One-time or ongoing fundraising program where parishioners and community members donate new or used items and our council “sells” at bargain prices (donations?).
Everything on this page will be updated as we discuss / brainstorm.
Idea Progression
- Tag Sale / Flea Market / Rummage Sale / Thrift Shop in-person event not yet feasible.
- Online pages can both request donations of items AND then advertise / sell those same items (shopping cart)
- In-person event could eventually be held when healthy to do so.
Benefits
- Most people have un-used or un-needed items that take up space. If not worthwhile to advertise or hold yard sale, would be happy to donate to good cause.
- Potential of ongoing revenue since our K of C Council has manpower to collect items and has contacts to organize and to promote to buyers.
- Helps the environment by giving people alternative to putting item in trash.
- Great community awareness program for K of C charitable works and even to recruit members.
- Donate unsold items to a charity of our choice as necessary.
- A chance to advertise any of our other activities (such as sub sales, car show, restaurant fundraisers, etc) to a wider audience.
Potential Categories of Items details on an “Acceptable Items” list – ShopGoodwill
- Housewares, kitchenware, dishware
- Tools, hardware, home & garden
- Furniture (small), artwork, (treadmill)
- Crafts, blankets, throws
- Jewelry, collectibles, gift items
- Books, media
- Toys, games, bicycles, sports gear
- Religious items
- Gift certificates, vouchers
- Anything of value, even a donated used car, boat …
- No clothing – except special cases noted on our website
Sequence of Process curbside drop off / p/u
- Direct public to website for info (via email, Facebook, Bulletin, sponsors, etc)
- Donor sends email with name, description, photo attachment of item
- We confirm if acceptable and either
- inform donor that we will contact for p/u once sold
- give delivery instructions to donor (SJB parking lot or other)
- offer p/u in certain cases
- set a collection date for seller to bring item (SJB parking lot)
- Add item, photo, description, price to website
- Buyer contacts us to purchase – either
- Payment online or mailed
- Payment upon p/u
- Buyer receives item, either
- At a designated time / drive-thru event (SJB parking lot)
- Delivered by Knights
- Buyer p/u direct from seller (special cases only)
- Donor notified of credit toward other items could be given to donor (to potentially motivate donations while not sharing a percentage of revenue)
Logistics
Storage Space
– any existing SJB campus locations available?
– find sponsor to donate space / container (storage co, moving co, garage)
Pickup and Delivery
– Knights vehicles (cars, p/u trucks)
– Volunteer manpower at designated time(s)
Website – sponsored by Attraction LLC (Webmaster Ray) Sample online store
Payments – C.O.D. is less expensive, but I suggest creating [online] PayPal account to take online credit/debit/paypal payments (max cost is 2.9% + .30 per transaction, but with a little work can get non-profit rate of 2.2% + .30 per transaction. I’ve used PP for my business and my non-profit running club for years (thousands of dollars of transactions).
Team
– drivers, movers
– donor / buyer liaison (emails, phone calls?)
– event staff (set up tables, tents, direct traffic, check in)
Legal
Create Terms and Conditions or FAQ or Rules / Disclaimers page.
Donor Sources
- Knights look at their belongings for items to donate
- Parishioners ” ” “
- Friends & neighbors ” ” “
More Brainstorm Ideas / Options
- Virtual auction for high ticket items
- Incorporate Online 50/50 (one-time or quarterly or monthly)
- Offer paid advertising on the “Marketplace” portion of our website.
- Offer a donation to organization that partners with us or assists us (such as the group that holds Craft Sale each year)
- Note items donated by other organizations/parishes/councils by including in “item ID”
- Include “Marketplace” marketing info, KofC flyer, etc with each sale
- Add optional “Delivery Donation” – fee for delivery to seller’s location (requires our confirmation), aka “Express Delivery”
- Purchase space at other flea markets to sell AND improve our own exposure.
Join Our Committee or suggest a potential resource person
* Do you have experience or related knowledge of an initiative such as this?
* Do you have contact with a potential sponsor or someone who can help?
* Can you think of a few items in your home or a relative’s home that you’d consider donating?
* Do you know lots of people and can help us spread the word?
Contact Ray Christensen at 302-685-3536 (m) or .
Contact **** at ****.
Ideas / Samples
The 22 Best Online Flea Markets
Online Affiliate Sales: I just happened to see this in online Dialog email:
Fundraiser for Brother Vincent KofC, Smyrna, DE. Online fundraiser with Rada Cutlery – More than just knives. Use our personal online group store link: https://radafundraising.com?rfsn=4603664.8a65ed to browse the online catalog, and then place your order just as you would when shopping with any retail outlet. Orders are shipped directly to the customer by Rada.
They say group “earns 40% profit”. We could do this as an add-on.
Instructions to Donors
- Drop off at specified location and time(s)
- Email item info: photo(s), item name, category (select from choices), description (long description is good), condition (include specifics such as flaws, dents, missing pieces), approx value in current condition, donor contact info (for our records only)
- Some type of KofC receipt – similar to forms given by thrift stores
Meeting Notes: 1/19/21
1/19 Recap: We’re dreaming big, with goal of matching Fish Fry revenue and could add components to increase even more. Online store could generate interest to make an in-person event more successful when practical.
Share https://sjbkofcde.org/market/ or this email with any Brother who’d consider attending our next Zoom – especially younger men.
https://www.shopgoodwill.com/ is good example of our “Online MarketPlace” or “Online Thrift Store”. They do auction, but ours would be set prices on almost everything. We would have similar categories.
We would not accept clothes, except for special categories such as school uniforms, sports gear, maybe hats.
Minimum value / price of $10 likely, since below that is not worth the logistics.
Would likely create PayPal account to accept online credit & debit cards + paypal.
We’ll seek to have other parish and community organizations help request items and spread word – potentially offering them a small share of receipts at some point.
John is checking with Debbie for Craft Show input.
Needs:
Potential personal or business sponsors to donate short or long term storage space with area similar to 2-car garage.
Shelving units – from heavy duty metal to light duty plastic, as long as it’s free!
Agenda for next Zoom:
Designate initial roles for our team:
– Website, Shopping Cart, Marketing: Ray C
– Inventory Coordinator – Spreadsheet data entry of items/record keeping
– Communications Coordinator – handle follow-up phone calls/emails/texts from donors and potential buyers
– PR Coordinator – parish bulletin, Facebook/instagram, email list, community contacts,etc
– Transportation Coordinator – recruit vehicles, drivers, manpower for transport of items to/from storage and for occasional p/u and delivery of high value items.
– Event Coordinator – setup, operation of our drop-off and p/u events
– Warehouse Coordinator – organization and tagging of items for efficient storage and location of items
– Pricing Coordinator – research to set optimal initial price for donated items
Start creating initial timeline, with goal date to be ready.
Continue to discuss categories of items, pricing, etc.
——————-
I designed website for owner of several Thrift Stores and will get input from them. Website is https://godswaydelaware.org/
Next Market Fundraiser Meeting:
Time: Jan 26, 2021 07:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/9697941594?pwd=Nm5kSy9PYUtWNmt6NDhHTHA1TWs4dz09
Meeting ID: 969 794 1594
Passcode: 3dB6pF