The season of giving marks the end of the year – but everyone knows the fundraising will start right up again in January. Fundraiser insurance can exempt people for a portion or all of 2009, and give you end of the year fundraising efforts a needed boost.
The expense is minimal – have cards made up that read ‘fundraiser insurance’ on one side and ‘paid through ________’ on the other.

Decide how much a month of exemption costs; the best option is to charge a flat fee for a month, with a slight discount for 6 months to a year. If you only hold fundraisers a few times a year, you can figure your approximate needs for the year and divide that by the number of months you think you can sell.

A month of fundraiser insurance should run about $25. A quarter can cost $70, six months could run $120, and a whole year $250.  Write the expiration date on the back of the card. The card should be the right size to fir in a wallet, and lamination is nice if possible.

You can sell the insurance at school functions, get local merchants to pitch in, and even go door to door. When a person buys the insurance, make a note of their name, phone number and address so you don’t bother them again – but they will have the card they can produce at any time if there is a mix-up.

Be sure to explain that the fundraiser insurance makes them exempt only from your organization, unless you have secured agreements’ with other groups – in which case you can often charge more. If you do partner with other groups – it might be worth while to put together a flyer showing what an average participant donates each year to the fundraisers combined, and show how they can save money by donating a lump sum now.

Ideas to make this fundraiser really pop include:

• Holding an event where you give away free hotdogs and soda, and maybe have entertainment to encourage people to buy insurance.
• Having the local radio or paper run an ad telling about the insurance.
• Selling additional insurance along with the annual plan – for an extra $20 donation, they get Halloween clean up coverage (in case of soaped windows or toilet papered trees), for example.
• Insure businesses as well, at a higher corporate rate. Offer them the opportunity to delay payment of the ‘premium’ until the beginning of the new fiscal year if it is better for their books.

A fundraiser insurance policy can be presented as a great way to consolidate giving for participants; it can also be renewed by mail if you take the trouble to set it up. Keep the numbers or email addresses of the insurance holders, and offer them a renewal at the end of their premium period. They may be quite happy to renew and save themselves the hassle of multiple fundraisers!