Affordability - Can You Afford Your Fundraiser

There's a lot to be considered when planning a fundraising campaign—what to sell (if anything), how to sell it, when, and what supporter interest in a product or service will be…and the answer is different for every organization given their budget, resources, personnel, and money needs. But one of the most important considerations of all is one of the big "A's" of fundraising—Affordability.

Affordability is a concern for fundraisers from two angles—the organization and the consumer.

Can Your Organization Afford It?

Organizations have to be considerate of fundraiser affordability because they need to know they have the financial resources to get their campaign underway.

One consideration is manpower; organizations have to choose fundraisers that they can organize and manage given their volunteer base and skills access. Sometimes this means weighing whether or not hiring a fundraising consultant is beneficial and affordable; on the one hand, consultants will take a cut of the profits, but on the other, organizations without a large support base may struggle without one. Hiring a consultant may greatly boost profits, too.

The other consideration involved in manpower is selling power. Organizations have to know how many volunteers they have to get products out and orders taken. An organization with many sellers can sell a lot of something small and succeed, but a smaller organization may have to choose products that can be sold by a few just once or twice (like at a table or booth). This directly impacts what is sold and how.

Organizations also have to know what they can afford to buy ahead of time, or if they cannot afford any upfront expenditures at all. There are plenty of fundraising tactics and products that can be sold in either case. But if an organization cannot afford to buy a stock ahead of time, their campaign will have to focus on order-taking rather than on-hand or cash and carry sales.

Affordability For The Consumer

Every fundraising campaign has to consider product (or service) affordability when choosing fundraisers. Products have to be priced reasonably and have an appeal for your buying public. Otherwise, sales will be severely limited.

Supporters are willing to pay a little more than retail for some products in order to give to a worthy organization, but they are not willing to grossly overpay for inferior quality.

The key for choosing an affordable fundraising product for the consumer is to know a few things first:

- Will there be a large number of sellers? If so, you can make a lot by selling many small items (like candy bars or lollipops).

- Are there a limited number of sellers (say under 25 or 50)? Something with a higher profit margin will be best.

When determining consumer affordability, it is helpful to remember that if they are buying a product they will need anyway, the product becomes more affordable to them. For example, coffee is a grocery item that most households buy anyway, so it may hold a wider appeal; the same is true of other grocery items like doughs and snacks, and seasonal necessities like wrapping paper.

In addition, it is worth remembering that supporters are likely to be tapped for several organizations' fundraising campaigns throughout the year. That means consumers might be trying to divide their charitable resources among many. Giving them an affordable way to support an organization helps them support as many groups as possible.

Affordability is a fundamental concern in fundraising; affordability for the organization will be the primary consideration, but responsible and successful fundraising organizations will realize that they have to meet the budgets of their supporters as well. Knowing organizational resources (within and without) well determines what is an affordable fundraising campaign for a given organization.

This is an article created by the FundraisingIP.com Editorial Team. For more fundraising ideas and fundraiser help, go to our article directory at FundraisingIP.com/articles.

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