If you're looking for an exciting new fundraising idea, look no further than tasty popcorn! Whether you sell popcorn or add it to your next event, popcorn fundraising helps all kinds of nonprofits raise more for their causes. Read on to learn how to fundraise with popcorn and some key tips to raise more!
Popcorn is a delicious and inexpensive snack that can be a surprisingly effective product for fundraising. It’s not just for going to the movies anymore – it’s for boosting your fundraising!
If you’re interested in learning more about popcorn fundraising, this is the article for you. We’ll talk about the basics of hosting a popcorn fundraiser as well as some innovative ways to promote and make your fundraiser a success.
Ready to get popping? Let’s first establish how popcorn fundraisers work.
Popcorn fundraisers involve selling popcorn to raise funds for an organization or cause. Typically, popcorn is sold by supporters to their friends, families, and colleagues. Then the organization receives a portion of the sale.
An online popcorn fundraiser is a popular choice, with many companies offering programs where you simply place your order based on your popcorn sales and they handle the rest! Popcorn is easy to sell online because it is cheap to make and distribute, while still being a desirable purchase.
This type of fundraising – where someone is asking their network to support an organization or cause – is called peer-to-peer fundraising.
Donorbox Peer-to-Peer fundraising is ideal for popcorn fundraisers because it’s easy to set up. Simply launch your campaign and choose whether you want to invite fundraisers by email or allow anyone to fundraise on your behalf. Your supporters will then make their own “child” campaign to share with their network where all funds funnel into your “parent” campaign. Any popcorn sales made through your supporters’ pages will automatically show up in your Donorbox account. This makes tracking your sales seamless!
Many organizations can raise money with popcorn fundraisers. Here are some that really benefit from this fun type of fundraising –
Because of the peer-to-peer aspect of popcorn fundraising, it works especially well for fundraising campaigns that have a lot of fun momentum – like raising money for a team’s season or a neighborhood project.
Now that we know more about popcorn fundraising, let’s look at some ways to make it successful.
A good way to convince people to buy more popcorn? Getting them to try some, of course!
Offering samples of the popcorn you’re selling is a fun way to encourage more sales. While someone is sampling your popcorn, you can tell them about your campaign.
Remember, storytelling is a fantastic fundraising tool! Check out our guide to crafting a compelling fundraising story to help you prepare for these interactions with potential donors.
Partnering with a local popcorn company can boost your sales. This is because 61% of people prefer supporting small businesses over larger corporations. There’s a more personal connection with a local popcorn company that makes purchasing from your popcorn fundraiser even more appealing!
Plus, you can use the reputation of a local company to your advantage. If they’re well established, people are more likely to be interested in their product.
It benefits your partner, too, since it shows the community that they want to help your cause.
Check out our article about community partnerships to learn more about these mutually beneficial partnerships – and how to get them!
Events are a fantastic time to sell popcorn. You can boost your fundraising by capturing in-person sales when someone is more likely to make an impulse purchase.
Plus, you can sell during events related to your organization – like a game for your school team or a walkathon – so donors can see what they’re supporting.
Pro tip: Having a way to collect sales and donations in person is key. Use the Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app to turn your tablet and card reader into a powerful donation collector. All donations made using the kiosk app automatically link to your Donorbox account, which makes it so easy to track the success of your popcorn fundraiser.
Learn more about how to use a donation kiosk at events in this blog.
Some events, like festivals and performances, are expected to sell popcorn. But don’t forget to be creative! Think of new and exciting ways to entice someone to buy popcorn.
For example, we love how this organization sold tickets for gourmet popcorn pairings with wine. This fun, unique idea helped them raise money for their anniversary fundraiser!
Pro tip: Selling tickets to an event is a great way to run your popcorn fundraiser. With Donorbox Events, you can create unlimited ticket tiers. So it would be easy to create tiers that include popcorn sales. Plus, you can choose to ask for additional donations on top of purchases, which can further boost your fundraising!
Check out how this organization included the cost of popcorn with their movie screening tickets!
Your supporters are selling popcorn on your behalf because they want your campaign to succeed. But sometimes sales incentives can encourage them even more!
Offer fun incentives for the highest sellers. Things like –
A little friendly competition with fun prizes will keep the momentum for your popcorn fundraiser going!
In addition to selling popcorn, consider selling or giving away a fun popcorn recipe book.
This recipe book should show potential purchasers all the delicious things they can do with popcorn! This is a fun way to include the community in an online popcorn fundraiser since you can collect recipes from many different people.
Online fundraising with a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign is the best way to raise money selling popcorn. It’s also the best way to get the word out!
Donorbox Peer-to-Peer fundraising pages help promote your popcorn fundraiser in these ways –
You can choose to invite supporters or let anyone fundraise for you. Here’s what it looks like when you invite fundraisers – all you need is their name and email to get started!
Once you send the invite, your supporters personalize their own fundraising page and start getting the word out about your popcorn fundraiser.
To learn more about peer-to-peer fundraising, check out our downloadable resource: Peer-to-Peer Fundraising 101.
Social media is the key to running a successful online popcorn fundraiser. Ask your supporters to share your campaign with their network, including creating personalized content about what the cause means to them.
Donorbox makes it easy for people to share your campaign on social! You can choose which social media buttons you want to include on your fundraising page, so all someone has to do is click and post.
This tried-and-true method involves selling popcorn in person outside of grocery stores and other community hot spots. It’s effective because your fundraisers can make a personal appeal to shoppers and encourage them to support your campaign – and get some delicious popcorn in the meantime!
Pro tip: You can easily collect in-person popcorn payments using Donorbox Text-to-Give. Simply enable text-to-give on your campaign and share your keyword with your buyer. All they have to do is text the text-to-give number to receive a link to your online donation form, where they can quickly make their payment!
A good foundation for your gourmet popcorn fundraiser is to connect with your long-time supporters. You can do this through email, where you can introduce the goal of your campaign and ask them to purchase some popcorn through your online fundraising page.
You can use Donorbox Donor Management to pull this email list. Simply sort your supporters by whatever filter you’d like – for example, by the number of donations or donation amount.
Selling popcorn is a fun and inexpensive way to fundraise for organizations like churches, school clubs, teams, and nonprofits. You can host an in-person or online popcorn fundraiser, depending on your needs – or a hybrid of the two!
With some innovation and the proper promotion strategy, your popcorn fundraiser will be a big success. Especially if you use Donorbox to help!
Donorbox has a variety of tools to help with your popcorn fundraiser. Peer-to-peer fundraising pages are built for this kind of fundraising with thoughtful tools that make it easy for you and your supporters.
Ready to learn more? Check out this introduction to Donorbox Peer-to-Peer video –
For more fundraising ideas, check out the rest of our Nonprofit Blog. Subscribe to our newsletter for curated blog content delivered to your inbox every month.
Lindsey spent years wearing many hats in the nonprofit world. Whether she was helping arts nonprofits with their messaging and content, planning a fundraising gala, writing an NEA grant proposal, or running a membership program with over 400 members, she learned how to navigate – and appreciate! – the fast-paced world of fundraising. Now, she loves sharing those hard-earned lessons with the Donorbox community.
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Lindsey Baker Bower