Product Fundraising vs Donation Fundraising: Which Raises More?

If you've ever set up a Givealittle page for your school or club, you probably noticed the same thing everyone else does: a handful of generous people donate, and the rest of your community quietly ignores it. Then someone suggests a pie drive and suddenly 78% of families are placing orders.

This isn't a fluke. Product fundraisers consistently out-raise donation campaigns, and the gap is bigger than most people expect.

The numbers

In school and club settings, product fundraisers consistently raise more per campaign than donation asks. The difference comes down to participation. When you're selling something people actually want, you'll often get the majority of families placing an order. With a donation page for a routine cause like new sports gear or a playground upgrade, you're lucky to get a quarter of families to contribute.

Givealittle's own data makes the case. In FY2024, over 460 schools raised a combined $372,700 through the platform. That averages out to roughly $810 per school for the entire year. A single product fundraiser at a mid-size school can bring in $1,500 to $3,000 in two weeks. That's one campaign beating what Givealittle delivers in twelve months.

The pattern holds across the sector too. NZ Charities Services data shows that trading and sales income is the largest revenue source for registered charities in New Zealand. Not donations. Not grants. Sales.

Why people buy when they won't donate

There's actual psychology behind this, and it makes intuitive sense once you think about it.

People like getting something back. Robert Cialdini's work on reciprocity shows that when people receive something in return, they're far more willing to participate. A 2007 study by economist Armin Falk found that including a gift with a donation request increased response rates by up to 75%. With product fundraising, the "gift" is the product itself.

It removes the awkwardness. Asking someone to donate money can feel uncomfortable for both sides. Asking someone to buy a box of pies they were going to eat anyway? That's just a normal transaction with a good cause attached. The social friction disappears.

The price is the price. With donations, people agonise over how much to give. Is $10 too little? Is $50 too much? Product fundraisers solve this by setting a fixed price. You're buying a $15 box of pies, not deciding what someone's cause is worth to you. Psychologists call this the threshold effect, and it makes people much more likely to say yes.

Warm glow plus utility. Economist James Andreoni's research on charitable giving describes the "warm glow" people feel when they help a cause. With product fundraising, people get that warm glow and a freezer full of pies. Both motivations stack on top of each other.

When donations work better

Product fundraising wins for routine causes, but donations have their place.

Emergencies. When something urgent happens, people give because they want to help right now. A house fire, a medical emergency, a natural disaster. Nobody wants to wait for a product to arrive. Donation pages work well here because the emotional urgency drives participation on its own.

Causes with strong stories. If you have a deeply personal story that connects with a wide audience, donation campaigns can go viral in ways product fundraisers can't. A well-told story shared across social media can reach thousands of people who have no connection to your school or club.

Large-scale reach. Donation campaigns can scale nationally or internationally with very little effort. Product fundraisers are usually limited to your local community because someone has to actually deliver the goods.

The honest downsides of each

Product fundraising isn't perfect. You'll deal with logistics: ordering, delivery, keeping things cold or fresh, handling the odd missing order. There's upfront effort to organise it all, and your margin depends on the supplier deal. Someone has to coordinate pick-up days or deliveries, and that takes volunteer time.

Donation fundraising has its own problems. Donor fatigue is real. If your school runs a Givealittle page every term, people tune out fast. Participation rates for routine causes are low, and it's hard to sustain donations over time without a fresh and compelling reason to give.

So which should you choose?

For most schools, clubs, and community groups running regular fundraisers, product fundraising will raise more money with higher participation. The data is clear on that.

Use donation campaigns when you have a genuine emergency, a story that will resonate beyond your immediate community, or when you need to reach people who can't receive a physical product.

And there's nothing stopping you from doing both. Run your product fundraiser as the main event, and keep a donation option available for people who want to contribute without buying anything.

Running a product fundraiser with Raised

Raised makes it simple to set up a product fundraiser with an online store, track orders, and collect payments. No spreadsheets, no chasing up cash envelopes. Your supporters buy online, you see exactly who's ordered what, and you can focus on getting the word out instead of managing paperwork.

If you're in New Zealand, head to raised.nz. If you're in Australia, visit raised.au. Setting up your first fundraiser takes a few minutes.