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Website Overhaul

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We are so excited to roll out the latest edition of RealSouvenir.com!  Our goal is to not only make it easier for your project to flow but you will find various ideas and guidelines to help your playing card fundraiser be a huge success. We will be rolling the multiple websites we have out there in to this one.  From tips on fundraising to why we do some of the things we do.  Also included are many of the forms, letters and info we have sent out to organizations over the years.

So please, take a look around and let us know your thoughts.

Most Important Thing About any Fundraiser

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We are often asked what the most important part is to our unique fundraiser.  While we do supply customized tools to help make it easier to promote your project, the bottom line is if you don’t TALK TO YOUR PATRONS or donors then odds are your campaign will not succeed.  Sending out emails is awesome. Posting one of our custom images on Social Media is helpful.  Dropping a letter in the mail is a good idea.  List it on your website, share with local news media and the list goes on but if you don’t pick up a phone or stop by to actually talk with folks then odds are your fundraising campaign will never get off the ground.

So please…

…talk to your patrons.

…let them know you appreciate them.

…ask them for their support.

…ask them for a referral.

The bottom line is if you want to see any fundraising campaign succeed you will need to communicate with folks one on one.

Practice Fundraising

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It seriously takes practice to become a good fundraiser.  For some people the process of “fundraising” may come more natural but everyone needs to do a few things to become more effective.  Here are a few quick suggestions.

1. Read. Read. Then read some more.  Find good books to help you learn and expand your skills.  Some may be more topical to your organization and others may be about general fundraising principles.  The big thing is to just read.

2. Attend seminars and classes to learn more about fundraising.

3. Travel with or listen in on a phone call while someone else in your organization talks with a patron.

4. Find marketing materials like that from Real Souvenir Publishing that works to make your fundraising flow better.

No matter what you do, don’t stop learning.  Be prepared to expand your horizon and in the long run expand your success in fundraisers for your organization.

Get Organized

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Sometimes it feels like no matter what you do there is always something that knocks you off track from reaching your fundraising goal.  Sometimes you get knocked off track before you even choose which fundraiser you’re going to do!  Aside from staying “organized” here are a few quick things to keep in mind when doing not just our fundraiser, but any fundraiser.

  1. Start organized and stay organized.  We work to make our fundraiser simple and effective.  Something that helps you keep organized will always help.
  2. Set a start and end date for no more than 45-60 days.  Realistically it is best on our project to not go over 30 days, but the point is you do not want to extend it too long as this will hurt your efforts.
  3. Keep track of donations using our provided fundraising forms.  Be sure to put them in to an Excel file as you go along if possible. This will make it so much easier when it’s time to turn in your project.
  4. Talk to people. It’s okay to use all of the other tools we provide to help spread the word but the best tool is when you speak with folks one on one.

Put Your Town or Village on a Deck of Cards

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Playing cards are a great way to celebrate your town or village and we can help you do it with our Real Souvenir Playing Cards. Each card in the deck is made the way souvenir cards used to be…with fun pictures on each card face.

In more recent years people have moved to cheap, marketing decks that offer no real collectible value.  They usually throw a logo on the card back and then keep the faces all the same. Then they sell the decks for $3 or $4 and include them in a clear plastic box or even worse, a generic white or gold tuck box.  Here at Real Souvenir Publishing we like to do it right.  Not only creating a collectible, but creating a fundraiser that can help your organization raise funds.

History is Not Cheap

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Often times folks in the community don’t understand how much it cost to keep their local, state or county “history center” alive.  While public funds may be available for some of the larger organizations they still often times need to subsidize funds to be able to pay for expansion, projects or even the next display.  When it comes to small city, town or village history centers they often struggle to find funds and live from small fundraiser to small fundraiser.  If it wasn’t for the volunteers who poor their lives in to these local history centers much of their local history would be lost at a flea market or sold on an online auction where no one knows anything about it.

Here at Real Souvenir Publishing, we recognize the importance of helping you highlight your organization while trying to have successful fundraising campaigns.  We know many organizations struggle to make ends meet!  So what we’ve done is create a unique, trademark fundraising program that helps any size organization create their own “creative collectible”.  While we can’t do the fundraising in your community ourselves, we do what we can to help you look professional, keep organized, invite sponsors, get your own deck of souvenir cards or collectible and then sell them to your sponsors, patrons and community to raise the much needed funds you so require.

Need to Raise Funds

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Fundraising is the term referring to the process of soliciting and gathering money by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Fundraising typically refers to the efforts to gather funds for non-profit organizations.

According to Wikipedia

“Fundraising or fund raising (also known as “development”) is the process of gathering voluntary contributions of money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies (see also crowd funding). Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gather money for non-profit organizations, it is sometimes used to refer to the identification and solicitation of investors or other sources of capital for for-profit enterprises.”

Crowd Funding Playing Cards

The bottom line is many (or most) of the organizations who approach us really do not have the funds to be able to create a custom product on any scale larger than a very small run.  What we do is help your organization “crowd fund” or invite your patrons and the community to join in and help make a professional, quality souvenir.  You see, here at Real Souvenir Publishing we create customized fundraising tools to help your organization raise funds in a fresh, new way. While we don’t do the fundraising for you, we do try to make it as easy as possible to reach out to patrons, keep organized, get your own “creative collectible” and in the long run…raise money.

Population 500 or More Suggested

Populations 500+

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After years of experience we have learned that the history centers with a population of 500 to 30,000 tend to be the ones that are the most successful with our fundraising program. While we have had a few with populations of less than 500 and quite a few with more than 30,000 we have learned that those who tend to be in this margin are able to not only get their sponsors faster, but are able to sell the decks faster afterwards.

If you would like more information about doing your own deck of cards please contact us.

Special Event Fundraiser

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Do you have a special anniversary, season, or event coming up in your community or with your non-profit? Why not create a collectible deck of playing cards for your local event? It can be a local festival, carnival, fair or any type of event can be a great reason to create a piece of history for your organization. Something that allows you to not only raise funds, but it allows you to get your own “creative collectible” for your community or organization.  We have the plans to help you not only do the fundraising but get the deck printed so you can sell them in your community or at the event.

We Make History Fun

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We so LOVE working with history centers! Not only because we love history, but because it is so cool seeing all of the history that is being captured through the various decks of cards we have created. From historical and genealogical societies, museums and preservation organizations to chambers of commerce and business associations. Some of these groups work with each other and share the proceeds raised. The choice is up to you.

One thing we do know is that a decks of cards can cross all age barriers. From children to adults. There are so many things that various ages do with a deck of cards…which is why we believe that when we help you get a deck of cards we are “making history fun” for all ages.

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