Dancing all the way to the bank

UPDATE >> November 12, 2010 -
Read Clara’s interview with the Toronto Star here.

Interview with Clara Goodwin, FundScrip Group Administrator for Profile Dance Company in Scarborough, Ontario

Fundrazr.ca: Hi Clara, thanks for taking the time to speak with us today; can we get started by asking you to tell us what your fundraising project is all about?

Clara: Ok, well we are a dance studio. We originally started off as a small studio, but we found as we got bigger and better, we needed to raise funds for costumes for our dancers – particularly when they were going to be going to competitions, we didn’t want to look like the underdogs.

Every dancer has to raise somewhere between $300 and $600 for their costumes per year, so everybody’s got a personal motivation to do their fundraising because it comes right back into their [ed. studio FundScrip] account, and if they don’t raise that money, they have to put it in from their own funds… so everyone is very well motivated.

Fundrazr.ca: I see. So, how many people do you have involved in your fundraising group?

Clara: This is a growing number. We started off with about 30, and actually now we’ve evolved – thanks to FundScrip – and encompassed a new studio as well. So now we’re in the area of I think between 50 and 60 dancers.

Fundrazr.ca: Great! And how much have you raised to date?

Clara: To date we’ve raised, I believe, in about the $6000 range.

Fundrazr.ca: And how long have you been doing it for?

Clara: Since the end of September actually so… [ed. interview conducted March 25, 2010]

Fundrazr.ca: Oh, so just a short time!

Clara: Yes, just a short time.

Fundrazr.ca: Well, what’s the reaction of the participants been?

Clara: Oh my gosh, the reaction’s been just amazing! Everybody is so thrilled with the way this fundraiser functions, and they love the convenience of it because they can do it from home – they’ve got themselves set up so they can almost all do it from home so it’s very simple – it’s just tailor made for their needs.

And like I said, we’ve involved another studio as well; I don’t even have to interface with the parents from the other studio because they’re able to do all their ordering online and I just have a teacher actually run their orders to them once a week – so it’s been great – I’m actually helping another group of people to raise funds too and to tell you the truth I haven’t even met a single one of them!

Fundrazr.ca: Wow, that’s awesome! So, how did you get started with FundScrip in the first place?

Clara: Well I did a bit of research on the Internet, and we were previously using a different gift card company and were having a lot of problems with it, so we needed to find a more reliable source to work with. So as I said, I did some research and found FundScrip on the Internet and spoke to Kathy and it was wonderful – the experience from beginning to end has been wonderful. It’s not ended obviously, but it’s been great, and administering the fundraiser has been so simple – you really make it very easy for us.

Fundrazr.ca: Well that’s very gratifying to hear you say that! So, how did you initially broach the topic of fundraising with your current supporters?

Clara: We usually have a meeting at the beginning of every dance season and talk about what’s on the agenda for the year; so, we already know what’s on our plate for the year and what kind of funds will need to be raised. At that meeting I’ll speak up and explain the fundraiser to the group and I also print out all kinds of hand-outs to give to people to take home with them so they can read through them carefully on their own – as well as for people who couldn’t addend the meeting. I also include my contact information, so in case they need more questions answered they have a place to go.

Of course word spreads and you start with one or two parents and you know they talk to each other, and before you know it, it’s really a growing thing.

Fundrazr.ca: That’s great to hear. Did you experience any initial reluctance or scepticism on the part of your supporters?

Clara: There were a lot of questions regarding the EFT [ed. Electronic Funds Transfer]. I think that was a new twist; and I think people were a little bit reluctant to do that. But as, of course again, as word of mouth spread a little bit, and people started using it and understanding how it works, that actually became a selling feature. So, the only reluctance was with the EFT but otherwise the people who are on-board are seriously on-board!

Fundrazr.ca: That’s excellent – so as far as the EFT goes, would you say the majority of your supporters are currently using that?

Clara: Yes, I would say a good 90%. We probably have about 5 or 6 people who will give me cheques, but the rest are all on EFT.

Fundrazr.ca: And they find that makes life significantly simpler?

Clara: Oh, it makes their life simpler and it makes my life simpler! Everybody’s happy with it.

Fundrazr.ca: That’s good to hear. Are you having any issues in maintaining supporter interest or is that something you have no difficulty with at all?

Clara: No, not at all actually, because once people have figured out their own organisation for how to order and where to get their cards and whatnot, it’s really quite simple to run. There’s no real reason [to stop] because people don’t stop needing groceries or gas or whatever. So that’s never a problem.

As a matter of fact, my biggest problem is if there is an order delayed by a day or so or even a week if somebody’s forgotten to do their order, they get annoyed with themselves – or even if anyone has to go out and pay for something that they usually would have gift cards for and they have to use money instead because they’ve run out of gift cards – they’ll get very annoyed with themselves. Actually our supporters are really enjoying the use of the gift cards and even the idea that they’re helping raise funds for their children.

Fundrazr.ca: Do you do anything in order to help maintain the supporter interest? I mean, how do you communicate with your supporters on a regular basis with you know, reminders about the program and that kind of thing?

Clara: Well, we tend to overlap on Friday nights – which is a [dance] company night – where almost all the company girls are dancing. So I’m usually at the studio on Friday nights and either I’m collecting cheques or distributing orders and, you know, answering any questions or any unusual requests that come in. So I’m there to do face-to-face and people all have my phone number and email address anyway.

And you know, when I distribute the cards at the studio, all the other parents are seeing people get envelopes – and it’s a little bit like Christmas, you know they all get their little envelopes and go ‘oh yay I can go shopping!’, they’re all excited – and all the other parents are looking and thinking ‘oh I didn’t get an envelope’ so it kind of generates its own interest.

Fundrazr.ca: So as you’re probably aware, what this interview is all about, and the ones we’ve held in past, is to try to pass on the collected knowledge of people who have gone before – to kind of form some best practices when going about this type of fundraising. So, if you were to start this all over again, knowing what you know now, would you go about doing anything you did differently?

Clara: Wow, that’s a good question. It’s been so successful, I would have trouble thinking about doing it differently other than perhaps I would have touched base with the parents in the summertime so that we would have had more lead time for people to raise their funds. As it was, because I was doing the investigating in the summertime I didn’t really want to go to folks at first until I had test run it myself and I was a little reluctant – I wanted to make sure everything was good before I got the whole group involved. If I had done it differently knowing what I know now, I would have started way back when.

Fundrazr.ca: So what would be the one biggest piece of advice you’d give to somebody starting a program with FundScrip?

Clara: For starters you have to introduce the program and connect with your people. Because of the freedom of ordering over the Internet and not having the face-to-face [ed. in the ordering context], I think you need to make a point of having a face-to-face point of contact because people still need to have a person that they can discuss things with and whatnot. So I would definitely make sure that there is time where you can speak to your people and answer any questions and concerns they may have – I spend a lot of time actually doing that. I think that’s a good thing. It doesn’t make it seem so clinical and distant that way and brings it a little closer to home.

Fundrazr.ca: I see. You were mentioning you had tried another card company in past; were there any other fundraising methods – other than that – which you tried?

Clara: We’ve been doing a lot of fundraising for a lot of years: we’ve done casino trips; we’ve done silent auctions; we’ve done a lot of those things, you know, ticket selling where you have to sell tickets where the grand prize is like two tickets to a Maple Leaf’s game or something.

I’m speaking personally, now – I am really tired of all those fundraisers. I have a son who played hockey for 10 years before the daughter started the dance fundraising thing. So all the people who I know to ask for funds from: they’re tapped-out, they’ve been contributing to my son’s hockey team for years. So, you know, you’re tired of constantly going to the same trough for funds and asking for support. So I just really needed to find something for me that wasn’t that… so that I would be able to do fundraising without feeling that I’m constantly begging people for money.

Actually, when people find out about FundScrip, they’re actually quite happy to contribute and help you because they’re not actually out any money – they’re totally even and are still contributing. It’s interesting; people who I was even reluctant to ask for help – because you’ve asked them so many times – are offering to jump in. So it’s a very unusual reaction. I knew a lot of other parents were in similar situations as well so I knew that there were a lot of us that were just tired of begging for money – so this is the way to get away from that.

Fundrazr.ca: Ok, so that’s worked out very well for you in terms of presenting it as a fundraising opportunity to your usual sources; how have you found it in terms of revenue generation?

Clara: Comparing it to our other fundraisers?

Fundrazr.ca: Yeah…

Clara: There’s no comparison. This is by far the biggest fundraiser for our group.

Fundrazr.ca: That’s great to hear. Do you have any plans on how you’re going to improve your performance in this regard over the next few months?

Clara: Oh wow – now you’re putting me on the spot! Actually we’re closing out the season and doing the numbers over the next couple of weeks, but I definitely plan to continue to run the fundraiser through the summer so when the school starts up again in September, people will have a nice little nest egg sitting in their account already – which is a really nice feeling to walk into a full dance season and maybe have all your fundraising done.

We also have been able to… if anyone raises over the funds that they are required to raise, they can actually use those monies towards their dancing fees. So that’s been a little extra incentive for people as well. So we have made a few modifications to our system to encourage people to raise more funds.

Fundrazr.ca: Have you been looking outside – you’ve been saying you go to the usual suspects all the time in terms of your fundraising – have you looked at widening your circle given the fact that this is easy to explain and people aren’t really out-of-pocket?

Clara: We have broached the topic of actually approaching companies who give gifts for example at Christmas and give gift cards to their employees – things like that. We have spread that possibility and got the word out as well. We haven’t had a lot of bites yet, but hopefully the right opportunity will present itself because that would be a great way for us to boost our funds and would be kind of a quick way really to do it.

Another way we’re looking at as well with our dance competitions is trying to plan ahead so that for instance we can all be eating at the same restaurant and use our cards, so we can actually maximise our orders that way. So if we can do these bulk orders as a group I think that will make a substantial difference in the funds we raise.

Fundrazr.ca: To close, I thought maybe I’d give you a couple of minutes just to give any advice you think people who are starting a new program with FundScrip would like to hear.

Clara: Well for anybody – even a shy person that doesn’t want to take on a big project – this is not too big for anybody to take on and be an administrator. It is amazing how easy it is to administer and be successful. Like I said, we’ve only been doing this a few months and we have thousands of dollars. How many other fundraisers can you say will do that kind of thing – basically being run by one person? Usually you’re talking about golf tournaments that are run by a team of people and it’s a massive endeavour to raise that kind of money. And you know, nobody had to go begging for any relatives to play a round of golf.

So, don’t be afraid of jumping in and think this may be too much to handle as an administrator and to start the program, because it’s not. The program really sells itself; the product sells itself; and your supporters, once they get into the habit of using these gift cards, they’re extremely loyal and will use the gift cards. I don’t find you have to push this at all because they’re there…. they’re placing their orders every week.

As far as administration goes, just answer a few phone calls and make yourself available for about an hour or so a week and that’s really not a lot to ask for to get this kind of return.

Fundrazr.ca: And the money just keeps on churning in…

Clara: It does! You know, it’s almost self-running. FundScrip makes it so easy for us because you have the orders all sorted for us, I don’t have to overlap with people – I don’t even have to see them for goodness sakes – I’ve got a whole other school that’s participating and I haven’t met a single parent from there! It’s wonderful.

Fundrazr.ca: That’s great to hear. Ok, well, that’s been excellent! Thanks very much Clara, and we’ll wish you continued success in your fundraising efforts!