3 Easy to Make Fundraising Kickoff Mishaps to Avoid

Learn from mistakes made by other sponsors.

It won't reach its full potential if you don't establish a strong foundation for your school fundraiser. Effective planning and foresight are necessary to long before your fundraising kickoff date for things to go smoothly. Sales campaigns are complex enough; unplanned mishaps are the last thing you want to deal with.

When still in the fundraising planning stages, you should also consider any potential issues. For example, what are the ramifications of accepting personal checks for payment? By thinking through the pros and the possible cons, you'll be better prepared to handle anything that may arise.

Here are three easy-to-make fundraising kickoff mistakes you can avoid making.

1. Failing to Notify Parents About Your Fundraiser

As more schools start their fundraisers earlier, providing parents with advanced notice is increasingly difficult. However, your parents need to know what's coming. Doing this serves three purposes. First, it allows you to introduce your sale from a promotional standpoint. Second, it gives parents a heads-up on what to expect inside their student's backpack on kickoff day. And third, it's common courtesy. After all, you're asking them to help with your fundraiser. You don't want parents to be caught off guard.

2. Handing out Fundraising Packets Too Soon

Any elementary school sponsor who mistakenly handed out their fundraising packets to their students at their kickoff meeting can tell you what happens next. You've just finished getting them excited about the prizes during your presentation. Students will naturally be curious and want to know what's inside. Before you know it, flyers are everywhere as packets are opened and taken out, and you have a mess on your hands.

Instead, distribute the packets to your teachers and ask them to hand them out before their students go home. This way, they won't have time to lose important information.

3. No First-Day Fundraising Goal

Many sponsors ask their students to go out and sell as much as possible. What does this mean anyway? This is a typical request, but unfortunately, it's ambiguous at best. Most students will tune out when they hear this because they've heard it many times.

Instead, just before the end of your presentation, ask your students to go home and try to sell 1 item by tomorrow. Incorporating this strategy helps you create early sales momentum. This is also an excellent opportunity to do prize drawings during your sale. To be eligible to win, students must sell a certain number of items. You can have your first drawing the very next day after your kickoff.

Having a successful school fundraising kickoff is not just about what you hope will go right but also what potential mishaps you plan to avoid.

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Author Bio

Clay Boggess has been designing fundraising programs for schools and various nonprofit organizations throughout the US since 1999. He’s helped administrators, teachers, and outside support entities such as PTAs and PTOs raise millions of dollars. Clay is an owner and partner at Big Fundraising Ideas.