Top 3 High School Fundraiser Misperceptions

Fundraising assumptions you don't want to make.

If anything, high school fundraising sponsors tend to overestimate their students' selling capabilities. And no, we're not attempting to insult their aptitude. But isn't it tempting to want to give high schoolers the benefit of the doubt and assume that they already understand the fundraising basics?

After all, they're older now and should already be experienced sellers.

In reality, though, there's a lot that they don't know. Making the wrong assumptions can lead to missed opportunities to check for understanding and shore up potential weaknesses that can negatively affect your sale.

1. The High School Fundraiser Purpose is Enough

Many high school sponsors give their students way too much credit when it comes to their level of commitment to fundraising. It's not uncommon to have a sponsor explain to us during a phone call that their students don't need to be incentivized to sell because they're already committed and ready to tackle the group's mission. Otherwise, why would they elect to join the group anyway?

As a result, it's not uncommon to have sponsors attempt to trade the prize program in for additional profit percent. This strategy often backfires as incentives usually motivate students to sell more than how much is made off of each item. However, it's essential to use incentive plans geared more toward older students.

See our prize programs

2. Older Students Already Know How to Sell

High school students are established pros when it comes to selling, right? Everyone knows that they've been doing fundraisers since they were in elementary school. However, the selling process is much different now that they're in high school. When students were young, all they had to do was stand in front of a potential customer, smile, and hand over the brochure, and people would feel a sense of obligation to buy.

Yet, unlike their younger peers, for high school students to be successful, they need to know how to approach people professionally. Presenting themselves and articulating their purpose is expected if they want to earn a sale. The kickoff meeting is an excellent opportunity to review the selling process and practice role-playing.

Learn about the NOW Selling Method

3. High School Fundraisers Run Themselves

Gone are the days when sponsors could hand students their fundraiser materials and ask them to return the money. Shouldn't this age group already know what's expected of them? On the other hand, proactive high school fundraiser accountability is vital to group success. Most high school students tend to procrastinate and will almost always take the path of least resistance unless you're constantly holding them accountable to working towards their selling goal.

Tracking fundraiser progress while incorporating motivational incentives has been found to work very well for many high school sponsors.

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.