Why a Scratch Card Fundraiser Makes Sense in 2020

Why a Scratch Card Fundraiser Makes Sense in 2020

Learn how scratch cards can be a great alternative to traditional product fundraisers for schools

Are you looking for a unique way to raise money for your school or group? There are times when the most popular and proven products may not be your best option. In fact, you may be stuck in a rut with the same brochure or candy bar sale every year.

With so many groups using the same “me too” sales approach, taking orders from a brochure or selling an in-hand product, competing in this same crowded marketplace may be costing you valuable profit.

If you’re considering a scratch card fundraiser, even though it’s definitely not for every group, it will distinguish you from the pack. Those who use them find the process to be a quick, straightforward and easy way to raise money.

Scratch cards allow for students to break the ice with potential customers by turning donating into a fun and interactive game. In other words, students use their scratch card as a tool to collect donations instead of selling an actual product.

When approaching potential customers, in addition to sharing your cause, it’s important to tell them a little about your organization. Scratch cards already come with the organization name and school logo and colors (or a picture of your group or team). Students can easily transition to showing people the front of their card as they introduce their fundraiser.
Ensuring that your group understands the process is important, particularly if this is your first time. If you’re considering using scratch cards to raise money, you’ll want to know how they work.

Learn what makes scratch card fundraising simple

How Do Scratch Cards Work?

Although not everyone is familiar with scratch cards and how they can help groups raise money, the concept is extremely simple. Here’s how it works:

1. After introducing themselves, their organization and why they’re raising money, each student shows their card to a potential donor and explains that there are dollar amounts behind each dot.
2. The donor is asked to scratch off one or more dots, revealing the dollar amounts. The potential amounts are $1 to $5. The suspense is in not knowing the amounts that will be revealed.
3. As a thank you for their donation, each customer receives a scratch card savings sheet with coupons that can be used at popular businesses. The donor saves far more than the amount that they give to the student.
4. Once all of the dots have been scratched and the money collected, the student turns in their donation envelope to the sponsor. Depending on the size of the group and how many cards that are ordered, groups make a net profit once paid for. When using our cards, the profit percentage starts at 80%. Each student collects a total of $100 and the group pays $20 for every card. Payment is due within 15 days of receipt of the cards. This gives students ample time to collect and turn in their donation envelopes.

Ordering Scratch Card Fundraiser Supplies

Here’s what you’ll need to do before your kickoff date:

1. We offer a ‘Calculate Your Profit’ tool on our scratch card page that allows sponsors to enter their group size and number of cards that they want to order per seller.
2. The tool then calculates the number of cards to order and how much money can be raised. The hardest part about pre-ordering a product is knowing how much to order. Our tool makes this process easy.
3. Sponsors can then place their card order using our online purchase order form. This is where they can also put their organization name and upload an image that would be placed on the card.
4. Once the artwork is approved, the scratch cards are shipped to the group. There is no shipping fee.
5. Sellers receive a scratch card with coupons for each customer and a money collection envelope.

How to use scratch cards for fundraising

Scratch Card Fundraising Tips

If you’re still contemplating using scratch cards to raise money for your group, there are some things that you can do to enhance the scratch card fundraiser experience. Here are our recommendations:

• Set a beginning and end date for your sale that will create a slight sense of urgency with your students. If you give them too much time to collect the donations, they’re more tempted to procrastinate. The process shouldn’t take more than about a week to complete.
• Tell your students to encourage donors to scratch more than one dot. Every time they scratch and give, they receive another coupon savings sheet.
• Be sure group members introduce themselves by telling potential supporters why they’re raising money. The scratch card itself makes introducing their organization easy.
• Remind your sellers to be professional. It’s always important to always smile and say ‘thank you’, regardless of whether someone chooses to donate or not.
• To speed up the turning in of money collection envelopes, one idea is to offer an additional incentive for the first ___ sellers to do so.
• Periodically remind your students to keep up with the donation process.
• Prior to issuing them a second scratch card, make sure students turn in their completed card and money envelope.
• For donors who may want to give a larger donation and write a check, make sure they are written out to your organization.
• Once all of the dots are scratched, each scratch card has the potential to raise $100. Make sure your students are reminded of this.

Here’s one final suggestion. You can make collection even easier by assigning two money turn-in dates during your sale. To keep track of money that has been collected for each seller and what amount is still outstanding, you’ll receive a participation form that you can use. Have each seller put their name phone number and email address on the form before handing out any scratch cards.

Originally published at https://bigfundraisingideas.com.