When you request this Success Guide you will receive via email a fact sheet for Champion's
E-Z Discount Cards plus a composite summary of Champion's gourmet food brochures.
You'll also be able to order samples of the discount cards and the food brochures. 

They're the Two Best Sports Fundraising Ideas

Which should you choose—discount cards or gourmet food?

The type of product you select may determine such things as when you should start and end your fundraising campaign, whether the campaign is suitable for mandatory or voluntary participation, and even the amount of adult volunteer help that may be required from start to finish. 

Arguably, two of the most common and productive fundraising ideas for sports teams are custom discount cards and gourmet food items (such as pizza, cookie dough, cheesecakes, soft pretzels, etc.).   These two product lines actually represent two distinct sports fundraising ideas.  That is, they each possess unique characteristics that require different fundraising methodologies or procedures. 

Not many years ago, before they became so closely associated with children's health issues such as childhood obesity and early-onset diabetes, candy bars were a mainstay of product fundraising for youth sports organizations.  The reasons were simple.  Youth sports organizations could anticipate the number of children they would get at their pre-season player registrations and order one or two cases of candy bars for each registrant.  At registration they would then give out the cases to the players and their parents and, since the candy bars turned over quickly, collect a check for the proceeds from each registrant in exchange for the candy the players were going to sell.  What could be easier?  Leagues ordered what they knew their players could sell, then did the product hand-out and money collection in one short operation.

As candy bars quickly became recognized as the children's health-pariah of sports fundraising, this product lost the support of health-conscious adults.  Also, as online registrations became more popular, it became apparent that many organizations could not easily get this product into the hands of those who could sell it.  A fundraising void was created that paved the way for a product that could easily fill that void—and discount cards became the perfect answer.

What places discount cards among the most preferred youth sports fundraising ideas is the fact that there is almost no work involved, the organization will get 100% participation, plus all the proceeds are collected (and therefore closure is achieved) by the last registration date.  The youth sports organization will even know in advance how much fundraising profit it will make. 

In addition—and unlike the candy bar fundraisers of yesteryear—discount cards even work well with online player registrations.  That's because the proceeds can still be collected with the registration fees and the cards can be mailed to the members or given out during the first week of practices. 

Discount cards are great for the players’ parents because, just like candy bars, they’re easy to sell and turn over quickly.  That makes collection of the proceeds up front very easy at the registration table.  Very few parents balk at paying for the cards at registration; however, if requested to do so, the board can always wait a few days before depositing a member's check.  By then the discount cards will have been sold.  Collecting the proceeds at the time the cards are given out is certainly much more desirable than trying to collect the proceeds later. 

On the other hand, gourmet food fundraisers lend themselves well to a different time-frame.  Typically, they are best conducted sometime between the date the teams are formed and at least a week or two before the organization's Opening Day.  Since gourmet food fundraisers rely heavily on motivation to drive them, it is invariably best to kick them off with the teams when the players' collective enthusiasm for their sport is at its highest.  

Unlike mandatory discount card fundraisers, gourmet food fundraisers tend to be voluntary "order-taker" fundraisers.  Just because the fundraiser is voluntary doesn't mean your organization can't have an off-the-charts successful fundraiser.  However, in order to achieve that kind of success you will need to do some planning and then manage the campaign effectively.  As with any order-taker fundraiser, a gourmet food fundraiser should not be started by the mere passing-out of fundraising packets to the prospective sellers.  That is a prescription for under-performance no matter what product you are selling.  Thoughtful consideration should be given to what will motivate the players to sell and also to how the fundraiser should be presented to engender collective excitement.

Gourmet food fundraisers involve almost no risk of getting stuck with unsold product.  Since your members will be turning in the money they collected along with the orders they will be submitting, and since you will be ordering from the fundraising company only the food that was sold and paid for, there is no risk of ending up with product for which no payment was received.

Although most organizations can't make an order-taker fundraiser mandatory, they can request a "buy-out" from those who choose not to sell.  Unfortunately, even though the buy-outs for those who opt out of selling may be requested, the collection of the buy-out  money may prove difficult.  In addition, the motivational kickoff presentation, the collection of orders and money, and eventual product delivery and distribution are all steps that a mandatory discount card fundraiser conducted at player registrations does not have.  A gourmet food fundraiser may represent more work for your fundraising committee, but a well-run food fundraiser can be well worth the effort.

There are three things you can do to greatly improve the performance and productivity of your next fundraiser and they are presented in Champion's Success Guide, "Three Elements of a Successful Youth Sports Fundraiser".  (You will receive this Success Guide at no charge and with no obligation when you complete the form near the top of this page.)  In addition, it would be a good idea to check out Champion's FAQs Page.  This website page offers an excellent side-by-side look at these two very popular and easy sports fundraising ideas—fundraising discount cards and gourmet food fundraisers—in a question-and-answer format.

 

 

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Knowledgebase  ●  Champion makes available to email subscribers a knowledgebase of articles related to funding issues to help engender success in the funding of non-profit youth sports organizations.  Links to the most recent of these articles are listed at the bottom of our website's home page.  A link to the home page will be found in our email confirmation of your request for information and in the confirmation of your request for sample discount cards.