1.) Plan for Success
Efficient
planning is integral to the success of not only your school fundraising
campaign but any project you might think of. Without a well thought out
plan of action chaos will reign and your project will suffer as a
result no matter how good your fundraising ideas are. In fact, you
should have a primary plan as well as a secondary and tertiary.
2.) There can be Only One!
There
can only be one captain of a ship and the same holds true for your
school fundraising program. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians is a
recipe for failure as well as a bad idea. Pick a competent person to be
in charge and then let them be in charge.
3.) Delegate Authority
Assign
specific tasks to people in whom you have confidence and trust. In your
planning create a list of tasks that must be accomplished and choose
personnel for each task. Ensure that each of your chosen staff
understands that accountability for their assigned task falls squarely
on their shoulders.
4.) Promotion is the Key
Get the word
our about your school fundraiser. Promoting your school fundraising
project will help you greatly in the quest to reach your goals. Send
out press releases to local media outlets. Don't forget your own school
web page is a great way to post your fundraising ideas and
opportunities and get the word out about it. The type of fundraiser you
are planning will dictate if creating promotional flyers and soliciting
local business to place them in store windows would be helpful in
making your fundraising event better. There are many ways to promote an
event and you should take advantage of as many of them as possible.
5.) Pre-Sell for Success
This
tactic will work effectively for any type of school fundraising event.
If your fundraiser is an event like a dance or dinner or some kind of
ticketed event, you will do much better pre-selling your tickets. Start
early in getting your fundraising machine going. When items such as
cookie dough or Christmas gift items are your main products start
mentioning it to friends, family, and neighbors ahead of time.
6.) Multiple Income Streams
Do
not put all of your eggs in one basket. Multiple income streams have
been a recipe for success in business for many years and you should be
running your school fundraising just like a business. If you are
placing your whole years planning on the success of only one program,
then you may find yourself in a shortfall. You might even have another
nearby school start the same thing your were planning to do the week
before you kick your fundraiser off. If you are located in a small
town, this can be a huge blow to your school fundraising success. Try
using multiple events to your advantage. This is an excellent way to
reach your goal as quickly as possible and spread out some of the risk.
7.) Post Event Analysis
While
not part of the actual event planning phase this is something that you
should not overlook. Analyze how each of your school fundraising
efforts performed. Which ones did your customers like the best? Which
ones made you the most money? What school fundraising event was the
easiest to do? You can use your analysis of your current campaign to
enhance future fundraising efforts. It is especially helpful to write
these things down in a journal for the next board to view in case all
the faces on the board change from year to year. Doing this will make
it much easier on the inexperience leaders who follow you to pick up
where you left off!
