One Simple Change That Will Double Your School Fundraiser

Going to school used to be all about learning and studies. Today, however, it includes many other activities and “fun” events as well. But these special events and activities cost money. With cuts is school budgets for many schools and school districts the only option they have to pay for these events is for the school to raise the money in some sort of fundraising event.

Many consider fundraising to be sort of like the 3rd rail on a subway system. It can be looked at as something to keep away from at all cost, or it can be seen as the source of power that makes things go. A fundraiser that is well run on the other hand is something that can be a positive experience for everyone involved. From the school staff and teachers to the parents of the students and the community as a whole. If the product is a good one and the incentives are worthwhile, the school fundraiser can be a positive event that is enjoyed by everyone.

The fundraisers that are usually viewed negatively are usually the ones that the organizers take little or no consideration for what the participants (and their parents) will be getting out of the fundraising drive, especially if they or their child is not going to be on the bus for the 5th grade field trip. Think about it, even the First grade teachers have been raising money for years for that trip and they never get to go. After a while, that begins to wear down even the most well meaning people.

Sometimes you just have to wonder why it is that some schools will have huge sales and other schools in similar neighborhoods and similar size student bodies will have average results. They can even be selling the same fundraising goods, but their results will be miles apart. The answer to that question is not something that is readily apparent. It’s not the product or the neighborhood, it’s “How’ they run their sale that makes the most difference in the outcome.

A case in point is Howell Middle School in Victoria, Tx. For years they had been having $32-$38,000 sales with their 1000 students. One year, they made a change in only one thing…it wasn’t the product, that remained the same. They made a change in how they ran their sale and the year after they had a $34,000 sale they had a $72,000 sale.

What was even more interesting than the jump in their fundriaser profits was that this school had always had a problem finding volunteers to help with the fundraiser. The teachers at the school had never offered their help on any aspect of their fundraiser. That year, they had to turn away teachers and parents who volunteered on delivery day because they had more than enough to handle it.

All that came because they chose to run their sale differently than they had been doing it all those years previous. Napoleon Hill once said, “You can get everything you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.” That is the basis for changing the fundraising environment at your school.