When we talk anything in life, we like to talk wins. Especially in sports. But what about in fundraising? We'll talk about how fundraisers- especially the 5 gallon laundry detergent fundraiser- perform better and raise more money when everyone wins.
Have you ever thought about the wins in fundraising? Let’s break those down, because typically there’s only two, and successful fundraisers need a third win in the mix. The first win is always the company, like myself, Sudz Fundraising. We’ve set the program and the price and everything so that we are making a profit. We’ve also set the program and the pricing so that the team and organization’s making a profit - there's the second win.
And typically, in fundraising, that’s where it ends.
The Third Win in Fundraising
Let’s take for example, the Girl Scouts. They’ve almost got the third win in there because they do have the customers, the repeat business, that comes from a good product. Everybody likes cookies from the Girl Scouts. And they love helping Girl Scouts out, right? Cute little girls selling their cookies at the supermarket and everywhere - Kroger, Walmart, you see them all over the place. They’re hustlers- you've got to give them credit for that.
But when I’m talking about the third win, I’m talking about the supporter that wins. The person who’s buying the product. We’ll call it the consumer, I like to call it the supporter because when they purchase this product, tickets, raffles- whatever you are selling to them. They are supporting your organization, so we’ll call them a supporter.
The supporter typically in fundraising is the one up to now has been socially accepted as a loss. They either donate the money or they might as well be donating the money because the product that they’re purchasing is something they don’t need, they don’t want. But at least they’re getting something for it, maybe a white elephant gift or something to give to someone else at the office or home.
But at the end of the day, they’re not getting anything of value.
So one of the big keys to having a long-term successful fundraising effort is to find fundraisers that have that third win.
So, what you want to look for are the products that are A) good products: they’re very, very comparable to the national leading brand that they’re compared to or that they’re similar to. And B) the other thing you want to look for are ones that people like and they want to rebuy. Things that they consume on a regular basis.
That’s why candles have been a great fundraiser, because people buy candles. And if they can buy something that is already something on the checklist to buy at the store, and they can buy it through an organization and help them out, people are typically good-hearted like that. As long as it’s not too big of a jump in the price, even a little jump in the price has been acceptable.
So the goal here is to find that third WIN in the fundraiser.
Moral of the story is to find products and programs that create a situation where people want to find out how to buy it again when they run out of it.
The 5 Gallon Laundry Detergent Fundraiser: A Win For Everyone
The 5 gallon laundry detergent fundraiser is a great way to do that. With Sudz Fundraising, our products are comparable (and some would even say, better) than the leading name brands of laundry detergent, and they're available in large quantities. Your customers get to buy a common household good in bulk, and support you. Win, win, win.
At the end of the day, you want your consumers to say, Hey, this team is making the money, I’m getting a product that’s the same price I would’ve paid for it anyway, so that’s a great win for the consumer.
The Girl Scouts, like I said, almost had that right. The problem is you can buy their cookies at the dollar store for $1.50 and they’re selling them for $4.50, $5 a box now. The only difference is the color on the outside of the packaging. We’re missing that value proposition and getting somewhere close on the price. Again, people won’t mind paying a little more for it, but they definitely don’t want to pay 150% of what they could get it at the local store on their normal routine weekly trip.
With the 5 gallon laundry detergent fundraiser, they can't buy a five gallon bucket of laundry detergent on their regular grocery trips, so you're giving them that unique value proposition.
So again look for those types of opportunities where people can get value out of the product that are purchasing it, at the same time they’re supporting you.
This will make them long-term customers, repeat customers and it’ll help your organization raise more money on an ongoing basis.
And that’s what we’re after, right?
