Maximizing School Fundraisers: Tips from PTA and School Office Experts

[Whit]

Hi ladies,
I was just wondering after reading about doing fundraisers with the schools on how you actually do it. Who do you contact and how it all works. For example when the kids used to sell candy to raise money how would I incorporate PC to do that or do you just do it through fundraising with PTA.etc. Any advice would help.
Also what are the sales and how many orders does it take to be considered a catalog show now?
PS whoever started this web site is very smart and I'm very appreciative for it.
Thanks-
Whitney Moore

 

[dawnsclassycupboard]

You could call the school office and ask the secretary who makes decissions on which fundraisers that the school does. (Here it is the PTA but I don't know if that is how it is everywhere or not). A fundraiser works just like a regular show (or catalog show) but instead of getting free products the school would get a check from PC.

A show needs to be $150.00 in order to qualify as a show. (Catalog shows need $200.00 to start earning free products)

Hope this help. Throw the questions at us!! This is great isn't it?

 

[its_me_susan]

I did this todaySomething I just did today for free and I'm already getting some positive results... I've looked up local school systems in my google search (computer), I got to the school sites, went to the PTO directory of each and send a fundraising blurb to each, asking them to consider PC in stead of (or in addition to) candy sales - I know I would welcome the "justified" excuse to buy PC instead of the candy and overpriced wrapping paper! I'm going to try to reach day cares and local YMCAs too.

One lady asked if she could place an individual order (of course!!!).

I also started to wear my Pampered Chef visor - so many people have come up to me to see if I sell it, which opens the door to conversation and business cards, etc.

 

[pamperedbecky]

Something I just did today for free and I'm already getting some positive results... I've looked up local school systems in my google search (computer), I got to the school sites, went to the PTO directory of each and send a fundraising blurb to each, asking them to consider PC in stead of (or in addition to) candy sales - I know I would welcome the "justified" excuse to buy PC instead of the candy and overpriced wrapping paper! I'm going to try to reach day cares and local YMCAs too.

One lady asked if she could place an individual order (of course!!!).

I also started to wear my Pampered Chef visor - so many people have come up to me to see if I sell it, which opens the door to conversation and business cards, etc.

Susan,
Do you have a copy of what you've emailed to each school regarding the fundraiser idea? If so, could you cut and paste what you put in your email here? That's such a great idea to do the google search and look for contact info that way. Thanks!

 

[kitchenqueen]

Fundraisers at schoolsThat is a good idea - I was thinking about going to a few of the schools around here personally and handing the flyers to the secretary to put in the boxes of teachers who are involved with organizations for the school. School started last week here and I thought I'd go up there after about a week - giving the schools some time to recoop after first day jitters, etc. I don't want to bombard them! The email is great though!! I may have to consider that as well.

 

[its_me_susan]

I would LOVE to finally share!!! I tweaked a fundraiser letter and flyer combo I found in the 36 WONDERFUL pages of flyers on file down below (scroll down - it took me a few days to browse through them all but it was WELL worth my time).

I tried to copy this into a word document to attach in here but it didn't work. I'll just paste the plain text in here:

Susan R. Gentile
address
phone here
[email protected]


Kathy Zirolli
PTO President







Attention: Pine Grove School Fundraising Committee



Dear XXXX,


My name is Susan Gentile, and I am a longtime Farmington Valley resident who recently started as an Independent Kitchen Consultant for the Pampered Chef. I hope you don't mind my contacting you , I found your email address while browsing the school's PTO information page. Please let me know if I can send you or the current fundraising chair more information.

The Pampered Chef Company is well known for it’s professional quality kitchen tools, and I would love to offer your school the opportunity to participate in a Pampered Chef Fundraiser. These are just as easy as a gift wrap or candy sale, but instead you can offer your families products that are exciting, useful and last a lifetime. There are two ways to run the fundraiser (or you can combine both!). We can send catalogs home with friends, and family to get orders for the products, and this would all count towards a huge, successful fundraiser… or simply send home a flyer asking members to purchase “Pampered Chef gift certificates” that can be given as gifts during the holidays. It’s a great idea to combine both! Use the Kitchen Show Fundraiser as a kickoff to your Catalogue Show Fundraiser.

For total guest sales up to $600, 10% would be the organization’s profit. If the guest sales were $600 or more, the organization would receive 15% of those total sales. An additional $3 will be contributed for each additional kitchen show booked from the fundraiser. I will also donate $3 per booking also, for a total of $6 per booking!

With the Pampered Chef reputation, my fund-raisers are quite successful and unlike some fundraising gifts, our kitchen tools will last for years to come. I am more than happy to meet with you or attend a board meeting(s) to discuss details of this fund-raiser and bring along samples of the tools, if desired. I’ve enclosed our corporate flyer regarding fundraisers.

I would love to work with you and your organization to make your Pampered Chef Fund-raiser a huge success. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.



Very truly yours,

Susan R Gentile
Independent Kitchen Consultant #451182





TOP 10 REASONS TO HOST

A PAMPERED CHEF FUNDRAISER

10. No one will say "Oh, no, not candy again!"

9. You won't have to beg all of your friends and relatives to buy - The products sell themselves!

8. The Pampered Chef is a name you can trust.

7. The Pampered Chef Products are GUARANTEED!

6. The problem won't be deciding what to buy…they will want it all!

5. All you do is provide the people and the ingredients for the recipe – I’ll do all the work at the show!

4.Your tools will last longer than a candle or wrapping paper J

3. Your consultant is fun to work with!

2. It's THE PAMPERED CHEF, and that makes CENTS!

1. Your group earns a 10-15% profit on the products sold + $6 for any bookings ($3 donated by the Pampered Chef Company, and an extra $3 – an offer exclusively from me)!

 

[pamperedbecky]

Susan,
Thanks so much for sharing! I will definitely be borrowing your idea. Thanks!

 

[its_me_susan]

You are welcome!

 

[tpchefpattie]

Susan,
I think that your letter is a great idea! way to go! Just one thing:I don't understand where are you getting the additional $3 that you say you are going to give the organization? Are you taking that out of your own pocket?

 

[ladybug]

PC Gives itPC gives the org. $3 for every booking generated from the show... you can find this in your recipe for success. Then, I guess as an added incentive, Susan matches that with her own $3 donation per booking (out of pocket).

Hope that helps

 

[pamperedmom2owen]

Oooo Good Idea!I was just trying to figure out how to contact the schools about fundraisers! Thanks a bunch for the ideas!

 

[its_me_susan]

Susan,
I think that your letter is a great idea! way to go! Just one thing:I don't understand where are you getting the additional $3 that you say you are going to give the organization? Are you taking that out of your own pocket?

Yes my own pocket! It makes me more generous, and I know each booked catalog or kitchen show I get from the groups will be worth much more to me than the $3 investment! Just sending home the flyers or whatever puts everyone in touch with me, even for individual sales, etc.

 

[its_me_susan]

Wanted to add, yesterday morning I sent the letter to a few "Newcomer's clubs".

 

[MichelleT]

Great idea Susan! I tried looking for the email addresses for teh PTO Pres. around here, but unfortunatly, they are not listed on their websites. I found some on the PTA website though. I'm going to email today and see if I can get any results. I'll have to try another way to contact the PTO around here.

 

[pamperedchristine]

I want to do a fundraiser for my son's school as well, but I'm a little concerned about the out of pocket expenses to even begin it! The only way I would imagine it would work is to send a catalog home with every child (plus forms explaining fundraiser, an outside order form, etc). If you have 500 children, that'd be $295 for catalogs alone!

Or am I missing something that would make this a lot cheaper for us to do?

 

[luvs2sellit]

If I remember correctly the catalogs only cost around .33 each. That would be around $165 .

 

[MichelleT]

That was a concern of mine too Christine. But I also wonder, could I do up a flyer highlighting a few items, say 10-20 and copy that to send for fundraisers? I mean, if I got an orginization to agree to one, could I go to the head and say, okay, let's pick out some items. Is that allowed? Or I also thought that if I could get my daughters PTO to agree to do a fundraiser, maybe we could make it a giant kitchen show or open house at the school so that the parents could come there.

 

[kitchenqueen]

That was my concern as well....Catalogs have actually gone up in price and are now .39 cents each. I am contacting schools PTA's and organizations as well. I had somewhat of an idea - not everyone is going to participate in school findraisers no matter what you are selling, which will be a waste in a catalog...and those will add up! Before the kitchen show or meeting, encourage teachers and parents to come to the meeting and that is where you will hand out catalogs. And maybe a few more to each teacher who has parents unable to attend the meeting but want to participate. Also advertise your website and encourage them to order that way! That way people can take their time and shop and read more about the specials. That is what I plan to do...unless I think of something else. In that case I will share that idea too!!

 

[monica_sweetconsultant]

Hi Erica, I just wanted to make sure I understood your flyer. You are saying that you will do a huge kitchen show or meeting in front of the teachers and hand out the catalogs then? wouldnt it still be expensive to give out the catalogs since you dont know how many parents will want to participate? or maybe if you get the teacher to send out a letter or something and see what parents will want to participate? there are a bunch of BIG schools around here I want to send letters to but I want to understand exactly what i have to do and what i will need as far as supplies are concerned before i mail these out. sorry if i seem dense....sometimes it takes me a whle to catch on thanks for any advice or suggestions

 

[kitchenqueen]

Well, seeing as how I have never done a fundraiser for a school either, it is a mystery to me as well! HAHA! I was sort of thinking out loud and typing my thoughts....but I guess having an RSVP and getting some sort of ballpark figure before you go would help. I really plan on emphasizing my website! That would save alot in catalogs, order forms, etc. I just started to contact schools, so I really don't have a plan of action just yet.

Really what I plan on doing first is talking to the PTA officers and planning something together. Which is what I would suggest to anyone. They know their school best and would know if parents would actually attend a school function. At the last school I taught at, parent involvement was rare unfortunately. I am just sending out and handing out the Fundraising Flyer PC has on thier website along with the upcoming specials and a letter from me to make it alittle more personable.

Your not dense I'm more of a visual learner, so sometimes it takes a few times for me to read something before I actually absorb it!

Hope this helps some

 

[nichole1231]

Little ConfusedI Am A Little Confused On The Whole Fundraiser Thing! The Whole Thing About The Catalogs, And How Much The School Benifite From Haveing A Fundraiser With Pc! My Daughter Is In K5 So I'm Not To Familiar With The Way Pta's Work With The Fundraisers! Any Comments Or Things That I Can Look Up On Pc, Please Let Me Know!
Thanks In Advance!

 

[monica_sweetconsultant]

thanks Erica I appreciate that. I dont have a website yet. my hubby is super supportive but that is the one thing i havent convinced him yet on. Not sure what is holding him back yet since he is a compputer genius and could really work it for me. He is like my partner in this business. I am still really confused but i guess i willwork through it if i get the chance. thanks for the advice

 

[luvs2sellit]

I am the vice president of our PTO and we do different projects throughout the year to raise funds. I have mentioned a PC one to them but they don't think it would bring in enough funds and I agree. The most they can get is around 15% i think and that is really not much at all. Most of the fundraisers we do bring in a profit of 40% or more. I personally think it would be alot of work for a little money. You would have to get catalogs to all, a order form, collect money and then get the products to them. But that is just my opinion. I think I have heard of others who have done well with them.

 

[kitchenqueen]

Good Luck on your potential fundraiser opportunities!!

I totally recommend getting a website - I'm no computer genious and even I can manage it!! My hubby was impressed, but I didn't have to tell him how easy it was !! I would start dropping hints for a website for Christmas!! HAHA!!

I know - I think the 10-15% is sort of dissappointing to hear, but with the booking incentives, it adds up. Plus I like to mention that every little bit of money helps. Our wives club does a number of fundraisers, and this sure beats sitting outside a store selling things and car washes!! It just all depends on the school or organization I guess. They all work differently. If you have any tips on approaching a PTO Laura please share! I'd love to hear any advice you have! Thanks

 

[luvs2sellit]

As far as approaching PTO just give them a call. We generally like to do about 3 different big fundraisers a year. That would include our Fall festival which is a great oppurtunity for us PC gals. I set up my table last year at our festival. All I was wanting was a few bookings. I got over $150 in sales and atleast 5 bookings. I was thrilled. All the time hanging out with my kids at their school. Another idea that I am probably going to do is set up on a PTO meeting night. As far as doing a fund raiser, like I said, it did not appeal to us. It just wasnt a big enough money maker. If I set up at a PTO meeting night I will probably just provide a giveaway for the meeting and then just set up to take orders. If you have any more specific questions just email me. I don't know if I covered what you wanted.

 

[Shawnna]

I personally am not very happy with our fundraiser. It is too much work for so little profit. We need to keep contacting the Home Office requesting a bigger percentage or another product fundraiser. Even if you donate all of your commission, the amount earned is not very much unless they just have an outstanding fundraiser.

Shawnna

 

[luvs2sellit]

I totally agree

 

[kitchenqueen]

I often wonder why PC hasn't increased the percentage offered because 10-15% isn't much at all! Not much to brag about anyway!! I agree with you as well!

 

[Cindycooks]

website fundraiserI work at our elementary school. We are raising money for our new playground. The kids are selling candy right now. What I did is talk to the PTO and they are going to announce my website in the monthly newsletter which comes out starting the beginning of October. We opened up the fundraiser to the staff this month, so they could take advantage of the stoneware being on sale. I have 3 orders already. Then next month the newsletter will go home with the kids. Also in Oct we have our fall festival and I am going to have a table with the stuff and cookies to pass out. I hope to get some bookings! Our PTO really did not seem to mind only getting 15% - they felt like this was not something the kids had to sell door-to-door, that PC pretty much sells itself and that most of our stuff costs more than candy....so we will announce this in Oct and I will see how it goes.

 

[Ann F]

I just finished helping my fundraiser chairman (my close friend) divide up the orders. It was our HS band. There are 60 members, but only 17 kids turned in orders. It was $2760.35 in commissionable sales. They earned enough (with my 5% gift thrown in) to send two kids to the bowl game they're marching in this winter. My commission wasn't anything to sneeze at, either ($469.26).

The only gripe I got was the sales tax &/or shipping.

Good luck on yours.