We were able to catch up with a participant in the program to get some feedback. Sue, a member of the West Corner Campus Parent Teacher Association (PTA) in Endicott, New York, has raised over $100 since she signed up with Funding Factory, recently. She provided some great feedback on how to use this fundraiser in your organization.

Signup

To sign up for the service, just go to the Funding Factory website. There, you will fill out a simple form to get started. They then send you a starter kit for collection of ink cartridges and cell phone batteries. “The signup process was very easy, and if you ever have questions, you just email your representative,” Sue says. “They get back to you ASAP!”

Getting Participation

Sue says she has a hard time getting people to participate initially, but once they do cartridges come in on a regular basis. Right now, they have about a 10 percent participation rate from the PTA members.

To increase participation, Sue has advertised in the PTA newsletter, and reminders go home with students on a regular basis. She also sends reminders to the teachers and staff at the school to bring their cartridges.

The struggle for participation among so many other activities and fundraisers can be hard, but Sue says you must be persistent. She recommends consistent advertising at meetings, frequent reminder notices and hanging posters.

“Also, ask parents to ask their places of employment for cell phones, laser cartridges and ink cartridges,” Sue says. “I am getting the word out for that, too, and am having success!”
Other Advice

Have a support group. “I have a great group of PTA members who help me when I need it,” she says. “Keep track of donations on a spreadsheet [for simplicity].”

“I will continue to do Funding Factory,” Sue says. “What money I raise for our PTA may not be a lot, but every little bit helps. These cartridges are trash, and to see it turn into cash amazes me! It’s a lot of work, sometimes, but the kids are worth it.”

Here is a very simple way to raise money at your school without much effort- My Coke Rewards from Coca-Cola.

The idea is simple. You sign up for a “My Coke Rewards” account. You become the account manager. You will have access to check your account and trade in your “points” for items for your school.

Then, let everyone in your school community know that if they drink a participating Coke product (Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Dasani water, Fanta, Mr. Pibb’s, Fresca, Minute Maid Lemonade, Vault, Powerade, and Barq’s Root Beer) they should donate the bottle cap (with the code printed on the underside of it ) to your school. Also, be sure to remind them that they cannot enter the code in themselves prior to giving it to you. It must be un-entered for it to have value to the school. (No double-dipping!)

As the account manager, you will receive a catalog with all sorts of great items that will benefit your school, such as sporting goods, creative supplies, and textbooks, to name just a few.

It would be wise to find a volunteer (or you can do it yourself, I suppose) to do the work of entering in all the codes to the Coke website.  Other than that, the work required is very minimal.

This whole process is very similar to Box Tops and Campbell Soup Labels. The key is to promote the program within your community and get as many people participating as possible. Since people drink a lot of soda, this shouldn’t be that hard.

This is a program that can run twelve months, non-stop. Make a big splash at the beginning of the school year to get people thinking about it, and you can collect this points all year round, including the summer, when soft drinks are flying off the shelves.

As I have written before, there are many people who never participate in any of your school fundraisers. Of this group, some may just feel they don’t have the extra money to donate. But, these folks most likely are buying products with redeemable labels. Convince them that they CAN make a real difference by staying vigilant with turning in their labels each month. This will let them feel as though they are contributing in a meaningful way and may ultimately lead to them take a larger role at school.

For those of you who live in states that have bottle deposit laws (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Vermont), the Coke Rewards program is doubly terrific, because if the families give you both the cap and the bottle, you can return the bottle for cash (five or ten cents , depending on the state) and the cap for prizes! But, of course, families can elect to just give you the cap and save the return deposit for themselves. However, if you live in any of these states, you should definitely make a play for both.

Photo By: Dominic’s Pics

I realize that this makes me incredibly lame, but even though I’m pretty awful at this activity, it’s not that I don’t appreciate it. Because I do. I’m quite impressed by the folks who excel at this. Back in April of 2007, a 13 year-old girl named Morgan Pozgar became the first-ever National Texting Champion and won $25,000 for being able to send a 151 character message in 42 seconds. Amazing. After winning the prize, Morgan reported that she sends over 4,000 text messages per month! That works out to over eight messages every waking hour of the month.

Anyway, the point is, texting has arrived.

So, I was understandably intrigued when I recently learned about an upcoming fundraiser to be held in New Jersey that was using cell phone text messaging as the main hook for raising $100,000. The one-day event is scheduled for February 28, 2008. (There is a great article on the plan here.) The beneficiary for this event is a brain trauma center, not a school, but I think the steps could easily be transferred to a school setting.

The event is called “Text for 10”, and it works like this: The group has recruited 1,000 teens and ‘tweens to form 100 teams of 10 people each. Each individual has promised to be responsible for getting 10 pledges of at least $10. Basically it is 1,000 people getting $100 for a total of $100,000. Possibly more.

At exactly 6:00pm on February 28, all the 1,000 team members will simultaneously text in the pledges they received for donations. Then on “Bank Day”, which is March 5, the captains of each team will deliver the money to a secure bank location.

The organizer of the event realizes that this is basically a variation on the old walk-a-thon event, but she is updating it for today’s youth, for many of whom texting is a part of everyday life. She is using the hook of text messaging as a way to access a segment of the population who might not otherwise get involved for a fundraising event.

She is also using the novelty of the event to her advantage with public relations. There have been teams of recruits form, just because they heard about it locally.

As of this post, there are still a few weeks until the texting party begins. I’m guessing that teams have already been formed and are now busy lining up support. Sometime after the conclusion of this fundraiser, I will re-visit this event and share with you how they did.

Stay tuned!

Find out about this and other Box Tops promotions

Find out more about this special offer

From the Official Rules:

How to Enter: Online sweepstakes only. To enter, go to: www.boxtops4education.com/CouponsPromotions and click on the Chex Mix Bonus Box Tops Sweepstakes link in the Box Tops Coupons and Promotions section, complete and submit the online sweepstakes entry form during the sweepstakes period which begins at 12:01 A.M. (central time) on Wednesday, August 1, 2007 and ends at 11:59 P.M. Monday, September 3.

Sweepstakes entry limited to one entry per person per e-mail address. Sponsor will not verify receipt of entries. Automated entries are prohibited, and any use of such automated devices or programs will cause disqualification. Sponsor and its advertising and promotion agencies are not responsible for lost, late, illegible, misdirected or stolen entries or transmissions, or problems of any kind whether mechanical, human or electronic. Sweepstakes entries are the property of Sponsor and will not be returned. Sweepstakes ends on September 3, 2007.

Prizes: Five (5) Prizes of twenty thousand (20,000) Bonus Box Tops will be awarded to winner’s designated school. Retail value of prize is $2,000 to designated school. Individuals cannot redeem Bonus Box Tops certificate for cash.

Enter now »

Of course with any big blockbuster like Spiderman 3 there are many promotional tie-ins. Besides the required action figures and other toys, there are many other promotions. One of those promotions can help earn money for your school through the box tops program.

Old El Paso taco kits featuring Spidey on the cover include a Spiderman 3 the movie bookmark. Old El Paso dinner kits come with taco shells, seasoning mix and taco sauce—just add meat and your favorite toppings. All Old El Paso dinner kits, taco shells and tortillas packages carry the Box Tops logo for you to clip, save and redeem.

This year the company has donated 100,000 copies of The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle to First Book. You can vote to help decide which community these books will be donated to! Just go to the back of specially marked Cheerios boxes to find out how you can place your vote.

During the month of March you could win 5,000 Bonus Box Tops from Cheerios. There’s no purchase necessary – enter for your chance to win today!

Over the years General Mills Box Tops for Education has helped schools earn over $175 million dollars.

Now in addition to earning cash back for local schools through buying groceries and clipping Box Tops symbols, the program also includes shopping online and making purchases with a credit card. When you shop online at the Box Tops Marketplace your school earns cash on every qualifying purchase made, up to $20,000, at no additional cost to you.

Find out more about Box Tops for Education