Happy New Year everyone! One thing I love about this time of year is that things slow down after the holidays, and the excitement and activity of spring and summer is still months away. This creates a great opportunity to take some time for self improvement. For many of us this means things like eating better, getting more exercise or acquiring new skills. In all cases it is important to set goals, understand how to reach those goals and then go to work and stay at work achieving them!

But we have to be honest with ourselves, creating positive change is difficult, and it takes big, bright, positive energy to power you through all the inevitable little things that are going to slow you down and make you want to quit. The same is true with pulling off a big fund raiser. The kick off is crucial, it sets the goal, the strategy, and builds up that positive energy. But from there it’s up to us as fund raisers to work hard keeping the good energy flowing. Having a positive and supportive attitude helps us personally overcome challenges and become a source of strength and confidence for others when they get caught up in the difficulties. In this respect it is important remember that happiness and the things leading to happiness don’t just happen; they’re earned by people taking it upon themselves to make it happen.

Many parent volunteers know that successful catalog and frozen food fund raisers can bring in big money but also big headaches. The good news is that with a little foresight a fund raiser can be smooth, successful and pain free.

One common thing that gets parent volunteers reaching for the aspirin is fund raising companies that deliver items in bulk. The parent group then has to sort through, pack and distribute everything to the students on their own. This might work ok if your school has a team of volunteers in place, ready to dedicate hours or even days completing a tedious and often frustrating job.

Or you can avoid the entire experience by choosing a fundraising company like ABC Fund Raising Inc. that pre-packs and delivers orders directly to the classrooms. In this case the delivery is over in a couple of hours and can be easily overseen by only one or two volunteers.

Another frequent headache with cookie dough and frozen food fund raisers is what to do with orders that get left behind when students are absent or otherwise unable to take the items home. The last thing anybody wants is boxes of rapidly thawing food sitting in the school after everyone has left for the day. The school might have a kitchen but it is usually packed with food for lunch and breakfast. Parents can ferry the items to their home freezers (if they have room) and then back to the school later, but this is hardly a satisfactory solution.

Fortunately, this conundrum is easily solved by choosing a company like ABC Fund Raising Inc. that provides the school a freezer on the day of delivery and then picks it up a few days later. This way items won’t be ruined, and staff and parents don’t need to have their regular routines disrupted by the fundraiser.

These are just a couple of examples of how solving little problems before they become big problems can easily lead to a happy, successful and aspirin free fund raising experience.

Hello and welcome to the new ABC Fund Raising Inc. blog! ABC Fundraising has been your local, Colorado fund raising company for over twenty years. My name is Brian Hughes and I have been working with ABC Fund Raising for five years now.

In this time I’ve worked, and gotten a work-out on many levels of the fund raising business. I’ve gotten weight-training by moving boxes around in our south Denver dry goods warehouse, I’ve worked extremely fast in the 20-below temperatures of our north Denver frozen food warehouse, and I’ve kept up on cardio rushing custom orders directly to classrooms all across the Rocky Mountain region.

In this time I’ve been very fortunate to meet and work with hundreds of wonderful parent volunteers and together we’ve jumped through the hoops, cleared the hurdles and successfully delivered more fund raisers then I care to count.

Throughout this process I’ve been learning the ways schools complete successful, profitable and stress free fund raisers. This blog is aimed at sharing this knowledge and experience with you so that your school can raise the funds it needs to ensure every student receives the best education possible.

It is simply a matter of fact that we live in an era of shrinking school budgets and resources, but by using our successful fund raising strategies, parents can ensure their school remains at the top of its game in good times and bad, and as your local fundraising company, you can leave the heavy lifting to us!