Imagine the next time you look over the school fundraiser catalog, instead of World’s Finest Chocolate you see cookies from The Batch Bakery, cupcakes from Sweet Scetti or a hand grenade shaped bath bar from Stinky Bomb Soap, all made by local independent businesses in Columbus, Ohio. A creative entrepreneur could come up with a catalog of locally made products and start a new business. There are plenty of local products to choose from based on a glance at Celebrate Local’s vendor listing. The catalog could focus on useful everyday items, consumables and gift certificates.
In a typical product fundraiser about half the money spent actually goes to the school or charity. Ideally we could just write a check to the school or charity and give them 100% of the money. Sometimes though it may be more exciting to explore new local products and help create jobs at local businesses while supporting your favorite charity. Keeping the money in the local community is also a worthy lesson for the kids that will be selling the products, giving them an opportunity to learn about some of our local businesses in the process.
The concept is being proven by Columbia, South Carolina entrepreneur, Ken Carey, with a new venture called Local Happiness. The venture’s goal is to keep money made from fundraisers – schools, Scout troops and churches – in South Carolina. Read more about that story.
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