If you’re on a high school fundraising committee and have come to the realization that you need to expand your ideas for fundraising, there are some important things you need to consider before you even think about asking people for money.
Now, more than ever, we need to look at new ways raise funds. And I don’t just mean a new recipe for brownies. There is a swarm of competition for every donated dollar and you need to step up or get left behind. Here are my top three tips for the success of your school’s fundraising activities.
1. A critically important, yet often overlooked factor when you start high school fundraising, is making sure that you first develop a plan. The reason why this is so important is because there’s so much more to it than simply selling brownies. If you don’t have a clearly defined plan, with a step-by-step blueprint to manage every aspect of your school’s fundraising efforts, then you run the risk of falling short of your desired outcome, at best.
2. Another critically important consideration for high school fundraising is what you intend to offer in return for the money people will be sending your way. It’s not enough to just be a “worthwhile” cause any more. Nowadays it’s essential that you have an enticing WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) factor (which benefits your donors, not your school, I mean). If you make sure that you provide a win-win value exchange, that gives genuine quality and value to your supporters, then you’re on the right track.
3. You don’t necessarily have to come up with something “new” in order to create a successful high school fundraising campaign. What you need to do is conduct some proper, quantifiable research to discover something that people really WANT, and are prepared to pay for, and make sure that you deliver!
I know I said my top three tips, but I’m on a roll, so here’s a couple more!
4. Instead of complicating your fundraising efforts by outlaying cash to buy products to sell, and running the risk of even losing money, try it this way: Find a product that people want and are prepared to pay for… AND that costs you nothing to promote; and then rewards everybody who purchases it. Especially, if you can find a way to give cash rewards, then you will find that your fundraiser is a resounding success. Not to mention that people can even choose to donate their cash rewards to your high school fundraiser as well, since it’s not even coming out of their pockets, and you’ll get a double whammy!
5. Get professional and businesslike. Fundraising goes well beyond asking for donations, or offering some token product of little value or interest and “expecting” people to buy so you can glean the profits. These days it’s big business for the major charitable organisations, and little of their money actually comes from mere donations any more.
For more information about these 5 steps, specific details, some suggested resources, and a free blueprint outlining exactly how to easily and simply put a high school fundraising campaign like this together, just go to our Contact Us page and email us with the subject line “Free High School Fundraiser Blueprint” and we’ll be happy to zap it out to you, pronto!