Keeping schools up and running is an expensive task and as the new school year begins it’s important to keep in mind vital steps to running successful fundraising programs that help keep campus budgets in the black. We’ll take a quick look at some easy to follow tips to make your fundraising program a success.
Know What You Need:
In order to successfully execute a lucrative school fundraiser campaign it is important to give yourself enough time to plan, organize, and execute. Know the amount of funds that needs to be raised and set a realistic deadline for meeting that amount. This will give your campaign a set goal and will allow your team to begin setting a fundraising timeline. The more organized and realistic your goals are the easier it will be to gain support from students, faculty, and the community.
Research is Key:
Great plans can always be foiled by the presence of a bad image. Do your research and look to see what your organization has done in the past. Find out what did or did not work for your group and plan around past successes and failures. It’s important that you don’t keep making the same mistakes time after time or else your organization will build a reputation for failure. Take the time to find out what other groups are doing for fundraising. Unlike business, fundraising campaigns don’t normally benefit from competition. The idea of taking a standard product or service and charging above market value in the name of a good cause usually spells disaster in the face of competition. Try and steer clear of overlapping products or services with other organizations. Having the same product or service as another group will only result in failure.
Market Your Idea:
You’ve got a plan, now it’s time to sell your ideas. It’s important that the goals of your school fundraiser relate to the people you’re planning on targeting. Regardless of what your organization is doing to raise funds it’s important to sell your ideas to your target donators. Regardless of what your product or service that your selling is, a donor that supports your cause is more likely to give a larger donation than someone just purchasing your product or service.
Power of the People:
Gain support from local community members, staff/faculty, and students, manpower is crucial to a successful fundraising campaign. The more people working towards your goals, the easier it will be to reach them. Once your campaign is fully staffed organize your team into smaller groups and get the ball rolling.
Avoid Gimmicks:
We’ve all fallen victim to the gimmicks of wanting to be the top seller so that we could win that 12 speed mountain bike. The truth is these gimmicks won’t work in your school fundraiser. Avoid outrageous highly unrealistic reward systems and instead opt for smaller realistic incentives. Avoid offering a “Big Grand Prize” to the top seller; although this may seem like a good idea it will only result in reduced overall sales and donations. Once an individual has exceed their peers by a certain amount of sales the top seller will only continue to increase their sales while the other participants’ totals either grow very little or cease to grow altogether. Group rewards tend to result in overall higher sales as participants are encouraged to reach a goal together and are only rewarded together.
Be Creative but Not Annoying:
Get your people out in public view. It’s important to make sure your school fundraiser is actively seeking out donors for your program, but it is also important for your group’s image to remain respectful of the people you’re targeting. Be creative in your sales approach try new ideas and approaches to getting your product out there. Try unconventional methods of getting your campaign out there. Try various methods such as looking for local corporate sponsorship, placing advertisements in local papers or on local radio/television stations. Hit campus related mailing lists, alumni mailing lists, and even internet social networking sites. Be careful not to over do it or else your group my just come off as overbearing, find the nice balance in between obscurity and public nuisance.
Keep Records and Evaluate:
The work doesn’t end once your final product has been delivered to the donor. Keep records of everything! Not only will this help you stay organized and in control of your campaign as it goes along, it will also benefit your group in future years. It’s important to evaluate your campaign and to review your totals. Spend a few days analyzing and organizing your statistics. This data will be extremely beneficial for the future years of your organization. Keep track of various details such as which sales approaches worked and did not work, which locations brought in the most donations, what products or services provided were most cost efficient.
Conclusion:
Following these simple fundraising tips will starting your school fundraiser a cinch. Not only will your group be more efficient, motivated and organized, your entire organization will benefit for years to come.
