Fundraiser Guidelines

PLAN

Before attempting ANY fundraiser, you will need to have a plan. Consider the following items when formulating your plan.

1. WHAT – Are you doing a bake sale or a bowl-a-thon? Other links in this section will give you some ideas. Decide up front how you plan to raise your funds.
2. GOAL – Most of the fundraisers I have done had an unspoken goal of “as much as possible”. You need to be able to tell people how much you hope to raise. Setting a goal can be rather tricky. If the goal is too low, some people may feel that you don’t need their help. If the goal is too high, your fundraisers may feel it is hopeless and not try as hard. I normally add about 10 – 15 percent to the amount that I need to raise for that particular cause.
3. WHY – Obviously you are not just raising money for the fun of it. People need to know why you are having a fundraiser. Are you trying to send kids to camp? Do you need new puppets? Are you going on a missions trip? I do one major fundraiser a year that is for our general CM budget. I tell people that, but I also let them know of a couple of major projects that will be funded from it.
4. WHEN – A fundraiser without a definite start and end date can cause many problems. One of the biggest problems I have found is with procrastinators. These are the people that will participate “next week”. If you are taking orders, this will also give you better control over when products will be delivered.
5. PUBLICITY – How do you plan to let people know about your fundraising event? Will there be additional costs involved in promoting the event? If you will be sending press releases to the media, it would be a good idea to enclose a sample copy of it with your plan.
6. WHO IS the BOSS – There should be one person that is in charge of the fundraiser. Even if you have several people that are helping with it at the highest level, one person should be designated as being “the boss”. If dealing with a vendor, it is essential that the vendor have one point of contact only. What would happen if you place an order for 50 boxes of candy(non-returnable) the day after someone else in your group ordered 100 boxes?
7. WHO’S doing the WORK – Is the fundraising being done primarily by the group sponsors, the parents, the children, or a third party? I have done some carwashes where five leaders and one boy showed up to wash cars. This was not part of the plan that should have been written. The boys did not understand that since the money was being raised for their campout, they were expected to come do the work.
8. FINANCIAL RISKS – What risks are involved in doing this fundraiser? Do you need to purchase a product up front or can you pay for it after the fundraiser is over? Are unsold products returnable? Do you need to purchase or rent special equipment to do this fundraiser? Does your ministry have the money to cover up front costs or will you need to borrow it from the church? My major fundraiser has over $2000 in startup costs. I continue to do the fundraiser every year because I stand very little chance of loosing my startup costs and the fundraiser has proven to be quite profitable.
9. LIABILITY – If someone gets hurt during your fundraiser, will your insurance cover it? This question is best answered by your church’s insurance agent. I suggest checking with the pastor or your contact person on the church board for assistance with this.
10. ACCOUNTABILITY – Who is going to be accountable for the funds and/or products? Someone must be designated to ensure that any vendors involved are paid in a timely manner. That same someone may also be responsible for collecting funds and seeing that they are deposited with the church treasurer. Many churches suggest or require that at least 2 people be present when money is being counted. I suggest enclosing a counting form in the deposit bag that is signed by both counters. If possible, put the money in a locked moneybag or a sealable bag with a tamper proof seal. If the person in charge of the fundraiser is not involved in this phase, they should get a report of money coming in and expenses being paid. All this information should be summarized on a balance sheet at the conclusion of the fundraiser.
    
    

    GET APPROVAL

    After you have formulated your plan, you will need to present it to the pastor or your church board contact for approval. Several factors may affect how long it will take for you to get an approval to proceed so be sure to give yourself plenty of lead time. Be sure the people that are looking at your plan know of any short deadlines or time-sensitive dates (you do not want to get approval for selling Christmas trees on December 24!). If a large amount of financial risk is involved or there is a question of liability, it could take several weeks to get your plan approved. Do not be offended if there are questions about your plan or if you are asked to modify some aspect of it. Be patient because there is very little else you can do until your plan is approved.

    
    

    IMPLEMENT the PLAN

    During the course of planning and waiting for approval, you should have been getting your core team ready. When the final approval is given, it is time to go into action.

    Publicize the fundraiser to your group and to the target audience well before the event. This becomes more crucial if you are having a fundraiser that only lasts a few hours or a day.

    Some plans may need to be revised slightly while the fundraiser is in progress. Make notes of any changes made and inform your leadership of significant deviations from your original plans. If the fundraiser is stretched out over several weeks (including any pre-sales), it is advisable to keep your leadership informed of your progress.

    
    

    CLOSE, EVALUATE, REPORT

    The work is not over when the fundraiser is done!

    As soon as possible after the fundraiser is over, you will need to do a complete accounting of all money that has come in and expenses incurred. Ensure that all bills have been paid and that money has been designated for anything that has not been billed yet. Many churches will require that all money be turned into the church treasurer and that he issue the checks for expenses. Arrangements need to be made for returning, storing, or disposing of any remaining products. If you have leftover product that another ministry could use, consider selling it to them at a discount or donating it to them.

    After you have a general idea of how much profit you made, gather your core group of leaders together. Share with them how profitable the fundraiser was and thank them for their help. This is also a good time to evaluate how the fundraiser went. Talk with them about what changes need to be made if this fundraiser is done again.

    Finally, assemble your financial report and evaluation. Make a copy for your records and give a copy to the pastor. If appropriate, share the outcome of the fundraiser with the church.
    Make a copy of bills, deposit sheets, comments, suggestions, the fundraising plan (with changes), and any other document related to the fundraiser. File these in a safe place where they can be used for reference later.