This Potential Fundraiser Has Me "Skeered"

[Brenda.the.chef]

Ok, so a local judge (who also goes to my church, so we're friends) is running for re-election and out of the blue I asked if she wanted me to do a fundraiser for her campaign. She is VERY interested! The two fundraisers I have ever done have been for the most part, big flops so I'm obviously doing something wrong. Any words of encouragement will be greatly appreciated.

She has a location, with no stove so I may be toting my microwave to the event.

I'm trying to figure out just how much product to take with me.

I was even thinking of having a bbq event to show off some of our bbq tools.

But... I guess where I'm really 'skeered' is getting the orders? I figure I'll set it up as a facebook event in addition to flyers to her personal contacts and a cooking demo.

I'll stop there for now so I can brainstorm before I present a proposal to her. She doesn't want it to be overwhelming for her and wants me to take this by the reigns and handle it, which is my preference....but, yeah... I'm nervous about messing it up!

 

[pchockeymom]

First off Brenda, you'll do great

I would coordinate with her and her campaign team. Asign each campaign person the task of collecting at least 5 orders. Do your cooking show as you normally would but add working like "With your $100 order, you'll receive XX free from PC AND $15 will be going to 'Sue's' campaign". Then at check out, offer an incentive to each person to "keep your catalog, take 3 minis, and ask your coworkers, neighbors, family, friends, etc. if they'd like to place an order." Schedule a time, within the next week, perhaps at the next campaign meeting, to collect orders. Or, get their phone number, set a time and date to call and collect their orders.

You could make your incentive something like:
1 extra order=a season's best or citrus peeler
2 extra orders = an islice
3 extra orders = a rub

And, offer an additional incentive for people to book their own shows (I always round up the $3 PC gives to either $10 or $20 depending on how desperate I am for bookings).

You'll do great!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I really hate to be the bearer of bad news...but there is this paragraph in the Consultant Policy Guide:

Consultants and above are prohibited from partnering
with, holding Fundraisers for, or otherwise promoting
their business through political organizations, cause related
organizations (outside of our current charitable
giving partners)...

I would check with Home Office before moving ahead with a fundraiser for a political campaign.

 

[pchockeymom]

I really hate to be the bearer of bad news...but there is this paragraph in the Consultant Policy Guide:

Consultants and above are prohibited from partnering
with, holding Fundraisers for, or otherwise promoting
their business through political organizations, cause related
organizations (outside of our current charitable
giving partners)...

I would check with Home Office before moving ahead with a fundraiser for a political campaign.

Wow! Didn't know that!!

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

I'm going to call HO and check. I read the policy guide on fundraiser and saw nothing ... then I went to page 55 for this disclaimer. I understand TPC wanting to protect their reputation so I'll get the finer details.

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

Good news!! HO sees no reason why I cant do this fundraiser. I told them what my plan was and the reason for the fundraiser and they told me it was well within the guidelines. Now I'm excited and still nervous about making sure its successful!!

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

I'm meeting with her this weekend after church. Wish me luck!

 

[byrd1956]

Good Luck and keep us posted!

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

I get to do a 10 minute presentation to her volunteers this Tuesday. Good Lord I hope I make sense!! This way we can come up with a gameplan and see who is onboard with making it happen. Looks like we are aiming for mid May so I have a bit of time to plan...

 

[pampered1224]

Brenda, idea. See if you can get volunteers, the guys who love grilling, borrow grills, and have a wienie roast. Charge for the wienies! This is what I call a double fundraiser. I do this occasionally when I do HWC fundraisers. This way I can combine the money from PC sales with the money from the wienie roast! The last time I did this, I went to Aldi, for buns, cheap soda, ketchup and the like but I got the hot dogs at Sam's. Pat thinks we paid about $15 for 100 hot dogs. We also bought several boxes of the small bags of chips. I think we figured out that 200 hot dogs with chips and condiments, buns, a soda and a plate and napkin of course, cost about $.50. We charged $2. We made well over $200 from that alone and sold out! We did it in our back yard and at my brothers place each time. We also did well with the PC sales and that is the year I had the $4200 in highest show you see in my stats.

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

I had suggested maybe doing a bbq, but unfortunately the only space she uses as her squad headquarters is a rental space on the second floor of a strip mall. She (the judge) also wants to be sure that she follows the rules to the "T" with campaign donations since typically each donor's name needs to be registered. Good thing is she has about 35 volunteers and I'll see tonight how many will be on board to make this successful. I figure I'm going to make this a facebook event as well and I have to create a flyer for the fundraiser and have it as part of my demonstration tonight. I'm hoping I can find one here to tweak and make my life a little easier! hahaha....

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

had my meeting with the judge and her team of volunteers last night. The response to our fundraiser was overwhelming. We were expecting only 2 or 3 volunteers to help me out, but 9 signed up and are eager to make it successful. The judge's goal is to raise between $500 and $1000 which I think is very realistic. The fundraiser will be May 15 so I do have a good time frame to plan and organize! Now, to create a flyer and get supplies ordered!

 

[pchockeymom]

Waahoo! Go brenda!

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

Well, tomorrow is the big day and it looks like it will be well attended. I'm taking the day off work just to make sure everything is in place and not forgotten! Wish me luck?

 

[pchockeymom]

Good Luck Brenda! You'll do great!!!:thumbup:

 

[Nanisu]

My best friend is the mayor of my city and I have done several fundraisers for her. What I have done is the cooking show/collect orders, we pick out a few PC items for the host benefits, and then we have a "come pick up your order" party...she talks about the pertinent issues, and we raffle off the items. Totally above board, she gets the issues talked about and meets the people, and it's a ton of fun.

 

[carlajanes]

You'll do great!!!!

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

I had a dream that I challenged the group to take 10 minutes to make calls and collect orders. Whoever reached $50 or more would receive a gift from me. In a way it's not such a bad idea. Lol. I wonder what my judge would say if I raise the subject

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

of course, now I'm starting to get online orders. I've reviewed them, but P3 won't pull in my show for some reason.:cry::cry:

I've run all the updates via P3 and manual updates, rebooted twice, shut the P3 all together and started over (I'm on my 4th try now) and now I'm on hold with HO now for over 25 minutes!

I sure as heck hate the thought of having to manually enter these orders. What am I overlooking?

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

Well I survived the fundraiser! WOO! Thankfully my partner helped me set up and was a good moral support throughout. The ladies just oogled over him and how helpful he was. They asked him what his favorite tools were and I'll be darned if most of them didn't buy what he recommended! I told him I'm taking him with me from now on to my shows! LOLMy typical show is to make the fajitas. Transfer the fajitas to a serving bowl. Then wash the DCB and make a lava cake in there. Right when I was chopping the fajitas, John told me that a customer needed to leave, so could I take care of her. The ladies and John said they'd take over finishing the fajitas and serving them up. I'll be danged if almost everyone started lining up at the checkout table! John and my host whipped up the cake in the DCB while people kept coming to check out and I was anxious because I hadn't finished my demo or door prizes... nothing..... I'm trying to figure out how I could have avoided this? Suggestions?That said, my show is currently at $2,006 and there are still some pending outside orders, so it's not "that" shabby! I sold 3 DCB and probably 9 salad choppers!And Oh! I'm not sure who posted the Itty Bitty Bev dessert, but that was a HUGE hit! I placed a platter of pretzel sticks and vanilla wafers beside the EAD filled with the dessert filling. I let them put as much or as little as they wanted on their plates, and I'm telling you it's WONDERFUL with pretzels! I sold 4 EADs too!

 

[ChefPeg]

... John told me that a customer needed to leave, so could I take care of her. The ladies and John said they'd take over finishing the fajitas and serving them up. I'll be danged if almost everyone started lining up at the checkout table!

John and my host whipped up the cake in the DCB while people kept coming to check out and I was anxious because I hadn't finished my demo or door prizes... nothing..... I'm trying to figure out how I could have avoided this? Suggestions?

A similar thing happened to me at my last show. A guest arrived late, hung around for about 20 minutes, then said she had to leave early for a birthday party. She grabbed a catalog and started filling out her order. All the other guests took that as a cue to grab catalogs as well. I usually don't hand out the catalogs until after the demo but these were in easy reach this time.

I'd say to not hand out the catalogs too early, or at least the order forms.

 

[pchockeymom]

Sometimes you just can't help people doing this. But a big WAAAHOOO! to you Brenda! How exciting that it went so well. Of course, I knew it would! Since everyone, or most everyone ordered, why not create prize drawing slips for each person, then call them ALL, tell them since you didn't get a chance to have them fill out the slip...then go over it with them. This is a great way to do your fsco after the fact. Remind them that the organization will get additional donations from PC when they book a show. See what the liked but didn't get, ask if they got to see or taste the lava cake and if not, then they HAVE to have a show so they can experience it, with their friends!

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

Good idea.. I know I've heard about this approach before, but I've never tried it. No time like the present to try new things!

 

[pchockeymom]

Especially since it's a fundraiser, it's a GREAT reason to call everyone and thank them personally for their order and participation, then go from there. I just closed a catalog Relay for Life fundraiser and I emailed those that placed an order online thanking them and reminding them that they can add to their support by booking a show. Got 2 bookings out of 5 online orders!