The Card Project is a highly successful fundraiser. It is a fun, creative and child-centered activity that is enthusiastically supported by both parents and teachers. Our premium products offer a unique way to showcase children's art. We offer products that families use and share with pride!

In a nutshell, each child creates a piece of art. The Card Project turns these masterpieces into professionally printed greeting cards. Every child receives a free (usable!) card showcasing their own art with their name and grade printed on the back. Parents can order more items online through our website. The orders are delivered to the school.

Why Us?

Our aim is to make this the easiest fundraiser you have ever run! You will be amazed at how little work is required to raise a significant amount for your school.

The Card Project is a lot more than making cards and raising money. There is a very positive atmosphere around it. The children simply love seeing the art that they have made turn into beautifully presented greeting cards. It is hard to keep them in their seats when the sample cards arrive!

What The Card Project offers:

• Every child receives a free, usable, professionally printed greeting card. Their own art is showcased on the front of the card and their name is printed on the back.
• We cover all the processing, printing and packaging costs.
• Orders are placed online through our website. No more hunting down paper order sheets!
• Parents pay for their orders online. We carry all banking costs.
• We provide real-time and detailed records of all the orders received.
• We support the Fundraiser Coordinator by providing posters, templates for newsletter articles/emails, sample cards and notebooks for display.
• We provide "Teacher Kits" which include sample cards, name labels for the art and guidelines for the art projects.
• There are no restrictions on the type of art or the size of the "canvas". We want to encourage the creative process and allow this to be a true artistic experience.

How it works: simply and easily!

Every child creates their own unique piece of art. The teachers use regular art activity time to work on their choice of art project. It is worth putting some thought into selecting the art project as a successful project will greatly benefit the outcome of the fundraiser.

The Card Project provides stickers with the children's names for easy labelling of the art.

Once we receive the art, we make a free card for every child. This means that every child will take home a free, professionally printed card featuring their own art. Every card is customized with the artist's name and grade. We provide a cover letter which explains how parents can place an order if they so choose.

Orders are placed online. No teacher or volunteer input is required!

The orders are delivered to the school. They are clearly labeled and sorted by Classroom / Division for easy distribution.

The Role of the School Coordinator

This fundraiser is most successful at schools that have a key person (coordinator) who actively works with me to generate a great response.

The coordinator will:

• Talk with the teachers to ask for their support in running The Card Project
• Discuss our guidelines / tips for art projects with the staff. This ensures that the art will come out beautifully on the greeting cards.
• Discuss themes for the art projects. Most themes make great cards (and sales!) but we recommend avoiding self-portraits. If in doubt, ask yourself: "Would you order cards with this theme / subject?"
• Provide an Excel spreadsheet of students' first names and Grade / Division.
• Provide a list of the teachers' names so that I can prepare the "Teacher Kits" and gift cards for each class.
• Ship or deliver the art to me. (This is the only cost to the school.)
• Put up posters and make a display using the sample cards and posters that I provide.
• Send out newsletter information to the school community using templates that I provide.
• Be available, or organize another volunteer, to hand out the extremely well-organized orders to the classrooms
• Ensure that we run The Card Project at a time when the school is not busy with other fundraisers as this diminishes the response to the fundraiser.

Fundraising potential with The Card Project

The amount you can expect to raise depends on:

• the size of the school
• advertising and good communication with parents (we provide posters and templates for newsletter articles to support you in this)
• the quality and subject matter of the art (we provide guidelines and our website provides links to great art projects.)

The participation rate typically varies between 55% and 80%.

Our cards are priced at $20 per box (with discounts for orders of 2 boxes or more). The small lined notebooks cost $18 each, or $16 when more than one lined notebook is ordered. The large lined notebooks cost $20 each, or $18 when more than one large lined notebook is ordered. The sketchbooks cost $18 each, or $16 when more than one sketchbook is ordered. Based on a student population of 400 with a participation rate of 60% (on the conservative side), the school can expect to raise at least $1000.

We would love to bring this creative project to your school and partner with you to raise funds. The Card Project will pay 20% of the total order value (excluding the discounted staff orders and excluding sales tax).

There is no registration fee to run The Card Project. However, there is a minimum outcome requirement. This is waived for schools that are running The Card Project for the first time.

A few last points...

The original art is handled respectfully and will be returned.

Siblings, parents and friends are welcome to submit their art too.

The children's art is only available for purchase by their own families and the school's staff.

Also, we greatly appreciate the teachers' support in this fundraiser. As a token of our thanks, we give the teachers a complimentary gift certificate which allows them to choose some cards or a notebook.

I would be delighted to bring The Card Project to your school. If you have any questions, please contact me at Marcelle@TheCardProject.ca or at 604 924 2660.I look forward to sending further information about the timelines for the Fall and Spring.

Regards,
Marcelle