We want to try something new this year for our first fundraising effort. Most families surveyed are in agreement with this. I've found a company that sounds promising but I would love to have some feedback from any group that has used this company - Believe Kids. It has a lot of the components that I'm looking for but I am always one to do research before moving forward. Thank in advance!

I am sure that there are schools happy with Believe Kids. That being said, are there not any local companies you can work with? I saw their catalog, and it looks like the same merchandise that most other companies have. And how about service? Will they do a live kick off at your school? Many Internet companies will nickel and dime you for late orders including processing and delivery. As far as cookie dough, they rep Otis Spunkmeyer, a company that is going direct next spring and will be hiring their own sales force. I doubt Believe Kids will carry Otis anymore.

The bottom line--Stay local. You get better service from start to finish and when you work with a local company, you are supporting your own state, which cannot hurt in these times.

We have used Believe Kids for many years now in Florida with their home office being in Denver, CO. I have to say I think they do a better job from afar than most local reps. The reason being is that you can call their toll free number and everyone seems to be able to help even if you rep isn't there which they always are They provide a lot of daily incentives, marketing materials, and technology that most other companies cannot provide. At the end of the day, they make it pretty easy and we have never raised this much money because of their focus on sales and marketing. Isn't that what we are trying to do? Raise Money!!

Anyway, I know they really focus on customer service and their catalog has more diversity than most with the music, movies, Ballmania, etc. As for Otis, I would ask them.

Involved PTA Mom

Sorry middleageddad, usually I agree with your posts but having used BelieveKids in the past (also in FL), I have to agree with Cindy Harmon on this one.
It was a very easy fundraiser to run, the support was great and they did everything they said they would. We almost used them again this year but decided to try something new instead.
Our rep was Dave Slabodnick, an extremely personable young man that I really enjoted working with.

BelieveKids has come up on these boards before, a search should yield other opinions.

I stand corrected. Now, I have to ask this. If you liked them and had a great experience, why are you trying something new? In a shaky economy, why risk a new company. If it "ain't broke" why fix it?

LOL, I knew you'd ask that! There is actually more than one reason-last year our board decided to try something new and did a green fundraiser; it wasn't a matter of being unhappy with BelieveKids, it was more philosophical. Well, the fundraiser tanked, raising only a fraction of what we normally did, so this year we went back to looking at the usual catalog fundraisers. (Believe it or not, people actually complained because we didn't have a "normal" fundraiser last year. They wanted the catalog!) None of the catalogs stood out so I called Dave and asked him to send us their new catalog, but in the meantime Jaxco sent us theirs and it had photo merchandise and collegiate items available, which we hadn't seen anywhere else, so we're trying them. Our feeling is that these items will encourage some people to buy something when they normally wouldn't. If BelieveKids is raised as a possibility next year I wouldn't argue a bit.