Cookie Dough School Fundraiser- Tips for Easy Distribution

Cookie dough fundraisers are one of the most profitable and popular school fundraising choices, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t without complications. Since cookie dough is a fresh product and needs to be refrigerated, distribution can be a real challenge. Here are some helpful tips that will make cookie dough school fundraiser distribution much easier.

Set a Date and a Time Early

Before your fundraiser even begins choose a date and time to distribute your cookie dough to students. This way parents will be able to plan for cookie dough pick up well in advance. Distribution will take time so plan on spending a good part of the morning or afternoon passing out dough. Be open and upfront about your selected distribution time from Day 1 so that parents know what to expect and that there aren’t any surprises when it comes time for pickup.

Remember you aren’t the only one involved in scheduling a cookie dough pickup. Make sure that you coordinate your delivery time with your school fundraising company so that you can be sure that the selected date will actually work. Publicizing the wrong date will cause more problems that simply choosing a date at the last minute, so if you want to let people know the date in advance make sure that it is right.

Stagger Pickups

Imagine 100 parents and students all showing up at the same time to pick up their cookie dough. It would be pure chaos. Staggering pickup times will allow you to quickly get parents their product. It will also help to lessen the chances of mistakes.

You can assign each grade level a specific pick up time. For example you might have the first graders and their parents pick up dough before school, the second graders come in the afternoon and the third grade classes stop by after school. Another possibility is to have parents sign up for specific pick up times that work for them. One final option is to drop dough off to student classrooms and to have parents pick it up from there.

Don’t Forget Refrigeration

Cookie dough must be refrigerated at all times. This means that you will need to put some thought into keeping the dough cold as you pass it out. Extra fridge space is the easiest option, but if this isn’t a possibility you might also be able to keep the dough cool in coolers. Parents may be willing to lend extra fridges or coolers so don’t be afraid to ask. Also encourage parents to bring coolers of their own when they pick up so that the dough will stay cold as it makes its way from the school to the purchasers. Have extra ice on hand just in case it is needed. Remind parents and students that the dough is perishable and encourage them to take it straight to purchasers.

Get Lots of Help

Volunteers will make distribution much easier. You can never have too many helpers. Volunteers can help control lines, process orders, find product and more. Remember that you need to have an organized system in place so that each order makes its way to the right parent, so limit the number of people that you have passing out the dough directly. Instead use your volunteers for other tasks like carrying orders to cars or unpacking cases of dough. Encourage parents and other volunteers to spend time making your school fundraiser a success.

Distribution is the most difficult part of a cookie dough school fundraiser, but with these helpful tips it can be much easier than you might have thought.

The Goodies Factory fundraising company specializes in cookie dough fundraising. In fact, we make our own cookie dough in our FDA inspected facilities. We have over five different cookie brochures, over 15 gift brochures, over 20 types of lollipops and Dollar and Hershey's candy bars. We also have an extensive prize program which includes daily prize programs and grand prizes like limo lunch and bouncy house.