Make Your Next School Fundraiser Your Best Ever

How to ensure your next fundraiser is a big success

Sponsors who choose to take on the responsibility of leading a fundraising project for their school are already leading very busy lives. Many happen to be selfless and tireless individuals who have agreed to help raise money for their child’s school. So, why would they want to spend more time than necessary planning and running the sale?

The temptation with a school brochure fundraiser is that once the kickoff is over, sponsors don’t have to worry about anything until the orders are due. What an ideal situation. The students and their parents are out selling while the sponsor gets to focus on other things. Once the orders have been mailed off for processing they don’t have to think about it again until the delivery. They distribute the students' boxes, pay the bill to the fundraising company, and they’re finished. They got their wish, a low-maintenance money-maker that made them some money.

So why should you put additional effort into promoting your cause? Is the possibility of making additional money worth a little extra effort? Many groups work hard to promote their sale because they understand that they'll make significantly more money. However, the biggest benefit is that the more successful you are with your first fundraiser, the fewer you’ll have to have later.

Here's how you can plan to have your best school fundraiser ever:

Publicize Your School Fundraiser

• Have the person who does the announcements talk about the sale every day. Prepare different scripts for the announcer. Make it fun, creative and interesting to your students.
• Announce the sale on your marquee. Be creative here as well. If you are able to change it periodically, people will be more apt to notice it.
• Create and duplicate poster-sized charts that each teacher can post outside their classroom along with each student’s name. Every time a student sells 5 items they can place a star next to their name. Many students love to compete against their peers. Another option is to have large poster-sized paper on the wall near the office. As soon as a student reaches the fundraising goal they get to sign their name. At the top of the poster you can say something like ‘Fundraiser Wall of Fame’.
• Announce your big prizes every day (top seller, grand prize drawing etc.).

Keep Parents Informed About the Progress

• Send home reminder notices to your parents. You can use ones similar to those found in our school fundraising guidebook.
• Post information about your sale on your school website. Some companies provide a link that allows you to place their logo on your site.
• Place promotional signs in front of the school where parents pick up their students.
• Put posters in or around the main office area.
• Feature your big prizes in your display case and include a brief description of how students can win them.

Incorporate Additional Fundraising Incentives

• Consider incorporating prize drawing coupons into your daily announcements. Every time a student sells 5 items, they can drop their coupon into a drawing box for a chance to win a prize. Students love to hear their name announced and others will hear it and be motivated to sell as well.
• Every time a student sells 5 items from their brochure, have them ‘high-five’ the principal.
• Get the principal to agree to do something fun if the school reaches the goal. Make sure and announce it every day during your sale.

How many sales campaigns do you want to have to have to reach your budget goals? Then why not put all of your energy into having one strong campaign?

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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.