How to Build Fundraising Momentum Before Your Sale

Things you can do to create presale excitement.

Logically, most schools wait until the kickoff to start promoting their sale to their students. They don't think about why; they do it that way because it's expected, and everyone else always has. Furthermore, the unintended element of surprise can definitely work in their favor, and nothing works better to get their attention than by creating spontaneous excitement during the kickoff. After all, the main reason for the kickoff is to motivate your students to get out and sell.

That said, there are probably many other plausible reasons why sponsors don't promote their sales beforehand.

Why Sponsors Wait for the Kickoff Meeting

Here are some of the reasons sponsors don't promote their sales beforehand:

• They've never done it before and think what they've been doing works fine.
• They don't want to do any more than they have to.
• They're too busy.
• They don't want to interrupt classroom time with potential distractions potentially.

Why Build Fundraising Momentum Beforehand?

Why should you promote your sale before your kickoff? The main reason is to create anticipation in the minds of your students. And with anticipation comes eagerness and passion. So when your kickoff finally arrives, your students will be more ready to start selling. The increased enthusiasm that is generated will translate into more sales.

An excellent example of this is when you go to the movies. What you see before your movie starts are previews for other movies. Movie promoters know they'll sell more future movie tickets if they promote upcoming attractions to a captive audience. This is excellent advertising because people have learned to expect the previews as a part of the movie experience. The same concept applies to your students. When you promote your fundraiser ahead of time, you make your audience eager for the event. Here are some ideas that will help you build fundraising momentum before your kickoff:

• Advertise your fundraiser on your marquee.
• Put your information in your newsletter. Make sure to make it brief yet exciting and informative.
• Use your website to get the word out.
• Use social media to spread the word.
• Share information about exciting prizes that students can win during morning announcements.

What suggestions do you have that will help build fundraising momentum?

See our brochure fundraisers.

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.