What a daycare fundraiser actually earns your center
Most fundraiser pitches lead with a percentage. The percentage is the least useful number in the offer, because it is applied to different things by different programs, and because what reaches your center depends on three other factors nobody mentions in the brochure.
Gross sales are not your share
A program advertising “40%” might mean 40% of the item price, or 40% of the profit after their costs, or 40% of sales above a minimum threshold. Those are very different outcomes on the same catalog.
Ask for the number as a sentence instead of a percentage: “If a family spends twenty dollars, how many dollars reach our center?” If the answer needs a paragraph of qualification, that qualification is where your money goes.
What upfront cost actually looks like
Traditional product fundraisers ask you to buy inventory, or to commit to a minimum order, or to accept a box of unsold stock you can’t return. Each of those turns a fundraiser into a risk your center carries.
Three questions settle it:
- Does our center pay anything before families order?
- Is there a minimum we must hit?
- What happens to items nobody buys?
A made-to-order program answers “nothing, no, and there aren’t any” — nothing is produced until it is paid for. A catalog program usually cannot.
Staff time is a real cost
A fundraiser that earns 40% but needs a staff member collecting order forms, chasing cash, reconciling envelopes and sorting a delivery has a cost you are paying in wages and goodwill. During enrollment season that cost is higher than the fundraiser is worth.
The practical test: how many hours does one of my staff spend on this, start to finish? If the honest answer is more than two, weigh that against the earnings before you sign.
When the money arrives
Earnings are not the same as cash in hand. Ask when the payment comes, in what form, and what has to happen first. A program that pays after a refund window is being straightforward with you — refunds come out of someone’s share, and it should not be yours after the fact.
Also ask what they need from you in order to pay. A legitimate program will ask for a W-9 if your total for the year is large enough to be reportable, and will pay by check to the organization rather than to an individual.
The agreement matters more than the pitch
In Illinois and many other states, a for-profit company running a fundraiser on behalf of a nonprofit or a center is a commercial co-venturer, and the arrangement is expected to be in writing before any soliciting starts. That is worth insisting on even where it is not required.
A written agreement should name the share, the dates, the products, who handles delivery, and when you are paid. If a program is reluctant to put those five things in writing, you have learned something useful about the program.
Keepsake Fundraising is a for-profit company operated by Cloud Development Group LLC. We agree the share with each center in writing before the page opens, and it is shown on your page next to the prices.