The best high school fundraising idea (They voted, and it’s yummy, folks)
Marlena Sipes and her classmates will be the first graduating class of her high school to go on a senior trip in years. They found out they had a green light in the spring of their junior year. They needed to decide fast on a destination, create a budget, and find the best high school fundraising ideas so that every student could afford to participate. The answer the found was to make dough from cookie dough.
The students researched their trip and chose St. Louis for its affordability and fun – they’ll catch a Cardinals game, scream on Six Flags’ craziest coasters and even ride some camels at a farm.
They knew they’d need to host several fundraisers throughout the year and wanted to start fast. One of the moms discovered Easy Fundraising Ideas online.
The most affordable cookie dough fundraiser
“There were different fundraisers but the Cookie Dough Fundraiser – that looked really easy! It’s $10 for a tub. Who doesn’t like cookie dough?” said Kelly, (Marlena’s Mom) who noted that the more tubs they sold, the more profit margin they would get to keep.
She cross-compared Easy Fundraising Ideas’ Cookie Dough Fundraiser against other cookie dough fundraiser companies and realized it was the best deal at just $10 a tub. Others’ averaged around $16. It even measured up well to the local Sam’s Club.
“But this was helping a cause!” Kelly said.
Kelly and the other parents had three concerns before they committed:
- What if it wasn’t delivered on time?
- Would the dough spoil in the delivery process?
- Most importantly, what if it didn’t taste good?
Her Easy Fundraising Ideas consultant assured Kelly that the dough would be shelf-stable for up to 21 days without refrigeration and it would arrive on time. And, it tasted delicious. Upon receiving her order, Kelly and her kids confirmed that the chocolate chunk, peanut butter, and Snickerdoodle cookies are really, really good.
“It’s been really nice that it’s easy for the kids to make,” she said. “We’re doing this again.”
After an informal vote, Kelly learned the other parents felt it was high-quality cookie dough, and now that word is getting around, they have commitments from people who say they’ll buy next time.
Tips for a successful cookie dough fundraiser
Kelly said the cookie dough fundraiser was simple to execute – it was a one-page document with six flavors, all the same price. Easy Fundraising Ideas even provided labeled envelopes to make it easy for the students to collect funds. To make it a successful fundraiser, here are Kelly’s tips:
- Try different locations. The more motivated kids hit up every teacher in the school fast. Parents encouraged the kids to try places away from school: businesses near their homes, parents’ workplaces, neighbors, extended family members and other families at church
- Incentivize students. Kelly and the other parents were concerned that some of the students would let others carry the weight of the sales activity. They required each student to sell 10 tubs of cookie day in order to profit share with the other students. By essentially guaranteeing volume, they also knew they could hit a higher profit margin.
- Communicate. With five kids, Kelly is gifted at staying on top of people to get things done. She sent constant emails, reminding students and parents of the deadline.
- Add urgency. Kelly stood firm when people asked to extend the deadline. A little urgency helped bring in some last-minute sales for people who were having trouble making up their minds.
The group sold the cookie dough without an upfront investment. Once funds were collected, they put in their order and only paid for the part to cover the cost of the cookie dough. They kept the rest to fund the senior trip, and now each student has close to 30 percent of the total needed with nine months to go.
“We’re convinced!” Kelly smiled. “The parents want to do it again. The kids want to do it again. The cookie dough will be gone in a few months so we’ll do another cookie dough fundraiser in the fall.”
If you need easy high school fundraising ideas to raise money fast with no upfront cost, free marketing materials, and free shipping, sign up for a cookie dough fundraiser now on the website or call 1-866-874-8383.
