The fun and profit in fundraising: one a.d.'s car wash may be another coach's candy sale. (Facility Focus).

As director of development at Notre Dame HS in Lawrenceville, NJ, Beth Coyle has final say on any and all of the fundraising ideas that filter into the school development department.

The school's fundraising efforts have run the gamut from selling discount booklets for products at local businesses to the girls' softball team hit-a-thon.

Ms. Coyle has drawn one simple conclusion from her fundraising efforts: "A lot of people aren't contributing to annual appeals. They would much prefer to give to a restricted fund."

And so Notre Dame is now focusing on direct mail appeals to alums, parents and parents' friends. The results have been incredible. The "Friends of Irish Football" fundraising program offers a classic example. The brainchild of head football coach Chappy Moore, who can work a room as good as any Las Vegas entertainer, FIF raises between 520,000 and $30,000 annually. Small wonder that Notre Dame now has similar programs in place for the rest of the school's teams.

"Direct appeal is the best way to go," Coyle contends. "It's easier on the coaches and everyone else involved. It's definitely easier than doing a special event fundraiser and forcing the kids to go out and sell something."

There is no exact science to fundraising, no golden rule to follow. One athletic director's car wash may be another coach's candy sale. The procurement money for your sports programs and facilities hinges on personal preference, demographics, time, and effort. All you need is an open mind and ample resources.

* From Las Vegas, NV

"I'm always looking for new ideas," says Jeanne Hamrick, director of development at Bishop Gorman HS in Las Vegas. Hamrick, who's been handling fundraising for a year and a half, says the school always encourages the students to participate in fundraising and goal setting. Some of the moneymaking ideas have included cookie dough sales, car washes, a tennis pro-am, shoot-outs for basketball, and a lift-a-thon for football -- a weightlifting marathon that raises money via pledges.

"We're usually able to cover necessities," Hamrick states, "though we're not always able to cover our wish list.

Bishop Gorman's school development department tries to set up a budget for the various teams based on the needs of a particular sport. The team then tries to meet that budget and its goals.

"For example, we'd love to send the kids to three or four camps or three or four tournaments, but we're not able to do that in some years. We are usually able to send the kids to one camp or one tournament over the holidays."

* From Fargo, ND

Most of the eight high schools we conferred with, a cross-section of the country, prefer to keep fundraising in-house, Some are quite creative. The football team at North Senior HS in Fargo, ND has developed a community service project that has family members and community patrons pledging money for a certain number of hours of work performed by the players.

The team sets aside a week just before fall practice for a variety of projects, from cleaning ditch-ways to doing minor repairs and cleaning-up at someone's home.

"That's been a very productive fundraiser," says North Senior AD Gary Mailloux. "Our girls and boys basketball teams sponsor a youth traveling basketball tournament that has become a major fundraiser. It banks a lot of money that is used for discretionary expenses."

From Cranston, RI

Many schools count on their various booster clubs to ring the register. At Cranston HS West and Cranston HS East, bitter rivals in the same school district in RI, each boys and girls team has its own parent booster club. These clubs canvas the business community during the preseason for various ad programs that include team rosters, schedules and pictures.

Several of the clubs have hosted sports breakfasts at a local restaurant and raised upwards of $700 each. The parents also run concession stands at all home games.

"It's pretty much the same at both schools," declares Michael Traficante, AD at both schools. "Each booster club raises what that particular sport needs. We have a very supportive local business community."

From Athens, GA

At Clarke Central HS in Athens, Ga., individual booster clubs have a fundraising event or activity that generates funds beyond what is appropriated through gate receipts. According to Jon Ward, Clarke Central's first-year AD, those activities include selling concessions, a gala dinner with a silent auction, selling Christmas trees, and doing the parking at the U. of Georgia home football games.

From Central Point, OR

For all the ingenious approaches to fundraising, there are still schools that are reevaluating their fundraising needs. Not because they want to, but because they need to.

'We've actually tried to limit some of the things we're doing because our district doesn't allow us to go door to door. It's a district policy," states Dan Speasl, AD at Crater High School in Central Point. "We're pretty well maxed out in what we can get out of our community, and in what we can let our coaches do because of the fact that we live in a small community."

Of course, there are schools that stick to the commercial route, with its plenitude of avenues. You can choose from magazines, candy, scratch cards, discount cards, and even fantasy sports cards. Basically, there is no shortage of ways to fill the coffers. The search engine on the Internet will reveal a smorgasbord of fundraising companies.

From Framingham, MA

One such company, Framingham, Mass-based Campusfundraiser, promotes magazine subscriptions for Sports Illustrated, TIME, Entertainment Weekly and Teen People at exceptional savings.

The company began in 1998 with the mission of helping various on-campus college groups make money. It soon recognized that the needs of a college/high school coach are different from the needs of a fraternity. Thus, Coachesfundraiser was formed shortly afterward.

Dan Wolman, the company's VP/marketing, says that his company works with virtually every school on the collegiate level. High schools are a case-by-case situation as the Coachesfundraiser brand grows. But Wolman does say that the average high school team is making between $1,200 and $1,400 per fundraiser:

"We took what we consider a unique approach in that we didn't want to be a product wholesaler. We wanted to be a full-service fundraising company and make it real easy for coaches to accomplish what they needed to accomplish," says Wolman, who indicated that many coaches get most of their information on fundraising from other coaches, enabling them to concentrate on their coaching.

So how does it work? In short, the coach will contact Coachesfundraiser and be walked through the program. Coaches will be assigned a fundraising manager, sort of a fundraising coach, who has been through the process and whose sole job is to help coaches make money.

Wolman stresses that the fundraising manager will be available for the duration of the drive, whenever the coach needs assistance. The company provides all the information and literature at no cost to the group and will even help set up a fundraising schedule that complies with the teams' practices and/or games.

Upon receiving the materials, the coach will hand it out to his group members. Groups will typically be looking to sell two magazine subscriptions per person at $20 per magazine, up to the target limit of six.

The suggested time frame for the fundraiser is one week, although it can be extended to meet the group's goals. After the players collect the money, it is sent on to Coachesfundraiser to process the subscriptions through its partner, AOL Time Warner. The average turn around time for a customer receiving his or her first issue is four to six weeks.

Dan Wolman: "We want to have tailored fundraising programs that are easy to implement, that are never going to cost the groups anything, and that are going to yield proven results."

From Montreal

QSP, the world leader in fundraising, claims to have helped raised more than $2 billion for schools and organizations since 1964. So it's no surprise that the company's Internet arm, Montreal-based eFundraising.com, is making fundraising online a worthwhile experience.

The Internet arm has four main programs: scratch cards (90% profit for the school or group), chocolate and gift brochures (50% profit) and magazines (40% profit). The magazines and scratch cards represent its two biggest products.

The magazine program offers two ways of fundraising: the traditional way of asking neighbors, friends, and relatives to subscribe or through direct mail. Instead of kids going door-to-door, they can sit down and write a list of names and addresses of people who might be interested. eFundraising.com then sends out a direct mail package from the respective kids.

Again, there is no money up front and the only cost to the participating schools is the postage at the end of the mailing campaign. And since QSP is a subsidiary of Reader's Digest, it has relationships with more than 750 publishers and well over 800 titles.

eFundraising, which has been online since 1996, takes direct marketing a step farther with its exclusive program called eMagNet, which uses email addresses to drum up interest in its magazine program. Best of all, eMagNet, which has done more than 1,000 campaigns, is cost effective because people can subscribe via the Internet. So schools save on mailing costs because email is free and the magazines are shipped directly to the customer.

From eFundraising

Steve Bernier, eFundraising's VP/marketing, referred to eMagNet as the one-hour fundraiser because it takes only 60 minutes to fill out the email information. Once it has the email addresses, eFundraising sends them off to prospective subscribers on behalf of the kids. Everything is personalized as if the email came directly from the kids themselves.

Bernier: "Uncle Matt will receive an email from his nephew saying, 'Hey, Uncle Matt, I'm doing a fundraiser and if you want to support my school you can purchase a magazine on my school Web page. We'll design a school Web page. And everything is personalized.'"

The eFundraising scratch card product, called the Give & Take card, has 10 national sponsors, including Mrs. Field's, Blimpie, Loews Cineplex, Blockbuster and FTD. The cards can be customized for a specific group with various sports motifs.

Each Give & Take card has the potential to raise $100. Supporters are invited to scratch off one of the colored circles on the card to reveal how much they will donate. Price-per-scratch donation amounts range from free to $2.50.

Each complete card is worth $100, with $80 of that going to the group. When groups purchase 20 cards, eFundraising gives them two free cards so they can raise another $200 at no cost. There's no money up front for the cards and the company provides 30 days financing.

"Each product has a specific goal," says Bernier, who claims eFundraising.com has 40,000 schools as a client base in the U.S. It includes elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and colleges.

"If there's a group that needs to raise money very quickly, it will go with scratch cards. If the group has more time, it will go with magazines or chocolates. And depending on its fundraising goals and how motivated the kids are, the group will choose the product that best fits its needs."

From ABC Fundraising

Matt Fass, owner of ABC Fundraising, which uses the First Way Fundraising Group Scratch & Help scratch card program, believes the scratch card program offers a bigger advantage than other fundraisers. The Los Angeles-based company says it has raised more than $15,000,000 from more than 10,000 schools, youth sports groups, churches, etc. since its inception in 1993.

"The main thing is the profit margin. There's far more profit, 90%," declares Fass. "Car washes obviously are all profit, but it's a lot of work and you don't make that much money. With magazines, it's usually just about 50 or 60% profit. There's very little money in that. Chocolate, candies, those types of things; you sell a candy bar for a dollar or two dollars and you usually get 40 or 50% profit."

The Scratch & Help booklet has 50 scratch-off circles with hidden donations ranging from 50 cents to $3. The students ask their friends, family, and neighbors to scratch two or more circles and donate the amount uncovered.

In return for the donation, regardless of amount, the donor receives a sheet of valuable coupons from the sponsors, including Pizza Hut, Jiffy Lube Subway, Mrs. Field's, and FTD. A custom coupon is also available which can be personalized for a local merchant.

Once all the donations have been revealed, the booklet produces $100 in donations, with $80 going to the group. Thirty group members can make $2,400, while 100 can rake in $9,000. ABC Fundraising, which makes $20 per booklet, will give the group an additional 10% free, which is worth $100 each. There is no initial investment. Groups have three different payment options: a purchase order where they are billed later, a postdated check or a major credit card.

"If it takes only two people a day to donate with the Scratch & Help cards, and the fundraiser is done in under two weeks, you can raise $100 and profit $80," Fass reports. "So it's a quick and easy fundraiser. The national sponsors' name recognition will help your group raise money quickly."

From Gilbert, AZ

Billing itself as North America's Fundraising Company, Varsity Gold, Inc. of Gilbert, AZ has leveraged its rapport with high school football coaches since 1988 to become a fundraising force.

Jimmy Cordy, VP/Business Development: "One of the reasons why we have become so successful with football coaches is our close long-term relationship with them. In general, they dislike spending time on fundraising. It's kind of a necessary evil for them. The kind of thing you have to accomplish first is to provide a very, very simple program for them and their players."

Varsity Gold has three key programs:

The flagship product is the gold card that typically sells for $10 and has anywhere from 20-25 merchant discounts on the back.

The VIP Card, which has from one to three company discounts, typically costs $10 per card.

Lastly, the Ticket Package costs $20 per sheet of eight perforated discount tickets.

Everything is customized with school logo and name. There is no minimum or maximum amount of cards (which have a shelf life of one calendar year) that a school has to order. And there's no initial investment.

Once a school or group contacts Varsity Gold, the company sends a sales rep who then organizes something called a "Blitz Day." The rep meets with the coach and group and outlines the sales strategy. He provides all the cards and information packets and that afternoon the kids go out and sell the cards and bring the money back to the coach!

The profit margin per school will vary, depending upon the number of cards sold. Generally, the amount is predetermined between the coach and sales rep. Usually it is a minimum of half of the total sales. Varsity Gold, which worked with 6,700 high schools last year, including some in Canada, claims that some groups have made more than $15,000 in a single afternoon.

Jimmy Cordy: "From a coach's perspective, all he has to do is dedicate an afternoon with all the kids and then have them go do their thing. The coach and the rep sit there and wait for the kids to return. The profits are then split right then and there. One, two, three."

Pros and Cons

Steve Bernier of eFundraising.com says there are always going to be people who will forgo fundraising professionals and go it alone. That will never change. A coach or group might be content with having a car wash and raising a fair amount of money.

Bernier emphasizes that coaches should be focusing on their jobs instead of dollars and cents: "Coaches are good at what they do, and that is guiding their team and having fun. What we do is help guide them in achieving their goals during their fundraising campaign."

Campusfundraiser's Dan Wolman referred to a couple of his company's success stories: the Bucknell University baseball team that made about $3,500 and the Baylor University club crew team that made $2,400.

"It was a pretty good experience," says Walt Ackley, president of the Baylor crew team. "We're definitely thinking about using them in the future. We were satisfied."

Varsity Gold's Jimmy Cordy feels that although dealing with a third party may cut into a coach's slice of the pie and the coach may feel that he or she is losing a little bit of fundraiser ownership, there are advantages.

"The reality is all the time expended on a fundraiser. It can be somewhat of a nuisance to the coaching staff. And so we just take it all out of their hands. Yet they reap a significant amount of reward on the back end."

Fundraising is a personal choice. It all depends on what works for you and your group.

RELATED ARTICLE: Bringing fundraising to the FORE-front

High school sports programs strapped for cash and seeking a quick fundraising fix should consider hosting a golf tournament. Not only will a golf outing help your school network and build camaraderie within the community, it will reap huge financial rewards.

"We've been doing golf tournaments for 10-12 years. It's big in this area," says Ricky Oliver, athletic director and football coach at Midwest City (OK) HS. "A lot of the booster clubs will host golf tournaments. We have a golf tournament in football, so does baseball and wrestling. They raise a pretty good amount of change. Like in football. We'll do about $10,000 or more in just one day."

Oliver says the school secures a local course, usually a public facility. The booster club will then go out and solicit local merchants to be hole sponsors, charging anywhere from $50 to $100 for each hole. Oliver noted that the more affluent areas will charge upwards of $500 per hole.

Additionally, local sporting goods stores and various merchants are asked to donate prizes. A local car dealer puts up an automobile as a hole-in-one prize. There's also a closest to the pin prize. The tournament is then flighted according to handicap and prizes are awards accordingly.

"The hole sponsor is where you make the most money, Oliver says. "But you'll clear a little bit on the entry fee that the contestants pay. And that includes greens fee, cart and lunch. If a local business doesn't want to be a hole sponsor, it might donate food or something else."

The tournament is a scramble format with two four-man teams (five if a woman plays in a group) with two groups on each hole. Obviously, it makes for a very long but lucrative day. The golf tournament has been such a success that Oliver says there have been times when they could have played two tournaments in one day: once in the morning and later in the afternoon.

"It's something we haven't done to this point, but it's something we'll be looking at in the future," he said.

At Wawasee HS in Syracuse, IN, fundraising is frowned upon. Mary Hurley, who's been the AD for six years, explains that her school is comprised of three small communities and "local small businesses just get nickeled and dimed to death. It's not a healthy situation because the athletic department is just one of many groups that hits on them. We've been very fortunate to generate funds through our gate receipts."

To compensate, Wawasee's only major fundraiser is an annual golf outing. The one-day event generates between $15,000 and $17,000.

"That's what I clear. The tournament takes in obviously more than that," Hurley said. "It's an effort to put together, but it's well worth it. We go out and sell green sponsors and tee sponsors, accept food donations. And we give away a lot of raffle prizes."

WHO TO CONTACT

Following is a list of several fundraising companies to contact. Also listed are a number of generic fundraising sites that will help guide you to the type of fundraiser that's right for your school.

    www.coachesfundraiser.com      866-COACH-66
    www.campusfundraiser.com       888-923-3238
     www.abcfundraising.com        800-368-4543
       www.varistygold.com         800-245-2093
      www.efundraising.com         800-561-8388
     www.fundraisingweb.org             --
       www.fundraiser.org               --
www.fundraising-ideas.com/webring       --
www.fundraising-yellow-pages.com        --