7 Habits of Highly Successful School Fundraising Sponsors

What separates successful sponsors from the rest?

There are two ways that potential customers can inquire about our school fundraising programs. Contact us by phone or submit a web form. Either way, it's pretty easy to tell when we have an experienced sponsor on the other end.

Their questions are more advanced, and they want to ensure they have all of the necessary sales tools to ensure their students succeed. They already know why they're raising money and even have fundraising goals for their students. They understand what's worked and hasn't and know how they want to motivate their group to sell.

Moreover, they've reviewed our catalog fundraisers and prize plans and are asking more advanced questions to see how our programs can best meet their needs. So what else makes them unique? Here are seven specific things that highly successful sponsors always seem to do:

1. They Have a Clear Fundraising Objective

With a well-thought-out purpose, you've established a strong foundation for a strong fundraising outcome. However, you'd be surprised at how many groups have a fundraiser because they know they will need money at some point during the school year. No one ever asks, "Why are we raising money?". Everyone involved falls in line like zombies. These schools are easy to recognize because when they provide us with their purpose for their parent letter, the most common response is, "It's for the general fund".

People should want to know more. If you want people to go out and sell, they deserve to know the 'why'. Most schools don't have to look far to determine their financial needs. So how hard could it be to define their purpose? Perhaps people won't support it, or worse, they may even oppose it. Many sponsors don't want to be locked into committing money to a specific purpose. What happens if they don't reach their sales goal?

Influential sponsors understand that having a well-thought-out purpose and financial benchmark is necessary. Why? Because if they've effectively sold their purpose up front, they know that people will be more apt to support it.

Learn 24 keys to fundraising success

2. They set Achievable Fundraiser Goals

Why is it not ok to ask your students to go out and do their best? It's because most probably won't. If you tell them that, why should your students take you seriously? It's incredible how many sponsors kick off their sales and then expect the sale to happen. It's as if the fundraiser kickoff meeting is enough by itself. These types of sponsors are grateful for whatever money comes in. They assume they've had another good year if they reach last year's goal. However, if they fall short, they could have done nothing about it. And if they happen to do well, they don't know why, but they're happy. This mindset is the norm for far too many groups.

Successful sponsors know how much money they need and how many catalog items each student needs to sell. Then they inspire them to reach their goals. One school wasn't satisfied with making $30,000 yearly because they knew that far too many students weren't participating in their fundraiser. As a result, they reworked their numbers, made a few changes, and now consistently bring in almost three times that amount with every fundraiser.

See how to set achievable school fundraising goals

3. They Track Their Sales Progress

Most sponsors don't know how their fundraiser turns out until it's over. By then, it is too late to affect sales. Successful sponsors raise more money because they track their students' progress. Then, if needed, they can adjust by influencing sales performance before it's too late. Here are three tools that can have a profound effect on fundraising results:

• Prize Drawing Game
• Progress Tracking Sheets
• Prospecting Lists

4. They Use Additional Fundraiser Incentives

Good sponsors understand that they must offer their students more than just the company's basic prize program to maximize results. They use additional fundraising incentives to get more students involved. Then they entice them to sell extra items out of their catalog.

Discover how to improve fundraiser sales without using money

5. They Inspire Students to Sell More

Great sponsors are 'natural-born' leaders because they understand how to motivate students to succeed. They consistently incorporate the perfect blend of effective accountability with a cheerful optimism that impacts students, their fundraising team, teachers and staff, and parents.

6. They Understand that Success Requires a Team

Influential sponsors don't go it alone, prioritizing recruiting others to help them run their sales. They also understand the need to get the teachers and the parents on board. Therefore, they're excellent at recruiting and delegating.

7. They Have Fundraising Credibility

When someone is credible, everyone takes them at their word. However, when they're not, the opposite will happen. There's nothing worse than making promises without following through.

Not long ago, we worked with a sponsor who promised a limo ride for her students who reached a higher fundraiser goal. When we followed up with the school to find out how their students enjoyed the limo, they said they didn't do it after all. How do you think their parents and students felt? Word spread. How many additional people found out that the limo ride never happened? Unfortunately, they weren't concerned about how this would affect future sales.

Good school fundraising coordinators always come through, no matter what adversity they may encounter along the way. Their students and parents will trust them to follow through. As a result, good sales results usually follow.

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.