Add community service to your Best In Show Pet Treat sale by asking your customers to purchase an extra bag of treats as a donation to a local humane society, rescue group, or animal sanctuary!  It’s easy.  Just use the designated column on the order form, ask you customers to order a bag of treats to donate, and at the end your sale your club members can have fun delivering the donated treats.

Looking for a local animal group that would welcome your donation?  Humane societies and rescue groups always welcome donations, but there are others as well.  Did you know that there are animal sanctuary organizations that offer foster care for military pets while their owners are deployed?   The Today Show just featured Canine Corps, a group in PA that offers care and sanctuary for the pets of deployed military personnel.  Check your local listings there may be a military pet foster group in your area.  They’d welcome a donation of pet treats, and it would give your customers a chance to support 4-H and our troops at the same time.

Send us your ideas on other great organizations that would benefit from pet treat donations and we’ll post them.

Welcome Tanana District 4-H from North Pole, Alaska! Best of luck as you begin your Best In Show 4-H Fundraiser.

By Jeanne Hilt

4-H members, club leaders, volunteers and Extension Agents all across the country are meeting right now to make plans for a new year chock-full of great youth development programs. To raise the cash needed to fund all of the opportunities available, some clubs are also tempted to plan a year of product sale fundraising campaigns too.

Are constant requests to members’ families to help sell a variety of products for fundraising throughout the year really the best way to achieve your group’s financial objective? It makes sense to put as much thought into your annual fundraising plan as it does your group’s activity plan. In fact, the fewer times you ask a member and their family to sell products for the organization, the more successful your fundraising efforts will be.

Research indicates that families find it easy to ignore requests to participate in a product sale campaign when they are asked to sell too often. When it comes to fundraising, less is more. Fewer requests to sell a product to raise money typically leads to more participation, greater financial success and ultimately higher satisfaction for all participants.

One or two well-planned and focused sales campaigns, combined with appropriate activities designed to help youth and their families have fun while raising money, are the key ingredients to a fundraising plan of action that will help fund the needs of your 4-H group without overly taxing participants and their families.

A few key things to consider when planning, executing and maximizing your group’s product sale fundraising campaign include:

• Select a high-quality product that consumers want to purchase and a product that reflects the values and image of 4-H.
• Strive to select a product that is unique to your group so that you can establish a proven money maker the group can repeat year after year.
• Consider the product cost. (Research indicates that a majority of the public will purchase a fundraising product from a child if the cost is less than $5.00. Actually, folks want a child involved in positive youth activities to ask them to buy if the product cost is less than $5.00.)
• Be excited about what your club is doing and help your members set individual sales goals in order to achieve a group financial goal.
• Kick-off your sale with a family meeting. Let 4-H members share their enthusiasm about the program as well as share their goals for the sale proceeds.
• Remind sellers to take their order form with them throughout the sale - customers are everywhere!
• Encourage sellers to deliver the product in a timely manner and thank customers for their support.

So, go ahead and plan for a year chock-full of great 4-H activities, but keep your fundraising focused. You will raise more money, avoid “fundraising burnout” and give as many kids as possible the time to take full advantage of all the opportunities the best youth development program in the world has to offer.

Jeanne Hilt is President of Best In Show Pet Treats, a licensed supplier of superior-quality pet treats for 4-H fundraising. Check out the company’s website at Best in Show Pet Treats and visit their blog for valuable information on fundraising.

http://4-h.ibelong.com/Pages/Blog.aspx?ContentStoreSiteId=9d2b7c7c-4470-4350-b130-be918e612b1f&ContentStoreListId=bf39a5ec-736b-4652-a8b1-d015623b4b3e&SiteCollection=Groups&IsGroupSite=True&SiteDataListId=6413&PostId=1675

Pet Treat sells offer great community service opportunities for your 4-H group. Here is press coverage of the Highland Voyagers community service efforts following thier pet treat sell in Louisville, Kentucky:

 http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20081217/PETS/812170708

Check out this article from the Glasgow Daily Times:

http://www.glasgowdailytimes.com/archivesearch/local_story_343092458.html

Check out the great article on fundraiser planning in the December edition of Clover Corner News, 4-H’s national online newsletter, at: http://4hblogs.org/ccn/. The article offers tips to help 4-H clubs better plan for activities and fundraising

Make a Plan for a Great Year of 4-H Activities and Fundraising   

Each winner received a gift certificate to the 4-H Mall.

You can win too! 

Check out our website each quarter to find out what contest is going on so you can register and

win great prizes for you and your club!

www.pettreats4youth.com 

The perfect fundraiser for any 4-H Club, small or large!

Becky Fay - Extension Agent - Green County, Missouri reports that ordering treats and setting up shop to sell outside of a grocery store is a great way to raise money during the holidays.

Becky also uses this as an opportunity to teach kids how to make change–a life skill many young people lack in the age of calculators, scanners, and computerized cash registers.

This year, she also intends to staple her business card and a brief description of 4-H programs available in her county to all of the packages sold to inform folks in her community about 4-H offerings.  

Joni Rocket is on his high horse at the Best in Show Pet Treats exhibit at NCRVF. JR works as a paw-pal volunteer for the health care organization VITAS. He regularly brightens the day of patients at a local care facility.

According to his owner, Joyce Bradley with Bradley’s Canine Academy, the two and half year old papillon is currently training in obedience and agility and doing quite well. He is a rescue dog who lives and plays with two shelties.   

Don’t let the talk of economic an economic downturn put your fundraising efforts on hold. In fact, as other sources of funding tighten their purse strings, many organizations ramp up their fundraising efforts. Individuals are still willing to buy fundraising products in a down economy—most understand the heightened need for non-profit and charitable organizations—however, the consumers’ mindset shifts slightly, so consider the following: 

·         Customers are looking for value: Items under $5 trump higher dollar items. Families that are packing their lunches instead of eating out, or renting movies instead of going to the theater are less likely to spend $20, $30 or $40 on cookie dough or candles.

 ·         Focus your efforts: Kids will invariably go back time-after-time to the same potential customers. Consider putting your efforts into one concentrated, focused, well-organized fundraiser with all hands on deck. And, SET GOALS!

·         Stress your brand: Consumers are more discerning about where their money is going and they are more likely to give to organizations they know and trust.

·         Tell your story: Let your customers know specifically why you are raising money. “I’m raising money for 4-H” is fine. “I’m raising money to go to summer camp” is better!

·         Use technology: Suggest that kids and their parents email or send text messages to friends and family to promote your fundraiser and even take orders. It’s the easiest and most cost effective way to get the word out. Set up a simple web page that promotes your fundraiser, charts progress toward your goal, and touts the accomplishments of your top sellers.

·         Say “thank you”: It’s never been more important. Make sure your kids show appreciation for customers’ contribution.