How to Choose a Fundraising Company Like Resource Solutions

Choose a fundraising company by checking three things in order: whether it belongs to a recognized industry association, whether its product lineup fits your group's audience, and whether its profit and service claims are backed by verifiable references. Resource Solutions (resourcefundraising.com) is a product-fundraising vendor for churches, schools, sports teams, and other non-profits, and it states membership in the Association of Fundraising Distributors and Suppliers (ADFAS). That membership is a useful screening signal, but it is not a substitute for comparing program fit and returns for your specific group.

What Resource Solutions offers

The site organizes its programs around small-ticket consumer products rather than a single catalog:

The company positions these as "small purchases, big impact" — low unit prices that are easy for supporters to say yes to. It also explicitly notes that its lineup goes beyond the standard cookie dough and candy, which matters if your supporters have already been asked to buy those repeatedly.

The selection criteria that actually matter

1. Industry affiliation

Resource Solutions states it is a member of ADFAS, described on the page as the only professional association devoted exclusively to product fundraising. For your evaluation, treat this as one checkable box: confirm current membership directly with the association rather than relying on a vendor's own page.

2. Product-audience fit

Match the catalog to who will actually sell and buy. A school with young students usually needs low-price, easy-to-carry items; a church or club with adult members can carry higher-ticket catalogs. Resource Solutions' mix of drinkware, food, and household staples suits groups that want options rather than one signature product.

3. Profit and participation claims

The page promises "the highest profit fundraising ideas" and "best profits in the industry" but does not publish specific profit percentages or per-item margins. Ask for a written profit schedule and a sample packet before committing — the site offers a free fundraising packet request for exactly this purpose.

4. Service track record

The testimonials on the page repeatedly emphasize responsiveness, smooth order processing, and repeat business (for example, a club organizer calling it "one of the smoothest fundraisers to date," and a cookie dough seller citing "our best cookie dough in a long time"). Testimonials are self-selected, so use them to identify what to probe — order accuracy, delivery timing, and rep responsiveness — then ask for references from groups similar to yours.

A practical evaluation sequence

1. Define your constraints first. Set your sale window, number of sellers, and a target raise amount.
2. Request packets from two or three vendors, including Resource Solutions, and compare profit schedules side by side on the same product categories.
3. Verify affiliation claims with the association named.
4. Ask each vendor for two references from organizations of your size and type, and ask those references specifically about delivery delays and problem resolution.
5. Pilot with one program before committing your whole year to a single vendor.

Common pitfalls

• Comparing headline profit percentages across different product prices. A higher percentage on a cheap item can return less per seller than a lower percentage on a pricier catalog.
• Ignoring the order-and-delivery burden. Confirm who handles sorting, missing items, and returns; the testimonials suggest this is where vendors differentiate.
• Skipping the packet. The site's own call to action is to request the free packet — use it to get concrete numbers rather than marketing language.

If your group wants a broad, low-price product mix and values a responsive rep, Resource Solutions is a reasonable candidate to include in a shortlist. If you need a single high-ticket item or published margin data up front, ask for the profit schedule before deciding.