How to Run a Smooth and Effective Fundraiser
Putting a little extra effort up-front while leading a school fundraiser can give you great dividends in the near future and down the road, as well as prevent potential headaches. The thee pillars for an effective fundraiser is; communication, organization, and motivation.
Communicating with the volunteers and (if young) their parents is integral to a fundraiser's success. Of course, you want to be a good 'journalist' and hit on your; who, what, where, why, when, and how's. If volunteers know the details they'll understand the importance of the campaign, more will participate, and those that participate will do better. However, as important as sharing the right information is targeting the communications for specific times. There should be a minimum of three written contacts. The first letter or flyer lets your volunteer force know the fundraiser is coming up, and what to expect. A week ahead is usually good. Secondly, at the kickoff, do more than hand out all sales materials. Give suggestions on whom to approach, what to say, how to take an order, details specific to your type of fundraiser, and deadlines. Lastly, a reminder a week before the end, make it motivational, and remind them of the deadline again.
Stay organized. Know who is participating and what you've handed out to whom. If you don't see your volunteers regularly, make sure you have all their contacts. This could help you re-connect with a supporter in if you need to discuss their purchase. A good fundraising company should have appropriate support materials, or control forms available.
Motivate your volunteers. Remind them of the importance of the fundraiser. If the money is for something tangible for them, make this clear. Offer incentives. Little things can go a long ways. Offering a gift card for the top salesperson, or something for everyone that sells over a certain amount, or a pizza party if the group hits the goal. Creating competition is great too. Split the volunteers into teams, and just the winning team gets an ice cream social, and the losing team gets sour candy. You can get creative here. Also, don't be shy about setting sales expectations, it takes a leader to raise the bar, and the young people who are achievers, your best sellers, often need to feel challenged to meet their potential.
Doing these three things; communicating, staying organized, and motivating should be a part of every fundraiser. Every fundraiser! Some leaders are in the camp that want to just hand out the materials, and see what comes in the day of the deadline. This is poor use of one's time, even if its little effort up-front. This is because not only do the results suffer, but then there is usually additional preventable work created from this in the end. Volunteers don't follow instructions and bring in tardy orders, payments are made incorrectly, supporters ordered wrong, etc, which needs correcting. Putting a little shine on everything up-front will lead to greater success and everything will run smoother. This will make it more likely you, your volunteers, and supporters will participate in future years. So, don't sell yourself short, and don't make a big deal out of it either, its not complicated, you'll get better at it every year and you have to start somewhere. Also a good fundraiser company is more than happy to give advice. Just jump in, and run a quick, clean, effective fundraiser and you'll continue to meet the group's financial goals now and in the future.