Putting together a fundraiser can be a fun and a profitable way for an organization and you to make money. Non-profit organizations who are involved in some form of community service are always looking for ways to raise funds. The first thing you want to do is identify or find an organization that is interested in raising funds. You can find prospects in many groups such as churches, clubs, public and private schools, social service organizations, and various charities. These organizations not only look for ways to raise fund for themselves but also to raise funds for charities.

It is important to have a product or products that you would like to sale. When selecting your products, try to have a variety of products to offer so that when you make your contact with the appropriate person you take a sample with you. Look for a fundraiser that will tap into the strengths of the group and that will support its weaknesses. You want to be sure that the group will be able to pull the fundraising campaign off. It is important to get the buy in from the volunteers that will be participating. Set a beginning and end date for the fundraiser and stick to the dates. Making contact can be by mail via a letter and then a follow-up telephone call. In person contact always works the best of course.

The organization will want to know what's in it for them. Create a list of benefits for the organization. The benefits can range from making a monetary percentage of the sales to publicity and goodwill in the community.

Keep it simple for the organization, providing product brochures/sales catalogs and order sheets. There are two options to consider. Option #1 allows taking prepayment from customers using product brochures/sales catalogs. Option #2 allows you to purchase the products of your choice and sell from your own inventory. Submit your order form including shipping charges with payment in full.

It is very important that you do everything possible to make sure the fundraising campaign is a success. To that end it is a good idea to encourage advertising the fund-raiser in the newspaper, public service announcements on radio stations, and local television. Offer whatever assistance you can to make the campaign a success. Remember the better it does the better you do!

Lastly be prompt about filling and delivering the orders. After the event is over, follow-up with a nice thank you letter and phone call. Thanking the fund-raising chairperson for allowing you to help them hold a successful fund-raising campaign is always a nice touch. Develop some evaluation tool also to find out what worked and what went wrong. Use this tool to get prepared for your next fundraising event.