Category: How-to Guides

When you need to raise money for your school or club on an ongoing basis, you’ll want to find a few fundraisers that you can do over and over again, and food fundraisers are perfect for that. Once you find a couple of foods your community enjoys buying, you can set up the first one, get on a schedule, make some money for your school, and then rinse and repeat.

What’s a popcorn fundraiser?

Some schools host popcorn fundraisers weekly, and they can be really fun and lucrative. The idea is to sell bags of popcorn to kids and families for a reasonable price, and to sell enough of them to make a profit after expenses are calculated.

Typically, a bag of popcorn would cost $1, and the amount of profit per bag can range from 50 to 75 cents. Not bad.

There is a one-time initial investment in the popcorn machine itself, and then there will be a weekly need to purchase supplies, like the pre-measured popcorn packets, and the bags, and whatever else you plan to sell with the popcorn, like drinks or baked goods.

Once a schedule is established, making sure that your team can continue to get volunteers to show up every week to make and sell the popcorn (as well as clean up afterwards) is key to your success. When the kids know there will be a sale every Friday, for example, more of them will remember to bring their money each week, and you’ll gradually earn more for your school.

Try a Classic: Host a Bake Sale Fundraiser with our How-To Guide.

How to Run a Popcorn Fundraiser

The first thing to do is coordinate with your school and research all the local rules about running a food fundraiser for a school in your area. Your school may need you to schedule out the fundraisers in advance and check that they won’t interfere with anything else on the calendar.

Should you rent or buy a popcorn machine?

After that, you’ll need to invest in a commercial popcorn machine and find a supplier for the popcorn itself. It’s possible to rent a popcorn machine from a local party supply company, and you may want to do that at first to test the waters and find out how much work is involved, and also how much interest there is from the kids at your school.

But if you’re going to run the sales on a weekly basis, it probably makes sense to buy a machine, rather than to rent one and either pick it up or have it delivered each time. Before you buy the machine, make sure there’s ample room to store it at the school, and that you’ll have some way to move it from storage to the sales location, like a good, sturdy cart (affiliate link).

A commercial popcorn machine the size a school can use for fundraising will probably cost between $300- $600. This one with our Amazon affiliate link is a good option.

Location, location, location

Next, you’ll want to choose a spot to set up the popcorn machine and the selling area that’s approved by the school and gives you the maximum visibility. For example, if you’re planning to run the popcorn sale after school, you want to be positioned near the main exit, where the majority of kids and families will see you at pickup time. You’ll also want to be sure you choose a spot that has plenty of room for kids to line up and not block any sidewalks or doors. And don’t forget to set up close to an electrical outlet or have a long extension cord.

Selling popcorn or any other food after school is a good idea if it’s allowed because that’s when many kids are ready for a snack, so you’ll be selling to a hungry audience!

Where to get popcorn supplies

You can find popcorn for a commercial machine online or at some local big box stores, and you’ll basically have two choices for how you’ll buy it: either in a pre-measured packet that includes the oil and sometimes some additional butter flavoring, or you’ll need to buy the popcorn and oil separately. The advantage to buying the pre-measured packets is that it’s one (or two) less things your volunteer will have to do. The disadvantage is that your customers may not want to have the butter flavoring already added, or you may want to have more control over the type of oil you use.

Here’s a link to buy the pre-measured popcorn packets and here’s a link to a large supply of plain popcorn – both on Amazon with our affiliate links.

You’ll also need to have a supply of bags to serve the popcorn in, and when it comes to popcorn bags, size matters. If they are too big, you won’t make enough profit, and if they’re too small, your customers will be unhappy and won’t come back for more. You’ll have to find a happy medium. In general, a 1-ounce bag should be the right size, giving your customer decent value for their money, and still making your school some money in the process. Oh and don’t forget napkins!

Try these 1-ounce bags on Amazon with our affiliate link.

How much popcorn should I buy for my popcorn fundraiser?

This is a perennial question for anyone who wants to serve food to a large group of people, and you’ll have to learn to gauge this over time as you test the sales. The best thing to do is buy extra supplies and have them on hand, ready in case you need more, and so you won’t run out. But ultimately you’ll need to make an educated guess about how many you think you’ll sell.

Each pre-measured packet of popcorn tells you approximately how much popcorn you’ll be able to make, then you’ll need to find out how many servings that will equal. For example, an 8-ounce pre-measured packet makes about 10 quarts of popcorn, which will probably fill about 8-10 of the 1-ounce bags.

So if you want to sell 100 bags of popcorn, you’ll need to plan on using 10-11 of the pre-made packets.

What else can you sell at a popcorn fundraiser?

The sky’s the limit, really! There are lots of things you can sell that go with popcorn. Many parents like to see healthy options alongside, like fruit or cut up vegetables, but you’ll need to check with your school and local community to be sure you’re following all health department rules when serving fresh food.

Another idea is to add beverages, since popcorn is a salty treat. You don’t have to sell sodas, and many schools won’t allow them to be sold, but if yours does and you want to sell them, they are profitable. Certainly you can sell water bottles because they have a nice high profit margin, but in addition you could sell juices, like bottled or fresh if possible.

Another idea is to sell Popsicles, and in fact some schools do weekly popsicle sales on their own. This is a great way to enhance profits for the fundraiser, because popsicles have a high profit margin, and they involves much less work than making popcorn. Just as with a popcorn fundraiser, you’ll have an initial investment in the equipment, in this case in a popsicle freezer, and then after that you’ll have an ongoing expense of the popsicles to sell. You can either find a local distributor who can provide stock at wholesale prices, or you may need to buy directly from a big box store.

Of course you can always add a Bake Sale component to your popcorn fundraiser! And don’t forget to have lots of condiments on hand, like salt, hot sauce, parmesan cheese – and whatever you think kids would like on popcorn.

How much money can you make with a popcorn fundraiser?

A popcorn fundraiser is not going to make a million dollars overnight, but it can be a nice steady stream of income for your group if you do it on a weekly basis. Depending on the size of your school, and whether you can recruit volunteers to staff a popcorn sale every week, your school could earn $250-$500/week, after all the expenses are paid.

Adding things to sell, like beverages and popsicles, will increase your profits each week, and obviously keeping your expenses as low as possible will keep that profit margin high, too. For example, what if one of your supporters were to donate the supplies for one week – or even better – for a month? They can either literally purchase the necessary stuff and give it to you and your team, or they can donate the cost of those supplies and your team will purchase them as usual.

It’s a nice way for some supporters to be able to chip in, even if they can’t help out in person, and you should make people aware of the option.

If you end up trying a popcorn fundraiser for your school, we hope you have fun and make lots of money! Let us know in the comments.

Sarah A. has been fundraising for her kids’ schools for years. She’s got the info you need and she’s ready to share it with you!

Are you searching for ways to raise money for your school or group? There’s a company that’s been around for a few decades now whose sole purpose is to help make it easier to fundraise. Let’s get to know Fundraising.com.

Celebrating 30 Years in Fundraising

Once upon a time, two students at McGill University created a way to fundraise with “scratch and win cards,” and while the company has evolved over the years, the core business is still the same: Helping schools, clubs, and groups raise money for things that matter.

In fact, their stated purpose is “to help groups and individuals raise money for their cause using the power of the Internet.” It became important to the company that school children not be required to go door-to-door selling stuff to neighbors, so they built ways for kids to fundraise via email, and now via their online storefronts.

This virtual selling idea is appreciated by parents (and surely by some of the neighbors, too), and it makes the fundraising process safer and easier. It also means your group can potentially earn more money, by being able to contact supporters who don’t live nearby, like Grandparents and other family members.

We take it for granted now that the Internet is a smart tool for school fundraising, but Fundraising.com was a pioneer in the space, and we can look to them for other innovations as well.

So Many Options in their Catalog

The Fundraising.com catalog is famous and you can download it here via our affiliate link. Filled with the company’s product line, it’s also packed with tips and ideas for how to raise money for your cause, some of which are specific to the product, and some of which can apply to anything.

Do They Only Have Candy Fundraisers?

Not at all! Many schools and families want to avoid selling candy or sweets to raise money for schools, so Fundraising.com has a bunch of super fun options. Here’s a list of their Food fundraising products:

• Popcorn Snack Bags
• Frozen French Bread Pizza
• Auntie Anne’s Pretzels
• Jerky Snacks
• Coffee

And here’s a list of their fundraising products that aren’t food at all:

• Dinner and Movie Discount Cards
• Restaurant.com Gift Cards
• Scratch and Help Cards
• Smencils, Smens, and Scented Accessories
• Custom Tee-shirts and other Spirit Wear
• Heritage Candles
• Customized Tumblers
• and so much more!

Do They Have Candy Fundraisers?

They sure do! Fundraising.com has plenty of sweets in their catalog if that’s what your school wants to sell. From their signature Katydids to brand name chocolate bars, if you’re looking for sweets, they have you covered. Check out this list:

• Katydids
• Crazy About Cookies (Dough)
• Baked, Ready to Eat Mini Cookies
• Gourmet Cookie Dough
• Sweet & Salty Pretzel Rods
• Chocolate-covered Fortune Cookies
• Lollipops
• Pecanbacks
• Van Wyk Chocolate Bars
• Hershey’s Candy Bars
• Welch’s Fruit Snacks

Terrific Fundraising Ideas

If you’re ever running out of ideas for how to fundraise, this company has got you covered. They’re always updating this list of over 100 Fundraising Ideas, and we bet you’ll love them.

Are There Any Fundraisers with No Upfront Costs?

Yes, Fundraising.com has what they call “Order Takers,” which are fundraisers you don’t have to spend money until you make some money. You can use this system for almost all the products they sell.

How Does It Work?

When you sign up to do an Order Taker, you’ll receive brochures and order forms, which you’ll use to show your supporters and take pre-orders for the items you’re selling, like tumblers, or cookie dough. Once you’ve collected the money for all of the pre-orders, you send the fee to Fundraising.com and they send back the orders.

Your supporters get their items, and you get to keep your profit, all without having to pay any upfront costs. Pretty great system!

What’s the Difference? If you use the Order Taker system, you can’t also sell via email or online, so that’s something to consider. But if you’re trying to keep your group on a tight budget, this is a terrific option.

What Are Their Best Sellers?

It’s no surprise that one of their best sellers is Katydids. These candies are made with caramel, pecans, and chocolate, and they look delicious! A tin of these candies would be a lovely holiday gift, or just a lovely treat.

Another best selling fundraising item are Smencils. What’s a Smencil? It’s a scented pencil, made from recycled newspapers, #2 graphite core, and dipped in a terrific, kid-friendly scent. Each Smencil comes wrapped in a “corn-based, biodegradable freshness tube,” which means they’re not just fun, they’re also not bad for the environment.

Smencils are a great fundraiser because they’re something everyone can use, they’re good conversation starters, and they’re not food. And they also offer Smens!

How Much Money Can You Raise?

Every fundraiser is different, so the total amount you can raise is going to depend on what you choose and how many you sell. So the real question to ask is: What percentage does my school get to keep?

If you sell Katydids, your group will get 40% profit, which is pretty darn good. Smencils also pay 40% profit, and if you want to sell the “Scratch and Help Cards,” your group can make 90% profit. This chart shows you how much profit you’ll make on some of their top items:

Item Name	Profit Percentage
Katydids	up to 40%
Popcorn	40%
Smencils	up to 45%
Lollipops	50%
Dinner and a Movie Cards	up to 70%
Scratch and Help Cards	up to 90%

Note that each item you sell will yield a different amount of profit, and the percentages will change depending on the number of items you order or sell. Please note that you’ll have to factor in the cost of shipping items as well, unless you’re doing an Order Taker.

Download the Fundraising.com Catalog

Get a free copy of their catalog and start learning about all the ways you can use fundraising.com to make money for your school, group, or club.

Sarah A. has been fundraising for her kids’ schools for years. She’s got the info you need and she’s ready to share it with you!

Looking for a passive fundraiser your supporters can easily use to help your organization? eScrip is a great idea. It’s fairly simple to get signed up, and once that’s done, the donations won’t be far behind.

eScrip has been around for years, and they say they’ve helped raise over $450 Million for schools and non-profits so far. It works by connecting your supporters’ grocery and drugstore loyalty cards, credit cards, and debit cards, allowing the merchants they shop with to pay you a percentage of sales.

As with any passive fundraisers, you’ll need to spend time getting people signed up and teaching them about the program at first, but after that, the work is done for you. As people do their normal shopping, at drugstores, grocery stores, and more, your group will earn money without any more work on your part.

You can even earn money when someone books a Cruise!

How Does eScrip work?

This program is perfect for people who regularly shop at a grocery store chain that has a Shopper Loyalty Program, because for them it will be a seamless way to donate money. Every time they head out with their weekly shopping list, they’ll also be helping your school or non-profit earn money.

It’s also important to note that it’s 100% free for your group to sign up.

First, you’ll need to create an account for your group with eScrip, unless one already exists. It’s easy to do; you’ll just need to have some information handy, like the mailing address, Tax ID number of the non-profit, etc. You’ll also need to choose how your group will receive their funds, like via an Electronic Funds Transfer, which happens monthly, or by Check, which happens annually.

Which way is better? That’s a question for your group to decide. Electronic Funds Transfers require you to link to your non-profit’s bank account, and some groups are wary of doing that or would simply prefer not to. The upside is that you’ll be able to access the donations on a monthly basis, but again – this is a decision for each group to make individually. Just be aware that you will only receive donations once a year if you opt to get paid by check.

How Do My Supporters Sign up for eScrip?

Once your school is registered, you’ll then need to ask your supporters to create an account on eScrip for themselves. Send them this link, and after they’ve signed up, they’ll need to register their cards, and choose your school (or nonprofit) as the recipient of the donations.

Some of your supporters may feel the most comfortable connecting their grocery loyalty cards, and they may not be ready to register their credit and debit cards. That’s OK. Start with what they feel comfortable with, and you can build up to more later.

Once they signed up, they don’t ever have to go to the eScrip website again, unless they want to. They will be able to login and see how much money they’re earning for your school, but only if they want to. In general, it’s a very easy way to ask people to donate.

What About Mileage and Points Credit Cards?

Here’s the cool thing about eScrip: you can essentially double-dip! That means you can pay with your credit card, earn Frequent Flyer Miles and Points with that card, and ALSO earn money for your school, once it’s registered. It’s a Win-Win.

Can I Support More than One School at a Time?

The answer is yes! eScrip will allow you to split your earnings between up to three schools and non-profits, which is pretty great, especially if your supporters have multiple kids and feel guilty about only helping one school. Problem solved: help them all!

What’s the Downside of using eScrip to Fundraise?

As with any passive fundraiser, the amount you’ll earn may be small. Because the percentages each merchant pays are small to begin with, the key to earning a lot of money passively is by doing a large volume. You’ll need to sign up a lot of people, and then they’ll need to do a lot of shopping for it to pay off.

The other potential downside to using eScrip is that they do not have a lot of participating merchants. If your school happens to be in one of the areas where they have some participating stores, and if most of your supporters already there, then it would be fine.

However, since the number of stores they work with is relatively small, and because they don’t have stores in every part of the United States, it may not make any sense for you to sign up.

Check out their website to see the current list of participating stores, see how many are nearby, read over all the FAQs, and then decide if eScrip is a good fit for your school. And let us know in the comments what you decide!

Sarah A. has been fundraising for her kids’ schools for years. She’s got the info you need and she’s ready to share it with you!

When my kids were in Elementary School, we tried a lot of fundraisers, and most were a lot of work, so I was always ready to use any Passive Fundraisers there were. We used Box Tops for Education, and back when we were doing it, you still had to clip actual Box Tops!

Today, Box Tops for Education has gone digital, making it a lot easier and a more passive way to fundraise for your kids’ school. The basic idea is: there are certain products at the grocery store that count towards the “box tops,” and when you purchase them, and show proof, the manufacturer will donate a percentage to your school.

Box Tops for Education is, by definition, only for schools, so clubs and teams can’t take advantage of it, unfortunately, and the program only supports schools from Kindergarten through Eighth Grade. But if your school is within the range, you can totally get going with Box Tops.

Why Use Box Tops for Education to Fundraise for Schools?

BTFE (as it’s known to insiders) has donated more than $900 Million dollars to schools to date, which is even more than Amazon Smile can claim. And all while people simply shop for groceries they were already planning to buy.

Don’t you want your school to get some of that money? Of course you do! And they’ve made the process simpler and easier for your supporters to help raise money for your school, so in our opinion, there’s no reason not to get started with Box Tops.

History of Box Tops for Education

Box Tops for Education was launched in 1996 by General Mills, and at first they only appeared on a few select General Mills cereal brands. Over the years, the product line has expanded, and now includes non-food items like pens and even cleaning supplies. For a full list of the products that count towards Box Tops for Education, check out their website.

The way it used to work actually involved quite a bit of work, but mostly for the school’s fundraising committee!

Step one was that the supporters would go shopping and buy the products with Box Tops on them. Then they needed to cut off the Box Tops – they were really just a small part of the box itself – a little rectangle of cardboard about 1 inch long and 3/4 of an inch tall, approximately – and then they had to turn them in to the fundraising committee.

Our school had a collection bin set up in the main office and people could drop them off on a daily basis or whenever they remembered to do it. We sent out reminders at collection time, which only happened a couple times per year.

Collecting and collating Box Tops was a bit of a job for the fundraising committee, so you can already tell it wasn’t the most passive of passive fundraisers, but still, it was easier than other ways, so we felt it was worth it.

The hundreds or thousands of little pieces of cardboard had to be counted, sorted, and mailed back to General Mills headquarters in Minnesota before the school could get its money. And the postage wasn’t covered by General Mills, so it was in our interest to clip the Box Tops as small as possible, getting rid of the edges, because even tiny amounts of extra cardboard would add up when it came time to ship.

There were many, many volunteer hours spent clipping and trimming, then bundling box tops into sets of 50 – 100. Each one was worth 10 cents to the school, so we needed tons of them in order to make a significant donation.

The whole thing was time-consuming, although not difficult to do. Back at General Mills headquarters, it had to be quite a job, too. Imagine the tons – literally tons – of cardboard arriving in the mail, and having to verify they were actually all Box Tops and not just junk, before then calculating the totals and sending out checks. Tons of cardboard, tons of work!

But times have changed and Box Tops are so much easier now!

How Does Box Tops for Education Work?

Thank goodness for digital receipts and apps! Earning money for your school with Box Tops is now a lot easier for everyone involved. For starters, it’s not necessary to clip cardboard anymore (although there are still a few legacy products out there with cardboard to be clipped).

Hallelujah!

It’s now mostly done with receipts, both paper and digital, and the earnings are added to your school’s total within a few weeks; no need to wait for periodic collection times. This is a very good thing!

Step one is still grocery shopping for the specific Box Tops for Education products (see full list here). Next is to scan the receipt, if it’s made of paper, and send it to BTFE via their App (which is available for both Apple and Android phones), or there’s also a way to email the receipt to them.

One of the best parts about the new digital system is that online shopping counts, too. If your supporters don’t actually go to the grocery store but instead have their food delivered, they can still get receipts and, if they’ve purchased qualifying products, it’ll start to add up.

There are specifics about how to use the app, what to do if you use Instacart, and lots of other questions are answered on their website, so check that out.

How to Sign up Your School with Box Tops for Education

You might be lucky enough that your kids’ school is already signed up and you’re just taking over the job of Fundraising, but if not, you’ll head over to their website and start the process. It’s fairly simple, but you do have to be sure you follow the rules and that your school qualifies.

Some people ask – Can Private Schools earn money with Box Tops for Education? Or can Home Schoolers sign up with Box Tops? The answer is yes to both, which is great, but of course you’ll have to check out the specific rules for each of those types of schools.

Once you’re signed up, you’ll find a wealth of information and support on the site. Box Tops Coordinators, as you will be known, can benefit from their FAQs and knowledge base, and there are plenty of Facebook groups filled with fundraising teams that can help with questions and ideas.

How Much Money Can my School Earn with Box Tops for Education?

Of course the amount will depend on how much time and energy you and your team can put into spreading the word and educating your supporters, and then just how many products they buy in a year, but there is a limit. Turns out the maximum any school can earn in one year is $20,000. (Note that their fiscal year runs from March 2nd – March 1st.)

I don’t know about you, but an extra $20,000 would have made a HUGE difference to my kids’ Elementary School! We never made that much, but just knowing it’s possible is exciting in my opinion.

The Box Tops Youtube channel has terrific videos showing what some of the schools with the highest earnings are able to spend the money on, like:

• Help Fund the Robotics Team
• Build a Climbing Wall
• Buy More Recess Equipment
• Fund Educational Field Trips
• Create a Healthy Snack Station
• And so many more cool things!

What Products Count for Box Tops?

You should check out the full list on the Box Tops website, because new products are being added to the list all the time, but product categories range from the classic General Mills cereal brands to office supplies, cleaning products, baking supplies, snacks, frozen foods, meals and sides, dairy products, and more. It’s a very long list!

The nice thing about that is your supporters are very likely to buy some of those products every time they shop, so you’re more likely to earn money for your school. As with any passive fundraiser, the key is to make sure you spread the word and encourage people to take part.

Luckily, there are lots of resources for coordinators, and you should totally take advantage of all the help they can offer.

We hope you get started with Box Tops for Education right away and start earning money for your school. Leave a comment and let us know what your school is fundraising for!

Sarah A. has been fundraising for her kids’ schools for years. She’s got the info you need and she’s ready to share it with you!

Amazon is one of the biggest companies in the world, and a lot of people shop on Amazon every day, which makes it a great way to raise money for your school or group passively. The key is you’ll need to get your supporters to shop on Amazon Smile‘s website. Once they’ve switched over to Amazon Smile and they’ve selected your organization to benefit, the passive fundraising begins!

The Amazon Smile Foundation helps charitable organizations raise money from their supporters in one of the easiest ways possible: while they’re already shopping on Amazon. Since so many people choose and trust Amazon for online shopping, you’re likely to raise money easily once you set it all up and spread the word.

Getting started is easy, and there are many ways to let your supporters know how they can help, so using Amazon Smile is something every group can use to fundraise. There’s no reason not to!

Getting Started Fundraising with Amazon Smile

The first thing you’ll need to do is register your charitable organization with Amazon Smile. To do this, you’ll need to have some information at your fingertips:

• The EIN number of your organization
• an Email address, preferably one associated with the organization
• Bank account information for your group, including
• a Bank Statement or a voided check

You’ll use this information to create an administrator account, and you’ll need to be authorized to accept the terms and conditions on behalf of the group.

Registration is free, and once the account is created and verified, and once the bank account is properly linked, your organization will be ready to receive donations.

How Does Amazon Smile Pay?

Amazon Smile will transfer contributions to your group’s bank account via an electronic funds transfer at the end of each quarter. They do not issue checks, and they say the reason is because of the volume of funds they are dispersing; it’s so much money that mailing out checks would simply cost too much.

Let’s get some of that money for your group!

The way your group earns money from Amazon Smile is when your supporters do three things:

1. They go to Smile.Amazon.com
2. They choose your group as their preferred charitable organization
3. They make qualifying purchases, meaning they actually buy things

If they do all those things, Amazon Smile will set aside 0.5% of every qualifying purchase and send it to your group every 3 months.

How Can my Supporters Sign Up for Amazon Smile?

It’s super easy! You can use your existing Amazon account. Tell everyone to go to Smile.Amazon.com. If it’s the first time they’ve clicked that link, they’re be prompted to choose a charity to support.

Once they land on Smile.Amazon.com, they’ll simply need to choose your organization as the one they want to support. Of course there are many other non-profits that Amazon also lets you choose from, so just ask them to search for yours and select it.

When your supporters shop on Amazon, they’ll always need to be on Smile.Amazon.com for the money to be paid to you. Let people know the difference, and ask them to bookmark the page, so that every time they need something, they’re sure to use the Smile site, and you’re sure to get the revenue.

Note: if your supporters have already been using Amazon Smile and supporting another charity, but now they want to support yours, they can easily make that change. Just ask!

Spread the Word About Amazon Smile

Let’s be honest: the percentage of sales Amazon Smile pays per purchase is quite small, so no one will be fully funding their budget from 0.5% of my last Amazon order of shampoo and bath oil. The point is to get a large volume of qualifying purchases happening, every day, so that it will add up to serious cash in the long run.

The way to get that large volume is to make sure you get the word out far and wide. Put the information on your website, share it in your email newsletter, talk about it at your group’s meetings, tell your social media followers, and your real-life friends, too. Use every method you can think of and tell the world!

Amazon Smile has a set of marketing materials designed to help you spread the word, too, and you can access them once you get your account set up. They want to help you be successful.

We hope you get set up with Amazon Smile soon and that the funds start rolling in!

Sarah A. has been fundraising for her kids’ schools for years. She’s got the info you need and she’s ready to share it with you!