Fundraising Services

Jessi McCafferty asked:


Organizing a college fundraiser can be rewarding and taxing or often easy and demanding. The contradictions may seem a little too much for a simple fundraising event. However, once you understand the market of these activities, it will become clear why these endeavors require proper preparation and a surefire idea in order to succeed.

College fundraising activities are different from other fundraising endeavors because they are trying to reach a different level of maturity: college students. Faculty members as well as other adults in the university are also part of the potential donors of college fundraising endeavors, but it is best to concentrate on students since they by far outnumber the other people on the campus.

These young adults are mature enough to make their own decisions, so it will be easy to appeal to their charitable side. However, college students are also hard to connect with. After all, they are usually preoccupied with their studies, their social lives, and their extracurricular activities. A good university fundraising plan must be sufficient enough to collect funds for these worthy causes. At the same time, they must be creative and exciting enough to catch the attention of the intended audience.

Show Them It Is Necessary

Among the popular university fundraisers are those that appeal to the need of the students and the faculty members. An example of this type of fundraisers is the “clean For A Buck” fundraiser. Here, the fundraisers go door to door to ask other students for a dollar in exchange for vacuuming their dorm rooms. This activity works, obviously, if the school has huge dorm halls.

Another similar activity is the labor auction or sale for members of the faculty. For a few dollars, a professor or any member of the faculty can have a student work for them. This works just like the usual celebrity fundraisers, where one can spend a day with popular personalities through winning the auction.

Everyone Likes Food

Of course, another basic human need is food, and what better way to collect funds than to use this need. College fundraisers can collaborate with various local food establishments such as restaurants, cafes, bars, and ice cream shops. This college fundraiser can work in various ways.

The establishments can opt to give a percent of their earnings for every customer the fundraisers bring in, or they can give a percent for every purchase of a particular item in their menu. Either way, both fundraisers work because they require minimal cash-outs.

For the “clean for a Buck,” the fundraisers will only need vacuum cleaners, which they can easily borrow from various individuals, while the fundraisers merely have to collaborate with the local establishments. With no capital invested, any amount of money garnered from the college fundraiser is sure to become revenue for the event.

The university fund raisers can also use other common ideas such as pizza fundraisers and discount card fundraisers, although they have make to sure the ideas can still appeal to the more mature market. But regardless of the difficulties, the university fundraisers are indeed fulfilling tasks to accomplish.

Juan Franco asked:


Copyright (c) 2008 AIM Fundraising

Every day I talk with people who have had their school fundraising program dropped in their lap. Many times they have taken on the job because there was no one else to do it. In every case, their main concern is that they do a better job on the school fundraising campaign than was done the year before. Imagine the pressure of running a sale in such a way that the school actually makes less than they did last year. Now that is what I call pressure!

To make your life a bit easier here is a simple guide to ensuring that your school fundraising events achieve their goals and operate smoothly. Namely, that they are both profitable and trouble free.

1. Setting a Goal

The very first thing that you must do is determine how much money you need to raise. Take into consideration the expenses you are likely to have. Coming up with a figure on exactly how much you need to raise can be a pretty big chore. It also helps your cause to have specific instead of “general” goals.

Running a school fundraising campaign with the intended goal to “raise as much as we can” is very hard to communicate to parents of your students and will likely not get a lot of support. If you find that you really don’t have anything pressing that you need to raise money for, it is better to give the parents a break and simply choose to not do a fundraiser.

2. Determine Your Timeline.

When conducting a fundraiser you must set a timeline. It is wise to consult a professional fundraiser if you are planning to do any type of product sale. They can help you determine a timeline that will allow you plenty of time to conduct your fundraising activities. They can even help you plan events around your calendar so that the Fall Carnival won’t interfere with your product sale, and your product sale won’t interrupt your Book Day’s and so forth.

3. What is Your Target Audience?

Determine who you will be targeting in your fundraising. Ask yourself is you want to make your school fundraiser a product sale or a family type of event fundraiser like an auction or carnival. Or, do you need to try to raise more money by doing a product sale like cookie dough or Christmas wrap. Each one of these type fundraisers have it’s own application in different schools. There are some schools that do a spaghetti dinner and make ten’s of thousands on them, while others will barely break even.

4. Incentives.

I have found that the prizes that are given in a particular school fundraising program has more to do with it’s success than any other single factor. A school could almost sell five dollar bills for ten dollars and do very well if you motivate the students and parents correctly.

One misconception about prize incentives is that many believe that the bigger the prize the better the sale. If one of the prizes for the top seller is an item that is the latest craze that year, then you will have a better sale. Do not fall into that trap.

The power of school fundraising is in the size of the group, not in who sells $1,000 worth of “stuff.” Think about it, would you rather have 2 students sell over $1,000 and 25% participation in your sale? Or would you make much more profit if you had 40% participation and no one sells more than $80.00?

When you think about it, the prize that gets the most kids to sell $80 is much more important than the big prize that gets 2 kids to sell $1,000! And what is really sad about that is most professional fundraiser don’t get that let alone the average PTA Fundraising Chairperson!

5. Promotion

How will you promote your fundraiser? One of the best ways to promote your fundraising campaign is by throwing out lots of reminders. When it is time for the school fundraiser, be sure to send a letter or an e-mail to parents long before the sale starts. Send another informational letter home with your sales brochure. Parents can be busy people and sometimes things slip their mind.

Though this guide is geared toward school or groups in the education system these are the basic steps involved in any form of fundraising. Use these steps to plan your events. If you spend some time in planning and making sure that you are sticking to the plan, you’ll find that your school fundraiser will go as planned.

Juan Franco asked:


Copyright (c) 2008 AIM Fundraising

Why is it most schools doing fundraising do not apply the principals you see discussed below, I have no clue. Maybe because most schools are trained to focus on the wrong things while choosing and planning a fundraiser.

School fundraising companies by nature emphasize their product lines and brochures. But that doesn’t answer the question why the school down the street that picked your second or third choice had a better sale! Your fundraising success has less to do with which brochure you pick (Don’t they all look pretty much the same anyway?) than with how you run the sale. Even profit % means little in how much money a school makes if the sale lacks the one key ingredient… MOTIVATION!

Here are the top 2 secrets on school fundraising that if heeded will make all the difference in your final profit.

First Secret - Run Your School Fundraising Event as Early in the School Year As Possible.

Deciding when to start the fundraiser can mean thousands in profit gained or profit lost. It is a well known fact that the first group to go into an office or neighborhood with their fundraising materials to ask for orders has higher sales than the groups that follow second or third or forth. Timing, however, is not the number one reason schools have profitable fundraisers.

Each month delay from the start of school that you put off starting your fundraiser will take $6.00 off every students sale! Multiply that by 500 students and a mid October kickoff and that school is missing out on $6,000 in sales simply by choosing that date on the calendar! Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that waiting till close to Christmas would be a good time to start your sale. It seems to make sense, but the statistics don’t confirm that to be factual. THE Main secret coming next…

Second Secret- (The Main Thing!) The Thing That Affects Your School Fundraiser Most is How You Run Your Sale.

Two similar elementary schools can have excellent leadership and both be excited and they both start their sale on the same date. They both can do everything they know to maximize their sale, so WHY can there be $5 - $10,000 difference in results?

Ready? Here is the number one, the most important, the “Big Kahuna” secret of all. Program Management (how you run the sale) is the most important element in running a successful fundraiser. You may Say, “I knew that but what is wrong with the way I run our fundraiser now?” The main problem I think is that not many fundraising companies train the fundraising sponsors in how to properly run their sales. In the interest of “getting the sale” they let the school have the lead, especially when dealing with a “headstrong” sponsor.

The are several key elements in Program Management that are key:

1) Set Goals

2) Have a Memorable Fundraiser Kick Off

3) Keep the Excitement Up During the Sale

4) Place Emphasis on Motivating Students and Teachers

The most important factor for changing the results for a better school fundraising event is the motivation you provide to the students and the teachers. The main reason why one elementary can have an $19,000 sale while the another, very similar elementary, will have a $40,000 sale is the way they do their incentives for students and teachers! It would surprise you how easy it is to do.

Shauna Hanus asked:


First things first you have to plan then plan and finally plan some more. The more organized you the fundraiser planner are the better your fundraiser will be. With a golfing fundraiser you will need to write a proposal, look for local sponsor ship, find a celebrity, locate a venue and advertise.

Your proposal should start with why you are fundraising is this to support a specific mission within your church or are you fundraising for a local cause. Your reason for fundraising must always be well defined. The second item in your proposal should be how much money you want to raise. Are you fundraising for a simple $1000 or are your goals much loftier. Be clear and concise. This always makes donors more open and willing to donate to your fundraiser.

Your next step in setting up your golfing fundraiser is to look for local sponsor ship. Contact local merchants and small business owners who may be willing to sponsor your fundraiser in exchange for some free advertising. If merchants know that a high traffic fundraiser like your golf fundraiser is available they may like putting there name out there. This serves two purposes, the first gains you credibility and funds and secondly it makes local merchants look good in the community.

Third on your list is to find a celebrity. If you live in a large enough community where you have television and radio stations you can invite a local personality to support your fundraiser. If someone in your organization has a contact for a big name celebrity what a great way to draw publicity to your golfing fundraiser.

Fourth on your list to put on a successful golf fundraiser is to locate a venue. Speak with all the local golf courses in your area about possible donating or giving you discounted greens fees. If you already have a celebrity signed up the golf courses may like the idea of a celebrity on there course. This becomes a great way for the golf course to advertise as well as looking generous by supporting your fundraiser.

Finally it is time to advertise. Advertise by all the means possible. Pull out all the stops as you advertise by print in newspapers and flyers. By air over the television and on radio. And the most valuable method of all is word of mouth. If your donors are excited about your golfing fundraiser they will surely talk it up to there friends and neighbors.

By following these guidelines and suggestions you will have an amazing golf fundraiser that just might become an annual event.

Jessi McCafferty asked:


So you have already planned your fundraising event - your fundraising events ideas are already put into action and everything is prepared. But if you think there is nothing else you can do in order to make your fundraising events ideas succeed, think again. The result of your fundraising event not only relies on how the event itself goes, but also on what you do after everything is settled and during the fundraiser event itself. Here are some of the things you can do in order to make you’re your fundraising events ideas will succeed:

Motivation

Properly motivate your manpower, especially if your staff is mainly composed of volunteers (meaning, you are not going to pay them). Motivate them by emphasizing the progress and the result of your fundraiser event. Set up a fundraising thermometer which can be downloaded online, for example. This can serve as a gauge of your progress-whether your fundraising event is succeeding or failing. Nonetheless, it will not fail to motivate your staff to work harder. You should also make them feel appreciated-give them a small honorarium if you can, or even a small token, especially if they are volunteering. This way, they will readily offer their services the next time you have a fundraising event.

Involvement

Be present at the fundraising event-and make your presence be felt by important people. If you can, talk to important people or those who can potentially donate significantly for your organization or your cause. This also makes them feel appreciated, since you are exerting effort to build a relationship with them.

Communication

And in line with the previous item, you should keep in touch with those who supported your fundraising event-from the volunteers to the donors. This way, they will never forget, and they will easily be within reach once you need their help again.

Competition

It is a good idea to research about the fundraiser events of other groups. However, try not to blatantly imitate their fundraising events ideas. Use their ideas and their concepts and give it your own special twist so it will become your own. Copying fundraising events ideas might attract the attention of people who are familiar with the fundraising event of the other group. Instead of helping your cause, they might mock your efforts.

Practicality

Make sure the products and service you will offer in the fundraising event is of good quality. This will ensure that many people will support your endeavor, and that they will continue to support your fundraising events in the future. Anything factor in your event that has bad quality can affect your chances to succeed.

Seizing Opportunities

Maximize the opportunity. For example, you are holding a benefit dinner fundraiser event. During the dinner, why not sell fundraising items to increase your revenue? This is neither awkward nor ill-placed; your supporters will understand your efforts as long as it is done properly.

One Word… Fun!

Lastly, make the fundraising event as lively as possible. This is so everyone will be encouraged to participate in the fundraising event.

Follow these simple guidelines and your fundraising event is sure to be a fun and profitable experience.