How to Host a Chocolate Bar Fundraiser to Raise Money for Your Class
You can host your own chocolate bar fundraiser with creativity and organization and support your class. Chances are that as an educator, you know someone who runs their own successful fundraising ventures.
However, if you’ve never done this before, organizing a team of parents and teachers to sell chocolate bars and support the class may feel like a daunting task. With the right planning and execution, you can make this profitable venture work for everyone involved. That’s why we’re here to help get you started with these five steps to plan, promote and execute a successful chocolate bar fundraiser for your class.
Run a Successful Chocolate Bar Fundraiser in 5 Steps:
Step 1: Decide on a Selling Location
The first step in planning your chocolate bar fundraiser is to decide where you want to sell your chocolates. Before you do, there are a few things to consider. Are there any existing locations nearby that you can partner with?
How close to these locations are you and your team? Depending on how many chocolates you’re selling, it may be worth it to rent out a space that’s close to home instead of trying to sell chocolates door-to-door.
However, if you’re selling many chocolate bars, it may be advantageous for you to sell door-to-door. Traveling to the areas with the highest density of families with school-aged children may be worth your time. Wherever you decide to set up your table, it’s best to partner with a school or charitable organization near that location.
Not only will you benefit from the free publicity of being associated with an established organization, but you might also be able to score a discounted rate for renting out your space.
Step 2: Determine Which Chocolates to Sell
The second step in planning your chocolate bar fundraiser is deciding which chocolate you want to sell. Before you announce your fundraiser, you must consider whether the chocolate bar you’re selling is edible. If it contains nuts, it’s illegal to sell it to someone with a nut allergy.
However, if you’re selling non-edible chocolates, you don’t have to worry about allergies. Once you decide which type of chocolate to sell, you can price out the amount of chocolate you need to sell and the total amount of money you need to raise.
While the price of chocolate can vary based on the type of chocolate you choose, the number of pieces in a box, and the amount of chocolate in each bar, you can expect to sell around 10 pieces per $100 box. So, for example, if you sell the classic $100 box of Godiva chocolates, you can expect to sell around 10 boxes per day.
Step 3: Create Advertising Materials
The third step in planning your chocolate bar fundraiser is creating all your advertising materials. Now is the time to make a catchy slogan for your fundraiser and decide what pictures you want to use for your advertisements.
If you want to go the traditional route, you can use classic advertisements like those in magazines. However, if you want to stand out, we recommend using a creative advertisement like a meme or gif that gets your message across quickly. There are many different avenues you can advertise your fundraiser through.
The best way to get people excited about your fundraiser is to create posters and advertisements and post them in as many places as possible. Not only will this help you reach a wider audience, but it also helps you build hype for your fundraiser before it even begins. Some of the most popular places to advertise your chocolate bar fundraiser include Facebook.
Step 4: Build a Marketing Strategy
The fourth step in planning your chocolate bar fundraiser is to build a marketing strategy for your chocolate bar fundraiser. When advertising your fundraiser, the best practice is to do so positively and respectfully. That means no negative campaigning against other fundraisers and no negative attacks against the parents in your community.
In addition, make sure you familiarize yourself with any laws or regulations that may apply to your specific chocolate bar fundraiser.
For example, some states have stricter regulations regarding selling food and/or chocolate bars to children. This can include how and when you sell the chocolate bars and how much of the chocolate bar can be filled with candy.
Step 5: Organize, Manage and Track Your Team
The fifth and final step in planning your chocolate bar fundraiser is to organize, manage, and track your team throughout the entire chocolate bar fundraiser. To do this, you should first decide how you want the fundraiser to be run.
Do you want everyone to sell the chocolates themselves, or do you want them to sell in teams? How will you track the amount of money each parent brings in? To follow the amount of money each parent brings in, you can use a fundraising thermometer, where parents mark off how much they’ve raised.
The best way to track all of this information is to use an online fundraising tool. These fundraising tools, like Classy or Donorbox, help you track your progress, communicate with your team, and, most importantly, track all fundraising progress in one place.
Conclusion
Regarding fundraising, it’s important to remember that everyone makes mistakes. It’s not the mistakes that matter, but how you respond to them. With the right planning, you can host a profitable fundraising event with your chocolate bar fundraiser. Before you begin, decide where you want to sell your chocolates, determine which type of chocolate you want to sell, create your advertising materials, build a marketing strategy, and organize, manage, and track your team.
