Though candle fundraising is a classic fundraising idea (and it’s rare that we describe classic fundraising ideas on Fundraiser-Ideas.net), we think there are number of important benefits to candle fundraising that most other descriptions of candle fundraising fail to make obvious.  (Also, in the interest of becoming the world’s largest free database of fundraising ideas, it is in good form to cover a classic idea every once in a while.)

Of course, candle fundraising involves selling candles to raise money.  The candles can be purchased ahead of time or orders can be taken, the candles can be ordered from the supplier and then the candles can be delivered.  In either case, those who use this fundraising method generally visit each house/office twice, once to record the order and once to deliver the order.  Also, though there are many companies that will fulfill candle orders specifically for candle fundraising campaigns, we don’t think it would be too difficult to go to the local wholesale store, sample their selection and create your own “catalog,” keeping more of the profits for your group.  It’s up to you.

Why sell candles?
There are a few reasons candle fundraising can be so effective.  As a luxury item (as opposed to something people purchase regularly), people are not likely to have an immediate price point with which to compare your price (while someone knows that a $6 box of cereal is expensive, they might not immediately recognize whether or not a $15 decorative candle is expensive).  Potential customers will be even more likely to pay a premium if they understand that the money is going to a good cause.  Furthermore, candles aren’t perishable, which means people don’t mind buying several at a time (be sure to remind them of this in your pitch) and, on the cost savings side of things, this means that you can buy them in bulk and just keep the extras until next year.  They’re not going to go bad in any reasonable amount of time.

Don’t just go door-to-door.  Tap into your social networks.
Can you sell on a college campus?  In your church?  At your work or your parents’ work?  Outside of the local elementary school when parents pick up their kids?  Will the local supermarket let your organization set up a sales table out front?

Requiring payment upfront?
You will have to decide whether you would like to require payment before or when you deliver the candles.  If you require payment beforehand, you don’t have to worry about not being paid (and you don’t have to buy the candles out-of-pocket and be reimbursed), but the burden would then fall on you to make sure you deliver every last candle that was ordered (otherwise, you will quickly generate ill will for your organization).  If you require payment upon delivery, it is possible that some people might not follow through with their orders and you’ll be stuck having paid out-of-pocket for undeliverable candles (of course, if you are delivering candles to an office setting as opposed to individual homes, the public delivery of the candles will help to ensure that everyone who ordered candles pays for them).  As the sale of these candles is for a charitable cause and is done face-to-face, don’t expect many nonpayment issues, but be aware of the pros and cons of requiring payment before or upon delivery.

Reminder: If children are going to act as the primary salespeople for this fundraiser (say as a youth group fundraiser of for sports fundraising), it is best that parents accompany the children for safety reasons and keep their own set of sales records; we heard a horror story of child taking popcorn orders for a cub scout fundraiser (luckily, not collecting money before delivery), ordering the items from the popcorn supplier and then losing the list of people to whom the popcorn was supposed to be delivered.  The result: The child’s parent had to buy hundreds of dollars worth of popcorn because it could not be delivered.  What might have been even worse, is that, apparently, every relative, friend and known associate of that family received popcorn as gifts for several months after the mix-up.

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