Put the "Fun" Back in Fundraising
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Fundraising. It's something nearly every church has done before and will probably do again in the future to support a mission trip, retreat or other ministry. Unfortunately for you and your members, laying down cash is something people often do out of a sense of guilt or obligation. We all buy things we don't necessarily want or need, and not only are many of these things expensive, they might even go unused.

Luckily, fundraising companies have expanded their wares to offer a greater variety of choices. Here, Church Business^® profiles some innovative programs and products, along with some old favorites.

Through the stomach comes the cash

From pizza to pasta to pies, food and snacks are two of the most common items identified with fundraising. Everyone likes to eat, and most potential buyers are open to treating themselves once in a while.

Companies that market food for fundraising provide a huge range of products, from citrus to soup. Some are smaller companies with just a few employees and one special program; others are household names, like General Mills. This Fortune 500 cereal company entered fundraising last fall when it signed a licensing agreement with Giftco, Inc., to produce and supply fundraising items using the Gold Medal and Betty Crocker properties. Products include measuring utensils, a recipe book, cutting board, two-year scroll calendar, canister tin, tall mug and set of two magnets. Although this program won't be available until the end of 2002, there are plenty of other tasty ways to whet your fundraising appetite.

--Julie Riddle

The Pasta Shoppe
www.pastashoppe.com
Based in Nashville, Tenn., The Pasta Shoppe offers not only a variety of pastas but also macaroni and cheese, chili, soups, salads and cookies. Items ship within three days.

Zap-A-Snack
www.zapasnack.com
Zap-A-Snack offerings include French bread pizza, cinnamon rolls, cookie dough and soft pretzels. All are ready to eat within a few minutes.

Purely American
www.purelyamerican.com
Purely American specializes in unique regional foods, from Bourbon Street Black Bean Soup to Ozark Outlaw Snakebite Chili to Chisholm Trail Chuckwagon Stew. Gourmet casseroles, stews and chowders, pasta, quick breads, desserts, sauces, beans, grains and Virginia peanuts complete the company's extensive menu.

Quick's Candy
www.lollies.com
Lollipops and other confections are ubiquitous with fundraising. The ones from Quick's Candy come in 22 flavors. Packs are available for special occasions and holidays. The Halloween set, for instance, contains 4 flavors--orange cream, black licorice, chocolate and root beer--while Easter's contains 12 egg-shaped pops.

Hale Groves^®
www.halegrovesfundraising.com
Hale Groves^® offers one of the most unusual products: citrus fruits. Depending on the season, it produces a variety of oranges, grapefruits and tangelos for fundraising.

Thoms Proestler Company
www.tpcinfo.com
Thoms Proestler offers restaurant-style items to customers in parts of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. Food items include pies, cookie dough, fruit baskets, cookies, soups, appetizers, pizzas, candies and dinner kits. Non-food items include candles, safety kits, spiritwear and scratch cards.

Memory-makers: "permanent" fundraisers

While food is fun and sure to please, it also quickly disappears and is forgotten. For something more permanent, the following companies let your members carve out a place in your church's history with customized bricks, tiles, plaques and pavers.

Leave Your Mark
www.leaveyourmark.com
The Leave Your Mark Paver can be used as a walkway or plaza or added as a border to an existing sidewalk. The bronze plaque holds up to 54 letters on three lines. A personalized logo can also be added. If 200 or more are purchased, the price is $12.95 for the paver, personally engraved bronze plaque, and adhesive to permanently attach the plaque to the paver.

Other sources:

Engravestone
www.engravestone.com
Engravestone produces custom engraved bricks and pavers.

Bricks 'R Us
www.bricksrus.com
Bricks 'R Us manufactures engraved bricks and tiles in the size and shape of your choice.

Acme Brick
www.acmebrick.com
This 110-year-old company produces sculptured bricks that can be used to tell a story, commemorate an event, bring a Bible story to life, depict scenes and more. The architect, designer or owner works with a representative of the company to estimate the general cost of the project. Manufacturing begins once drawings are approved.

Fundraising with the click of a mouse

Some programs specialize in giving buyers more choices with catalogs, brochures or pamphlets. For a 21st century spin on mail order, many also enable profits to accrue automatically via on-line purchases. Best of all, there is no sales pressure.

Current
http://currentcatalog.com
This well-known 51-year-old Colorado Springs company may sound familiar for its holiday items. Current lets buyers shop on the company's Web site, then select their chosen organization at a virtual checkout to ensure the group is credited.

FundRaising.com
www.fundraising.com
FundRaising.com goes a similar route but takes it a step further by allowing shoppers to buy on-line from a list of popular retailers including The Disney Store, Learning Company and Sony. The percentage of profit made from each company is available on the Web.

eFundraising.com
www.efundraising.com
A division of Reader's Digest, eFundraising.com helps patrons select their ideal program using a variety of criteria including financial need, past fundraising experience and the expected rate of participation and return. It promises 90-percent profits.

Other sources for similar services:

Fundraising Depot
www.fundraisingdepot.com

EZ Fundraising
www.ezfund.com

Moneyraising.com
www.moneyraising.com

Cash collection made easy

Some churches prefer good, old-fashioned cash. And while collecting proceeds on-line has proven popular, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Virtual Solutions, seller of the latest VISA and MasterCard wireless processing technology, has found wireless credit card processing to be a hit.

"We've actually been contacted by a few churches that have decided to start using the wireless equipment we market for credit card processing," says CEO Tim Barger, whose machines process electronic authorizations in seven seconds without a phone line or electrical outlet. These battery-powered units work indoors and outdoors.

Make it yours: personalized ideas

From family photos to T-shirts emblazoned with your church's name to custom cookbooks, personalized products can be a great sales tool and a memorable keepsake.

It's My Artwork
www.itsmyartwork.com
This Vista, Calif.-based company lets churches raise money year-round with a program that allows Sunday school or youth groupers to create their own artwork. Designs are then transferred onto note cards, holiday cards or bookmarks. Profits vary depending on the medium chosen.

Vista Studios
www.vistamark.com
Vista Studios offers family portrait fundraising. When 60 or more families are photographed at a location, the company offers full-color 10x13 family portraits for $8 apiece.

Morris Cookbooks
www.morriscookbooks.com
Since "food" and "church" are synonymous, customized cookbooks are a hot item. Morris Cookbooks, in business since 1933, only requires churches to collect and sort the recipes; Morris typesets them. Custom and stock covers and dividers are available.

Riddle & Cockrell Inc.
www.rciwoven.com
North Carolina-based Riddle & Cockrell Inc., will produce a custom-designed quilt embroidered with your choice of artwork--your church's name and a picture of the facility, for example.

Grow your profits...literally
To get some green, try selling it.

Touch of Nature
www.touchofnature.com
Touch of Nature produces a variety of flowerbulbs and perennials based on fall, spring and the holidays. The company promises 55-percent profits.

Wreathfundraiser.com
www.wreathrundraiser.com
Wreathfundraiser.com specializes in holiday products for the home, including fresh-cut holly, and wreaths with boughs harvested from Pacific Northwest noble fir trees.

Fun, fun, fun!

Some programs are an event in and of themselves.

The Derby Duck^® Race
www.duckrace.com
The Derby Duck Race is basically thousands of sunglasses-clad rubber ducks floating down a waterway. Members "adopt" the toys for a chance to win prizes donated by sponsors, or for a very large cash prize.