Garage and Yard Sale -- Free fundraising Ideas and proven fundraisers.

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Profit Quests Fundraising

Free Fundraising Ideas And Resources For Nonprofit Organizations

Fundraising Ideas Garage And Yard Sales

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Fundraising With Garage & Yard Sales

The initial decision is for

a commitment to be made

whether to accept goods

and clothes all during the

year or for a one to two

week focused collection

drive.

If your group chooses to

accept items all year,

you must plan for a large

enough storage area that will be kept just for the purposes of accepting and storing clothes and goods. Remember to plan to have several tables at your storage site so that workers can sort and categorize the items. Clothes that are seasonal should be saved and placed out during the proper season.

For those that accept items within a specified period, a special kickoff should occur one month prior to the scheduled acceptance time. Make sure that all media outlets are notified during this one month period. The publicity you receive will double or triple the amount of items that you would normally receive and sell during your sale. The big plus to your announcement is that your "community goodwill" will be magnified many times over.

You should have one Spring and one Fall Sale. Decide if your storage can handle what is left over. If you have too many items, then you might want to donate the excess to the Salvation Army, St. Vincent De Paul or Goodwill Industries.

Don't allow this to be a simple yard or garage sale. Have a table with "grab bags" of items where people can get one bag for $2 or $5. These bags could contain some items like utensils, Tupperware, pots, bath products, etc. In each bag have a flyer that also gives someone the option to send in a small donation later.

Also have a table with new items on

consignment or donated by local merchants

to sell. You should contact these merchants

before the kickoff period.

This would also be a perfect time to offer cookies, cupcakes, cakes, finger foods and cold drinks (or cocoa during the fall if cold) at another table. Be sure to have some music for your customers enjoyment (adult contemporary works best).

On a clipboard at your checkout counter offer a newsletter sign-up form. Include a notation that they could donate their used goods or volunteer at the next sale. Have a "check" box for this. Remember ask, ask, ask!

Be sure to get a location that has a lot of traffic such as a parking lot of a church, large business, or strip mall that you have received approval from 6 months earlier. Get grocery bags or plastic bags from business that will donate these to you.

Make sure to have plenty of change on hand. Have at least one person dedicated to running the cash register. Get this handy garage sale calculator to help you out.

Use Friday to tag and set up your tables and racks. Plan to open early at around 7am and close at around 2PM. Some of your best shoppers will arrive as early as possible in order to pick over everything before it's sold.

Enjoy, have fun, and watch as your money piles up. Just make sure that you don't misplace your money bag and sell it as one of the items. Ouch!