Profit Tips For Your Next Candle Fundraiser
A candle fundraiser is a great way for school clubs, cheer squads, or scout groups to raise funds because the unit price is high and most sales are for multiple units. Here’s how you can maximize your candle fundraising profits.
Provide samples
Believe it or not, using sample candles doubles the sales volume. Why? Because people can see, touch, and most importantly, smell the candles.
The fragrance is what sells the product and that doesn’t come through on the brochures. Not until they start providing scratch & sniff versions anyway!
Order at least two sample candles for each seller. Get a variety of all the popular fragrances in the main styles. Your fundraising company can easily tell you which ones those are and you can use the samples to fill orders, so you’re not wasting any money.
Use a sales script
I’m a big believer in kids actually getting out there and doing their own selling, so you need to teach them how to sell. Surprisingly, it’s not that hard to do.
As the kids say, here’s the thing. You must do these three things:
- Smile and introduce yourself while making eye contact, then state why you are raising funds.
- Ask for their help and use the word “because” to justify it.
- Recommend a favorite and place the sample in their hands.
“Hi, I’m Jimmie Jones and we’re raising funds because we need new computers at school. Can you help us out by buying a candle? This French Vanilla one smells great!”
And that’s when you hand over a sample candle and an order brochure. After that, you keep quiet until they ask a question or agree to place an order.
Sell a second product
Another great way to maximize profits is by offering something completely different. If the customer doesn’t like the candles, you can quickly pitch your alternative.
Or, if they buy, you can upsell them with the same offer. Same number of sales calls, double the profits.
One product that works especially well is a fundraising card offering two-for-one discounts on pizza or similar products from fast food chains. These retail for $10 and cost $2, so there’s plenty of extra profit built in.
Plus, they appeal to families because they provide real value for the price. They get their money back the first time they use the card, so it’s a great deal for them.
Offer sales incentives
Motivation is a wonderful tool because people always act in their own best interest. By offering sellers prizes for every sales level they exceed, you motivate even the worst ones to reach the first bonus level.
Plus, your top sellers will keep cranking out the sales to achieve the really good prizes for selling hundreds of dollars worth of candles. Your supplier will provide certain prize packages, but I recommend supplementing those with extras like a free discount card or items donated by local businesses.
You can even spend some of the profits on really great prizes like a videogame console, the newest games, or an iTunes gift card. Just make sure you inform your sellers about all the great prizes available.
When you start, have them state their sales goals by prize level in front of their peer group. Why? Because fear of failure and peer pressure are truly powerful motivators!
Reach a bigger audience
Another way to increase sales is to expand your sales targets beyond family, friends, and neighbors. Set up sales tables at local events or even at high-traffic shopping center locations.
Use big signs to spell out why you’re raising funds. That helps pre-sell people as they approach. For many of these sales, you might need to fill them immediately from your sample inventory. Still, it’s an excellent way to make hundreds more sales!
Candle Fundraiser Summary
Boost your candle fundraiser profits by providing samples, teaching your sellers a simple sales script, selling an alternate product, and offering sales incentives. In addition, you can sell even more candles by expanding your marketing efforts beyond just family friends, and neighbors.
Take some time to develop the right candle fundraising program, select a good supplier, and watch your profits soar to new heights!
Candle Fundraisers Are Highly Profitable
A candle fundraiser is a great way to raise money for your school, sports team or other type organization. What’s also nice about them is that they are a very sociable way to earn money for a good cause because you’re out there meeting the community. For younger participants, fundraisers can even be an early lesson in sales and marketing.
A very high-profit fundraising item right now is candles which are fun and very easy to sell because of their popularity. Candles are a much better choice than food or over-priced novelty items that tend to generate lower profits. They are a rapidly growing option that is more appealing to the public because they are a non-junk food alternative to fund raisers.
Candle fund raisers can also be very lucrative because they come in so many different varieties of size, color and scents creating a great earning potential. For school fundraiser such as band or sports teams, you can purchase and resell candles in your school’s colors.
For any type of organization, especially religious congregations, think about holiday-themed candles for those times of the year.
If your group has decided to embark on a candle fund raiser, a plan of action is a very important step for reaching your fund raising goal. You should start by determining the amount of money you want to raise.
Next, figure out how many people in your organization are willing to take part in the campaign and then set your deadlines by deciding on when your group is planning to start and stop the fundraiser.
Research the candle manufactures that get involved with fundraisers and supply these types of items for that purpose. You’ll want to start comparison shopping so that you can ensure the most profit.
Once you’ve got your partnership in place, the next step would be to determine the ‘new’ sale price of each candle and the number of candles each participant in the fund raiser will need to sell in order to achieve your goal.
Be sure to let everyone involved know what the expectations are and encourage them to use their best selling skills. Also, if you’re using brochures to sell the candles, you’ll want to supply your sellers with everything they’ll need to make meeting your fund raising objective as organized and easy as possible. Give them plenty of order forms and make them aware of shipping and delivery time periods so that they can let their customers know when to expect their items.
By following a few guidelines and setting a fair, but profitable pricing structure, your organization should be well on its way to reaching its fund raising target! Good Luck!
