When More School Fundraisers Make Less Sense

How to reach your financial goals with only one sale.

More is always better. Most will probably answer no to this question. So why do so many schools schedule multiple sales campaigns?

We understand that school fundraisers help underfunded organizations and need money to cover expenses that districts can't provide. This issue seems to worsen over time, so the need for funds is growing. But that's not the point. It's not the act of fundraising that's the problem. It comes down to the age-old argument: quality vs. quantity.

So what do we mean by that? We've found two types of sponsors in over 20 years of helping schools raise money. The first type puts everything they have into a single fundraiser, while the other follows up the first sale with a second and even a third if necessary.

It's interesting which type will raise more money in the long term. You might assume the sponsor has multiple campaigns, but you'd be wrong in most cases.

Many people are led to believe that additional sales bring in extra money. Even if sponsors plan and spread their fundraising over the school year, is this still a good approach? Unfortunately, there is a point where the law of diminished returns starts to kick in. The first fundraising event is usually the most effective, but it goes down from there.

We even have groups that want to run our sale at the same time that they're running one with another company. This is where sponsors think that more product variety leads to more sales. It does, up to a certain point.

Usually, some people will buy from one brochure while others will buy from the other, with no net gain. This even creates more work for the sponsor because they must separate order forms. Imagine what happens if some order forms get sent to the wrong company. It happens all the time and is a nightmare for everyone involved.

Companies have also caught onto this and added clauses to their contracts that ask the person signing to agree not to run any additional sales simultaneously. However, it isn't intelligent to think everyone abides by these requirements. Yet it's ultimately the school that suffers the consequences.

You might wonder if schools can still reach their goals with fewer sales. One way to look at this is to examine the effect fundraising overload has on parents and communities.

If you need to raise a lot of money, it seems logical to have as many sales as possible. Yet this approach always leads to less fruit for the labor.

Here are some excellent reasons why you may want to consider resisting the urge to plan multiple sales:

The Drawbacks to Lots of School Fundraisers

Check out the disadvantages of having multiple sales over time:

• Successive campaigns usually never work out as well as the first.
• If your first sale was unsuccessful, the second one won't be either.
• Multiple campaigns will force people to choose the one they will participate in.
• Oversaturating the community eventually becomes a problem, especially when other groups are also out selling.

Who Wants Crisis-Management Fundraising?

Schools will often have a follow-up sale if the first sale is unsuccessful. Most people don't respond well to this. We call this crisis-management fundraising. People don't like it even if told it might happen in advance.

Who's going to want to participate in another sale? Plus, if your parents know there might be an additional sale, they may choose not to participate. This strategy communicates that you lack direction.

The Exception to a Second Fundraiser

In rare cases, schools may need to have a second sale. There is one exception where this may be ok. Everyone knows beforehand about a larger goal that one campaign cannot accomplish.

Most of the time, it's best to limit your selling to one or two school fundraisers yearly. Communicate that upfront with your supporters and stick with it, regardless of your results. This helps build integrity and trust.

More people will support your efforts to raise money if they know in advance that you'll stick to a set number. It also helps when people see where the money is being spent. Tell them about your plans up front, and then make sure they see where the money was spent.

You'll be better off with good planning and effective promotion to ensure that you'll reach your goals with fewer campaigns.

Learn the ABC'sof Effective School Fundraising Promotion

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.