Help Parents Cope with School Fundraisers

Tips on how to bring your parents on board.

Schools have never been able to cover the cost of things like computers, school marquees, or field trips with conventional funding. Add in the prevalence of continued budget cuts; the need for money has never been greater.

At the same time, raising money is considered a 'necessary evil', but why is that? School fundraisers require involvement and hard work from the people behind the scenes to those doing the actual selling. And to top it off, they take precious time from our already busy schedules.

So why do we often dread it when our children bring home their fundraising packets? Here are some hurdles as well as some possible solutions that may help:

Unexpected Fundraisers

Just like receiving an unexpected bill in the mail, when students bring home their packets, we aren't ready for them. It becomes an added burden to an already taxed schedule. Do schools assume that parents will understand? Anything that arrives unannounced is uncomfortable unless it's Ed McMahon at your front door with an extensive check. So what can schools do to ease the inevitable?

The Same Old Brochure

You've heard it said many times. People are tired of the same old cheap brochure items. These items look great in the brochure, but the actual products are much smaller than expected. Worse, we feel guilty approaching friends, family, and neighbors with the same brochure. People who do buy items out of guilt or choose to help someone they know to win a prize.

Solutions for Parents

Provide Advanced Notice

1. Send home a presale courtesy notice beforehand that lets parents know what's coming. This does two things: 1) It gives parents an advance courtesy notice, and 2) It helps promote your sale.
2. In your presale notice, discuss your purpose and where the money will be spent. This will help justify the sale and add credibility. 
   • You may also want to discuss your sales goal and how many items each student needs to sell. This shows that you have a vision and a plan.
   • Why not also talk about your prize program? Often, parents will want to know what their children can earn for selling. This can be especially effective if you offer a unique or exciting incentive you may haven't previously offered.

Have Fewer School Fundraisers
Why do schools end up having so many fundraisers? When that first sales packet comes home, they already know it is only the first of many more. Many parents choose which one they'll participate in or not sell when this happens. What are the solutions?

1. Convince your school staff and parents that one or two big fundraisers are better than several smaller ones. Commit to it in writing by announcing it at the beginning of the school year in a notice that goes home with the students. In addition, talk about it at your first parent night.
2. Plan to put extra time and work into the one or two campaigns you commit to. The additional effort will pay off, and the entire process will end before you know it.
3. Stick to it. It may take a year or two to gain parental trust that you plan to limit the number of sales. You will find that more parents will jump on board as time passes. They'll realize that they're not being inundated with selling opportunities.
4. Make it clear that you will stop after 1 or 2 sales campaigns, no matter how much money you make. Everyone must learn to live with what they get. If some people aren't satisfied, they can push the sale harder next year.

Offer a Better Quality Brochure

1. Offer high-quality products like consumer-based household items that people ordinarily buy from the store.
2. Offer something completely new and different that people haven't seen before.

Present an Exciting Prize Program
Parents probably roll their eyes once they see the prize program their children are excited about. Let's face it; you can probably get better prizes at the dollar store. Many parents usually end up doing that anyway so they can get out of having to sell. People are tired of the same prize programs. So are there viable alternatives? Schools using our big event fundraising prize programs have learned that attending an exciting event is much more exciting than winning a cheap plastic toy.

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.