Giving
away a prize as an incentive to sell a product or solicit a donation
is
a time-tested marketing ploy that never fails.
The only problem is that
the
market has become oblivious to sweepstakes.
Promoters
are giving away the same old prizes time and time again. Without
adding
anything exciting to the sweepstakes, you might as well offer
$10million
or your efforts (or your product or charitable cause) are likely
to
be ignored.
In
this age of mega-million lotteries, the type or value of prizes offered
speak
the language of the market. If your product is just as good as that
of
your competition, or if your charity is just as worthy as any other that
seeks
donations, then you’d better spike your campaign with a sweepstakes
that
is unique as can be.
THE
PRIZE
A
few years ago, a church in Daly City, a bedroom community west of San
Francisco
was planning a fund raising campaign that involved selling
"raffle"
tickets to the congregation.
The
plan was to sell the tickets for around $5 each, and for which one
lucky
ticket holder could win the grand prize oaf a brand new Toyota Tercel.
To
say the least, the idea was worn out and unimaginative. A friend
coordinating
the project decided the raffle could be improved, and consulted
me
on what the fund raising committee can do to make the sweepstakes more
attractive.
My
suggestion was to give a different prize.
Why
not give away a business - a store!!!
VIDEO
STORE PRIZE
We
went to a new strip mall that was being constructed and leased a
storefront
for $1,100 a month. Next we ordered signs and shelves and an
initial
inventory of 1,200 used video tapes for which we spent a total of
$15,000.
For under $20,000, we were able to put together the basic
framework
of an operational video store. We hanged
a banner outside
that
says "You can win this store. Call
for info"
$200
A TICKET Because the church wanted to raise $25,000, we decided to
sell
250 tickets at $200 each - for a total of $50.000.
Out
of this amount, $20,000 will pay for the grand prize,
$25,000
goes to the church, and $5,000 for my friend for organizing the
project
which lasted for 6 weeks.
To
achieve the same results, and using instead an $8,000 car as a prize,
it
would require the church to 8,000 tickets at $5 each, a much more
difficult
fund-raiser by comparison.
No comments:
Post a Comment