Finding Your Fundraising Customers - Three Rivers Fundraising

Whether you choose our spring bulb flower fundraiser, fall bulb and potted mums fundraiser, or our holiday Christmas wreath fundraiser, here are some ideas for finding customers to support your fundraiser.

You are running a fundraiser. You, your child or organization has a flyer in hand or link to a webpage. Now what? Finding your fundraising customers is the first step.

You get back what you put in. If you need funds, tell people! Tell them why and when. It may feel unmannerly, but show a level of expectation for a sale. You expect a retail or car sales person to pitch to you and they expect a sale, and often get it.

Once you have your online information, don’t hesitate. Email it out to all family members, co-workers (if allowed), neighbors, etc. Email is a good place to start. Stay motivated and follow up with a phone call – Did you receive the email for Susan’s fundraiser? Aren’t the wreaths a good idea for a fundraiser? Pick one and place an order!

Your whole group, whether it is 5 people or 500 people are going to be selling so get creative! Think about where you go and what you do each day. They are all opportunities for sales. Ask to put a flyer in the window at the barber, or local coffee shop. Create a team of people – email, social media, local flyers and newspaper events can all be divided up and tackled by one or two people each. Don’t expect each person selling to do all of that, they will be overwhelmed and then underwhelmed with lack of sales.

Have you thought of selling to:

Real Estate Agents – they always need gifts for their new home buying customers!

Business Owners – they will love to boast that they are helping their community with purchases, donations or even sharing your posts for the fundraiser on their social media – coffee shop, pizza shop, local pharmacy.

Organizations – volunteer to help with one of their functions (car wash, event) and in turn they may let you set up a table to advertise your fundraiser.

Farmer’s Market – Seems daunting, but a table at a farmer’s market can give you lots of foot traffic and help you get your name out there! You may even pick up some local endorsements too.

Fundraiser Tip: Make it personal. People will donate because YOU are asking them to. Simple as that.

Stay in touch!

Safety First! Children should ALWAYS be accompanied by an adult and fundraisers of all ages should use the buddy system when selling door to door.

The best and safest customers are the ones you already know. Avoid selling to strangers unless you are in a public place with a supervising adult.