Looking for a good fundraising idea? Candle sales are easy and profitable. What, exactly, is a candle fundraiser?

Candle fundraisers are your basic order taker fundraiser. You need to do more than just show pictures of candles. Showing fragrant samples will dramatically boost your candle fundraiser’s results.

The basic concept is the same as all order taker fundraisers. You equip your sellers with a brochure, an order form, and a basic sales script.

The brochure describes the various candle selections and provides details on color, aroma, size, shape, weight, and container type. Price points are usually on the order form itself.

Unlike candy or cookie dough, it’s easy for your sellers to carry samples. Their non-perishable nature makes them a great fit for weeklong sales efforts.

One of the great things about candle fundraisers is how the aroma of your samples makes the selling process so much easier. Most buyers will sniff several samples and imagine how the candles will fill their homes with their pleasant smells.

Perennial favorites are french vanilla, bayberry, apple, pumpkin spice, apple cinnamon, holiday pine, melon burst, and citrus breeze.

Candle sizes range from small two-ounce votive candles all the way up to giant three-pound ball or bell-shaped versions with multiple wicks.

Several fundraising companies have candles in decorative shapes like various fruits, animals, wizards, trees, and figurines. In addition, large rectangles, cylinders, half-rounds, and tapers are always readily available.
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To get the most out of any fundraiser, every participant needs to give their all from start to finish. This includes your team members, parents, coaches, and other volunteers.

To keep everyone’s interest from waning, make sure that you include fun in your fundraiser each step of the way.

Ten ways to put fun in your fundraising:
1- Do fun things
2- Use fun incentives
3- Take pictures
4- Show appreciation
5- Give out fun merchant prizes
6- Build in fun goals
7- Blend fun, food and fundraising
8- Create fun completion activities
9- Say thank you
10- Have a cast party

Do fun things
Don’t make it drudgery to be a volunteer or a participant. Remember that they’re giving up their free time to help.

Plan fun things to do during each stage of the process that will reward everyone. Not only will it be a more rewarding experience for everyone involved, but you will keep your participants and volunteers eager for the next fundraiser.
And we all know there will be another one sooner rather than later!
Make sure they remember the fun, not just the hard work.

Use fun incentives
Offer a Cream Pie Attack party to all sellers or participants reaching a certain level. Have a fun day where key organizational figures do funny things for meeting goals.

Extreme examples include shaving their heads or dyeing their hair blue.

Some safer, less long-lasting examples could be wearing a funny wig, dressing like a clown, risk the dunking booth, and so on.

Be creative and use an idea that is appropriate to your group.

Kids and adults love these types of incentives and they don’t cut into your hard earned cash.

Take fun pictures
Everybody loves to see themselves in a picture. Take plenty of candid shots. Have everybody pose and ham it up for a group photo.

Be sure to post them where everyone can enjoy them. You could even reward your picture posers with prizes for the best smile, the goofiest pose, or the worst dressed.

Ask volunteers to take pictures throughout the fundraising process so there will be a variety of photos and you can be sure that everyone will be included.

If possible, have a “movie” made of your group during each phase of the fundraising process and show the movie at a wrap up event.

Show appreciation
Show your appreciation to all levels of your organization and supporter base. Be sure to do fun things that aren’t fundraisers.
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Car wash fundraisers are a proven money-maker in virtually every community. All you need are willing volunteers, a high-traffic location with good visibility, and some attention getting signs.

You can put a car wash fundraiser together on short notice, but they work best with a little planning. Here’s how to get started…

Things To Do List
1- Line up a location with good main road frontage
2- Ensure it has suitable water access
3- Assemble supplies list – hoses, buckets, wash towels, dry towels, squeegees
4- Assign each volunteer an item from the supplies list
5- Make 8-10 poster board signs in high-contrast colors
6- Arrange your volunteers in 2-hour shifts
7- Get advance publicity, if possible
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