Have you ever found yourself trying to sell overpriced wrapping paper or $3 chocolate bars to friends, co-workers and total strangers to support your kid's sports team or school programs?
It's not hard to see how those programs make money. The supplier triples or quadruples the cost and then gives your organization half of the profits. However, you must admit feeling a little guilty when Grandma on a fixed income pays $9 for three candy bars she doesn't need.
Did you know fund raising could be fun?
Think big.
A group cruise is one of the easiest ways to find large, happy, substantial sums of money flowing to your organization even while you relax. Instead of making a hundred sales to people you've guilted into buying overpriced wrapping paper, you simply set up a group and buy a cruise that your own family will love. I'll be happy to put together flyers, cruise nights and other presentations for your group. It gives new meaning to the overused cliché win-win.
How does your organization make money? Much depends on the cruise itself, but on most cruises it is possible to block a group of rooms to be sold to your friends, family and affiliates and earn Tour Conductor Credits (TC) based on the number of rooms sold (usually a minimum of eight rooms and multiples of eight). Often, the person sponsoring the group will share this bounty among their friends by purchasing parties and gifts, but it is also possible to give the TC to an organization sponsoring the trip as a fund raiser.
However, that's not the only channel through which funds can flow to the organization. Some cruises have special amenities for fund raisers, like $50 per room sold going as a bonus to the sponsoring organization, which is in addition to the TC.
Keep in mind that all that money flowing to your organization does not come as a result of overpricing the cruise like you would with wrapping paper or candy. People booking into your fund raising group get the same booking rates generally available to anyone at the time the group is set up. Sometimes, in fact, prices are lower in your group than to the general public.
However, most people are willing to pay a little more to help a good cause, especially when it is something they will enjoy. Your organization can usually add on an extra $50 per person to the price that drops right to your fund raising bottom line, and cruise lines will sometimes include matching funds for the overpayment.
As a bonus, your group enjoys taking a cruise together with each other. Families become closer, and lifelong friendships are formed from casual relationships.
What kind of cruise is best? Most people immediately think of weekend cruises, but because a large portion of the cruise fare on this kind of cruise is “port charges,” the TC level is small, and in addition these cruises require your people to miss work on Friday and Monday at a minimum. In addition, these cruises don't generate much excitement. The next thought is for a cruise in the fall, when prices are lowest, but the reason prices are lowest is because demand is also lowest at that time of year, when people have just returned from summer vacations and are thinking about the upcoming holidays. In addition, these types of cruises sometimes end up having last minute deals that are only available to new bookings a few weeks before the cruise, which can complicate your life when dealing with a large group.
Even if your fund raiser is not for a school, holiday cruises are best. Why? Primarily, holidays are great because kids and teachers don't need to miss classes, which expands your potential market exponentially. Holiday cruises also cost more, so your TC level, which is based on the price, will be highest. In addition, holiday cruises almost always sell out, meaning you have a limited commodity to encourage people to buy early. There's also less of a tendency to cancel plans for a holiday cruise.
What are you waiting for? Call 310-546-9618 to set up your fund raising group today. Think ahead. It's too late for a Christmas cruise this year, but big fund raising opportunities are available for the holidays in 2010. “Better service leads to better trips.”
