School Fundraising Prizes: 3 Reasons They Lower Sales

Three adverse effects prize programs have on participation.

Doesn't it seem contradictory that school fundraising prizes can decrease student participation? They're supposed to do the opposite. Students should be excited to have the opportunity to win a prize in exchange for selling items out of a sales catalog.

If you've ever seen elementary students at a kickoff assembly, what are they most thrilled about? Of course, the prizes.

Now, to be clear, top-seller rewards are exempt from this article. We're not focusing on these types of incentives. Usually, these are carefully picked out by the sponsor, who understands the latest toy or gadget everyone's talking about. The top seller prize is usually higher in quality and has to be good.

We're talking about the prize programs provided by most fundraiser companies. These prizes are displayed at the kickoff rally and appear in the prize flyer that goes home in the student's packet.

Experienced company reps who attend the kickoff know precisely how to present the prizes. The bigger prizes are on display on a table. To add suspense, they may even be covered up. The rep initially demonstrates how the smaller prizes work. The prizes that show best are the ones that move. For example, a toy may be able to fly around the room. This puts everyone in a tizzy.

Everyone seems to want it by all of the yelling and screaming in the room. And once the bigger prizes are revealed, the students are beside themselves. The screaming turns into a roar. They can't wait to get started.

Everyone's eager to check out the prize flyer inside their sales packet. They can't wait to get home to tell their parents they need to help them sell.

So what's the big deal? It seems on the surface that these prize programs should be able to get everyone to join in. So how can school fundraising prizes possibly decrease student participation?

To help answer that question, we've compiled three reasons many schools have questioned them.

1. Few Sellers Get the Big Prizes

The harder you work, the better the reward. That's the way it should be, right? Everyone leaves the fundraiser assembly excited because of the big prizes. There's not a student in the school that doesn't want one. Optimism is high, and the students are eager, at least initially.

However, things change in a hurry once they get home and have a chance to see how much they need to sell to get the big prizes. Excitement and optimism soon turn to disillusionment and disappointment. Johnny will have to sell to everyone at church on Sunday, let alone his friends and family.

For the perseverant, this can teach important lessons about staying the course, but it's not worth it for most. Many students will start strong, but most will fade and sell far less than they thought. However, most won't get off the fence and sell once they see the requirements.

As it turns out, out of those who do sell, the vast majority only sell enough to win the lowest-level prizes.

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2. Seller Apathy in Older Students

It's not the first-timers who are apathetic. They haven't experienced disappointment yet. It's the older students. They can remember their experience from last year. Frustrated and disappointed about winning a cheap and junky prize, it's just not worth it to them. Many older students are just not willing to sell again.

It's been proven that the younger primary grades carry the sales load for any given elementary school fundraiser. This equates to thousands in lost profit potential for the school. Because of the drop-off in selling with older students, overall participation can be as low as 10-15% for many schools.

Many schools are grateful for a $15,000 sale. But they would be disappointed if they genuinely understood the math and how much they could make.

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3. Cheap Prize Complaints

What's the most prominent complaint schools hear about the prizes? They're cheap, and they break after the first use. Many toys don't even work, to begin with. Some parents laugh it off as something to be expected. The novelty wears off so quickly that even if a prize breaks, it's quickly thrown in the trash regardless. The good thing is sponsors never hear from those people.

Others take it a little more seriously. Because most students who participate win these prizes, schools are likely to hear at least a few complaints. This becomes a hassle for the school because they must deal with the grievances. The last thing sponsors want to deal with is having to replace prizes. But worse, many of these parents will choose not to participate next time, and the school will never know why.

So how is this justified? Many companies say that the prizes are designed to excite the students, generating the momentum needed to make sales. The results are ultimately up to the school to keep the students motivated and the students to get out and sell.

This same justification about cheap prizes is often used to explain away objections about higher-priced, low-quality merchandise found in sales brochures. Why should people pay more when they can pay less for something similar at the store? The truth is most prizes found in traditional prize programs can be purchased at the local dollar store.

Unfortunately, most company prizes are low quality for a reason. Companies also have to make money after accounting for the school's profit and other business expenses. That only leaves so much in the budget for prizes.

The bottom line is that many schools are tired of dealing with complaints from parents and students who receive cheap prizes. But the real damage is the consequence of using this type of prize program and the often low participation.

So do company fundraiser prize programs work? To answer that question, you should probably take a poll from the schools that have used them. Schools that select them typically make a higher profit percentage and compromise on the prizes' quality. But does this strategy end up raising more money?

What many don't realize is that there are better prize programs available that have been proven to motivate more students to participate in school 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.