The Ultimate Guide to Cookie Dough Fundraising

Cookie fundraisers are among the most popular fundraising ideas for groups and organizations to raise money. Schools, churches, and various nonprofits have all utilized cookie dough fundraising or cookie fundraising to varying success. The most notable example is The Girl Scouts of America, who make over $800 million from cookie sales each year.

But are cookie fundraisers the best way for your organization to raise money? 

Learn more about the effectiveness of fundraising cookies and discover a popular alternative in this useful guide. 

The ins and outs of cookie dough fundraising

Cookie dough fundraising is an example of a classic fundraising strategy: selling products to receive a portion of the revenue. 

Here’s how cookie dough fundraisers typically work:

1. Organizations take cookie dough or cookie orders from fundraiser participants and collect money upfront. Depending on the provider or supplier, they’ll have a specific product catalog from which customers can order.
   
   
2. Once all the orders are in, the organization will purchase and distribute the cookie dough and cookies themselves, either through pick-up or delivery.
   
   
3. Organizations keep the profit from the sales. For example, Girl Scout cookies are about $5 per box, and the troop keeps $0.80 for each box sold.

Did you know? There are many different types of cookie-related products you can sell for a fundraiser, aside from ready-to-eat boxes of cookies. Some popular ideas include:

• Frozen cookie dough tubs – This is probably what you first imagine when someone mentions cookie dough fundraising. They’re liked by many because they’re easy to store for whenever you want to whip up a batch of cookies. 

• Frozen pre-portioned cookies – This option is even more convenient because customers will know exactly how many cookies they’ll be able to make. There’s also very little preparation involved—just plop them on a tray and into the oven.
   
• Cookie mix – Cookie mix can be a good option for customers who aren’t sure when they’ll be making cookies, but it does require them to purchase other ingredients like eggs and milk. 
  
  
• Cookie dough coupons – This option eliminates a lot of the hassle that comes with selling physical products. Instead, customers can purchase coupons to be redeemed online, and the cookie dough provider will ship their order directly to them.

While there are many cookie fundraiser cookie dough options, let’s look at how profitable they are. 

Earning potential of cookie dough fundraisers

The success of your fundraiser relies heavily on volunteer power. The more people you have selling, the better.

Costs and profits will also vary depending on which provider you decide to use, but the general numbers you need to keep in mind are:

• Cookie dough cost per tub/box
• Profit margin per tub/box
• Shipping costs, from the provider and/or to the customer

Pros and cons of cookie fundraisers

With a solid understanding of how cookie fundraisers work, it’s important to consider the advantages—and disadvantages—of organizing one. 

Let’s start with the pros:

• Cookies are well-loved – Many people enjoy eating cookies. Pre-made cookie dough is great for those with a sweet tooth who aren’t necessarily the best bakers.
  
  
• Precedence – There are lots of examples of successful cookie dough fundraisers, and there are many cookie dough companies well-equipped to handle your orders. 

• Storage – Cookie dough needs to be kept in a freezer to maintain freshness. If you’re a large organization with access to freezers, this may not be an issue, but smaller groups might not have the proper storage space. 
  
  
• Competitors – Because cookie dough fundraisers are so popular, there may be other groups doing their own, which would decrease your sales.
  
  
• Requires extra time and effort – It takes a lot of work to execute a cookie dough fundraiser. For instance, you’ll need multiple volunteers for both selling and distributing. Smaller organizations might not have the numbers to make a substantial profit. Remember, you’re only earning a small portion from sales. 
  
  
• Health concerns – While cookies are universally loved, they aren’t the healthiest snack. Similar to candy fundraisers, cookie fundraisers could deter folks who are on diets or regulating their sugar intake.

Cookie fundraisers are generally still very effective. After all, this fundraising method has been around for years! However, it might be worth exploring alternative fundraising platforms, such as RaiseRight, that you can use in conjunction with cookie dough sales.

With RaiseRight, there's no pressure to sell products. Simply shop online or buy gift cards for hundreds of brands, and earn up to 20% back per purchase. 

Essentially, participants can fundraise for your cause while dining at restaurants or shopping for items they're already planning to buy. It’s that easy!