Holding a Fundraising Sale

One of the most all-time popular service projects to raise funds for any organization is to hold a sale – whether it’s a bake sale, book sale, or another type of sale. Coordinating your sale around an event in your community will increase your visibility and bring more people to your sale. Since items for a sale are usually donated, there are not many expenses — and nothing brings people together like a good sale!

Getting Started

Follow these steps and you’ll be on your way to service learning stardom!

1. Contact a shelter.

2. Ask for help.

3. Assign a task to each person in your group.

Tasks may include:

• Calling shelters or animal groups in your area
• Finding a location to hold the event
• Creating posters, then publicizing and distributing them
• Collecting donations of goods, then sorting through the donated items
• Making sales
• Greeting customers
• Taking pictures during the event and when the donations are delivered. You can display the photographs after the event.

It is important to select a leader with excellent organizational skills who can distribute responsibilities to everyone involved. You may appoint a teacher or parent to do this job. This person will help run things smoothly and will be in charge of the money you raise. 

4.    Determine the date and location of the sale.

Once you have decided on a location, such as a school or community center, decide on a date well in advance. This date could be in connection with an animal event, such as Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month in April (visit our animal-related events calendar to find out about animal celebration dates), or other events, such as a school event, sporting event, or community event.  These events may include:  

• Sports games at school
• Religious services
• PTA meetings
• Local parades
• Local fairs or arts and craft shows

5.   Ask for donations.

From the beginning, you’ll need to be very specific about the type of items you want to sell. You do not want to end up with too much of one item!

To make sure you know what is being donated, make a sign-up sheet to pass around with a list of needed items. Ask for first and second choices. Make sure to get names, phone numbers, and email addresses, so you can remind people what they agreed to donate and when they’ll need to bring it to you.

If you are having a bake sale, ask each baker to write out the name of the dish they made and a complete list of ingredients. This is important because some people are very allergic to foods commonly found in baked goods, such as coconut, nuts, and strawberries. Be sure to tell your volunteer bakers how foods should be packaged. Some states have specific health codes about what items must be individually packaged. Other states require that all goods be packaged. Ask an adult to contact the health department in your state about requirements.

6.   Publicize your event.

It is important to get the word out about your sale. Create posters asking people to donate items to sell, as well as posters that announce the day of the sale. Place posters in schools, community groups, local stores, and any clubs to which you may belong. Just remember to ask permission before putting up a poster in any location. 

Make sure to include the following information in your publicity materials:

• Date and location of the event 
• Theme — if your sale is held is in connection with an animal event, school event, or community event, be sure to indicate this on your poster
• Brief description of the event, and what organizations will receive the donation from the sales 
• Indicate types of items that will be sold
  

Day of the Event

1.    Prepare your location.

Make sure that the location of your sale is clearly marked and visible.  Put up posters and something eye catching such as bright, colorful tablecloths. 

2.   Presentation your goods.

Divide items by type — for example if you’re selling baked goods, separate by cookies, cakes, flavors, and serving size.  You may need to set up several tables to provide enough space for volunteers and for all of the items. Save a small space for some information about the organization to which you are donating the proceeds of the sale. 

3.   Set up your materials.

You will need the following supplies for your sale:

• Tables for your items and an area for cash transactions
• Chairs
• Calculator, a cash box, and change.  Dealing with money is a huge responsibility and it may be easier to assign an adult to handle transactions
• Price tags or labels, making sure prices are visible and clearly marked
• Only if you are having a bake sale: foil or plastic wrap to make sure your baked goods stay fresh
• Only if you are having a bake sale: napkins, paper towels, gloves to handle food (these must be worn at all times!), and cups

4.   Keep records.

Get a special notebook to record the name and contact information of everyone who donated goods, as well as a description of what they donated. You can ask them to sign themselves in or assign someone to record the information. This information will be used to send receipts, information on future events, updates on the success of the sale, and thank-you notes for their donations. 

After the Event

1.  Deliver your donation.

Contact the organizations that are accepting the donations and confirm a date to make the delivery. Deliver the donation under the supervision of an adult.

2.  Say thank you.

It’s important to thank the people who contributed to and helped at the sale. Also, it’s nice to include a brief description of the organizations that will receive the money and information on any upcoming events you plan to have. 

3. Reflect on your experience.

Meet with the members of your group to summarize your experiences. Ask yourselves the following questions:

• What was your experience?
• What did you like or dislike of the project?
• Why did you participate in this project?
• Why did you choose to help this organization? What did you learn?  What issues are important to this organization?
• What can others do about these issues?
• What can you do about these issues?
• What did you learn from participating in this project?
• What did you learn about yourself?
• Would you do this again? Why?
  

4.  Acknowledge your good work. 

Give yourselves a pat on the back for a job well done.  Ask your adult supervisor if you can have a lunch or dessert to thank the volunteers for their good deeds. 

5.   Smile! 

Time to show off!  Ask permission to display any pictures taken at the event at your school, community organization, or after-school program. Consider posting them along with project information on a website like DoSomething.org. Offer your images to the organization to use on their web site.

If you are part of a club, this is a great way to let people know what you do, and is a great way to recruit new members!