How to Publish a Free Fundraising Calendar
Yearly calendars remain popular fundraising tools, as most people need at least a couple of calendars for their own use. While you can purchase quantities of printed calendars for your organization to distribute, there are two fairly easy ways to publish free fundraising calendars. One is to use an online service that allows you to take orders online, thereby bypassing a need for upfront money. The second, with more work but at far less expense ultimately, is to have a calendar printed with a page or two of advertisements included and to sell the advertising space to supporting businesses.
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Instructions
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Using Online Calendar-Creation Services
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Choose your calendar's theme and graphics. This should be something that either speaks to prospective buyers' emotions or highlights subject matter related to your organization or its area of operation. The graphics are likely to be digital photographs that illustrate the theme -- and if they're unique to this project, that will help sell the item. (If you wish to use print graphics, you'll have to scan/digitize them for this option.)
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Decide what calendar format to create. Most services offer multiple formats, such as wall calendars, desk calendars and engagement calendars. Probably the most popular (and usually the least expensive) is the wall calendar, with one beautiful photograph per month. Sometimes you might include a smaller inset or additional image.
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Select an online service to work with and set up an account. There are a number of web-based calendar printers to choose from, some of which specifically target fundraising organizations or perhaps offer special pricing for nonprofits. Look for one that allows you to sell online, printing on a per-order basis -- that's how your calendar run will be free to your organization. Some examples are CustomBuiltCalendars.com, Lulu.com, Zazzle.com or CafePress.com. (Be sure you understand whether the price given is for color or black-and-white printing.) Once you've found the business you'd like to work with, set up a free account for your organization. Choose a short, easy-to-spell, all-lower-case ID -- it's likely to become part of the URL through which your customers will buy.
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Decide on a format and upload your digital graphics. Now choose the type and size of calendar your organization will sell. Log into your account and begin the step-by-step process of selecting page formatting and uploading the graphics from your computer. It would be a good idea to get a second person to peruse an online preview of the finished calendar before you call it final.
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Spread the word about your calendar. Be sure to copy the ordering URL exactly for your dissemination to potential customers who might wish to order online. Where applicable, send the link in an email or post it on a website or Facebook Group page. Your organization can also order a moderate quantity via this link for direct or consignment selling, or take orders first before purchasing. In any case, this method will ensure that you don't buy more than you can sell.
Printing a Calendar With Pre-Sold Advertising Space
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Choose your calendar theme, as above.
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Select stunning graphics for a monthly wall-calendar format. A local printer may be easiest to work with for this project. The printer will no doubt prefer digitized images but may also offer an option of copying your print graphics. Decide on the style of binding for the calendar.
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Identify the space where ads will appear. Your target businesses would prefer space on the monthly pages, but your customers would prefer it if you relegate the ads to the back cover or the inside of the front cover.
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Price the ad space. Get price quotes from printers now, before trying to sell ads. This will help you determine the size and number of ads you wish to sell to supporting businesses, as you want to at least cover the cost of printing a quantity you think you can sell. Now the calendar production is free, and the selling price constitutes your group's per-copy profit.
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Get busy selling advertising space. Create a mock-up of the calendar and a grid of mock ads on the back cover to show to prospective businesses. The quantity print order you're shooting for will give them an idea of how many people will see their ads.
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Tell people about your calendar. Once you have the calendars in hand, you can sell them in a variety of ways -- you just won't be selling them online. However, your organization's profit per item may be greater than with the first method, unless you pass the per-copy savings on to the customer. You'll also gain goodwill from the involvement of the supporting businesses in your group's cause.
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Tips & Warnings
You can meld these two ideas by using an online service that will print sponsor information on each calendar page. One such website is CreatePhotoCalendars.com.
References
- Photo Credit Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
