School Fundraising: 3 Kickoff Tips that Inspire Students

Introduce your fundraiser to your students and discover how to boost sales.

The school fundraising kickoff is probably the most important opportunity to present your cause to your students. If you get it right, it will establish a strong foundation to advance your sale. However, if it doesn't go well, it's tough to recover and compensate for it. It will be like trying to redirect a ship in the open water.

It's your job as the sponsor to find out what will inspire and motivate your students. How do you get inside their hearts and minds? You must understand what will make them want to convince their parents to help them sell.

Careful thought goes into picking out the perfect sales brochure, finding the right prizes, and deciding how the money will be spent. These are all important things. But now you need to make your all-important sales pitch. How will you put your fundraiser into motion and generate the necessary sales momentum to catapult your sales?

You only have one chance to make a great first impression. In the same way that fundraising companies must influence you to work with them, you must do the same with your students. The primary goal of the fundraiser kickoff is to get your parents involved. And the best way to your parents' heartstrings is through their children. This is especially important in elementary schools.

For more ideas, see 5 Steps to an Exciting School Fundraiser Kickoff.

Ultimately, you're looking for lots of sales through improved parent participation. Here are three tips that can turn almost every student into a fundraising ambassador:

1. Set the Tone with Great Kickoff Music

Not enough time is spent choreographing and rehearsing your kickoff before your students arrive. What you initially present to your students is important. But how will you do it?

First, set the tone from the beginning by having exciting music already playing before your students arrive. This will make them curious about what's happening and help get everyone in a positive mood. The kickoff is about generating an inspiring atmosphere. Always ensure you have prescreened your music and it's been radio-edited.

If you're an elementary school, you're going to have a lot of students in a large area, like a cafeteria or auditorium. It will make a big difference if you have a good sound system that can be heard throughout the entire area. If you want your students to get excited, make sure the music has a good range with high-quality bass and treble.

Make sure you test your system by walking to the back areas as the music plays. Keep in mind your audience will muffle the sound once they're in the room, so your sound system needs to be able to make up the difference. It's always better to make the music a little louder to compensate.

One important tip. Don't feel obligated to play music if you don't have a good sound system. There's nothing worse than having to listen to a cheap stereo. You can't afford to make a bad first impression, so if there's any doubt, you're better off not having any music. Students will also get loud, so you need a system to keep the music volume above the noise. At the same time, make sure you find a volume that will be suitable.

Before the speaker comes to the podium, you should already have someone gradually fade out the music. This change will get your students to pay attention to what's next. Don't just stop the music all at once. This abrupt change is unprofessional and will catch people off guard.

Similarly, once the presentation is over, have the person slowly turn up the volume so the music is loud again as the students begin walking out. In other words, the music is a cue to help get the students excited, but at the same time, it lets them know when it's time to listen to the speaker.

Also, if you'll present a company's kickoff video, it's always better to show it on a big screen than a smaller TV set. This may require a laptop computer that can hook into your sound system.

Learn 3 Great Ideas to Promote Your School Fundraiser Visually

2. Always Test Your Equipment In Advance

No production team films a television commercial live the first time through. This would be unbelievable. Nothing goes perfectly until it's been rehearsed and tried a few times. Some numerous takes and edits occur before the viewer sees the finished product. Unfortunately, you don't have the luxury of retakes with your kickoff, either. But you do have the opportunity to test your presentation equipment beforehand. In anything that involves technology, there's always something that can go wrong.

We observed one kickoff at a school that didn't realize they didn't have sound to their video until after they started showing it to their students. They didn't take the time to test it beforehand. The silent movie kickoff presentation didn't go off as intended.

Fundraiser kickoff videos that are professionally designed can be a powerful tool. If you are showing a video, run it through at least once before your students arrive. Also, test your microphone to ensure your voice is clear and loud from every point in the room. This will take a little time, so be sure to prioritize testing your equipment.

Ensuring that your equipment is working properly will help eliminate embarrassing mishaps. Think about it; you need to put your best foot forward. There's no turning back once you have an audience. You're performing for your students, so the least you can do is ensure it goes off without a hitch.

3. Good School Fundraising Kickoffs Include the Principal

Most schools will have the person in charge of the fundraiser walk up to the front of the room and start talking to the students. Sounds boring and uninspiring. Don't make this mistake. If you're the keynote speaker, arrange to have someone important introduce you. By important, we mean someone that the students all look up to. This is where the principal comes in. If they care as much as you do about their school having the needed funds, they'll be glad to help.

By asking your principal to introduce you, you are communicating to your students that what's about to happen is important. Students usually respect the principal as the leader of the school. So what they have to say should be worth listening to. And since they should be stressing the importance of involvement, your students will take notice. This will help set a powerful tone from the beginning.

Learn how to motivate your students to reach your sales goal. Fun Principal Incentives

How can you add credibility to your school fundraising kickoff?

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.