Your Complete High School Fundraiser Kickoff Guide

How to have a fundraiser kickoff your students won't forget.

There's no way around it. To experience a successful sale, you must have an effective high school fundraiser kickoff meeting. It doesn't matter how great your brochure is or what you're raising money for. Your sale will only be as good as your first meeting with your students.

The fundraising kickoff is the foundation on which everything else is measured. Then, when you reinforce an effective kickoff meeting with strong promotional efforts and accountability, your sale is bound to prosper. Likewise, if you neglect to plan your kickoff, no matter what you do afterward, your sale probably won't reach its full potential.

That first impression sets the tone, so make sure you get it right. Here are five areas that you'll want to focus on if you want your high school fundraiser kickoff to succeed.

1. Establish Your Fundraiser Purpose

Your student must believe in the purpose because this is the 'why' behind the sale. Many sponsors don't emphasize this enough, and it's a big mistake. If you've done your homework, you'll already know how much money needs to be raised. Be sure to share this information with your students so they can start taking ownership.

2. Discuss a Student Fair Share Goal

Each student must know how many brochure items they need to sell to succeed. For example, if your group has 50 students and you must raise $5,000, each student must sell at least 20 items. Here's the formula:

50 students x 20 items per student x $5.00 profit per item = $5,000 profit

Determine your group fundraising goal

3. Sell the Brochure and Prize Program

These items are standard brochure fundraiser materials. Make sure to hand them out one at a time and in the following order:

1. Order Forms
2. Brochures
3. Prize Brochure
4. Parent Letter

First, most NCR forms require a ballpoint pen, so the writing flows through to all copies. Make sure to point out that customers need to print their information on the form. Remember, if they can't read it, neither can you. Be sure to have them fill out the top portion of the order form, which starts with their name. Then explain how to complete an actual order.

Make sure you communicate with your students why you chose your particular brochure. For example, if you're selling frozen food, perhaps everyone else in your area is doing a seasonal fundraiser or selling candy. Plus, most people like the convenience of heating prepared food. Highlight key items in the brochure as you review it with your students. This will help them become familiar with it and match some of the items with people they know.

The company usually offers a complimentary prize program. Ensure your students know what they must do to qualify for the various prizes. You should also break the sale down into smaller goals. For example, a student may want to qualify for a prize level that requires selling 30 items. Explain that they only need to average over two items sold daily for the next two weeks.

You should also receive a copy of your group's personalized parent letter. Make copies for each student and ask them to share the information with their parents. And while you're at it, get your students to agree to ask their parents to take the brochure to work. You can always refer to our parent fundraising information letter if you need to design your letter.

4. Practice the Selling Process

Will your students know what to do before they start approaching potential customers? Our NOW Selling Method is a practical tool that students can use as a guide. Be sure to have them practice role-playing during the kickoff meeting.

After the role-playing, offer to buy an item from a student who raises their hand and is willing to sell you something from the brochure. This demonstrates to the students that you want them to succeed. It also allows them to see how easy it is to make a sale.

5. Keep Your Sales Momentum Going Strong

Let your students know you'll check in periodically throughout the sale. This creates a sense of accountability that will keep them on track toward reaching their goal. Consider using our money game incentive to facilitate the tracking process.

A good high school fundraiser kickoff meeting also needs to have a conclusion. Leave enough time at the end to highlight the important items you want them to remember.

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.