Fundraising with Cookie Dough

by Deane Brengle, Editor of the Fundraising for Small Groups Newsletter

Cookie dough is one of the hottest fundraising products going right now, and it's easy to see why.

Everybody eats cookies.
It's offered in lots of delicious flavors.
Sales prices are reasonable.
There's low risk to the group with a presale fundraiser.

This booklet is designed to get you acquainted with cookie dough fundraising if you haven't done it before. If you are already doing a cookie dough fundraiser this booklet will help you discover the latest offerings and ideas in cookie dough fundraising.

Overview of this Fundraiser

Cookie dough is sold to parents, relatives, friends, supporters, and the general public by way of an order form supplied by a fundraising supplier. Orders are taken over roughly a two week period for specific dough flavors. At the end of the sale period order forms are tallied and the cookie dough is ordered. About two weeks later your cookie dough is delivered and you distribute the dough to your buyers. The dough can be refrigerated for weeks and frozen for months (exact lengths vary with each supplier).

All cookie dough suppliers offer frozen dough in several different flavors. Tub sizes and price points vary among suppliers. And there is a new kid on the block- dry mixes. These dry mix cookie dough products ship and store easy and they are price competitive.

Potential Income

Generally speaking, you can make between 30-55% profit on a cookie dough sale. I know that's a big difference, but there are some variables that will determine your bottom line. The most important is how many tubs/cartons you will sell. Some suppliers offer free shipping on all orders (with a minimum order amount) and others have a case minimum before free shipping kicks in. Most all suppliers charge less per tub as the size of your order increases. The best way to figure out what you will make from a sale is to talk to each company and have them help you calculate how much your group will sell and what your profit will be.

Other things will affect your profit so be sure and ask about them:

Cost of the brochure/order forms
Cost of the money collection envelopes
Availability/cost of computer reports (sales totals by student and/or teacher)
Availability/cost of distribution sheets for each seller
Availability/cost of prize programs (can add or deduct 3-5% of the total)

Most cookie dough suppliers recommend you have a minimum of 30-50 sellers to make your program successful.

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Complexity

This fundraiser is pretty straight forward, but there are several questions you should ask yourself:

Pre Pay or Post Pay- pre pay is when your customers pay when they order. Post pay is when your customers pay when they receive the product. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. The general thinking is that pre pay sales generate less sales volume. But post pay sales generate losses when customers can't be reached or don't pay. Before you decide which way to go make sure you ask your cookie dough supplier. Some only do prepay. Others have strict rules for post pay.
Scheduling- once you determine you want to do a cookie dough sale, it will take about one week to get your brochures, two weeks to hold your sale, one week to total your sales (and get late orders) and two weeks to get your cookie dough delivered and distributed. That's six weeks start to finish.
Facilities- most cookie dough suppliers recommend you have access to refrigerator/freezer space. They recommend a commercial unit like the one at your school cafeteria, restaurant, or grocery store. If you organize your dough distribution efficiently, you will only need it as a back up for orders that aren't picked up. Suppliers also sometimes recommend a commercial height loading dock to simplify unloading. These things aren't a big deal and can usually be arranged for the asking.

Recommended Fundraising Supplier
I've taken the time to carefully review all the suppliers that provide cookie dough fundraising programs and I am recommending JustFundraising. They offer three different fundraising programs using brochures to sell cookie dough. Choose from scoop and bake with 14 delicious kinds of cookie dough, pre-portioned ready to bake with 9 different cookie flavors, or a desert brochure with gourmet cookie dough, home-style pie, hand twisted pretzels, sinfully delicious cheesecakes, gourmet coffee and more. All three programs offer free shipping, free brochures and up to 56% profit.

Find out more about JustFundraising Cookie Dough Fundraisers.