There are three different types of pizza fundraisers:
Sales of pizza by the slice Sales of pizza fundraising discount cards Sales of pizza supplies - make your own kits
Each of these fundraisers varies in effort, requirements, and profitability. Let's take a brief look at each one.
Pizza Fundraising By The Slice This is a quick and easy profit source for just about any type of youth sports team. You purchase your pizzas at a quantity discount and have them delivered piping hot to your event.
Papa Johns and Dominos both offer the delivery service from any location. Of course, you'll need to pay cash when the pizzas are delivered.
Sell the individual slices at close to 100% markup so that your team receives $2 for every $1 in cost.
That markup covers any unsold or damaged slices.
Tips: Don't overbuy, reorder instead. Also, sell them fast before they cool off. Plain cheese is the most popular followed by pepperoni.
Pizza Fundraising Discount Cards A pizza fundraiser card is a discount card with an offer tied to a single merchant, usually a national chain. It often provides a two- for-one offer on every order and is tends to be priced at $10 for a card good for a one-year period.
Offers vary with most being tied to either a single location or a small group of outlets for a national chain. Pizza Hut cards are good for eat-in dining while most others are aimed at the take-out or delivery market.
Given how popular pizza is with younger children as well as teenagers, pizza cards are excellent school fundraising ideas.
The cards for Pizza Hut and those for some of the other chains place a limit on the number of times you can use the card, often 21 times. That is a lot of free pizza for $10. Usage is tracked via holes punched in marked spots on the card.
Some of the offers also specify that your initial order must be for a large pizza while your free pizza is a medium size. When you think about it, that works well for most adults because they usually want a different set of toppings than what their children enjoy.
Profit Tip: Pizza cards can be obtained from many suppliers. Most offer the same set of national chains and prices can vary widely, so it pays to shop around.
All in all, pizza cards are among the best easy fundraisers based on profitability and ease of sale.
Fundraising Sales of Frozen Pizza, Supplies, or Kits Little Caesars and several other companies offer a "do it yourself" pizza kit that many schools, youth groups, and sports teams have successfully sold.
The basic concept is the same as a cookie dough fundraiser. Your sellers use an order-taker brochure, collect payment upfront, and deliver the goods after you receive your bulk shipment.
As with all order taker sales efforts, there is slightly more work involved than with immediate sale items. The delivered product must be received, counted, and sorted by customer.
Pricing is generally close to the price the customer would pay at retail. Profit margins are in the 30%-40% range.
Tip: Because the dough is frozen, deliveries need to be timed well. Your customer pickup/delivery needs to take place within 4 to 6 hours after your bulk delivery.
If you are looking for a great fundraising idea for your school, youth group, or sports team, try pizza this year!
Christmas trees A great fundraiser at Christmastime is selling Christmas trees, wreaths, poinsettias, and other holiday decorations. Simply setup a tree lot in your church parking lot, staff it with volunteers, and promote it with large signs well down the road.
You can also offer Christian-themed ornaments, decorative yard art such as wire-framed angels pre-decorated with twinkling lights, door wreaths with bible messages, etc.
Garden sale A garden sale makes a wonderful spring fundraiser. Emphasize your Christian theme with peace lilies, Easter lilies, and other plants symbolizing peace. Flower bulbs and wildflower seeds are always good sellers, plus you can make arrangements with a nursery for flowering shrubs such as azaleas.
Mulch or pine straw are also good revenue producers. You can even sell Father Dom's Duck Doo Compost, an organic fertilizer that supports a good cause.
T-shirts Many church youth groups sell message t-shirts that appeal to today's youth. These can be custom produced by a screen print company or ordered in bulk from national t-shirt companies. Expect to pay about $8 plus freight for shirts selling in the $12-$15 range.
Christian music CD sales of Christian music groups are another easy way to raise funds. Focus on top selling groups and look for compilation CDs that feature hit songs from a variety of musicians. That way your music will have the broadest appeal. Take orders in advance and expect to pay 50% of retail price plus freight.
Auction Hosting an auction is a fun way to raise money for your favorite cause. Seek donations from local businesses and ask everyone in your group to also ask their personal contacts. the more items donated the more you'll raise. To attract an even larger crowd, publicize your event well in advance with a press release.
Yard sale A yard sale or rummage sale is another easy fundraiser. Put the word out to get as many items to sell as possible. Have it on a Saturday morning in a church parking lot and use road signs and newspaper classifieds to draw a big crowd. You can even turn it into a monthly event during good weather.
Music concert A Christian-themed music concert can be a great family night or you could do the same thing for a teen audience. Be sure the groups you bring in have the right sound by asking for tapes or CDs. For bigger groups, you can pay a fee or give them a share of the ticket sales.
Fundraising bricks Many church groups do landscape projects with laser-engraved fundraising bricks. Design a sidewalk, meditation garden, or outdoor patio fountain and incorporate the use of message bricks. Sell individual bricks that people can inscribe with a name and message of their choice. The bricks are surprisingly affordable and priced right, the project will raise amazing amounts for your cause.
Discount cards Contact local Christian businesses for inclusion on a discount card for families. These usually retail for $10 and expire after a year. If you supply the advertisers, you can get the cards printed for $1 each which means huge profits. Sell these to supporters or to the general public with a sales table outside a grocery store or other high-traffic location.
Christmas carol-grams Instead of going door-to-door caroling, assemble some talented singers, print up some flyers offering Christmas Carol-grams, and you're in business. Arrange to have a quartet deliver holiday cheer to a loved one's office, nursing home, hospital room, etc. Make sure your singers take flyers with them because this is a great word-of-mouth fundraiser!
That's all the space I have in this article for Christian fundraiser ideas. Look for the companion article coming soon on Christian fundraising events.