As many of you may know, having out-of-town friends and family order online can REALLY boost your profits. In 2011, we had a wonderful feature of Free Shipping for all online orders over $100. Now for 2012, we have lowered that to $75 to save your friends and family even more money. A $75 order consists of about 10-12 bags. We hope that this helps you sell even more while including your friends and family out-of-town in support of your cause! Remember, the best way to advertise for your online website is through Facebook, E-mails and Twitter. Take advantage of social media to spread the word about your Fun Pasta Fundraiser!

Click here to support a fundraising group!

-Anna Morris

The recent winner of our Fundraising Contest “We Fundraise Becuase…” let us know that the $100 their group won with a single picture will, “Help two students that are having a very hard time affording the trip!” Another recent winner let us know their $100 check helped to purchase the opening curtain for their performance! Whatever your fundraising  purpose, it is so exciting for to hear about what our fundraisers can accomplish with Fun Pasta. We know fundraising can be difficult at times, but remembering that the cause is worth the effort can keep everyone excited and selling. Which is why we love to hear where to money goes as well!

We want to thank everyone that works with Fun Pasta Fundraising! Please let us know what you are fundraising for so we can share your accomplishments too!

-Megan Grehan

The Leader Toolkit is a valuable resource for all our leaders! This is where you will upload participants, submit orders and edit your website! These are just a few of the resources available to leaders. One resource that is extremely valuable is the “Parent Letter” under the Leader Tips & Tools section. This helps inform every parent what is going on without solely relying on a child to relay all the important information.

The best thing about our “Parent Letter” is that we show you how to personalize  your parent letter, which is very important. You want the parents to have as much detailed  information as possible to help make the fundraiser a success. Fun Pasta Fundraising and PTO Today recommends including:

1. The specific purpose for you fundraising efforts (uniforms, a new gym, or for a specific charity organization).

2. The overall dollar goal and the number of items each seller must sell.

3. Use exact dates including the day of the week for the start and end sales dates.

4. Payment instructions: Make it clear that the money is collected upfront, who to make checks out to, and if your group needs to collect sales tax (which varies from group to group and state to state) the cost of each item with tax.

5. Where to turn in the orders and collection envelopes and where to pick up the delivered pasta!

6. Contact names and phone number/emails.

7. Incentives: the $10 gift cards for every thousand dollars sold and maybe a pasta party if your group reaches your sales goal!

8. Fun Facebook Contests: Let parents know about any ongoing contests that you plan to participate in worth up to $200.

So, don’t let anything get lost in translation! Use a parent letter to get all the details down and into the hands of the parents!

-Megan Grehan

Fundraising can get exhausting at times. Fun Pasta Fundraising wants to motivate our fundraisers to reach their goals, because we are happy when you are happy! I was surfing the internet for some Fundraising Inspiration and came across this Canstruction Fundraising!

That being said how cool would it be to do some pastastruction! You could make a mural with our colored pasta in the shape of a school or team logo! Or, you could build something with our colorful pasta bags! If you have any ideas let us know! We are thinking about building an all pasta American Flag and we already made a mini heart mural:

You could get people to support the project financially! It would help you boost your profits even more and give all the kids and volunteers a fun project to accomplish, not to mention a great reason to buy extra pasta!

-Megan Grehan

Hello fundraisers! Throughout our lives we have been told and routinely tell our children, “not to play with your food.” However, there are exceptions to every rule. Macaroni art is a beloved past time for many. It’s makes me nostalgic for my elementary school days. I can’t imagine what I would have done with the selection of shapes that we have here at Fun Pasta Fundraising. So, Anna and I embarked on this fun and easy arts and crafts project perfect for kids (and adults)! All you will need is: A Bag of  Fun Shaped Pasta (we chose Eat Your Heart Out for Valentine’s Day), an unfinished picture frame (only a $1.00 at Michaels) , paint, stickers, colorful Sharpies, glue, construction paper, scissors, a paint brush, a sponge, and newspaper to protect your table.

The first step is to lay out some newspaper to protect the surface you are working on. Next plan out your design, something you might want to say with your pasta or personal touches that will make it extra special.

Next, get to creating! It took us just over an hour to make our frames and cards. Once finished, we let them dry overnight before placing a picture in the frame. Now they are ready for our Valentine’s! What do you think?

Sometimes it is okay to play with your food!

We hope you have as much fun with your Macaroni Heart Art as we did! If you make your own be sure to share it with us on Facebook! Not to mention this would be a great way to kick off or finish up a Fun Pasta Fundraiser!

Happy Valentine's Day from Fun Pasta Fundraising!

"We fundraise because we want to have that once in a lifetime experience of being licked by a giraffe."

The Science Dept. group headed up by Mrs. Jennifer Kieffer won our most recent Facebook contest! They earned 110 likes for their entry, winning $100 for their fundraising efforts! Congratulations to this group and thank you to everyone who entered and liked the photos!

We have contests all the time to help groups raise money! Our next contest offers a $200 prize! The Fun Pasta Valentine Video Contest: “If “Pasta” were Your Valentine What Would you Say to it?” runs from Feb. 1st – Feb. 14th. To enter simply create a Valentine video expressing your love for a special pasta! Post your video to our Facebook wall between Feb. 1st and Feb 14th. The video with the most likes by Feb. 14th at Noon CST will be the winner and earn $200 towards their fundraiser! You can also email a video to pastashoppe123@gmail.com and we will post it for you!

-Megan Grehan

Fundraise easily with your custom web page!

For some fundraising leaders, it simply works better to raise money online only. If you want to do this, there are a few things you should know first!

1. Please call and let us know if you only want to run online, rather than requesting brochures. We will be happy to send you some if you need them for selling.

2. There will be a shipping fee for each online order. The rates are $6.95 (Smartpost) and $9.95 (Fedex Ground). However, the shipping is FREE for your buyer for orders over $75.

3. You will receive 40% of all sales (not including the shipping costs). We will cut you a check for the 40%. You must call on the day you want your account closed, as it will not close automatically and we cannot set up a date in our system to close automatically. At that point we will cut your check within the week.

Online Only Sales are convenient and easier for some groups. We just want to make sure everyone utilizes this tool in order to make the most money for their cause!

-Anna Morris

There is still plenty of time to take part in this ongoing contest:

“Fun Pasta Photo Contest: We Fundraise because…”~ Jan. 18th – Jan. 30th
Please send in a photo with a caption or short story that completes the sentence, “We fundraise because…” Tell us what motivates you! You can post your entry to our Facebook wall or email it to pastashoppe123@gmail.com and we will post it for you. You can start posting or emailing entries January 18th. The photo with the most “likes” by January 30th at Noon CST will earn a $100 dollar check towards their fundraiser! We are really excited to see your answers- don’t be afraid to show off!

Our contests are a great way to help with fundraising! To learn more follow this link: http://www.funpastafundraising.com/contests.php

Navy beans are not “navy” at all! They get their name from being a staple food item in the Navy for sailors.

In our shaped pastas, gluten is a key ingredient in keeping our noodles cute and in one piece. However, there are many individuals that cannot intake gluten into their diets. We want everyone to be able to enjoy our products, so we added our Gluten Free Curly Noodles made in a gluten-free dedicated facility! These little curls have a lot to offer with 9 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein per serving! With navy beans as our gluten-free protein source, these noodles contain large amounts of vital nutrients like folate, potassium and iron. The high fiber in the navy bean aids in lowering cholesterol and preventing blood sugar levels from rising too quickly after a meal.

What is Gluten?

Gluten is a type of protein often found in grains such as rye and wheat. Although it is a component of many grains, NOT ALL GRAINS contain gluten. Wild rice, corn, oats and buckwheat are all examples of grains that do not contain gluten. The presence of gluten often aids in texture. It allows bread to rise, firms when cooked and helps bread keep its shape. In the case of Gluten Free Curly Noodles, we substitute grain with beans. Our navy beans are prepared in the best bean mills of Michigan, using a specialized process to reduce bean flavor and effects, and make the beans highly digestible.

Why Go Gluten-Free?

1. Celiac Disease:  Our Curly Noodles are safe for these people. Celiac Disease is defined as a permanent intolerance to gluten that results in damage to the digestive system and is reversible by avoidance of dietary gluten.

2. Other Nutritional Reasons:  Going gluten-free is not only for individuals affected by celiac disease. People with diabetes can benefit greatly from a gluten-free diet. Gluten free is also great for those who may be affected with sensitive stomachs and allergies. It is also a great choice for certain weight loss plans.

Cooking Curly Noodles!!!

Not much time to cook? No problem! Curly Noodles cook in as little as 3 minutes! There are many great recipe combinations to try with the gluten-free noodles. And rest assured, you will enjoy delicious nutrition without GMO, wheat, dairy, cholesterol, trans fats and casein. There’s  NO egg, milk, peanut, seafood seed, tree nut or soy products in Curly Noodles, either. You can finally enjoy pasta guilt free and allergy free!

Don’t forget, you can cook a healthy Curly Noodle meal and finish it off with our gluten-free Divine Meringues!

Enjoy!!!

-Anna Morris

QUEST Elementary sold over $22,000 in their Fall Fundraiser. We emailed them asking for feedback and this is what they had to say about Fun Pasta fundraising:

Dear Fun Pasta Fundraising,

This was our elementary school’s first year selling your product.  We had a well-established successful track record in selling a different fundraising item, but our families were finding it increasingly difficult to meet their goals.  We thought we’d try something new, and based on feedback from another school who sold your pasta, we gave you a try.

We were not disappointed!  Our school met its fundraising goal, with the majority of our families pleased with the product change.  Here’s what some people had to say:

“Selling pasta was fun and easy to sell!  Many people bought it because it was inexpensive and something they could use and enjoy…”

“This was a great fundraiser!  Would not mind doing it again before the end of the year…”

“We loved having the kids involved — they loved and enjoyed selling pasta!”

“Pasta was easy to sell…great variety…something for everyone!”

“We loved this fundraiser — it was so easy to sell.  The product sold itself!”

Thank you, Pasta Shoppe!

Fun Pasta Fundraising and The Pasta Shoppe values all its customers and appreciates such positive feedback, so we wanted to share it with our readers! We hope every fundraiser has a similar experience. Please share them with us!