Ensure school fundraising success with these top tips and tricks.
Schools across the country love raising money online – it keeps kids safer, requires no product delivery, and minimizes the spread of COVID-19. With options like popcorn, cookie dough, candles, wrapping paper, customizable gifts, and more, every school group can find a unique offering that matches their taste.
Schools have achieved incredible success with online product sales using the best online fundraising ideas. For instance, one small PTO group in Massachusetts raised almost $9,000. Another even smaller youth football club in New York raised almost $15,000 selling cookie dough online. One board member commented that the product sold itself and is a "no-brainer for easy fundraising."
Want to raise a lot of money like these groups? Use these top 4 tips on fundraising to meet your goals:
1. Successful fundraising begins with a plan.
Planning is the key to a successful fundraiser, especially online product sales. Both novice and experienced student fundraisers need guidance on who to solicit and how to ask for money.
For example, helping students to develop a prospecting list can jump-start sales. Parents should brainstorm with their children on who they can reach out to, where they will track interactions, and how they will determine success. Our online student dashboards can help them do all of these things.
With online fundraisers, students don't need to consider the logistics of making an in-person ask or physically delivering purchases. Ask students to think of the safe adults they interact with regularly, virtually or in person. They can even go beyond the obvious family members and close family friends. What about the minister, out-of-town relatives, parents' coworkers, troop leader, neighbor, babysitter, or business owners?
With this prospecting list, students can refer to a detailed "cheat sheet" that provides clear, tangible steps to start.
2. Set achievable goals.
Setting goals allows your team to decide if the fundraiser was a success. Involve your students in goal-setting to encourage a sense of accomplishment, ownership, and impact.
Start by calculating expenses and income using an expense worksheet tool with your students. Outline the expenses that your group hopes to cover with the fundraiser. For instance, a sports team's budget for ten youths could include the following:
| Item | Group Cost | Student Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Uniforms | $1,000 | $100 |
| Travel | $2,000 | $200 |
| Equipment | $1,000 | $100 |
| TOTAL | $4,000 | $400 |
Looking at this chart, students can easily understand that raising $400 each will cover all their team expenses for the season. Falling short of their overall goal could mean forfeiting a tournament that requires travel or fixing and reusing broken equipment from last year.
After setting a total fundraising goal, you can develop specific targets for each participant. For a fundraiser like 'Cookie Dough Online', the numbers could look like this:
Say the average retail price of your online store items is $18, and the group keeps 40%. Therefore, the profit made off each item would be a little over $7. $400 ÷ $7 = 57 items each (Consider rounding the goal to an even 60).
Remember that reaching a goal like this may require more than one fundraiser, and that's ok as long as you have the time. That's why planning is important.
3. Track your product sales.
Tracking virtual sales is easy with online sales dashboards. Sponsors can track the entire group, and students can instantly know how many sales they've made and how close they are to their individual goals.
By using a product sales tracking form, sponsors can know if they're on track with in-person brochure sales well before students turn in their order forms.
Regularly check student progress and keep an updated master form to stay ahead of the game. Consider ways to boost student involvement if needed or continue what's working by referring to the actual data.
Make progress toward your fundraising goals transparent and accessible to all students in the group. Use an online tool like Sumac, post updates on your team's social media pages, or use a paper fundraising thermometer displayed in the locker room.
4. Motivate students with prize programs.
"The Big Event Super Splash Party was excellent! It motivated those students who did not previously participate to get out and sell," exclaimed Sonia Longoria, Fundraising Chair for Leal Elementary. By using an epic incentive, like a 2-hour inflatable water party, students get excited to sell.
Big Fundraising Ideas has many free prize programs for every age and hobby. Participation skyrockets when students realize they can get something exciting by putting in the effort.
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.
