2 Cases of How Honesty Affects Fundraising Support

How to ensure that fundraisers stay honest.

Fundraising support can be affected by honesty. Sticking with your plan is essential, no matter what unexpected or unfortunate circumstances may occur during your sale. Sometimes it’s expedient to waver on a prior commitment, especially when it seems reasonable.

But let’s face it, even though being honest isn’t always convenient or easy, in the end; it usually pays off in ways that you don’t expect.

Here are two real-life cases you may face that can positively or negatively impact your future sales efforts, depending on how you respond.

1. Sticking with your Fundraising Plan

Let’s say you’ve decided to raise money for a field trip at the end of the school year. You’ve determined where you want to go and how much it will cost. You think you can raise enough money with one fundraiser and inform your parents about your plan. Then the results come in, and you fall short of your goal.

What will you do?

2. Following through on Fundraiser Promises

You promise your students a special reward if they sell a certain number of items. Since this will be costly, you’ll want to ensure your fundraiser goes well to cover the cost. However, you didn’t sell enough to cover the extra expense for some reason.

What do you do?

Both of these are real-life examples that have occurred with various groups that we’ve worked with. Future fundraising support was affected by the decisions.

What suggestions do you have that can prevent any negative fallout if you’re faced with these situations?

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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.