would just say check/cash only to be collected by the school and cashed out in one certified check from the school or the PTA.

Yeah, the order form would definitely help them out more. But my fundraiser isn't for a school group, it's for a non-profit mother's group. Since we're quite secluded from any big cities, I thought it would be easier to get orders from long-distance families/friends. But it would really cut out a lot of their profit.

And my luck, if I were to promise them $4 or $5 per book then someone would surely get on the website and order 50 books to sell at their own church for our group--leaving me with a lot of money to reimburse them with (out of my own pocket). I can SO see a church or two in this area do that to help our group out--thinking that would make it easier. I was once selling tapes/CDs and someone ordered like 40 of them and went to their church and sold them off to their friends just to help me out in my mission trip fundraiser.

So I'm thinking the same thing--leave the PWS out of this deal.

 

[LibrarianChef]

Okay, new question: What's the likelihood of these books getting on backorder? I mean, if a bunch of groups have already committed to doing this fundraiser and we each order several hundred of the same book, that could really get us behind schedule. Has anyone called HO yet to make sure they're ready for a bunch of cookbook fundraiser orders? Just curious. I can call tomorrow, if not.

 

[Brandi2007]

I assume that they are anticipating a large amount of orders for the cookbooks alrady since they are a guests special but it wouldn't be a bad idea to give them some warning.

Another question... I have never done a fundraiser... how long does it take for the organization to receive their check from The Pampered Chef?

 

[chefann]

The check usually arrives within a couple days of the products.

 

[reba515]

not to burst any bubblesI had thought about doing this exact thing last year only they weren't already on sale so they would have been $20 each (which I would have no problem paying at B&N for a book be it a novel or cookbook)

So the org. would have made a $4.25 profit on each book sold (lots of little details worked out to make up for s/h & tax)

Anyway I decided I should call HO just in case they might wonder why this FR has only cookbooks and question me after the fact. They said that I could not do this kind of FR by marking up the product. (I called twice just to see if I got the same answer )

So before you offer I would just check with HO.

Because this is a awesome idea and the organizations could make a huge profit!

 

[Brandi2007]

The check usually arrives within a couple days of the products.

Thanks ann!

 

[Brandi2007]

I had thought about doing this exact thing last year only they weren't already on sale so they would have been $20 each (which I would have no problem paying at B&N for a book be it a novel or cookbook)

So the org. would have made a $4.25 profit on each book sold (lots of little details worked out to make up for s/h & tax)

Anyway I decided I should call HO just in case they might wonder why this FR has only cookbooks and question me after the fact. They said that I could not do this kind of FR by marking up the product. (I called twice just to see if I got the same answer )

So before you offer I would just check with HO.

Because this is a awesome idea and the organizations could make a huge profit!

This has me a little worried since I have already offered it! So are we sure we can really do this? I have sent the emails out to potentials so I better make sure.

 

[dwyerkim]

I had thought about doing this exact thing last year only they weren't already on sale so they would have been $20 each (which I would have no problem paying at B&N for a book be it a novel or cookbook)

So the org. would have made a $4.25 profit on each book sold (lots of little details worked out to make up for s/h & tax)

Anyway I decided I should call HO just in case they might wonder why this FR has only cookbooks and question me after the fact. They said that I could not do this kind of FR by marking up the product. (I called twice just to see if I got the same answer )

So before you offer I would just check with HO.

Because this is a awesome idea and the organizations could make a huge profit!

But, to play devil's advocate here... how would HO know what customers actually paid? Technically, you (the consultant) are not marking up the product... the organization is--you (the consultant) will never actually see/touch that extra $4 or $5--the group collects it and then pays you the $10 per book. Maybe the technical way of saying it is the organization is selling cookbooks for $10 with a $4 or $5 donation to their cause. (geesh I sound like a lawyer or a politician with all this spin!)

If home office questioned why you did a fundraiser with just cookbooks, the short answer is that it is a simpler way of doing a fundraiser b/c the product selection is limited, they are easy to sort and deliver, and they are on sale to start with. All of which is true...

 

[reba515]

very true Kimberly.

 

[mheat923]

Reading through some of this thread makes me think PC should revisit a cookbook fundraiser program like the on they use to have

 

[LibrarianChef]

They said that I could not do this kind of FR by marking up the product. (I called twice just to see if I got the same answer )

I definitely would contact HO, first. In addition to being concerned about out-of-stock books, I'd want to make absolutely sure this could fall under fundraiser. Some consultants have already started this process after taking their directors lead, so hopefully it will all work out for everyone. Technically we wouldn't be marking up their original price, we just wouldn't be offering the September special that marks down their original price. I wonder if that makes any difference.

 

[karlene]

I, too, think HO will have something to say about this..2 years ago, when the help whip cancer items were available in May...I contacted the HO to make sure I was going about things correctly. I was told by 3 different people that I was not allowed to turn in a complete show with just "guest specials" on it...the guest specials were specifically for the customers who order through a show and should be offered to them that way..we went round and round and I was very frustrated with it all. I explained, "what if the customers attended the show or ordered from a book show, and all they ordered were the guest specials?" They didn't have an exact comment or answer for that but said they would not accept a show with just all guest specials on it...so I would check this out with HO first to be sure! Maybe they have changed things since, since we have had "order forms" from CS here where we went out and took orders for Cancer products.