Beyond Gas & Groceries

Everyone involved knows that the FundScrip gift card fundraising program works extremely well when your members utilize it to purchase their gas and groceries; however, sometimes it’s difficult to gain momentum with your current supporters when that’s the only aspect of the program they try. Let’s face it: while gas and groceries are certainly essential, they aren’t exactly exciting. Think about creating a “buzz” around something other than using the program to pay for a drive to the grocery store to pick up a box of Cheerios™.

One of the primary principles salespeople are taught is that people don’t buy what they need, they buy what they want… and it’s their job to instill that desire. That’s not to say that folks don’t go through the motions and purchase the things they require to live, but the level of brand engagement and consumer enthusiasm one feels while pumping gas is likely similar to that experienced while eating a piece of toast in the morning.

So, how do you get your supporters excited about the program beyond the essentials? You have to whet their consumer appetites and get them interested in brands that offer more in terms of purchase experience than mere day-to-day survival.

Fortunately, FundScrip has a ton of excellent retailers you may promote to your membership which do exactly that. Here are some helpful tips:

• Maintain regular and concise communication with your group – this is absolutely key. Don’t deluge them with material, but keep in touch on a regular basis with short, well designed emails, newsletters, and the like.
• Stay on top of the monthly promotions and keep your supporters informed about them. Folks often get excited about a deal… and if that ties in with something new and shiny, all the better!
• Make the mental connection for your members between upcoming events and particular brands. Valentine’s Day is coming up – la Vie en Rose?
• In keeping with the last point, help them connect brands with events that you aren’t aware of by mentioning upcoming birthdays, anniversaries and such. You don’t know that uncle Jim’s 60^th is coming up… but they do, and will make the connection.
• Events don’t have to be restricted to those detailed in your calendar. Just had a snowstorm? Why not send out an email mentioning the sale Canadian Tire is having on snowblowers? Hey, they might not need a snowblower, but when they start thinking about Canadian Tire, they might remember they do need jumper cables, a new battery, tires, washer fluid etc. Just because they don’t need the sexy new snowblower (yes, I said sexy), doesn’t mean they’ll stop thinking about Canadian Tire, and what they can purchase there.
• Emphasize the reward in using the gift card to purchase these brands. Using FundScrip to go shopping can be mentally translated to mean there is a sale on every item in the store. After all, shopping with gift cards is putting money towards your favourite cause; and hey, it ultimately all comes out of the same pocket.

By employing these strategies, you can not only improve your group’s fundraising results, but create more engagement and interest in the program – potentially attracting more supporters. So why not start 2012 off on the right foot with a new campaign to help your group get the most out their fundraising efforts!