Cookie Dough Fundraiser
The purpose of the Cookie Dough Fundraiser was to raise money to donate to the Single Mother’s Christmas Fund. The Single Mother’s Christmas Fund is a non-profit organization that selects a single mother each year to receive help with Christmas expenses.
The counseling department at a local school helped to select the single mother who would be the recipient of the donations received through the Cookie Dough Fundraiser.
The objectives of the Cookie Dough Fundraiser were to create digital media to be published to an online audience on Facebook and Instagram. The digital media’s purpose was to encourage viewers of the digital media to buy cookie dough or to donate without buying cookie dough. They could donate or buy cookie dough through a link that took them to an order form, or they were able to scan a QR code that was linked to the online form.
Examples of Digital Media Created
Examples of digital media that were created and printed so they could be placed on the bags of cookie dough.
Challenges Encountered
The biggest challenge while working on the digital media for the cookie dough fundraiser was that the computer, I was using to create the digital media updated incorrectly and I lost all of the digital media and had to start over.
This challenge turned out to be good because it helped me come up with new ideas which were more creative and catchy for the viewer.
Project Processes
The first two weeks of the fundraiser were spent researching the best practices for creating a successful fundraiser and researching how to spread the word about the fundraiser on social media.
During this time a local middle school was contacted to inquire if they would be willing to help select a single mother to be the recipient of the The Single Mother’s Christmas Fund donation collected through the cookie dough fundraiser. They were more than willing to help with selecting a single mother.
The next four weeks were spent designing and creating digital media which would be posted on social media. This was time-consuming because halfway into the creating phase of the fundraiser all of the digital media was lost and could not be retrieved. So, it was time to start over and begin to create digital media that could be posted for each deadline. While losing all of the digital media was frustrating, it also gave me a chance to come up with new ideas and designs.
As the digital media designer for the cookie dough fundraiser, I was also given the task to create the order form for the cookie dough sales and the QR codes. This took time to learn because I had never created either before.
Designs for the thank you and cooking instructions were created and printed so they could be attached to the bags of cookie dough when they were picked up by the customer.
Tracking sheets for cookie orders, cookie pickup, and donations were also created. These tracking sheets helped to understand if the digital media was effectively reaching customers.
Over the course of the fundraiser, 26 dozen cookie dough balls were sold. Each dozen was sold for $20. Making the total for cookie dough sales $520. The fundraiser also brought in $580 in donations. Making the grand total of the fundraiser $1100!
Overview of the Experience
Being the digital media designer for this fundraiser has been a great learning experience. I have felt the pressure of deadlines and the joy of meeting those deadlines.
It was a learning experience to create designs that would catch the viewer’s eye long enough for them to stop scrolling and check out the fundraiser. Some designs worked better than others. I learned that pictures of cookies in the designs worked really well to catch the viewer’s eye.
When InDesign updated incorrectly and I lost all of my designs and had to start over it was hard. This setback in the design process brought new life and ideas to the fundraiser. New designs were created which were more eye-catching to the viewer and more revenue came in for the fundraiser.
Insights or Takeaways Learned From the Project
Designing the digital media for this fundraiser was rewarding. It took a lot of time to think through the designs and to create them. It was interesting to learn how much research goes into designing digital media and what makes it eye-catching enough for the viewer to stop scrolling and check it out.