Why School Fundraising Goals are Necessary

Why fundraising success is goal dependent.

In a recent Charlotte Observer post, an article about a mom upset over a fundraiser goal set by an elementary school PTO group in Union County. To be eligible to attend a magic show assembly, students needed to sell at least ten items out of their sales brochure.

The mom became outraged when her son came home in tears because he didn’t want to be left out if he couldn’t sell the ten items. The son knew it would be difficult as he was from a family of 8 siblings who struggled to put food on the table.

However, already aware of situations like this, the PTO provided another option to get to the magic show. Any students who didn’t meet the admission goal by selling from the catalog could pay $15 instead.

So considering the circumstances, is it right for sponsors to impose school fundraising goals on its students and parents? And as the author of the Charlotte Observer post stated, “Should parents pay so their kids can play?” We understand that there are probably mixed feelings about these issues, but in this case, we will argue in favor of the PTO. Here’s why:

Fundraising Goals Mean Stronger Sales

So why do groups fundraise in the first place? It’s to raise the needed money to help the school. Period. Nothing more and nothing less. Anything in life that’s worth obtaining requires work and sacrifice. It doesn’t matter what it is. Therefore, if the incentive to sell isn’t there, the results won’t be either, and the school does without. Schools have tried to eliminate prizes out of fairness and equality for everyone, but this method just hasn’t worked.

Fundraising incentives create excitement and help groups meet their sales goals. There needs to be some reward for students who meet specific objectives and a consequence for those who don’t. When students eventually leave the real world, they’ll face the same circumstances. Achievement is always going to get rewarded. It’s what helps improve our society.

As a result of the incentive requirements, this school ended up raising almost $23,000. The money was used to pay for various school and classroom necessities. How much money would have been raised if everyone was allowed to go to the magic show regardless of whether any sales were made?

Additional Fundraising Solutions

As mentioned, the school attempted to accommodate those students who may have had difficulties meeting their fundraising goal. Here are two additional allowances that they could have also considered doing:

• Students who couldn’t meet the sales goal could have sat behind those who did at the assembly.
• A prorated goal could have been implemented for families with multiple student households. For instance, households with three or more siblings must sell only five items.

Although these compromises appear viable solutions, they can also pose potential problems. To learn more, see Should Non-Sellers Be Admitted to Your Reptile Show?

Parents always have the option not to ‘play the game’. Fundraisers are voluntary. The problem with our society is that we’ve confused equal access with equal outcomes. In our opinion, this school did what they thought was best for all the students. But they also understood the need to set school fundraising goals to meet their financial objectives ultimately.

What other ideas do you have that might help solve this dilemma?

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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.