How to Kick Off a Small Group Fundraiser Successfully

How to make small group fundraising productive.

If you're sponsoring a small group at your school, like a high school choir or middle school band, your fundraiser kickoff will be crucial to its success. It allows you to set the tone for the sale in your students' minds. The time that you invest in preparing for and then executing your kickoff presentation can have a profound effect on your outcome.

You haven't done enough if you think you can pass out your materials and say a few words at the end of practice. Like anything else, you'll get out what you put in. Successful small group fundraising kickoffs should be official planned meetings that require 30-45 minutes of your student's time.

Why are Kickoff Meetings Important?

The main reason for the kickoff is to generate excitement and enthusiasm for your sale and ensure your students understand what they need to do. You must come across as credible. In other words, your group must see you as organized, passionate, and convincing. Otherwise, they won't buy in. The more passionate you are, the more excited your sellers will be and the more they want to get involved. As a result, you will make more money. You must also be prepared to convince your sellers why they should participate.

Do You Have a Fundraiser Purpose?

The very first thing you need to do is communicate your purpose. Don't assume your group will automatically embrace your campaign just because they like you or the group. Once you introduce it, you must continue reinforcing it throughout your sale. It will be important to them if it's important enough to you. How will you convince your sellers that your purpose is important to them directly? A well-communicated purpose will motivate everyone to work harder.

Have a Sales Goal and Reinforce it.

How much will each student need to sell to reach the financial goal? Do your calculations beforehand and come up with a reasonable number based on the time you'll have to sell. Ensure that your students put this number at the top of their order form. For example, "MY GOAL: 10 or more items by __________ date". You can do this by:

• First, determine the total amount each seller will need to raise.

• Then multiply the retail amount (Use $12.00) by your profit percentage to determine the total profit/item.

• Finally, divide the total money needed/seller by the total profit/item to determine the number of items each seller will need to sell.

Discuss the Fundraising Process

Pass out your supplies and review the following:

• Order Taker
  • Have your students fill in the spaces at the top and make sure they understand how the order forms will need to be filled out by their customers.
  • Ensure they only talk to neighbors, family, and friends and encourage them to ask mom or dad to take the brochure and order form to work.
• Fundraiser Brochure
  • Review the sales brochure page by page with your sellers.
  • You should familiarize yourself with it before the kickoff.
• Prize Brochure
  • Explain what they can win based on how many items they sell.
  • They only need to sell a few items daily to reach their goal.
• Parent Letter
  • Make copies of your letter before your kickoff and review it with them.
  • Ask them to go over it with their parents.
• Money Envelopes
  • Explain that money must be collected upfront.
  • Checks are made payable to your group.
  • Money and order forms are due back by the turn-in day.

Maintain Student Enthusiasm

Check in with your sellers and talk about the sale daily.

Add Extra Fundraising Incentives

Foster competition between sellers by offering fun yet rewarding additional incentives. Here are some examples:

• Top seller after the 1st day.
• Prize Drawings using coupons.
• Grand Prize Drawing (Sell 5 to get your name at one time. Then, for every additional five items sold, you get your name at additional times)
• Top Overall Seller (Reward the one who works the hardest and turns in the most orders)

If you incorporate these ideas into your next fundraiser, you will help ensure that you reach and exceed your sales goal without having to do additional 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.