Why You Should Track Your Fundraiser Progress

Learn why tracking your group's sales leads to success.

If you're like most people, you want a fundraiser that requires the least amount of work possible but that will still yield strong sales results. Ideally, the goal is to find something that's eye-catching that people in the community will want to purchase while hoping that everyone's out there working hard to bring in as many sales as possible.

At least, this is how it would probably work in a best-case scenario. In reality, while finding a good product to sell is essential, ultimate success usually comes through finding ways to execute your sales plan.

Here are some reasons you should try to track your fundraiser progress.

Assume your students are selling.

However, how do you know if your students are selling? Your kickoff meeting is over; you feel confident your students understood the process and seemed eager to get started. You reminded your sellers to turn in their order forms and money envelopes. The day before everything was due. Then it hits. You discover that only about 15% of your students sold anything, and only about 10% of those who sold reached their sales goal.

What happened? Your initial confidence and peace of mind quickly change to frustration and disappointment. Could this have been prevented? If only you had known sooner that your students were off to a slow start. You might have been able to turn things around before it was too late. A lot can happen between the kickoff and the end of the sale. Students can lose focus or become distracted by other things calling for their attention.

How to be sure they're fundraising.

To help avoid this from happening, we recommend that high school groups track their fundraiser progress. Is it more work to track your sales? Absolutely, but considering the alternative, it may be worth it. High school groups should check their students' order forms and money envelopes at three stages of the sale: the day after the kickoff, halfway, and at the end. However, this only works if you remind your students the day before each check-in day to have their materials ready to present.

Track your fundraiser progress.

Here are the benefits of tracking the progress of your sale:

• Students are held accountable to keep up with their sales.
• Early detection of sales progress allows you to adjust before it's too late.
• Students know you're serious about them reaching their goals.
• You can incorporate additional incentives that coincide with your check-in days.

Time is a precious resource. Why not put everything into making your next fundraiser as successful as possible? After all, once it's over, there's no turning back.

See our brochure 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.