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Home / Finance / Financial Planning
Fundraising With Discount Cards
By:Kimberly Reynolds
Looking for ideas for fundraisers? You're not the only one. Every group is searching for easy fundraisers that produce big results. Well, selling fundraising discount cards is one of the best fundraisers around.
Discount cards deliver considerable revenue for your group at $10 each. They usually produce average sales of 10 units per seller. Coupled with their 80%-90% profit margins, they also generate considerably more profit than most other fundraising products.
These are simple immediate-sale fundraiser products that your group can offer. Discount cards provide these benefits:
-They are easy to sell
-They offer good value
-They produce excellent results
Three types of fundraising discount cards:
-Shopping cards
-Pizza cards
-Fast food cards
Each of these fundraisers has benefits that are easy to explain to your supporters. They have widespread appeal and each can be offered for immediate sale or sold via a simple brochure.
Discount Shopping Card
What exactly is a discount shopping card?
It is a wallet-sized card packed with a selection of prearranged discounts at local and national merchants in your area. Most usually contain a dozen special offers that save the bearer either a fixed amount or a percentage discount.
Each card usually retails for $10 and provides for almost unlimited usage of the special offers. The only exception is when you custom design a card to feature a special one-time only discount from a sponsoring merchant.
This type of premium offering is often worth half the $10 purchase price all by itself, such as $5 off from a national oil change company.
Other money saving examples include free drinks with a fast food order, $1 or more off on a submarine sandwich, savings on video rentals, haircut discounts, free ice cream, and other special offers.
Because of their high perceived value (what family doesn't want to save money these days?), these cards are excellent fundraisers.
Discount cards can often produce impressive unit sales per participant. It's not unusual for each seller to make ten or more sales.
Another interesting benefit is the unique customization of the card. Many suppliers can place your schools' name and logo on the front side of each card. This firmly affixes your group's value proposition in their minds for your next fundraiser.
Cards are usually good for a one year period and bear an expiration date on the front. This creates a built-in market for repeat sales.
In my book, Fundraising Success! you can find a supplier cross-reference section where I list 27 suppliers for these types of cards.
The reference section can be found on my website at www.fundraiserhelp.com
As with any type of fund raising product it pays to do more than a little supplier research.
Costs for 1,000 unit batches begin at $5 with many suppliers and drop as low as $1.00 from the best companies.
Among ideas for fundraisers, discount shopping cards are a perennial favorite. They also make a good overlay or add-on item for candy fundraising or a catalog fundraiser.
Pizza Discount Card
What is a pizza card and how is it different?
A pizza card is a discount card with an offer tied to a single merchant, usually a national chain. It often provides a two- for-one offer on every order and is tends to be priced at $10 for a card good for a one-year period.
Offers vary with most being tied to either a single location or a small group of outlets for a national chain. Pizza Hut cards are good for eat-in dining while most others are aimed at the take-out or delivery market.
Given how popular pizza is with younger children as well as teenagers, pizza cards are excellent school fundraising ideas.
The cards for Pizza Hut and those for some of the other chains place a limit on the number of times you can use the card, often 21 times. That is a lot of free pizza for $10. Usage is tracked via holes punched in marked spots on the card.
Some of the offers also specify that your initial order must be for a large pizza while your free pizza is a medium size. When you think about it, that works well for most adults because they usually want a different set of toppings than what their children enjoy.
Pizza cards can be obtained from many suppliers. Most offer the same set of national chains and prices can vary widely, so it pays to shop around.
All in all, pizza cards are among the best easy fundraisers based on profitability and ease of sale.
Fast Food Discount Card
What do I need to know about fast food discount cards? Well, they are usually specific to just one fast food chain and often are limited to just one or two locations of that particular chain. They retail for $10 and usually cost less than $2, so they're a great moneymaker. Offers vary by company, but they usually provide a matching main item with purchase of the same. For example, at Burger king, you might get a free hamburger. At Subway, you usually get a free soda, chips, or cookie with each sandwich purchase.
The cards are limited in duration and number of uses. Usually, they are good for up to one year and restricted to roughly ten uses. Again, the offers vary by chain, so check the details closely.
Participating national chains are:
McDonalds
Burger King
Subway
Dairy Queen
Pizza Hut
Dominos Pizza
Papa Johns Pizza
Fundraising Discount Cards Recap
So, what's the bottom line on discount card sales?
The excellent consumer value of all these cards makes them an easy sale. Their $10 price point makes a cash purchase a simple transaction yet a higher amount than most fundraising items.
Their great value, small size, light weight, and easy handling requirements make selling these cards a breeze.
Most suppliers will provide the discount cards and pizza cards to your group on easy credit terms. That makes them great school fundraisers because you can offer them to your supporters as an immediate sale item, thus simplifying the delivery process tremendously.
Instead of relying on your supporters' discretionary purchasing power in these tough economic times, why not tap into your supporters' everyday spending on fast food meals?
They're not quite necessities, but they are an ingrained spending habit with many families.
Selling fundraising discount cards positions you for a better chance at a larger portion of your supporters' spending. And, because of their high unit volumes, healthy profit margins, and ease of sale, they are excellent school fundraisers because they'll produce exceptional profits.
Make sure your group gets your share!
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Article keywords: fundraiser, fundraising, fundraisers, school fundraisers, non-profit fundraising, church fundraising, youth fundraising, sports fundraiser
Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com
Kimberly Reynolds writes about fundraising practical advice for discount card fundraisers on her website FundraiserHelp.com. Sign up for her free monthly newsletter at www.fundraiserhelp.com
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