Fundraising/Donating

Pizza Shop Talk The Think Tank
1

So back in Jan/Feb we decided to pick an organization and really get on the ball being involved within the community. We chose to team up with the local little leagues in our area. After a substantial donation we ended up sponsoring 28 teams and everything is going great but I still feel as once the money was spent so was our relationship here are he pros and cons

Pros
[LIST]
[]We held 2 successful benefit nights where we donated an additional 20% back ($700.00)
[]They are selling our pizzas @ the concession stand (2 pizzas per day)
[]Our name on 28 teams shirts
[/LIST]
Cons
[LIST]
[]One benefit of sponsorship is advertising on the website, which still has not been updated. They still have other shops from last year on the site. These businesses have closed.
[]I was told that I would have a schedule so I could go promote the business during games. Still nothing and I have emailed about this
[]Still no benefit night for our sister business (soft serve) which i thought would have been great (50% donation)
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The huge issue I am having is that when we spoke I had said that I wanted to make this an annual donation with their help. If they could hold the benefit nights and keep their end of the deal I would continue to return the money back to the little League. So far I’m looking at about 1/2 the initial donation next year.

Here is another situation. Had a competitor in my area which sold fundraiser cards to a local PTO took the money and closed up shop about 2 months into the fundraiser. I have been emailing the PTO to try to step in and honor the cards but I am getting no return calls/messages. I am sure that I am the only one to offer to help as I monitor all PTO websites and had inside info on the closing of the shop.

I guess my question is, is it really even worth the effort to try to go the extra mile. It seems as I am doing everything for this community but the leaders of these organizations just don’t care. Does anybody have any other donation issues?

2

The goodwill from things like this can sometimes be hard to measure but there’s always some there. I also find that commonly the people leading these organizations are difficult to work with. They often have a full time career as well as a family(the reason they are involved in PTO or Little League) to spend time with and the non profit is just something they were thrown into because no one else wanted to do it. The key to donations like this is find the organizations that you are passionate about. That’s when you stop looking for a return and start realizing the difference you can make. When you start making a difference is when the community shows their support.