Big Event Fundraising is an organization that was founded in 1999 by parents that were sick of seeing their kids given bad prizes as rewards for selling products out of fundraising catalogs. The goal of Big Event is to work closely with clients to make sure that they can design unique school fundraising events that will meet the organization’s financial goals. The comprehensive party packs make it easy for organizations because Big Event Fundraising has already done all of the planning for them!
There are other fundraising companies out there that provide all the packets and promise profits, just like Big Event Fundraising, so I looked into their services to see what exactly makes them unique. It is all about the prizes that are available for the kids and the way those prizes motivate the kids to sell more product (and raise more money for everyone involved). Instead of winning junk that parents don’t want around and the kids don’t like, if the kids meet certain, seemingly reasonable sales goals then they are awarded an entry into the big event that their school chooses. There are four events available and they require the students to sell different amounts of product to attend.
The school chooses one of the programs and all of the kids in the school have an opportunity to attend based on their participation (sales). The magic show is based on an educational program of the school’s choice (math, self esteem, recycling, etc). The super party is full of bounce houses. The super splash party is outdoors and the bounce houses included are full of water (dude I’m so in for this one!). The reptile adventure allows the kids to interact with and pet 200 year old turtles, snakes and alligators! Ok, it’s been a long time since I’ve been a kid, but I remember the types of things that excited me and they definitely included jumping up and down, splashing water all over the place, watching magic and checking out animals that I’d never seen before! I do think that the motivation for the kids is there.
So what exactly are the kids going to be selling here if they are required to sell either 5 or 8 items to attend…I looked through the product catalogs and found some pretty tasty looking stuff as well as some awesome gizmos and gadgets. Most everything was in the $10-25 range. There were some delicious cookie dough packages available with tasty varieties of cookies. I also saw this nice looking olive oil container as well as a cute looking hands free soap dispenser.
Is it just me or does everyone else remember growing up with school fundraising events only selling like popsicles and chicken nuggets, lol. Big Event Fundraising is marketing gourmet foods and awesome gadgets that you’d see at like Bed, Bath and Beyond. These mini tacos, egg rolls and cheese spread look delicious.
There is also additional motivation to sell more than the 5 or 8 products required to enter: addition sales will get kids opportunities to go into a cash grab machine (lol, come on now what kid doesn’t want to do that!) and play exclusive games at the big parties. Big Event Fundraising definitely has some unique school fundraiser ideas that would have motivated me to participate had they been around when I was a kid.