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Selling cups?

by Melissa B.
(Layton, UT)

My favorite fund raiser was part of a student organization competition, where we organized a corporation and raised capital to purchase a good to sell. Our group gave several ideas ranging from expensive to easy t-shirts or doughnuts, which we were sure of success. The most innovative idea; however, was the cup. We were told by our economic advisors that we could choose to sell a high priced item, and sell fewer or sell a less expensive item and market it a lot. we chose the later. I was voted to be the marketing vice president for this corporation. We sold cups, but the reason for our success was multiple. We had printed a comic "top-ten" list created for people who lived in the area and we marketed on the school PA and noted that each cup was filled with candy, assorted, and sure to please.

The story ends with us winning the national competition and making quite a profit for ourselves and all of our share holders. one of my favorite ideas was to have a spokesperson dress up in a cup costume and sell the items at parent teacher conferences, and with our great success, we raised the price and still sold all of our cup-filled goodies. I learned a lot from that experience and to this day am thankful for this experience, and recommend it to anyone looking to raise funds for their organization. I do not believe it was a fluke but that any who try this approach will likewise have success.