Why Combining Fundraisers is Not a Good Idea

We received a phone call the other day from a school who is interested in working with us; however they asked if it was ok to work with another fundraiser company at the same time. They informed us that their school wanted to sell two completely different fundraising programs and thus there would be no potential for duplication. The reason why fundraising groups occasionally consider selling more than one fundraiser at a time is:

• They are limited by the number of fundraisers they can do so they feel tempted to consolidate sales
• They think that by showing more sales brochures they will cover their bases by offering people more selection and thus bring in more money

However, attempting to work with more than one fundraising company at a time can create multiple complications and thus add more work to your plate that you may not expect. To top it off, you may not raise any more money. In fact many groups end up raising far less. Why?

Procedural Mistakes & Misunderstandings
Every fundraising company has their own policies and procedures that must be understood and followed in order for things to work smoothly. Having to keep track of the requirements of more than one company at a time can become difficult and confusing. This is where mistakes often occur, which can result in minor inconveniences if you’re lucky, or major problems.

Seller Confusion Can Lead to Needless Company Phone Calls
Students and parents will have to juggle and keep track of a brochure and order form from two different companies. Since every company uses their own item code numbers that need to be placed on their order form, is there a chance that sellers might accidently place orders on the wrong company’s order form? Orders that get placed on the wrong order form get submitted to the wrong company. If this happens you can expect to receive an unplanned phone call from the company. And this is only the beginning. Imagine having to sort through all of the order forms to make sure that the item numbers are correct.

Too Much Fundraising Information Turns off Potential Buyers
Most buyers don’t have much time so if your sellers are approaching them with multiple brochures they may be tempted to run the other way. Most buyers appreciate keeping things simple and find an item to buy as quickly as possible.

Why Make Things Harder?
Your goal should be to find ways to make your school fundraiser run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. You are far better off putting all of your effort into working with one fundraising company at a time. Find one company that offers the best product selection along with a great prize program that will really motivate your group to get out and sell. Make sure that they also offer effective fundraiser tools that will further enhance your entire fundraising experience. We feel so strongly about the quality of our programs that if a school is not willing to work exclusively with us on their fundraiser we will inform them that they are better off working with someone else.