What fits your program best?
We have all spent hours fundraising. Whether it was knocking doors selling products, a walk-a-thon or an online platform, they all had their pros and cons. Here, we will evaluate the advantages of each to help you decide what is best for your program best.
Door-to-door/product based sales:
This is probably the oldest method of fundraising. It is simple to explain, everyone knows exactly what is expected and it is easy to get everyone involved. Passing out an order form to kids and collecting them at the end of the fundraiser puts extra pressure on kids and their families to make at least a few sales to avoid being embarrassed when they turn in a blank form.
Another big advantage is the appeal to donors. Donors feel like they are giving while also getting something in return. Many donors have been programmed to anticipate the football discount card in the summer or wrapping paper sales around the holidays so the donor is mentally prepared for that doorbell to ring. Door to door knocking is an easy way to get face to face with a donor and pressure them into buying something. So what’s the problem?
In an ever-evolving-cashless world, door-to-door product based sales are becoming more archaic by the day. People are sick of getting guilted into buying the same product to replace the already freezer burned purchase from a few months back.
Parents are also becoming more concerned about the safety of their children and refuse to send them out knocking doors alone. It is an inefficient way to contact people and closing the sale is becoming more and more difficult.
From a program’s perspective, selling low margin items requires tons of work and has a very small return. Most donors would rather give your team $20 cash than buy a discount card (that only sends 50% to your program) for a product that will collect dust and ultimately go in the garbage without getting used.
Don’t get me wrong, product based sales are still attractive to some donors, but limiting a donor to one product eliminates the most important person – the all cash donor.
Fundraise-a-thons:
“-a-thons” are great. They bring the community together, donors can choose how much they want to donate and everyone usually gets a little exercise. They are a great way to make your students or players feel important and usually they involve giving back to the community.
They have been around forever so people understand how they work but the money collection process is chaotic. Parents have to do basically all the work – twice. They have to contact their colleagues for pledges and then when it is all over they have to go back to them and ask for money.
Doing this online has solved a lot of these problems, but the unknown of how many free throws Johnny will make or how many laps Sarah will run can be tricky and the automatic charge donors get can be way more or way less than anticipated. Donors will then have to recontact you for refunds or you will miss out on what a donor would have actually donated if Johnny made a few more free throws.
Flex technology reaches back out automatically and let’s donors know what they pledged to donate. Then they will fulfill the donation with what they are comfortable with. Maybe they pledged too much or maybe they want to round their donation up to $100 – either way your donor is now comfortable with their final amount.
Online Platforms:
Online platforms are the future, if not, already the present. They are easier for coaches, players and donors. The downside to this is that everyone can get one up and running so fast that many donors in your community are getting swooped up by other programs. Most online platforms are one dimensional and donors have already maxed out their cash donations for the year by the time it’s your season to fundraise. So how do you appeal to all donors, no matter the time of the year?
Solution: The Flex Guarantee
Flex promises that you will raise more than your last fundraiser or we will not take a penny in commission. Our number one goal is that you take your fundraising to the next level, and if we do not accomplish that then we don’t deserve anything.
How do we take your fundraising to the next level?
Improving Donor Experience: We provide donors with a variety of options for supporting. If they own a small business, they can buy a sponsorship package. If they are a team parent, they can buy a custom sweatshirt. If they just prefer cash donations, they can donate cash.
We pride ourselves on being the most flexible platform in the industry. Whether you want to do a walk-a-thon, sell apparel or just collect cash, our flex team will work with you to create the perfect page for your program.
Fundraiser Management: Say goodbye to kids collecting loads of cash and taking checks to the bank. With your Leader Login, you will have access to your personal portal where you can watch the donations come in, notify kids with their progress and share the fundraiser to your friends and social media accounts.
You will do less than ever while earning more than ever.
Individual pages and portals for each kid: The key to raising money is creating a personal feel. Family wants to donate directly to their relatives and know how they are progressing towards their own goal. With Flex, every kid will have their own page and own portal to track their progress towards their goal and awesome incentives.
A Flex Rep will meet with your team and assist them with downloading the Flex App and activating their profile. They will be automatically notified with push notifications when someone donates and be motivated to keep raising more!
