How to Get a Prize on Consignment for Your TapKat Sweepstakes
Unless your nonprofit has been gifted the perfect sweepstakes prize, obtaining a prize on consignment is the most cost-effective way to acquire the right prize for your TapKat sweepstakes. This method ensures that you will be able to choose a prize that is:
Highly desirable,
Somewhat hard to acquire, and
Perfect for the donor base to which you want to appeal!
There is no need to be intimidated by this process — it’s not the same as going to a sponsor or partner and asking for a big donation. In fact, approaching a sponsor for a consignment prize is usually an easy yes for them, and we’ll explain why in this article.
In today’s blog post, we’re going to review:
What it means to get a prize on consignment,
Why it’s so beneficial for your organization to obtain a prize in this way,
Why prize providers love offering prizes on consignment, and
How to do it!
What Does it Mean to Get a Sweepstakes Prize on Consignment?
You might hear the phrase “on consignment” thrown around in the nonprofit fundraising world a lot. It essentially means that your nonprofit isn’t obligated to purchase the prize until you have raised the money to pay for it. Good deal! When you enter into this kind of agreement, the prize provider will allow you to promote the prize and use their brand name as a sponsor, even before you’ve formally purchased the prize.
So, for TapKat sweepstakes, which can last anywhere from a couple weeks to nine months or a year, you don’t pay for the prize until a winner has been drawn.
What happens if your nonprofit doesn’t raise enough money to cover the cost of the prize?
Good question! This is where the real beauty of a sweepstakes fundraising mondel comes into play. With a TapKat sweepstakes, you have the option of setting a “minimum amount of money that must be raised” before your consignment prize can actually be awarded. For instance, if your prize is a trip to Lake Tahoe that costs $4,000, you might set the minimum sweepstakes raise at $8,000. This will ensure that your nonprofit can pay for the prize and make money on the sweepstakes fundraiser.
If your sweepstakes doesn’t raise at least $8,000, the Lake Tahoe trip will not be awarded. Instead, your winner will be awarded 25% of your gross raise. And, the prize provider is free to sell the Tahoe trip to someone else.
So, whether or not you raise the $8,000, you still have a winner (happy donors), your nonprofit still raises money (happy nonprofit) and the prize provider still has the chance to make a sale, plus they look good because they helped out a nonprofit (happy prize provider).
Why it’s So Beneficial to Obtain a Sweepstakes Prize on Consignment
If your nonprofit were to purchase a prize outright, before your sweepstakes fundraiser even starts, that money goes right out of your pocket. And, there is a chance you might not be able to raise enough to cover the cost of the prize.
But what about donated sweepstakes prizes? They’re great — the price is right! But all too often a donated prize is something that’s been sitting on the shelf for a while, or something leftover. It might not be exciting or appealing enough to inspire your donors to participate in the sweepstakes.
One important advantage of sweepstakes (as opposed to raffles) is that nonprofits do not need title or proof of ownership of the prize before running the fundraiser.
That’s a huge benefit that eliminates financial risk for your nonprofit! It means you can focus on raising the money before paying for the prize. And, as we mentioned in the previous section, if you don’t raise the enough amount of money to cover the prize and make a profit, the sweepstakes winner is awarded a cash prize.
Why Prize Providers Love Helping Nonprofits with Prizes on Consignment
The nonprofit isn’t the only one that benefits from a prize on consignment. Prize providers typically embrace the idea of a consignment prize, for the following reasons:
They’ll be named as a sponsor of your sweepstakes on your sweepstakes site and in all your marketing, which is great PR and reputation-building for them!
It’s much easier to say ‘yes’ to a consignment prize than to write a check. Many businesses want to support local nonprofits, but aren’t always able to donate a prize or money to purchase a prize. A prize on consignment is an easy way for them to be able to participate.
If you don’t meet your minimum raise, they can sell that highly desirable prize to someone else — and still get all that good publicity!
Let’s say you choose to give away a new car. In that case, the car dealership will be your prize provider. When they agree to hold the car on consignment, essentially they’re agreeing to “floor” it for you; that is, keep the car in their dealership until you’ve selected a winner. Generally, they will also agree to sell the car to the nonprofit at a nice discount when the time comes.
This is a great deal for the dealership: now they get to demonstrate that they’re active in the community, which is a good look for them. They can display the car in their showroom and let the public know they’re sponsoring your nonprofit (this is also great for you!). Finally, if you don’t raise your minimum amount, no sweat for them: the dealer will have no trouble selling that cool car.
How to Obtain a Sweepstakes Prize on Consignment
Here comes the fun part! Don’t be afraid to approach a business about a consignment prize — chances are, they’re going to be very open to the idea.
Once you’ve selected a prize that fits your goals (need help? Check out this blog post on selecting the right prize for your TapKat sweepstakes), it’s time to reach out. When you do, you might write something like this sample email:
Hello Ms. Hepton,
My name is Alicia Steele, I am the executive director of the nonprofit Snow Adventures, dedicated to preserving mountainous land and to providing access to outdoor winter sport enthusiasts.
Our organization is gearing up to run a Tapkat sweepstakes fundraiser to engage our donors and raise money for the nonprofit. Our base is mostly made up of skiers, snowshoers, and environmentalists. We would like to give away a new pair of cross-country skis made by your company.
I’m proposing that our respective organizations enter into a consignment agreement for a pair of skis. It’s pretty simple – your company agrees to save a pair of skis for us to give away in October, when our sweepstakes closes and we select a winner. In return, we’ll promote your brand as a sponsor of the sweepstakes on all our marketing materials. And we would be grateful if we could purchase the skis from you at cost.
I have drafted an agreement if this is something you are interested in. Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing back from you.
Thanks,
Alicia Steele
If the prize provider responds with interest, you can move forward and work out all the details. They might even be open to helping you promote the sweepstakes, which would be a big deal for you. If they are willing to email their mailing list with news about the sweepstakes, you will draw a lot more attention to your endeavors, and they’ll earn points for supporting the community!
And perhaps it goes without saying, but once you’ve established a relationship like this with a prize provider, you can continue to work with them for years to come. It gets easier and easier as time goes on.
We have a sample consignment agreement for our nonprofits to use. If you’d like to see what it looks like, email hello@tapkat.com.
Go Forth and Consign!
So there you have it: everything you need to know about obtaining a prize on consignment. Get creative, have fun, and consider what your donors would love the chance to win! We’re willing to bet that most prize providers will be eager to get in on the fun!
