High School Sports Fundraising 101: Would Selling Cookie Dough Be Effective?
Bianca Javate - Blog Writer
There are plenty of reasons why cookies are considered a go-to snack: they come in a variety of flavors, shapes, sizes, and textures that can appeal to a diverse set of consumers. Got a penchant for trying out special flavors? Red velvet and macadamia-flavored cookies are a solid bet. Want a healthier option? Oatmeal and raisin cookies will be your best friend! Perhaps you like sticking to classics? Well, nothing beats a good ol’ chocolate chip.
You can take these cookies with you wherever you go and they are widely available in the market. That said, it comes as no surprise that selling cookie dough has become a popular fundraising idea especially for high school sports programs.
How Do Cookie Dough Fundraisers Work?
Similar to other product-based fundraisers, there are several companies that your sports team can partner with for this initiative. These companies do bulk orders for cookie dough and you can purchase them for a wholesale price which will allow your team to set a good profit margin.
The process usually goes like this:
Companies will provide catalogs/brochures containing cookie flavors, and the members of the team can take these with them when they go around to sell.
An alternative in this digital age would be to have the order forms posted online and shared by the team members on social media. This will make order tracking a lot easier and it will lessen the leg work that teams have to do.
Prospective customers—neighbors, classmates, family members, friends, teachers, and more—will choose from the flavors listed in the catalog and pay for their purchase. The money collected will then be used to process the order with the company. Again, you only pay for the wholesale price and your team will keep the profit.
Once the orders have been placed, all you have to do is wait for the cookie dough deliveries to come and then distribute them to the buyers.
Note: Some companies even offer free shipping if you meet a minimum number of orders.
What Are The Benefits Of A Cookie Dough Fundraiser?
Cookie dough fundraisers are relatively easy to do. You just need to disseminate the catalogs and order forms, and the money will start coming in. If a team with 30 members will commit to selling 10 cookie dough tubs each, with every tub hypothetically costing $1 in wholesale and selling for $5, the fundraiser will immediately yield $1200 in profit.
Cookie dough can be stored in freezers to prolong its shelf life and this will be a good thing to point out to customers to convince them to buy more than just 1 tub. The more tubs they have, the more cookies that they can make! Aside from tubs, some companies do pre-portioned cookie dough packages in boxes that can save storage space.
This ease of implementation and the minimal (or even lack thereof) cost of upfront payment are reasons why cookie dough fundraisers are considered to be a low-risk idea. If done well, your sports team will surely raise money; but in the event that you are unable to sell as many cookie dough tubs/boxes as intended, you do not have to worry about losing money as you pay based on the number of orders that you have collected.
Lastly, conducting fundraisers will generally increase a high school sports team’s camaraderie and instill in them both hard and soft skills, particularly in entrepreneurship, that they can use outside the playing field.
But in spite of all these advantages, there are still some downsides to this initiative.
What Are The Drawbacks Of A Cookie Dough Fundraiser?
A common problem faced when dealing with product-based fundraisers is that a lot of high school sports teams tend to gravitate toward it and this increases the competition. Why do they choose to go the product-selling route? It’s easy to do, and companies have been coming out left and right offering to create the products for you and easing your fundraising struggles. But by doing so, this creates a saturated market that can affect your sales. Either the other teams can reach your prospective customers first, or these customers will no longer be interested in buying products as they already have so much.
Putting the saturated market aside, dietary and health concerns may also pose a problem in getting more people to buy cookie dough.
And, how can we forget? For perishable goods such as food, shelf life is something that has to be considered. Yes, they can last an extra few weeks—maybe a month or two—when stored properly, but this is still very limited and customers will not get the most out of their purchase unless they are consumed immediately. If your team will rely solely on selling one product that has a limited consumption period, you might be in trouble and you might not be able to maximize your team’s fundraising potential. Let Story of the Season provide you with an alternative.
Story of the Season can help raise money through selling advertisement spots in uniquely crafted media guides and programs made for your high school’s sports teams. These programs will include embedded videos, social media links, podcasts, and more that can help parents, alumni, and fans to get detailed information about who they are supporting. These digital assets are accessible through scannable QR codes found in the stands and sporting venues. More funds can even be raised through collected subscription fees that will provide its customers with additional weekly content. Through this, the benefit goes beyond just raising money: businesses get more mileage through their sponsorship, and teams get a digital archive of their entire season which can help with a player’s recruitment profile and with boosting the team’s media exposure.
Whether your team plays football, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, or any other sport, Story of the Season can help with your fundraiser. Click here to learn more.
