Whenever I hear of a company touting high profit fundraisers, I'm reminded of Eddie Izzard's classic stand-up comedy routine "Cake or Death", which is a kind of parody of the infamous "Let them eat cake!" missive ascribed to Marie Antionette. 

Cake or death?  What kind of choice is that? 

Okay, let's give it a try.  How many of you choose cake?  Hmmmm.  Just as I thought.

What about your next fundraiser?  How many of you want to have high profit fundraisers (as opposed to a low profit fundraisers)?  Again, just as I thought.

Everyone wants their fundraiser to be highly profitable, but that is not the same as wanting a fundraiser that offers a high profit percentage.  The former means that you want to generate a lot of money.  The latter just says your fundraising product will carry a high profit margin—but it doesn't mean that the fundraiser will be particularly profitable.  After all, if you don't sell much product you're not going to earn very much even if you were making 100% profit.

Don't be fooled by offers of high profit percentages.  You can't take a percentage to the bank no matter how high it is.  That is, you can get the highest profit percentage for a fundraising product and still have a dismal fundraiser . . . and consequently make very little cash profit.   

Would you forgo doing a fundraiser that offered 40% profit if you saw an advertisement for a company offering a fundraiser for 90% profit?  (Careful . . . this is a trick question.)

If a company can get your attention with a product they say offers 90% profit, then they may have succeeded in attracting your attention, but that is no guarantee that your organization will earn the cash profit you are expecting to generate.  High profit fundraisers should give you what you really want—a large cash profit.  That's what makes for successful fundraising. 

Beware of any fundraising company that just wants you to run their fundraiser and could care less about how much cash profit your organization takes to the bank.

Never forget the old saw "If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is".  If a fundraising company's fundraiser is as profitable as they would like you to believe, then your best bet is to check their references.  Talk to some people from nearby organizations who have used it.  There is no doubt that an offer of 90% profit sounds pretty good, but there has to be a reason why every organization isn't using that company's fundraiser. 

Not every choice is as clear as "cake or death".   Nevertheless, it should be easy to recognize good sports fundraising ideas.  They're the ones that other youth sports organizations in your county have been running for years because they're getting great results. 

You did say "cake", didn't you?

For more information on this topic click on this link:
High Profit Fundraisers or Highly Profitable Fundraisers?

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