How to Avoid High School Fundraising Disappointment

Tips that will help you achieve sales success.

Let's face it, high school fundraising isn't easy, and most students don't look forward to having to sell. There are probably not too many who wouldn't prefer to take the easier road if it was a readily available option. Yet, you'll probably be disappointed if you expect to raise a lot of money with little to no effort. We usually get out what we put in. On the other hand, the last thing you want to have to happen is to put forth the effort to have a sale and then not have it meet your expectations.

Achieving your goal comes from hard work, smart planning, persistent seller follow-up, and accountability. To succeed, you must start strong and then maintain the selling momentum you create. Here are some important things you'll want to incorporate into your sale.

Establish and Communicate your Sales Purpose

If you don't have a purpose, why are you selling in the first place? Believe it or not, many high school groups fund only because they know they need money. Instead, you should establish and communicate a specific purpose throughout your sale.

Define your Fundraising Expectations

Don't just pass out your sales materials and tell them to bring back whatever they collect. Your students need to know what you expect. Let them know how many sales they'll need to make. To do this, you must determine how much your group needs. Then, divide that number by the total number of students.

Reinforce Student Accountability to Sell

It's not enough to tell your students how much you expect them to sell. You will need to remind them as well as track their progress. This will periodically take meetings with your group. We suggest breaking the sale down into at least three check-in meetings:

• The day after your kickoff – Ensure everyone has gotten off to a strong start. Ask your students to bring their order forms and money collection envelopes for you to check.
• Mid-sale – By this point, your sellers should be at least halfway towards their goal. Most selling occurs within the first 4-5 days of the kickoff. Some may have even reached the goal. Encourage everyone to keep selling.
• Wrap-up – You must constantly remind students about your deadline for submitting order forms and money. Everyone should be expected to reach the goal at least.

In addition to tracking progress, many high school sponsors use check-in days as an opportunity to turn in money that's been collected so far. At the same time, you can use additional incentives that are designed to bring in even more sales.

Unfortunately, there's no easy road to high school fundraising success. So if you make a sale, you may do it right. For an additional resource on planning ideas for your next campaign, download our free fundraising tips eBook from our school fundraising tips page.

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.