Equal Echange Fundraising Program

Every school year it happens. Now a days it happens the day you register your child. The dreaded fundraising kit that comes home. Kids try to sell everything from candy to gift wrap. What if there was a fundraiser that somehow offered products you really wanted (how many coffee mugs do you really need?) and helps people and the environment at the same time?

There is! The Equal Exchange Fundraising Program is more than the conventional program. Equal Exchange is the first and largest fair-trade, for -profit organization in the Untied States. The worker-owned cooperative has a fund raising program that is quickly becoming one of the better organized alternative programs to the powerhouse companies currently used. Equal Echange has products such as coffee, tea, chocolate,coca and more that are perfect for earning a profit and easy to sell.

Large fund raising distributors succeed by offering a well-honed system. A company representative leads a school assembly, hands out a packet with catalog and order form, and usually has a web site. the company typically guarantees the school a return around 40-50% of sales. Equal Exchange Fundraising Program offers the same with a few differences. Unlike large companies profit isn’t  at the forefront of Equal Exchange. Instead their profits are used to cover the cost of getting the product from the farmer to the consumer (including a premium to farmers), educational materials for consumers and farmers, quality control,packaging, and processing. not mention that 10% always goes to charitable giving.

Honestly an alternative fundraising program is a risk. Schools don’t like to change because they are comfortable with the larger distributors. My suggestion would be to approach your school, PTA, or whoever is in charge and have them take a look at Equal Exchange. The products are wonderful, the company truly cares, and you will be helping sustain farmers in many small co-oops in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. In the this is the first fundraising program that could be coupled with an actual lesson. For once your kids will learn something useful-not just how to be salespeople.