Fundraising Ideas - Fundraising With Craft Fairs

Craft Fairs And Beyond

by Jesse Carter

Crafts Fairs offer tremendous exposure for your group by getting people from all over your community to come out and get to know about your group. Some of these shoppers may not have ever heard of your organization otherwise.

This is a real chance to get free publicity and community involvement on a grand scale with a profit.

Making Profits From Crafts

There are three ways to make a profit from Crafts Fairs. Your group can either simply:

1.) provide the space free to other organizations and then charge from 10% to 25% of each vendors profits with no other costs or you can...

2.) charge a set fee and then charge for extras like rental space, tables, decorations, promotion, etc....

3.) become an exhibitor yourself at a preexisting event.

Be sure to schedule your craft fair when it does not conflict with others in your area. The most popular time of the year for these fairs is in the fall during Thanksgiving and in preparation for Christmas. Consider placing your fair during the spring or early summer as an alternative.

Planning Ahead

Planning should begin at least 6 months prior to your scheduled event. Once your chair and committee are picked, the first job is to begin contacting crafts makers to invite them to participate with your group.

Look around and attend other commercial craft shows that are held in your city or state. Call the Chamber Of Commerce in each of the surrounding larger cities. They will have the phone numbers and contacts of the professional organizers that puts these events on.

Contact these organizers and ask for a list of traveling crafter's, since many of the individuals make their living from participating in various shows. The crafter's will welcome the opportunity to sell their wares at another event as their schedule permits.

If you only gather from one to two dozen crafter's at your first fair, don't be discouraged. Word of mouth among other craftsmen will spread, especially if you treat them like they are your honored guests during the founding first year.

Make sure you network with these same crafter's to get additional names of their crafter friends and acquaintances for invitations to your event next year.

Get Others Involved

Ask local and national hardware stores like Home Depot, Lowe's, True Value or others to put up their own booth at your event geared to sales of crafts or woodworking tools. This will give you extra publicity by linking your crafts fair with names people recognize.

These hardware stores can also host several "How To" seminars geared towards displaying crafts, creating crafts, and tool use.

Ask them to be your official sponsor along with a few radio and TV stations that can give you publicity for free.

Ask the radio station to hook up a live booth at your event. These activities will generate excitement, recognition, and attract larger crowds.

Have your radio stations announce to its audience to "come meet the crafts experts at the upcoming XYZ Organization's Spring Crafts Fair, at...(time), on....(date), in....(place). Attend your favorite FREE crafts seminar."

Don't forget to have a couple of booths for your organization as well. Sell promotional products like custom stadium blankets with logos on them. Have a food court and sell cokes snacks, fundraising items and homemade treats.

Add Goodies, Celebrities And Freebies

Have a celebrity food maker or chef with some candy or special quick treat dishes to prepare on-site. Look for these food experts on your local television station Early Morning Show or through the local community college with a culinary arts department.

Also, have a free gift drawing that everyone who attends can put their name, address, phone, and e- mail address into. Keep these names and put them into your general database so you can alert attendees for next years crafts fair.

Also, put a check box on the form so that participants can check to receive your monthly newsletter (and include a donation appeal in each). This alone is worth having the crafts fair since you can ask for donations at special times during the year when they receive their newsletter.

Have several drawings throughout your fair to keep excitement at its optimum. Again, offer local stores the ability to donate your door prizes with the agreement that you will give them an advertisement during the drawing. Great prizes like cordless drill sets, sanders, etc.

Entice The Average Attendee

Give "mystery grab bags" that contain glues, paint brushes, and other craft accessories for some of the booths to give out. Each person coming into your fair should be given a Booth Listing Sheet showing the booths, craft seminar site and times, and a map.

Mention that there are "mystery booths" that will give out a "mystery grab bag" each 1/2 hour for those who are participating in a scavenger hunt that you've created to increase booth visit participation.

This scavenger hunt will have a sheet showing a list of questions which participants have to go around to the various crafts booths and figure out and to then have completed before arriving at the final shop and asking the final question that will get them their "mystery grab bag" prize.

Have 2 to 3 different scavenger hunt scenarios mixed up on the Booth Listing Sheet. This will create fun at your crafts fair and people will remember to come back next year having experienced a wonderful time.

Make this one memorable by offering excitement, activity, and value. Your craft fair will be anticipated by everyone long before 12 months rolls around again.