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Fair Trade Fundraisers
By: Michelle Pearson
Organizations everywhere are starting to see the benefits of staging certain
types of fundraisers. As you may have discovered through trial-and-error, some
fundraisers are simply more successful than others. We all want to raise as much
money as we can for our respective organizations, but there are times when we
ought to give pause to other considerations.
Coffee fundraisers have been massively successful in the United States and
beyond. It should come as no surprise, mind you. Everyone loves coffee,
especially really good coffee. It is estimated that over 200 million people in
the United States alone drink coffee on a daily basis. At approximately one
dollar per cup, you can imagine how staggering the profits can be. Organizations
have an excellent opportunity to tap into this market, and to brew up massive
revenues for their respective ventures.
The difficult part of doing coffee fundraisers, is convincing people to
compromise their morning coffee routines. It may sound absurd, but many people
feel very passionately about the coffee they drink. From what I have been told
by some of our readers, Canadians are absolutely fanatic about Tim Horton's
coffee. The challenge for people involved in fundraising, is to convince people
to try something new. We have to appeal to their thoughtful side. It is for
charity, after all.
One of our friends has had tremendous success by putting a new twist on the
traditional coffee fundraiser. Instead of offering people unimpressive gift
boxes of coffee, why not consider selling bags of Fair Trade Coffee? If you are
not aware of the Fair Trade movement, you should be. It is essentially an effort
to ensure that farmers in developing countries are properly compensated for
their labor and their products. The movement also tries to address issues
regarding the environmental impact of certain farming practices, as well as
local economic sustainability.
There is a significant percentage of the population in America that truly cares
about what is happening in the world today. The environmental movement has been
going strong for decades now, and people have become both active and aware of
the issues that affect citizens in America and beyond. These conditions create a
wonderful opportunity for fundraisers, as we can give people an opportunity to
support two wonderful causes; the Fair Trade movement and your organization! Let
your conscience guide you in your fundraising efforts, and help make trade fair.
bout the Author:
Michelle Pearson is a former fundraising consultant, and she is passionate about
making the world a better place. She is also a contributor to the internet's
preeminent fundraising resource – www.fundraisingknowhow.com.
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