CHHS BSU (Black Students Union)  sets up an online Candy Gram system for fellow classmates through See’s Candy while also fundraising.

BSU Advisor as well as English and Government teacher, Shanika Aranda, describes that their fundraiser “started two weeks ago, I want to say. I think it was the 16th, started on the 16th (of January), and then, today’s the last day (January, 31)”. Despite lasting a day over two weeks there had been no recorded purchases yet.

Unlucky Sales?

When asked about the profits of the fundraiser so far, Aranda states, “Honestly, it’s been pretty bad, I don’t think we made a sale yet. But you know this is a learning lesson that, you know, maybe not all fundraisers are gonna go the way that you want them to, and that’s okay”. And when asked if she predicted any last-day sales she says, “If we do, I’ll be shocked. But you know, it’s okay”

Compared to previous fundraisers it’s easy to understand why there was less pull. Previous attempts such as directly selling chocolate and setting a table at movie night allow better profits due to convenience. However with online fundraising, there is no risk, if you buy physical objects to sell but don’t sell enough then you’re just going to lose money.

Potential Problems

Not only is convenience a good marketing tool when selling to high school students, but so is expense. Forming this argument Aranda describes an easy way to advertise: “You had to definitely have more people and get them to be like, ‘Come on buy some candy from me! It’s only a dollar!’”. Because of its low price, students could easily afford a chocolate bar with change in their wallet. With more expensive sales like this, it’s less likely for people to spend money, especially if a student doesn’t have their own online/bank account.

A lack of advertising can also be seen as one of the reasons for no traffic. The only easy way to find the page used to buy chocolate for this event is a QR code that was only advertised by Aranda to her classes. Because there was a smaller audience, it’s less likely for people to buy.

Future Fix

When talking about other possibilities for fundraisers Aranda confirms, “I would make sure that I let the club members know ahead of time, and then I would ask for their emails so that as I set up the fundraiser I could send them the emails, so that they have that information, and could start selling as soon as possible” She also says, “I kind of wish we would have gotten ASB approval to make posters to post up around the school, and put the QR code on their so that way the whole school knew about it”. This would both maximize the audience and let people know in advance so they’re more likely to buy.