E-commerce has made shopping easy. Orders can be placed any time of the week or day, and items can be delivered right to your door. E-commerce has also opened the door for fundraising sales campaigns. Offering online fundraising is an exceptional opportunity for grass roots organizations, non-profits, teams and clubs to take advantage of sophisticated sales networks and broad scopes of merchandise.
Knock, Knock
Fundraising sales programs are not new. From cookies to gift wrap, from apparel to accessories and more, companies supply the tools to market, order and distribute their products. Your group’s membership sells to friends and family, and the company rebates a percentage of the total sales to your organization. Online fundraising is the millennial version of sales programs.
Instead of knocking on neighbors’ doors and pressuring your co-workers in the break room, you have email and social media to promote your fundraiser. You can easily notify your social network of your online fundraising campaign and explain your personal connection to the cause. Your posts can link your contacts directly your group’s pages and order forms.
Customized Program
One or two members of your organization can serve as “event chairs,” setting up the fundraiser with the online business and coordinating membership participation. The company you’re working with may provide customized pages, or offer templates for you to create pages on your own. Your page on their site can include your organization’s logo, contact information and other descriptive content.
With online fundraising, your friends and family can place their own orders, and use their credit cards for purchases (with the added incentives of getting the miles or points). Your math and record keeping will all be done automatically. If there are any errors when it comes time to deliver, it will be easier to track and correct those orders.
Old School
Traditional printed catalogs and order forms will probably be available, as well. Some of the people in your network might prefer to place their orders with you. In those cases, you can add those orders to your online forms and maintain a single set of records. Payment options will need to be addressed for orders that you are placing on your customers’ behalves.
Keep it Simple
The business you’re working with might deliver ordered items to each individual seller. This eliminates the confusing delivery of all of the items for all of the sellers. Sorting through the orders can be chaotic and leaves more room for error. When each seller receives only their own orders, fulfillment is made quicker and more straightforward.
Online fundraising is a win-win opportunity. Existing businesses with e-commerce already in place can increase their sales and exposure, and non-profits, teams and clubs can raise money by selling popular items. If your organization is planning a fundraiser, remember to check out online fundraising options.
