Do you spend hours and hours deciding between gift wrap, cookie dough, flowers, and candles for your next sales fundraiser? If so, then you’re forgetting the most important aspect of all fundraising—the cause! Fundraising success starts and ends with the kids and helping your school and your good work. It has very little to do with what you sell—and almost everything to do with why you sell. 

Of course, pick a quality product and a reputable company with good service as your fundraising partner. We have tons of those in our online Resource Guide, just updated with this year’s listings.

But all of the best fundraising consultants will tell you that true success comes from how well you emphasize who you are helping. Parents can buy great items from any store (and any website) usually for less than your school or group sells those items. But those stores don’t provide field trips for your kids or stipends for your teachers. That good work is what makes you different. Are you emphasizing that enough? Most groups do not.

My recent magazine column called “How To Raise More Money” looks at this topic in greater detail. And here are some other great fundraising resources:

Put Some Bounce in Your Spring Fundraiser

Which Fundraiser Is Right for You?