Dessert Fundraiser Information

Hosting a dinner party? You’ll need dessert, and in this busy day and age, some people are just too consumed with other important activities to make one. Cue the dessert fundraiser – your group can sell desserts to busy families and make a bundle. The desserts come frozen, so they’re easy to keep for unexpected company. As well, they’re pretty well-priced, so people can stock up if they wish. Lastly, many people have a sweet tooth, so they’re sure to appeal to lots of customers.

How Does it Work?

Dessert fundraisers work as brochure fundraisers, which means that the company you choose will provide you with brochures detailing the types of desserts they offer. You will need to check and see what kind of prices they have and what they sell. Some of the items include cheesecakes, pies, cinnamon rolls, Bundt cakes, brownies, and cookie dough. As well, check into if they use peanuts in their desserts, because that can be a factor in your sales, with many people having peanut allergies. A company with a good choice in their desserts will allow your customers to choose things that they like.

Sometimes the company will charge for the cost of the brochures, but often they won’t, so you probably won’t need a lot of money upfront. Your participants are given brochures and order forms and then they go out and collect orders from families, friends and members of the community. Make sure that the company you go with provides free shipping. If they don’t, then ask if there’s a minimum order you have to meet in order to get free shipping. This may mean that your group will have to sell extra product, so be prepared to construct your fundraising goal around that fact.

After the selling period is over, you will need to collect all the orders and money, tabulate them and then place one big order with the company. The product will be delivered on refrigerated trucks and you will need a fair amount of volunteers to help you sort and deliver the orders. Some companies will pre-sort the orders for you, but many won’t. Unless you have facilities where you can store the orders, delivery will have to be immediate, or the desserts will spoil. If you’re doing this through a school, make sure that parents are willing to pick up the orders the day they come in. Set up a pick-up point so that your customers can pick up their orders quickly.

How Much Can I Make?

Dessert fundraisers make about 50% profit; more if you sell more. You can increase sales by highlighting that frozen desserts make an excellent gift item for all the people in your extended family and friends. No one is going to turn down a nice dessert, especially around the holidays. Also check for costs like shipping and brochure costs. Some you can recoup when you place the order, but you may have to meet a minimum order for shipping to be free. Encourage your sales team to sell more by setting a goal for your group. If the company offers an incentive for selling, make sure you tap into it and increase your selling power.

Pros and Cons to Dessert Fundraising

There are pros and cons to this type of fundraiser, as sweet as it is. People do love desserts, so there should be a lot of appeal for it and they should have no trouble finding something they like in the brochure. As well, you can freeze the desserts for a long time, so it makes it easy to keep them and to stock up on them, if your customers wish to. Some companies also offer cookie dough, drink mixes and coffee, so if there are people who don’t like desserts (who doesn’t?), then they have other choices to buy, if they wish.

However, there are disadvantages too. The items are frozen, so they need to be delivered quickly and passed out immediately to prevent spoilage. This also means that you can’t carry an inventory unless you have facilities to store the extra desserts. As well, you’ve got to pick your time to run this fundraiser – you’ll probably get a lot of sales around Christmastime, but in January, people are traditionally trying to lose weight, so they’re not going to buy desserts as much. Also, if you have to meet a minimum order, you may have some trouble selling up to that number. Also, some people don’t have a sweet tooth – if they don’t, however, they may know someone who does, so you might be able to make more sales by word-of-mouth.

Either way, though, dessert fundraisers are fun to put on and should yield a lot of money. After all, everyone needs a dessert for unexpected company, if they have a sweet tooth or not.

Featured Dessert Fundraising Company

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