Magazine fundraising has just gotten a whole lot easier. Now, your group’s members no longer need to go door-to-door with their order forms, collecting payments, and following up later on any subscription delivery questions.
Now, it’s easy to conduct your magazine fundraiser entirely online. Simply enroll your group online and follow three simple steps to raise funds for your group.
How to get started
- Enroll your group here for free.
- Email instructions to your group.
- Supporters use the website to email your magazine fundraiser offer to family and friends.
How it works
The online magazine fundraiser is very straightforward. Your job is to get the word out to your supporters and motivate them to visit the website and participate. They list up to a dozen contacts with name and email address and the system automatically sends those emails for them.
The email message describes why the group is raising funds through magazine subscriptions and provides a link to the subscription page. Website visitors then place their order using a secure shopping system and subscriptions are processed automatically.
Profit potential
The average American household subscribes to four magazines a year at subscription prices ranging from $15 to $40 a year. The subscription prices on the website offer tremendous savings off the regular price. Your group earns 40% of the subscription total, so even a single magazine subscription can raise $6 or more.
So, a magazine fundraiser where each supporter signs up for even one subscription could raise quite a bit of revenue.
Available titles
All the popular magazines are available including People, Time, Newsweek, Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated, Family Circle, Better Homes & Gardens, and many more.
Discounts are as much as 85% off the cover price.
Magazine fundraising tips
Customize your email message with a couple of recommended offers for popular magazines. For example, Sports Illustrated is currently offering an additional six months free with a one-year subscription. The $39 subscription rate for 84 issues is a tremendous savings off the regular price.
Pair that offer with a recommendation for a popular women’s magazine such as two years of Better Homes & Gardens for just $22, a savings of 74%.
That way, there is identifiable value in the bargain subscription rates available at your website and people will be much more likely to browse the available offers.
Be sure to include a call to action in the email. State why you are raising funds, ask for their help, and use the word “because” in your fundraising pitch.
For example, “We’re raising funds for new band uniforms. We need your help because we need to raise $2,500 to replace the ones bought ten years ago.”
So, tell your supporters what they can do to help and show them that they’re getting a great deal in the process. It’s the proverbial win/win fundraiser!
If you are a team, school, or club looking for a good way to raise money, selling magazine subscriptions can be a great fundraising idea. There are many different groups that offer fundraising campaigns that include magazine subscription sales.
To choose the one that best fits your needs, there are a few things you should keep in mind before you get involved with a fundraising company.
Click here for tips on doing an Online Magazine Fundraiser.
First, look at the basics. These are the kinds of things you would consider for any company that you would be doing any kind of business with.
- Can you get a hold of them easily if you have a problem?
- Are their customer service representatives friendly and helpful?
- Are they local, and if not, will that make it more complicated to reach them?
Keep in mind who is going to be doing the selling. If your group is largely made up of children, companies that have easy to use systems are going to be the best way to go. Materials should be easy to read and orders easy to fill out.
Also, find out if the company has incentive programs for top sellers and if they provide the incentives for free, or if they come out of your profits. Also find out what the incentives are and make sure they are things your sellers will really want to work for.
Also think about your audience. Your customers are likely predominately your friends, families, and neighbors. You want to make sure you are selling high quality merchandise.
Having to deal with unsatisfied customers once they receive their products will make it more likely that you will get a “no” the next time you come asking. If you are going to be selling magazine subscriptions, make sure the company you work with has the most popular titles among the groups on whose doors you’ll be knocking.
Last, but certainly not least, you want to find out how much of a cut they are taking. Obviously, this is a business for them and way to make a living, but you want to get the most bang for your buck too, or in this case, your time spent participating in the fundraiser.
Look at the size of your group and the other constraints on their time (such as school, work, practices, etc.).
Keep these few guidelines in mind and you are much more likely to have a successful fundraiser.
