Planning a fundraising campaign can be pretty frustrating. Here are seven helpful tips that will help make planning your fundraiser go smoothly and make it more profitable.
1.) Plan for Success
Efficient planning is a major part of the success of not only your fundraising campaign but any project you have looming before you. Without a concise and well thought out plan of attack, chaos will reign and your project will be doomed to suffer. In fact, you should have a primary plan as well as a secondary plan in place.
2.) There can be Only One!
It probably can go without saying, but, there can only be one captain of a ship and the same holds true for your fundraiser. Too many heads doing the planning is a recipe for failure.
3.) Delegate, Delegate, Delegate
Give specific tasks to people that you have confidence and trust to get the job completed. When you do your planning create a list of tasks that have to be accomplished and choose the right personnel for each task. Ensure that each of your chosen staff understands that accountability for their assigned task and the buck stops with them.
4.) Promotion is Key
Get the word out about your fundraiser. Proper promotion of your event will ensure that you reach your goal. Send out notices to local newspaper and radio stations. Don't forget your own school web page is a great way to post your fundraiser and get the word out about it. The type of fundraiser you are planning will dictate if making flyers and asking local business to put them in their store windows would be helpful. There are a variety of ways to promote your fundraiser and you should take advantage of as many as possible.
5.) Pre-Selling Make a Difference
This tactic will work effectively for any type of fundraising event. If your event is a dance, dinner, guest speaker, or other ticketed type of event you must pre-sell your tickets. Start the revenue stream long before the actual event. When items such as cookie dough are your main product line, 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 fundraiser just like a business. If all of your efforts are concentrated in only one program, then your market may become saturated. You might even have another nearby school start the same thing your were planning to do the week before your 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.) Analysis After the Fundraiser
While not part of the actual fundraising event, this is something that you should always do. Analyze how each of your school fundraising efforts ended up. Which ones did your customers like the best? Which ones were the most successful? Which ones were the easiest to pull off successfully? You can use your analysis of your current campaign to help with your planning for future efforts. It is especially helpful to write these things down in a journal for the next fundraising chairperson to view in case all the faces on the board change from year to year. They can benefit from your experience and make each successive year even more successful than the year before.
1.) Plan for Success
Efficient planning is a major part of the success of not only your fundraising campaign but any project you have looming before you. Without a concise and well thought out plan of attack, chaos will reign and your project will be doomed to suffer. In fact, you should have a primary plan as well as a secondary plan in place.
2.) There can be Only One!
It probably can go without saying, but, there can only be one captain of a ship and the same holds true for your fundraiser. Too many heads doing the planning is a recipe for failure.
3.) Delegate, Delegate, Delegate
Give specific tasks to people that you have confidence and trust to get the job completed. When you do your planning create a list of tasks that have to be accomplished and choose the right personnel for each task. Ensure that each of your chosen staff understands that accountability for their assigned task and the buck stops with them.
4.) Promotion is Key
Get the word out about your fundraiser. Proper promotion of your event will ensure that you reach your goal. Send out notices to local newspaper and radio stations. Don't forget your own school web page is a great way to post your fundraiser and get the word out about it. The type of fundraiser you are planning will dictate if making flyers and asking local business to put them in their store windows would be helpful. There are a variety of ways to promote your fundraiser and you should take advantage of as many as possible.
5.) Pre-Selling Make a Difference
This tactic will work effectively for any type of fundraising event. If your event is a dance, dinner, guest speaker, or other ticketed type of event you must pre-sell your tickets. Start the revenue stream long before the actual event. When items such as cookie dough are your main product line, 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 fundraiser just like a business. If all of your efforts are concentrated in only one program, then your market may become saturated. You might even have another nearby school start the same thing your were planning to do the week before your 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.) Analysis After the Fundraiser
While not part of the actual fundraising event, this is something that you should always do. Analyze how each of your school fundraising efforts ended up. Which ones did your customers like the best? Which ones were the most successful? Which ones were the easiest to pull off successfully? You can use your analysis of your current campaign to help with your planning for future efforts. It is especially helpful to write these things down in a journal for the next fundraising chairperson to view in case all the faces on the board change from year to year. They can benefit from your experience and make each successive year even more successful than the year before.
About the Author:
AIM Fundraising has been assisting schools in their school fundraising efforts since 1988. Over the years we have learned a few things that help to make a fundraiser the best that it can be. Go to AIM Fundraising's website to learn how to make your next school fundraising program even more successful.
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