3 Ways to Increase School Fundraising Sales

Simple ways to improve your results.

Additional incentives should be considered if you want to increase school fundraising sales. Contrary to what many sponsors may think, relying solely on the complimentary prize program provided by the company is usually not enough. And simply reminding your students to sell every day will only go so far as well. Sure, there may be a little extra preparation time for planning and implementing them, but if you promote your incentive effectively throughout your sale, the results should be worth it.

Here are a few fundraising ideas that are worth considering that have the potential to add money to your bottom line:

1. Periodic Fundraiser Prize Drawings

A great way to positively influence sales is during your fundraiser, not just afterward. Your sellers won't receive prizes from the main prize program until the sale ends. So impact sales with additional prizes and special privileges while the sale continues. Here are the steps:

1. Use cheap but effective incentives. Inexpensive prizes can work great. You might even be able to get a portion of your prizes donated by a local store in exchange for some free publicity. The privileges can be school-related, like a 'no homework pass', or you can use pizza coupons.
2. Set a fundraising goal for prize eligibility. Your students should know the drawing requirements at the beginning of the fundraiser.
3. Have students turn in their prize drawing coupons. Draw out multiple names and give as many students as possible the chance to win. This will encourage even more selling.
4. Should the names stay in or be removed? You can keep the names in your drawing box throughout your fundraiser or remove the names to give new people a chance to win. The advantage to leaving names in is students remain eligible, even with a single coupon submission. Plus, students can turn in additional coupons to increase their chances over time. The advantage of taking them out each time is to give new submitters a chance to win.
5. Use a prize drawing box. Since students need to know where to drop off their coupons, keep a drawing box in a central location.
6. Have your drawings as often as possible. The more frequent your drawings, the more you remind your students to sell.
7. Promote your prize drawings. You'll want to promote your prize drawings as often as possible. Tell everyone about it during your kickoff as well as throughout your sale.

2. Grand Prize Drawing or Top Seller Prize

You can use the same coupons for a grand prize drawing if you incorporate prize drawings. This will create additional suspense. If you do a grand prize drawing, make sure that you set a minimum eligibility requirement. The advantage of a grand prize drawing is multiple students will feel that they have a chance to win. The disadvantage is the top seller may not be the winner.

3. Consider a Limo Lunch or Pizza Party

Incorporating an additional fun activity is worth considering if you can get a good return on your investment. Students are motivated by a limo that takes them to lunch or a special pizza party that only a few top sellers get to do. There are two methods that you can choose from to determine student eligibility:

1. Admit all students who reach a certain goal. Encouraging students to reach a specific item goal encourages them to sell more than they ordinarily would. Be careful not to set your goal too low or too high. Setting it too low might mean too many students will qualify, which might strain your budget. On the other hand, setting the goal too high will discourage students from trying for it in the first place. The advantage of this method is that anyone who reaches the goal will win, encouraging more students to try as well. Remember, you'll also make additional money from those students who sell more because of the incentive but don't quite reach the goal.
2. Another option is to admit only the top sellers. This will keep your number of participants constant. It also sends a message that only the best sellers from your fundraiser will be eligible for the prize.

Regardless of what additional incentives you choose to attempt to increase school fundraising sales, promote them frequently to achieve maximum results.

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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.