I had to sell cookie dough for a fundraiser for my community association- we were planning on buying trees to plant a windbreak around the building, and it was going to be fairly expensive as we wanted to buy trees that were at least a few years old.
Fortunately we chose to do it in the fall- my main way of marketing was to send around an email to everyone in my mailbox being very low-key about buying, suggested that they could buy a pail to keep in the freezer in case they had guests over for the holidays, or small kids around, or to my friends that had little kids that it would be quick and easy for them to hand to the kids to do with no preparation work or mess to make.
That really seemed to work well- I raised over five hundred dollars.
My tip is to market the item so the person will find it useful- making them see how it will help YOU out isn’t going to make them want to spend their money, you want them to see why it is a great deal for the customer.
Next time… I’m thinking of going door-to-door in the community with photos or something of what we would like to do and emphasizing that it is for everyone to enjoy. That should get things rolling!