6 Tips for Fundraising Success

Get everyone on board and excited about the fundraiser.

The most successful fundraisers get buy-in from all organization members. Students and parents are a big part of this process. But don’t forget about teachers, administrators, and others within your organization. The more people that know that the fundraiser is going on and who understand and are excited about the importance of the fundraiser, the better. Everyone in your organization should be an ally for your fundraiser. Even if they don’t purchase anything, having them on board as an ally helps build excitement that can carry across to the students/sellers and produce better results.

Have a clear and defined purpose for your fundraiser.

The best way to create excitement and buy-in is by helping everyone in your organization (especially the students and parents) understand the importance of the fundraiser. Do this by clearly communicating what the money will be used for and the consequences of not meeting your fundraising goals (see the article on how to define a fundraising purpose). Fundraisers with a clearly defined need tend to have a better chance at raising money versus fundraisers that are just asking for “general funds.” Give people a cause and a mission, and see how motivated they get.

Set and promote a fundraising goal amount.

Be clear about how much money you need to raise. People tend to be motivated by goals. Setting and promoting a goal amount helps people understand the need and encourages engagement. Make the goal attainable by also setting an item goal for each seller. Let them know, for example, that if everyone sells just 10 items (or whatever the number is), you will reach your goal. This last part is especially helpful for larger groups where a little participation from everyone can easily help reach large goals.   

Increase participation. You don’t have to purchase to help!

Our data shows that those who participate (share the fundraiser online and offline) almost always bring in sales. Donors (friends and family, etc.) are eager to help, but they have to be asked. The more of your student/parent population that shares, the more likely you are to meet or exceed your goals. It is important to stress to everyone that they don’t have to make a purchase to participate and make a difference. All they need to do is share the fundraiser online. The biggest reason that a fundraiser fails to meet its goal is due to a lack of participation from students/parents. Focus your attention on getting more people to participate by sharing. It works!

Communication and consistent reminders are key.

Across the board and without exception, the fundraisers with the best results communicate regularly with reminders about the fundraiser. We all worry about bothering people and bombarding them with too much communication. However, this worry is unfounded and can be detrimental to the success of your fundraiser. Why is it unfounded? As the one sending the communication, we may have the fundraiser on the top of our mind. We project that same mindset onto others and assume that they remember or are even aware of the fundraiser simply because we told them once or twice. 

The truth is that people need to hear the same message at least 3-5 times (if not more) before it takes root in our brains. It is important to send out emails or communication board messages (FundraiserCart even provides them), and talk about it in group meetings or classes, etc. We have found that the easiest part of the fundraiser is getting customers to say yes. The hardest part is getting the students and parents (sellers) to understand and remember the importance of the fundraiser. Communication is key to participation, and participation is key to fundraising success.

Stop selling and start sharing.

Selling is hard. Sharing is easy. Often, both fundraising coordinators and participants alike talk themselves out of sharing the fundraiser because they feel bad about selling. They believe that the economy is bad, so people won’t buy, or that it is too hard to be a salesperson, or any number of other reasons. However, we have found that people are very eager to help when given the opportunity. Share the cause and share the reason: don’t sell the product. The product is just a tool to achieve the cause and fulfill the reason. 

Online makes this very easy, as all you have to do is send an email or a text. Let your participants know that the success of the fundraiser comes from sharing, not selling. If they share, they will sell. But if they feel like they must sell, they won’t share. This may sound like a play on words, but it is not. A sale requires getting a yes or a no. It can lead to fears of rejection or desires not to “bother” people. Sharing is simply the process of spreading the word about your fundraiser and the cause it is trying to achieve. Sharing spreads the word, pressure-free, so that those who want to and can help are provided the opportunity to do so.