FastTrack Fundraising Tips and Articles

The fact that there are so many students in a typical elementary or middle school creates the potential for huge sales and profits. But because there are so many students at one of these schools it can be hard to organize and control the results of such a large school fundraiser. All hope is not lost as there are three key elements to a school fundraiser that if monitored while planning for the sale, will all but guarantee that your fundraiser will be a huge success.

Communication!
Long before your school fundraiser gets started, things should be in place and ready to go for the big fundraiser kick off day. Probably the best thing that a PTA or PTO can do before the fundraiser ever gets started is to make sure that all the parents of the school children know that a fundraiser is about to happen BEFORE it happens. At least once and it is even better to do this twice, send a letter home with the students that tells the parents a little about the upcoming school fundraiser and why the school needs the funds. In any communications you do in this manner never forget to ask explicitly for their help and participation.

Build Excitement!
Have an assembly or rally to kick the fundraiser off. The fundraising chairperson can create excitement about the fundraiser. It is also great to discuss with the students what money is being raised for – where will the money they earn go? What are the positive results of their efforts?
Of course you really don’t have to cover all that in great detail with the students as doing that in any great detail would put them to sleep. We want them excited about the sale, not bored to tears about it. So unless you have a production equivalent to High School Musical 2 or the real Sponge Bob and Patrick to cover those details in song or antics, I would say, “Just mention it.” The bottom line is that the kids generally don’t have the interest or the memory to “spread the word” about what the money is going to be used for. That is what the parent letter is for anyway.

Motivation!
The part that gets the students attention and raises their excitement is not the product being sold or the purpose of the fundraiser… It’s The Prizes! In fact, if your prizes are really good, you could actually forget about the communication stuff mentioned above. The students will make sure your parents know all about it. If all you do for a school fundraiser kickoff is show the prizes and hold up the fundraising brochure that the prize program “goes with,” you will have a perfect fundraising kickoff. It is really that simple as long as the prizes are really good.
By organizing, building excitement and rewarding the students – your fundraiser can be successful no matter what fundraising product you choose. Now, in this article, I have over simplified the whole 3 step process: but not by much. There are some specific points about each of these 3 elements of a school fundraiser that warrant close attention. Most of the time it is a good idea to run your fundraising ideas by an experienced fundraising consultant and heed their advice.

A Word to the Wise!
Most fundraising companies are more interested these days in “getting your business” than in actually coaching you in how to run a profitable fundraiser. Most will sell you on their product or their service or their profit percentage as the key point in a successful fundraiser. This is far from the truth, and if you spend a few minutes thinking about it, you know this is true. Prizes are what drive school fundraisers. If you do the ordinary, ho-hum, regular prizes, you will end up with ordinary, ho-hum, regular results. This is why schools that make a change in their philosophy about prizes usually double or more their previous year’s sale. It is not the product, service or profit percentage that makes the difference… it’s the prizes.

By Juan Franco

The back to school season often means fundraisers are in full swing, whether they are for schools, clubs, sports teams, or scouts. And while students are encouraged to sell an assortment of products to people they know, a lot of moms and dads inevitably get pulled into the mix, hitting up co-workers and relatives for everything from wrapping paper to popcorn to cookie dough.

If fundraising season is in full swing at your house, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• These days just about every fundraiser for grade school students advises kids not to sell to strangers. That’s sound advice, but if your neighborhood is open to solicitations, you can still accompany your young scout or athlete doing door to door sales–but don’t have the kids solicit alone.

• Contact your local Publix to ask about scheduling a time to do fundraising. Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops can frequently be seen on weekends selling popcorn or Girl Scout cookies (you’ll have to wait until spring for those Thin Mints and Do-Si-Dos).

• While it’s tough to get younger kids to fully understand the purpose of fundraising, get them engaged in the process as much as possible. Have them ask Grandma and Grandpa if they would like to buy something from the latest fundraiser, and thank them for their support.

• If you take your kid’s fundraising forms to work, make sure that you are not violating any office policies. A lot of workplaces frown upon employees using e-mail lists for solicitations, so don’t run afoul of Human Resources.

• If you are permitted to bring fundraisers to work, ask your manager first, and set out any fundraising forms in a common area, like near the office coffee pot. Do not put the fundraising form in a folder with a routing slip and expect your co-workers to fill it out and forward it. The form could end up sitting on the desk of someone who had more important things to do and never make its way around the office. It’s important to make fundraising feel optional, not an obligation.

• Speaking of obligations, it’s best not to push fundraisers for your child in the workplace if you are the boss. Subordinates might feel pressured to buy something (even if they don’t admit it to you) and might mention it to HR if you work in a corporate environment.

• Don’t feel bad if you get turned down by close friends, neighbors or relatives this year. With the current recession, a lot of people are trying to save money any way they can. Besides, if there is one thing that’s certain about student fundraisers, it’s that there is always going to be another one next year.

For more info: Getting back into the back-to-school mode? Read the At-a-glance calendar for first semester and the Checklist for students and parents.

“Congratulations Ms. Cantsayno, you’ve been appointed fundraising chairperson. Your mission, should you decide to accept (and you will because we know that’s the kind of person you are) is to oversee our school’s fundraising activities. Good luck.” Do not panic. Fundraising is not for wimps. You’ll never hear Tom Cruise whine, “But…but…I’ve never done this before.” Now is the time for action. The following attack plan was developed with the fundraising rookie in mind in consultation with several experienced fundraisers. One word of caution: every fundraising program is different so the logistics can vary greatly. However, once you’ve selected a particular program and a professional company, your fundraising representative can help you map out the details.

6 Months Before

Step 1 – Set a Goal

No fundraising activity should be without purpose and that purpose should be one that everyone can support. Why do you need the money? How much money do you need? When setting the fundraising goal, be specific. Involve all interested parties in setting the goal and then make that the focus of your campaign from start to finish. If the goal is meaningful to school administrators, faculty, parents and children, your chances for success are greater.

Step 2 – Recruit a Committee
New fundraising chairs often try to do too much themselves rather than delegate. Recruit a team of three or four parent volunteers to help organize the activity and recruit any other needed volunteers. For example, assign one person to take care of publicity; two to handle money collection and record keeping; and another to manage delivery logistics.

Step 3 – Select a Company
Get this right and the rest should be a cakewalk (pardon the expression). Pare down your list to two or three companies and make appointments with each. Allow enough time (at least 45 minutes) for a proper presentation. Step 3 is not the place to skimp on time and effort. Competing companies will need to know your group’s financial goal; the number of potential participants and their ages; and any historical information you can provide (e.g. past fundraisers, participation levels, successes and failures).

You will need to learn from each of the companies you interview: § How long has the company been in business?

1. How many years of experience does the company representative have in fundraising?
2. Are the program’s product/s of high quality that the organization will be proud to stand behind?
3. What services are available to save you and your volunteers time and energy?
4. How will the program work? Are products paid for in advance or upon delivery?
5. Does the company understand and comply with your state sales tax laws? § How is safety addressed? Does the company discourage unsupervised door-to-door sales? Will adult supervision be stressed? How will these points be communicated to parents? Children?
6. What promotional assistance will the company provide? (kick-off assemblies; parent letters; posters; samples for display; etc.)
7. Is there an incentive or prize program? If so, who pays for it?
8. How are products shipped and when? Who pays the freight?
9. What is the policy regarding damaged or unsold product? What about back orders?
10. Will there be a written agreement?
11. Can the company provide references? (Be sure to call and check these references.)

Again, it’s important to remember that there are many types of fundraising programs. Not all of the above criteria may apply to your organization or the company with whom you choose to work.

Once you’ve selected the firm, set the dates and place them on a school or community activities calendar to avoid overlap within your own school or neighboring schools. Clear activities and crucial dates with appropriate officials (school principal, coaches, and custodians) to avoid conflicts with other events. Now relax for a few months

1 Month Before

Step 4 – Final Planning
Contact your fundraising representative and meet with your fundraising committee to review logistics. Make a list of materials that you’ll be responsible for and those that the company will supply. Determine how many adult volunteers you’ll need to execute the fundraiser at every step. Develop a master schedule of important dates for everyone to use as his or her blueprint. Include such details as: advance promotion (press releases, newsletter articles, billboards); arrival dates for company materials; kick-off activities with students/teachers/parents; deadlines for orders/money to be turned in; reminder notices/P.A. announcements; delivery of products and prizes; announcement of results to all participants; volunteer appreciation; and a wrap-up meeting to review the entire event. Let teachers know about the fundraiser so that they may incorporate it into their lesson plans.

1 to 2 Weeks Before

Step 5 – Advance Promotion
Send a flier home to parents announcing your fundraising goal and when they can expect to receive their fundraising packets/products. Put up posters around the school and post dates on the school billboard, web site and on the homework hotline. If an open house or parents meeting is scheduled, arrange a display with product samples from your fundraising project.

1 to 2 Days Before

Step 6 – Countdown
Touch base with fundraising company, school administrators and custodians to reconfirm logistics. Gather and sort the supplies you’ll need from the company. Check in with your committee and team leaders. Call volunteers to remind them of their responsibilities and when they’re needed. Post reminders to teachers, explaining procedures, reminding them of the goal.

D-Day
Step 7 – All Systems Go
This is when you start to congratulate yourself on all the careful planning. Kick-off activities, if scheduled, go off without a hitch. Appropriate materials finally go home to each family. If your particular event will last over a one- or two-week period, make your final preparations to motivate volunteers. Remind volunteers of important deadlines; the group’s ultimate goal and what progress has been made. Some families may jump right on the fundraising project, returning their order forms/money immediately. So it’s a good idea to review your process for order and money collection to ensure theseearly returns are accounted for. Likewise, now is the time to review your plans for product delivery first to your school and then to the end-user. Touch base with the fundraising company representative for an approximate date of delivery. Reconfirm availability of space with school officials. If parental pick-up is planned, begin scheduling times once a firm delivery date has been determined.

Step 8 – Product Delivery
Again, fundraising programs will vary widely. Sometimes products will go home with students. Sometimes parents will pick up the orders. There are some instances that the product may go directly to the end-user. Have enough volunteers on hand to handle products at the appropriate time, making sure there is someone to trouble-shoot missing orders. Forward appropriate paperwork (invoice, purchase orders) to your organization’s treasurer or bookkeeper to ensure prompt payment. Then, congratulate yourself again on yet another well-executed plan.

1 Month After

Step 9 – Evaluation
Did your group meet or exceed financial expectations? Are plans underway toward implementing the originally stated goal? (Is the new playground equipment on the way? Are the field trip plans complete?) Communicate the final fundraising results by P.A., billboards, newsletters, parent letters, etc., thanking participants for their support. Meet with your committee to review the entire activity and any notes taken along the way to identify improvements for next year. Provide an overall report to the school principal in a brief meeting. And provide your fundraising company representative with your feedback. Now you can proudly pass on your file and vast knowledge to the next, more fortunate fundraising chair, because … congratulations, Ms. Cantsayno, your successful fundraising efforts just landed you the position of incoming President.

Source: AFRDS

Elementary school children have plenty of enthusiasm and energy that needs to be released under careful supervision. One way to augment their determination is to encourage their involvement in school fundraising events. As children strive to complete every assigned task, they learn to cooperate with each other and develop a sense of responsibility. Teachers and parents participate in these events and provide appropriate guidance to ensure that the children complete their hard work safely and receive much emotional and psychological reward for it.

Sweets make an excellent fundraiser for elementary schools. Many companies have developed fundraising programs specifically for elementary schools, and you can find out relevant details by consulting their business representatives. Make sure that your selected company provides enough promotional materials for your school to distribute. Working with teachers and parents, you can further take the opportunity to educate children about sweets as “sometimes” foods that are consumed only on special occasions.

Perfumed candles and other decorative items, such as calendars and dishes featuring children’s art works, are also a good way for elementary schools to raise funds. Your selected company offers attractive brochures for families to browse through and place orders, providing ample opportunities for the children to utilize their talents. In return, the company gives a percentage of the raised money back to your school.

Finally, book fairs, sporting events and carnivals are great ways to raise funds for elementary schools. Because both parents and children are able to participate, these events can often attract large crowds and contribute much to your school’s fundraising and public relations efforts. Make sure that you invite local businesses, particularly the media, to participate, either as sponsors or to occupy stalls that promote their products and services. Much support can also be found in nearby preschool facilities and high schools.

Churches and religious groups need to raise funds in order to survive and continue serving their supporters. Like businesses large and small, the best way for churches and religious groups to improve their fundraising campaign is to create and promote their “brands”. To build a brand is to explain who you are and what you can do for those who have faith in you. It also helps establish a strong emotional bond between you and your supporters.

To further enhance such emotional bond, here are some useful ways in which churches and religious groups can express gratitude towards their supporters:

• Custom pewter medallions and coffee mugs, which can be crafted to showcase the representative image of your church or religious group and its specific message.
• Engraved or personalized bricks, which can be arranged around a special entryway or sidewalk. They can even be used in landscaping the building or garden of your church or religious group.
• Brass plagues and wall displays, which can be mounted against a polished wood backdrop in high-traffic areas for everyone to recognize the contributions of your supporters.
• Gift plants or memorial trees, which can be erected both indoors and outdoors. Gift plants are three-dimensional sculptures of plants whose leaves are engraved with the names of your supporters. Meanwhile, trees can live for years and help reinforce the bond between your church or religious group and its supporters.

Remember, there is no better way to thank your supporters by publicly recognizing their contributions. Indeed, all of us can do with some faith in certain power “behind the scenes” that sustains us through life’s hardships. Our faith enables us to appreciate the strengths of those around us. Only when we have faith in our fellow people can we have faith in this world.

Package your sunflowers into a Sunflower gram for extra value! Mothers will love that personal touch.

Things You’ll Need:

• Vase (optional)
• Mother’s day card or note
• 3-4 sunflowers for a bouquet, 1 sunflower for a single gram

Instructions

Step 1:

After ordering and receiving your sunflower fundraiser, select sunflowers that are able to hold their heads up with ease. Sunflowers have very heavy blooms, and older flowers will begin to droop on the stalk. You want to find those that stand tall and firm on their stems.

Step 2:

For  a single gram, take one flower and tie with a ribbon near the head of the flower, to create an impressive and cheery Mother’s Day gift.

For a bouquet, simply use three or four flowers.

Step 3 (optional):

Choose a tall, slim vase in which to package your gift of sunflowers if you would rather not sell them in a hand-held bouquet. Sunflowers are very top heavy, so make sure any vases you buy can hold the flowers steady (the water in the vase will help to stabilize it somewhat).

Step 4:

Attach a card that mentions the sunfloewrs with a ribbon to the stem on the bottom of the bouquet or the flower head. You can create a variety of card messages that supporters can choose from.  Sell each sunflower gram for $4.00 or a bouquet for $10.00.

The best type of fund raiser would be a party. Everyone loves a party. It is a way to unwind and have fun with friends. So for this, the organizers should choose a theme. After deciding on one theme, they should decide on a certain group of people they would want at that party as these people would want to be with other people whom they have something in common with. An example would be a party just for employees of a certain company. Another example would be a party just for bloggers. Only certified bloggers would be allowed to participate. This would ensure that the people would more or less know each other hence bringing together more people as it targets a certain audience.

The next thing would be to get a location for this party. It could be at an open air venue or a big function room. It would depend on the number of people the organizers are expecting to attend. After which they must find sponsors to be able to pay for the location and other expenses that might occur while planning this event. The sponsors will also pay for the costs of the sound systems and lighting systems as it is important that a party have a good lighting and music. Also check if you will be able to get disc jockeys or DJs to mix music for your party because that would add pizzazz to the whole event. If not ensure that you would have a good sound system that would produce good sounding music for the people.

As it is a party, it should be decided as to whether food and drinks will be free. If food and drinks will be free, it will definitely bring people flocking in. Freebies and raffles are also highly recommended to entice people to come. An example would be a free case of Coke for those who bring two more friends along. This would urge people to bring their friends along. It could also be done that free flowing drinks will be given instead of food and drinks. But do check out the age range of the crowd that you would want attending your party. If you do have a party with free flowing drinks, it might be advisable that this party be for people of a certain age only. You can also opt to have a limited amount of food and drinks to be able to cater to both needs of the group. Just make sure you take into consideration the type of group you would want at your fundraiser.

The costs of the tickets should just be at a minimum level in order to make people want to go. If it were too pricey, they will opt to not go instead of spending such a big amount. This sort of event could be advertised through flyers. It is highly advisable to get volunteers to go around selling tickets to different people. Also send out mass electronic mails (emails) to friends to urge them to attend and bring other friends.

The best way to learn more about another culture and another country is by eating their cuisine. Their food would give you an idea of how their country is and what type of food they like. The type of food they like says something about how they are as a race and as people that are a part of this world.

A good and innovative fundraiser is a food sale. But this is not just any food sale but rather an international food sale. One can advertise this to be an educational and worthwhile experience. While one is learning about different cultures, one is also helping a certain cause.

For this sort of fundraiser, the organizers would need to decide on a venue. A school with an open field would be good. One reason would be because students do need to eat and the food sale would be something new for them. Rather than eating at the cafeteria, they can be tasting something new.

The second thing the organizers need to decide on a time and the duration of the food sale. A good duration would be five days. This will give the organizers time to raise enough money and give them a chance to rotate the menu as to ensure that people will keep coming back for more educational and gastronomical experiences.

Organizers should also decide on the type of food that would be served. One day could be all South east Asian food. They can sell sinigang from the Philippines, satay from Malaysia and curry form Singapore. Another day could be devoted to Asian cuisine. This would include food from other parts of Asia. Another day would be solely about Mediterranean cuisine. They could serve kebabs among others. The fourth day could be the rich Western food. They can serve Italian, French and Spanish food. The last day could be a mixture of the bestsellers from the past four days. The organizers should also find out and get an estimate of the possible population they would get in order for them to choose how many types of foods to sell. They should also have desserts apart from the usual savory dishes.

For sponsors, they could talk to different restaurant owners and culinary schools because this is more along their line of business. These sponsors could advertise themselves and have booths along with the food sellers so the buyers would have an idea. In turn these sponsors could also help the organizers by advertising the food sale in their establishments or schools.

In promoting this fundraiser, it is important to stress out that this food sale does not only give back something to a cause but it also allows the participant and buyers to have a peek of different cultures. Make it sound like an enjoyable learning experience so that people would go and check out what it is all about. Just make sure that the prices are reasonable enough to make sure that people would indeed buy the food being sold there.

One of the traditional fund raisers is to conduct a bake sale. During bake sales, people would come together with their baked goodies and sell them off to people for a certain cause. For this sort of fundraiser, one would need about a month to organize this event. One would need to find a location that is accessible to many people. If it is to be held at a public park or open space, the organizers would need to talk to people in charge of those areas to discuss possible charges and how they can go about.

There should be different people who would be assigned to make certain baked goodies that would cater to the market that they are selling to. It would be a good choice to make sure that the consumer would have different choices. It would not be advisable that three women be asked to bake apple pies. So discuss in advance what the types of baked goodies would be made to ensure that everything will be finished and nothing will go to waste. Create a budget for the bakers to follow so that you would be able to minimize the cost and make maximum use of the profit which would just go straight to the cause.

Get sponsors for this bake sale. Find companies and individuals that are willing to support your cause. These sponsors would shoulder any possible cost that might come about while preparing this bake sale. The sponsor and the organizer should come up with a scheme as how they would be able to repay the sponsor for shouldering the costs. An example would be by placing tarpaulins up around the area advertising the company or individual who sponsored the bake sale. Call up companies which are known to sponsor causes so that you will have an easier time convincing them about your cause.

Make sure that the bake sale is advertised. Make flyers and pass it around to people who might be interested. If you are holding it in a residential area, pass it around to all the houses to ensure that you will get some people to come over. If you are holding it in a public area, pass the word to people whom you would see around the area. It would also be good to hold this bake sale in a school because one could be sure of a crowd due to the number of students. But always put up tarpaulins or give away flyers to give the people in that area an idea that a bake sale will be taking place.

It would be good to have a bake sale during a weekend to make sure that everyone will be rather free to attend and check out the goodies. Also have a day end sale to ensure that all the baked goodies will be disposed of. About two hours before the bake sale ends, cut everything by 20 to 50 percent to ensure that people will buy these.

Ever since China started mass producing those extremely cheap DVD players, the number of movie goers have dwindled down. Many people would opt to buy a cheap DVD and watch their favorite actors and actresses at the comfort of their own homes in their pajamas. Another reason would be due to the fact that the price of movie tickets have gone up as compared to before. In the past, movie tickets were rather cheap which was why it was easy to simply go to the movie house and catch a movie to distress.

One good way of raising funds would be to have a movie premiere fundraiser. As it is for a good cause, people would think twice and opt to watch their favorite stars on the big screen instead. To go about with this sort of fundraiser, one would need to tie up with a cinema that is accessible to many people. They could slightly bring down the price of a movie ticket for people to be more interested to watch the movie at that particular movie house. They could throw in a couple of freebies with each movie ticket to make it more enticing. For example, the cinema could throw in a hotdog and a Coke with each movie ticket. It would also be good to give the movie goers choices for their freebies. Aside from just a hotdog and a glass of Coke, they can opt to have a tub of popcorn and a glass of Coke that would come free with the ticket. To make it even more enticing, they can add another freebie that would be limited to the one hundred buyers. It could be an extra tub of popcorn or another hotdog. If that would not be amenable, one could opt to have discounted tickets. For example, for every ticket they buy, they get a 5 percent discount off a tub of popcorn.

If the movie is a local film, it would be good to invite local movie stars involved in the movie to participate in these kinds of fundraisers as it will bring more people to come ad watch in order to hopefully get a glance of their favorite star. This will be a bonus too for the actors as this could serve as a promotional campaign for their movie.

To spread the word, one should go around populated areas such as schools and malls. Get volunteers to help sell these tickets to be able to reach more people. Start organizing this fundraiser a month to two in advance. This would give the organizers time to get the cinema involved and make a deal with the cinema. To give the organizers enough time to go around and spread the word, two weeks to a month would be ample time so they can make sure that the cinemas would be full. Careful and detailed planning needs to be done so that ample proceeds would go to the cause that you are raising funds for.