Top 3 Reasons a Donation Drive Doesn't Raise as Much as a Traditional Fundraiser?

So the question is, can a donation drive raise as much as a traditional fundraiser? Anything is possible. Having said that, the majority of the time the answer will be 'Heck no! A donation drive can't raise as much. Not even close.'

There are 3 main reasons for this:

1) There are no options - you can give $20, $50 or $100 or none - that's about it.

2) There is no reach - monetary donations are really requested just from parents.

3) There is no direct trade - customers get nothing tangible in exchange.

In essence there is a smaller buyer pool, less choices and less incentive to purchase over traditional fundraisers.

So, without getting into too much detail, whatever amount is raised is going to be half as much as would be raised with a traditional fundraiser if that. For reasons I won't go into detail about this translates into a lower participation which is the enemy of a successful fundraiser. The fewer people participating means the less successful the campaign is.

Regardless of the type of fundraisers held, judging success based solely on dollars raised may not be the best way to go. It's about galvanizing a community and organizing fundraisers that more and more people will take part in - repeatedly.

A donation drive may be good for instance once at the very beginning of the school year perhaps but not several times over the course of a school year. Repeating a donation fundraiser would likely lead to fewer and fewer participants. The implications are far reaching because burned out parents will likely not attend other school activities and events.

Remember, when choosing a fundraiser, choose something remarkable, make it memorable, don't do it too often! Design fundraisers so that parents will want to take part in it and it will be a success!

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If you would like to hear more about this topic, please leave a comment for me. I wrote quite a bit more on the subject that I decided was getting a bit too intense for my blog today so I cut it. My hope is that over time, schools will host fewer, more heavy-hitting fundraisers and participation will increase. If a school is going to host a donation drive, my advice would be to make it impactful and special so that it includes as many people as possible. Thanks for looking!