3 Steps to Productive High School Fundraisers

How to make your next high school sale succeed.

No one should doubt the enthusiasm and excitement many younger students have for selling. The idea of winning prizes seems to motivate them to want to succeed. However, older high school students are not so easy or forgiving. They often appear skeptical and, at worst, simply disinterested.

However, there are ways to inspire older students to get out and sell. And they can be just as productive as their younger peers. It's just a matter of understanding their unique characteristics and what their hot buttons are.

Here are three essential steps that can lead to more productive high school fundraisers:

1. Have a Fundraiser Kickoff Meeting

Some sponsors are content to wait for their students to drop by and pick up their sales materials. Others will hand out their materials at the end of class or practice and tell their students to return the money in a few weeks. However, if you want your sale to succeed, you must commit to a meeting with your students. Kickoff meetings allow sponsors to discuss their goals and objectives of the sale with everyone together at the same time. You'll need to convince your students why they need to participate, how much they need to sell, and the purpose of the sale.

2. Meet with your Sellers Consistently

Many sponsors feel the kickoff is enough to ensure success. Some groups may have logistic problems, making periodic meetings difficult. However, it's worth checking in on student progress and occasionally reaffirming your objectives. This does a couple of things. First, it reinforces the importance of the fundraiser to your sellers. Second, meeting regularly with your students will send a strong message of accountability. For this to work, you'll need to continue to remind your students when and where the meetings will take place.

3. Provide Additional Selling Motivators

If sponsors want productive high school fundraisers, they'll want to use additional incentives. If students know they can win a prize, privilege, or cash for selling, they'll work harder. Our money game is one program that works particularly well with high school students.

You don't have to give away cash or prizes by getting creative. Instead, you can provide special privileges that you know will motivate your group to sell. For example, baseball players who sell a certain number of items by Tuesday don't have to run at the end of practice. There are several ways that you can motivate your students that will help keep them focused on selling.

Sponsors who put time and energy into their sales will usually reap what they sow.

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.