Has the economy hurt your group's fundraising efforts? How is participation? Are your sales down? What type of sale did you select (NO company names!)? What part of the country are you in?

Im in Iowa, we did cookie dough and cheesecakes. Our sales have held steady with last year. I did notice that most people went for the cookie dough since it was lower in price than the cheesecakes.

I am anxious to see more results of this posting.. =)

The economy has deffinately hurt our sales, once again... There really is no magic wand, most comppanies are selling the same thing, I think a local rep helps with some of the pressure, but, if you can stick to a few that are consistant, and dont overwhelm your parents, you can only do your best!!! The one thing about traditioanl fr companies, Cherrydale, Innisbrook, etc. they do alot for the 50% they offer, so unless you can find a similar deal...stick to your top 2!! I think salsa is OK, but would not hang my hat on a one product sale!!

Today was the first day of counting our fundraiser and I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised. I doubt this will be a banner year, but all things considered we're doing better than I expected.

We did a catalog sale (2 catalogs actually) and we're already over $6000; we just had a 3 day weekend so many people forgot to send in their money, when they do I think sales will improve even more. Personally I don't like food sales, too much fuss and bother keeping things cold or storing them properly when customers fail to pick them up on time, but that's just me. Also, I'm a coupon shopper and if I refuse to pay what I think are too high prices for an item, I can't imagine trying to convince other people to do so.

Our sales were down from last year, already brainstorming different ideas to help make up some of the money. I would say sales down al,most 20%

Hi All-
Just wanted to pass along this article about how PTOs are adapting to hard economic times since it's relevant to the conversation. Some good ideas in there.


~ Lisa


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