Protect Yourself:
Get It In Writing

• Double check all the numbers. Are the costs, percentages, etc., the same as those you agreed on?

• Are all of the services you want included? (For example: kick-off presentations, incentive programs, tallying, packing, shipping.) Is it clear that the company covers the cost for these services?

• Are the promotional materials you reviewed and approved listed? (take-home brochures, display kit, sample packs, etc.)

• Are dates for payment and product delivery included and consistent with your verbal agreement?

• Is there a clause covering the procedure for handling damaged, unsold, or returned merchandise?

• Also, make sure the contract is clearly an agreement between two organizations, NOT between two individuals. Signatures on the written contract should appear:

  
  

  ___________________________________
  (fundraising company name)
  

  by:________________________________
  (company's representative)
  

  ___________________________________
  (organization's name)
  

  by:________________________________
  (organization's representative)
  

References:

PTA Money Matters,¸ 1994 National PTA
The Official Soccer Fundraiser's Guide/Booster Clubs of America
"Improving Your Fund-Raising Sales," John R. Olsen, Ph.D., Athletic Purchasing & Facilities, July 1982.
AFRDS, model contract



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This article is from the Spring 1997 issue of the Fundraising Edge, an online publication of the Association of Fund Raisers and Direct Sellers and is reprinted with permission. Visit their web site at http://www.afrds.org/ for more information and a look at the complete issues of the Fundraising Edge.