Measured Success

From August 4 to September 20, I listed your donated books on Amazon and pursued buyers at the Colorado School of Mines (hereafter, Mines) campus. I am pleased to announce that 150 books were sold and $6,000 raised!

Nine organizations/groups participated and their causes include but are not limited to, American Red Cross, a local nonprofit effort (to be chosen by students at Regis University), World Vision, and several InterVarsity Christian Fellowship chapters in Colorado.

I've included some basic charts with an overview of sales and income to explain the nature of textbook sales.

 

As you can see from the graph "Books Sold", the greatest number of books sold in one day is 16 and the least is 0 (the average is 3.25). The highest concentration of books sold occurred between August 19th and September 1st (average of 6). Sales of textbooks is cyclical, with a greater demand during the beginning of semesters and quarters. Textbook sales on Amazon are variable because there are competitors adding supply and changing their prices daily, which affects the visibility of your products on the Amazon search page. For example, in a high demand time, a book may be listed as the lowest option on Amazon for $50 and in two weeks, when demand is less, the going price for the same book may only be $25. Either the price must be adjusted to remain competitive or you have to wait for the high demand time to return (which, may be never, if a new edition comes out). 

The graph above illustrates how the total books sold increases more rapidly in late August and tapers off after the first week of September. I attribute that to higher supply (and lower demand) after September 8, which resulted in the fundraiser's listings becoming uncompetitive. A simple fix is to readjust the prices, but if the books will be worth more again in December it may be worth waiting.

The chart above ("Daily Income") shows the daily income of the books sold. The highest income came on August 20th when I sold eight books on the Mines campus for an average of $90 per book. I have learned from my experience that in-person sales result in greater income and less risk than Amazon sales.

In the chart "Percentage Revenue" I wanted to illustrate how significant in-person sales were to fundraising this semester. Sales on the Mines campus accounted for 21% of the revenue and only 15% of books sold (25 of 157). The average revenue per book from sales at Mines was $50 and the average revenue per book due to Amazon sales was $36.

The success is staggering, but these figures do not even begin describe the full potential of your donated textbooks. I estimate that there are close to 1,000 books still in inventory that must be put to further use by either being sold in a book sale, donated to a library, recycled, or through other means.

I am glad that all the efforts of students donating books has made such a great difference! I look forward to the college students of the U.S. meeting their potential and far exceeding my expectations again!

Business Plan

Last week I met with the CEO of Goodwill Denver, Jesse Wolff, to "pick his brain" about this nonprofit. He got straight to business. Within the first three minutes of our meeting he asked "do you have a business plan written out?" Not extensively, no. Meaning "not at all, no." He went on to explain that the nonprofit sector is very competitive in Colorado and that there is not a lot of money. His frankness was refreshing. I've spent too much time with my head in the clouds and not enough thinking about how the cash flow will work. Yet I still believe that all the needs of this organization will be provided for. However, that doesn't make planning any less important.

My aunt was the first to tell me I needed a business plan (in late June), but amidst all the things to learn about the nonprofit world (from incorporation paperwork to assembling a board of directors) I neglected the planning process to show how this idea will work on a large-scale. I have ideas buzzing in my mind about how to conduct operations and I have one year of experience in small-scale efforts, but this does not convince anyone wanting to know how this will endeavor will succeed. My little efforts at Mines had no cost other than my time, but that will have to change once operations are expanded. For example, I cannot store all the books in my house or office or neighbor's garage. Storage space could cost money, which means it must be accounted for in the business plan. It took my meeting with Mr. Wolff to decide it was high time to work "extensively" on the business plan.

A friend of mine and fellow graduate from Mines, Dylan Engberg, met with me a couple weeks ago and gave me many of his materials and sources for business planning. One source he shared was the Denver Small Business Development Center (denversbdc.org), which offers free consulting to start-up businesses in the Denver area. I scheduled an appointment last Wednesday (immediately after I met with Mr. Wolff) and I have my first consultation this afternoon. I look forward to learning about business plans and getting started on the logistics of running and growing this not-for-profit business.

Monthly Update - August

It has been a month since my last post, so you may be wondering what is new with this project. In the last month, I've busied myself with:

1. Meetings regarding nonprofit establishment, structure, operations

2. Finalizing my accounting from last year's fundraisers

3. Selling textbooks collected last year
     A. Listing books on Amazon
     B. Packing and shipping sold books
     C. Finding buyers for on-campus sales
     D. Accounting for sold books

4. Collecting new textbooks
     A. Contacting organizations and individuals to collect the books
     B. Following-up on tips to pick up books

5. Organizing inventory of books
     A. Developing/enhancing inventory system physically and electronically

6. Changing office locations

Needless to say, the last month has been busy, but the project is progressing. In my following posts, I will highlight some of the important lessons from the last month.

Faith enough to start a nonprofit

When I started textbook fundraising, it was an action taken in faith. I believed the idea was God-given and I decided to obey even though I never foresaw how successful it would be. Before long, God instilled a desire in me to do more good and I started to believe this project should be expanded. After much wise counsel, careful consideration, and a good deal of soul searching, I am diving in. As I encounter challenges and fears, I must fall back on trust in the grace and provision God has for me.

A nonprofit for textbook fundraising

Anyone can start a textbook fundraiser and begin impacting the world. That was proven by a number of clubs conducting fundraisers last year (see my first post, "The birth of an idea" for more details), but my experience has convinced me that a nonprofit organization would greatly benefit students who want to take up this project.

Here's why:

1. Marketing - Who has ever heard of a textbook fundraiser?
Anyone can start a textbook fundraiser, but either they must have the idea independently or they have to hear about it somewhere. People need to be invited. A nonprofit would invite and encourage students and student groups to participate and then help them run with it!

2. Empower - Who has the time for a textbook fundraiser?
Students have more time than they think, but it is easy to understand that students may be too busy to figure out (let alone run) a textbook fundraiser's operations while in school. Some students have time to manage a fundraiser and others do not. I don't want to discourage the latter from participating and making a difference with their friends. Empowering comes in two ways: 1) advising students who want to conduct a fundraiser independently and 2) being the seller for individuals or groups that don't have the time to handle the necessary logistics.

3. Storage space, unsold inventory, and customer service
As the seller of textbooks for the participating students and student groups, a nonprofit would enable students to focus on the collection of textbooks rather than where to store them, how to organize and inventory them, what to do with unsold books, how to sell or ship them, or providing customer service. The nonprofit would provide logistical services and advice for fundraising groups.

4. Credibility and accountability
When a student or group chooses to help a cause by starting or contributing to a textbook fundraiser, they should feel comfortable knowing that their efforts are going to make a difference. Nonprofits are held responsible by the U.S. government, but a nonprofit would also offer detailed reports summarizing funds raised to participants to ensure the greatest credibility. In addition, proper accounting practices would be in place to ensure all the hard-earned funds go to helping a participant's cause as soon as possible.

5. Efficiency and expertise = maximized results
A nonprofit with the mission to help textbook fundraisers would develop a specialization in selling books that would bring both efficiency to the operations and expertise in maximizing funds raised. Additionally, a nonprofit would be able to conduct its work on a regular, daily basis and mobilize volunteers from many backgrounds to assist the varied causes of participating students.

I would greatly appreciate your comments and feedback about reasons good or bad about starting a nonprofit for textbook fundraising. You may email me at kurtis.griess@gmail.com if you do not want to comment below this post.

Textbook Fundraising: the blog's purpose

Now that I have started this blog, I will define its purpose and goals.

1. Spread the idea of textbook fundraising
Textbook fundraising is an idea. And a good one too. But ideas don't act on their own; they require people to act on them. First, people need to hear the idea and be convinced to act. This blog is meant to convey the idea that college students can begin changing the world for the better by the simple donation of textbooks.

2. Share my experience ("expertise") with others
I have one year of experience in textbook fundraising, which in my estimation is more than almost anyone else in the world (at least for purely nonprofit purposes). That said, I have some tips that might be useful for the upstarting fundraiser that can spare them trouble and lighten their load.

3. Process a method to assist willing fundraisers
Students may have textbooks and they may be willing to donate them, but they may not have time or energy or resources to conduct their own fundraiser. It is my goal to enable students who want to make a difference by helping them start and sustain a fundraiser with tutorials and programs or by offering to be seller on their behalf. That said, I currently intend to create a nonprofit organization to carry out such tasks.This blog will document the process of the nonprofit's development/collaboration to advance this practice.

4. Engage others in this process
This is a team effort. Please share your thoughts, experiences, concerns, etc. in a comment or email to me (kurtis.griess@gmail.com). I would love and appreciate your help.

What is textbook fundraising?

Textbook fundraising is very much like a bake sale, only imagine selling a cookie worth up to $100! It is the sale of a resource (that is, used textbooks) for the sake of raising money for a cause.

Who can fundraise?

• Textbook fundraising is optimal for college students, since they have textbooks or have friends who do.
• Others can do this too, but they must be able to demonstrate their credibility and accountability to the students they work with. Don't blindly trust a person or organization with your precious textbooks. If you want your books to go to good use, make sure you know or research who is selling them first.

How to fundraise?

• First, you need a cause. We all can find something or someone that needs our help! What are you passionate about? Who do you want to help? (Note: this should not be yourself)
• Second, you need textbooks. Gather your textbooks and/or your friends. Make sure to tell them what your cause is and thank them for donating!
• Third, find a market. You may sell them to the school bookstore, but often there is a better deal to be found. If you can connect with friends or other students needing the book you can sell it to them directly. Otherwise, Amazon or another online marketplace will help.
• Last, you must give the money away. This is the best part! All your hard work goes to improving the world. Share your story with those who donated by sending them a copy of the receipt or telling them how much you were able to raise and give away!