We try to keep our fundraisers in the same 40%-50% range. The company you use will supply all of the items you need to run the sale. (I've only run into one company that charged a very nominal fee for brochures.) Sometimes we do not use incentives and instead convert the incentives to extra profit percentages. We are a private school so we ask each "family" to reach a goal of $375 (that is $375 in profits not sales so in all actuality they would have to sell close to $700 in merchandise). We sell all year long, so we make it pretty easy for everyone to reach their goal. 90% of our families go above and beyond this set goal (and we are not a wealthy school!).
I agree, 50% is standard. I know we figured out an average per child in case we wanted to put that number in a cover letter for people that wanted to do a direct donation. Something like,
"The average child at .... Elementary school raises $25, which is a $12.50 profit for our PTA" but when it came time to do it, we forgot about it. One thing I learned is that the rewards are pretty flexible. In the past we have had 3 different wrap/candy companies come in on the same day and do a quick presentation for our fundraising group. Afterwards, we would pick one of the groups and then tell them that we liked the other companies reward system better. They were always more then happy to change. Also, you do not have to do the kick-off that they tell you to do. I'm sure it does bring more profit, but our school has never done a kick off. We feel that taking time out of a busy school schedule to promote fundraising is wrong. have fun tasting the candy!
This is my 3rd year doing the fundraiser and we won't even look at anything that gives us less than a 50% profit. All administrative costs are covered by the company unless we decide to offer extra incentives to the students such as bonuses for turning the order in on time, etc. (This was being done when I first started, but we've phased it out since our company offers pretty good incentives.)
I don't know if anyone has ever figured out a national sales per child average, but I did do it for our school the first year just for my own information; no one else seemed interested so I haven't followed through on it.
Some people feel taking a smaller percentage is okay if more people are likely to buy the product, but for the amount of time and energy I put into it I want to know my school is making at least as much as the company; after all, I'm volunteering for my child's school, not XYZ company. :cool:
I am hoping someone out there who knows fundraising will answer these questions:
1. What is a normal % of sales that schools keep?
2. What kind of administrative costs are associated? I assume all fund raising companies provide materials catalogues and forms).
3. Does anyone know if there is a national average for sales per child?
