Concession Stand Fundraising

By Rick and Becky Kraemer

Are you currently running, or thinking about running a concession stand to raise money for your nonprofit organization? In this pocket guide, MBA and entrepreneur Rick Kraemer and his wife Becky help you optimize concession stand fundraising. In simple, easy to understand writing, they will help you decide whether concessions are right for your organization and get you started with your first sale. They cover product selection, pricing, and how much to purchase; working with volunteers, which paperwork you absolutely need, and what paperwork you can do without. They simplify the basic accounting that you’ll need, and even review a little math that you may have forgotten from grade school. This pocket guide is an essential resource for anyone planning to raise the most money possible using concession sales.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rick and Becky Kraemer
• Release date: Jun 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476102382

Rick and Becky Kraemer

Rick and Becky Kraemer have been married since 1989, and are the parents of three teenage children, one girl and two boys, who they’ve raised from scratch. Rick is an information technologies architect, and Becky is a substitute teacher in middle and high school. They live in northern California, where they enjoy water sports, many forms of exercise, animated conversations while walking by the lake, facilitating their kid’s social events, volunteering with community organizations, and picking up after Becky’s dog.

Book preview

Concession Stand Fundraising

By Rick and Becky Kraemer

Published by Rick & Becky Kraemer

Copyright 2011 Rick & Becky Kraemer

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Are Concessions the Right Fundraiser for You?

Chapter 3: Facilities

Chapter 4: Product Selection

Chapter 5: Pricing

Chapter 6: Stocking – How Much to Purchase

Chapter 7: Volunteers

Chapter 8: Equipment, Supplies, Setup and Cleanup

Chapter 9: Marketing and Advertising

Chapter 10: Accounting

Chapter 11: Sixth Grade Math

Chapter 12: Conclusion

Appendix A – Worksheet: Should I Start A Concession Stand?

Appendix B – List of Startup Items

Chapter 1: Introduction

Non-profit organizations have a variety of fundraising opportunities available to them. They range from direct request campaigns, (Please give us money!), to selling products or services. Many of these options waste valuable volunteer time. For example, consider the classic car wash fundraiser. You gather 20 volunteers on a Saturday morning with soap and cardboard signs, charging passers-by $5 to wash their cars. Four hours later, you’ve raised $300. It seems successful until you do the math and realize your volunteers have each earned $3.75 per hour. That’s not a bad effort if your volunteers are school children, but if adult volunteers are taking time off from work or other important activities to wash cars at slave wages, you’re wasting their time. The chief advantage of a well-run concession stand is that adult volunteers can earn upward of $20 per hour for your organization, without having to get wet and soapy, or sunburned.

Chapter 2: Are Concessions the Right Fundraiser for You?

While concessions are an excellent fundraising choice, they may not be a good fit with your organization. Before committing to concessions, consider the following successful stand traits:

Will you have a hungry and thirsty crowd? First and foremost, will your stand have a hungry crowd of people close by, or even better, walking past? You won’t sell much to a small group that has just eaten. But if you have a captive group attending a hot outdoor concert, it’s a perfect opportunity to sell cold beverages, snacks and ice cream treats. Or you can sell warm beverages and hot dogs during a cold football game. The key is to have a crowd that’s both hungry and motivated to purchase your products.

Will there be any competition? Concession Stands are most successful in isolated spots where customers don’t have any other choices, and would have to drive to the nearest alternative. The best locations are sports fields, events on school campuses, rural