When a family spends $100 on fundraiser cookie dough, how much of it does the school get? Usually somewhere between $30 and $50. The rest pays for the product, shipping and the fundraising company's margin.
The math on a product fundraiser
Fundraising companies publish their own numbers. Midland Fundraising describes 40–50% as a good profit margin for a school and says most fundraisers average 20–40% (Midland Fundraising). Product-by-product breakdowns put cookie dough at up to 40% and popcorn and candy bars around 40–55% (Big Fundraising Ideas).
So for every $100 a family spends, the school keeps roughly $30 to $50. The other $50 to $70 covers:
- the product itself and its packaging
- shipping to the school
- prizes for top sellers
- the fundraising company's costs and profit
Fundraising companies are selling a real product and a service, so this isn't a criticism of them. It does mean most of your community's money leaves the community.
Side by side: $10,000 from your community
| Product fundraiser (40% to school) | Donation campaign (90% to school) | |
|---|---|---|
| Families spend or give | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| School receives | $4,000 | $9,000 |
| Goes elsewhere | $6,000 to product, shipping and the vendor | $1,000 to card processing and the platform |
| Volunteer work | Order forms, cash collection, sorting, delivery night | Sharing links and sending reminders |
| Students' role | Selling | None |
To raise the same $9,000 with a 40% product sale, families would need to buy $22,500 worth of products.
The costs that don't show up on the invoice
The percentage is only part of it. Product fundraisers also cost volunteer time that a donation campaign doesn't:
- Collecting money: envelopes of cash and checks, and chasing the orders that were never paid for.
- Sorting and delivery: a night or a weekend in the gym matching boxes to order forms.
- Problems after delivery: missing items, melted chocolate and refunds for the wrong order.
- Pressure on kids: selling to neighbors and relatives, with prizes for the top sellers that some families can't compete for.
When product sales still make sense
Some families like getting something for their money, and some fundraisers are a school tradition. If your community loves the fall popcorn sale, there's nothing wrong with keeping it. Many schools run one product sale they're attached to and move everything else to direct giving. Just make the choice with the real numbers in front of you.
Questions to ask any fundraising company or platform
- What percentage of each dollar reaches our account? Get one number, after every fee.
- Who pays card processing fees? Some platforms take them out of your share; some add them on top for the donor.
- When does the money arrive, and who holds it until then? Some pay out after the campaign closes; some deposit as gifts come in.
- Are there setup fees, minimums or a contract?
- What does it ask of students? Selling, collecting pledges, or nothing at all.
- What data does it collect? Especially about students.
How Verusara answers those questions
90% of every gift reaches your school's bank account. Card processing is paid out of Verusara's 10%, and donors can choose to add 3% to help cover it. Stripe splits each gift at the moment of payment and deposits your share directly, typically within two business days, so Verusara never holds the money. There's no setup fee, minimum or contract. Students never sell anything, and we never collect student data.