Acquiring funds to keep a non-profit organization operating can be challenging, but with a little creativity, your team can start a fundraising campaign that’s simple, effective, and helps bring further awareness to your organization. Selling custom calendars is a popular fundraising idea that countless organizations count on each year to raise crucial funds and spread awareness. Here at U.S. Press, we strive to make creating bulk calendars fast, easy, and affordable, so you can focus on selling your calendars and raising funds for your non-profit. Here’s how you can start your own calendar fundraiser.
Plan Your Campaign
Before you design your calendar, it’s important to first plan out your campaign. Ask yourself these questions: How many calendars do you need to sell? How much will it cost to print them versus how much can you sell them for? How will you distribute them? Will your calendar have a theme? Will you need to hire a photographer to take new pictures, or do you have existing photos you can use? All of these questions need to be answered first to ensure your fundraiser is a success.
When you’re planning the print budget, you can easily check pricing on uspress.com to see the average cost per piece and how it changes depending on your calendar quantity. The more you order, the lower the cost per piece, which means more proceeds can go toward your organization.
Select Your Photos
One of the key elements of creating a successful calendar fundraiser is designing a calendar that people actually want to buy and use all year. Choosing high quality, eye-catching photographs is critical in generating buzz and demand for your calendar. Try partnering with a local photographer who can offer discounted photography services, or browse stock images sites such as istockphoto.com for high resolution and quality images.
Be sure to choose photographs that coordinate well with your organization and the overall theme of your calendar. For example, non-profit animal rescues often show adorable images of adoptable animals.
Design Your Calendar
Once you have photographs, it’s time to start putting your calendar design together. At uspress.com, you can easily design your calendar with our online design tool. Our calendar template automatically has the monthly grids pre-built, so all you need to do is add your photos, customize the color scheme, drop in your logo, and type in your organization’s contact information. It’s a fast, free tool that will save you time and money when creating your calendar design. Be sure to create an account and save all of your work if you plan to design your calendar in multiple sittings.
Order Your Calendar Prints
When you’re ready to order, visit our calendar product page where you can select your quantity and paper. Next, upload your calendar design (or log into your account to choose your existing design) and then proceed to checkout. If you need to expedite your order, we offer express turnaround times as well as expedited shipping methods such as FedEx Express Saver or 2nd Day Air.
After you place your order, our team will check over your artwork to make sure everything looks great and is setup to print well. Before we print your calendars, we will send you a PDF proof to approve. Be sure to carefully proofread your file to make sure there are no typos or grammatical errors. Once you have finalized your design, you can approve your proof and we’ll proceed with production.
Promote Your Calendars
Once your calendars arrive, it’s for the fun part: promoting and selling! Send out emails to all of your subscribers and post links to order your calendars on all your social media accounts. Submit a PR release to your local newspaper and ask your organization’s volunteers to help spread the word. We hope your calendar fundraiser is a hit!
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