Sales percentage events are mainly for established and respected charitable organizations. They have the great advantage that, once the idea is established, the income may be achieved each year with little effort.
It is fairly important that the charity has a recognizable name in the local community, as this is the key to getting cooperation from the selected store for these events.
The sales percentage idea is to make the process a win-win situation for the store and for the charitable organization. The owner of the store selects one predefined day when a percentage of all sales is donated to the charity, and heavily advertises this fact to encourage more shoppers.
For these fundraising events to succeed (unless the store owner is very philanthropic), the sales on the designated day must noticeably increase, and this must be attributable to the publicity generated by the advertised profit sharing. This forms the basis for a repeatable event, perhaps annually, which benefits all concerned – the customers get to feel good about part of their spending going to support a good cause; the store owner has an increase in sales, which helps pay for the donations sent, and there may also be a less easily measurable long term benefit of increased public exposure and perceived community mindedness; and the charitable organization finds funds that would otherwise not be received.
It is optional whether the organization provides a volunteer in the store to talk to the shoppers, but it would be good to have some brochures available. These nonprofit fundraising events have been used effectively with furniture stores, which generally have a good profit margin and are thus more open to the idea of giving up some of the sales.
Restaurants are also good choices for this type of event, especially chain restaurants. Two quick examples are Village Inn and Sweet Tomatoes, both of which advertise their fundraising programs. If you have a particular restaurant in mind, simply check their website to see if they already have a program set up.
