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New & Unique School Fundraising Ideas

New and Unique School Fundraising Ideas are dangerous ground. But before anyone gets worked up, let me explain:

There have been traditional fundraisers for many years. They are tried and tested. They are largely successful. Over 80% of elementary schools will host a traditional fundraiser this year and that's a lot of schools. I know from our end that nearly every school that switches to Believe Kids will have increased profits over their previous fundraiser.

Subsequently, along come some new fundraisers such as cookie dough voucher programs, online only fundraisers, gift card fundraising, custom printed products, Coke Rewards Fundraising, Tupperware fundraisers, Avon fundraisers, online malls, affiliate programs, recycling programs, gold party fundraisers and others.

So, what's the big deal?

The big deal is that if you ask a PTA or PTO president what they are looking for in a fundraiser, they will respond that they want something new and unique. Many of these new fundraisers fit the bill.

But do they really?

Probably not. In reality it's not in our nature to really want the newest thing. We don't necessarily want the dentist just out of college or to hire a 7 year old baby-sitter.

I get it though, there's something truthful in there. Maybe the desire to have confidence in offering something different to the community. To prove to parents that there is something unique out there that will make them want to support education more.

Usually though, the wish for the unique backfires.

Many of the newer fundraisers out there are either ahead of their time or fall short because they are marketed as something they are not. Some online only programs have not found their market yet and others may work for small groups only but they market as if they solve the needs of larger groups alike.

I believe every fundraiser is inherently good. Meaning that, if the right group hosts the right fundraiser at the right time, they should be successful. Of course, the definition of a successful fundraiser is not the same across the board.

Herein lies the truth.

If a school wants to take on something new and unique it only needs to be aware that that newness will likely translate in a loss of income. Schools should pay close attention to picking an appropriate fundraiser. A gold party fundraiser is very likely not going to be the main school-wide elementary fundraiser one would expect.

One final consideration is that some fundraisers generate so little income that they can interfere with the main fundraisers at the school. Consider putting a bit more leg work and marketing into a main fundraiser and you can skip out on some of the little ones. Less is more when it comes to school fundraising.

In closing, traditional is good, new and unique adds risk and the wrong fit equals potential disaster. Make sure to pick an appropriate fundraiser for your group size and make sure the community you represent will understand how to participate in the fundraiser.

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I'm a fan of any fundraiser that does what it says it will do so I am not picking on any fundraiser in particular. Yes, I like traditional fundraisers but new and unique fundraisers are good as long as everyone is aware of the risks associated with them.

I encourage agreement as well as disagreement in comments placed below. If you have a thought, please share it and thanks for looking!

8 out of 10 Public Elementary Schools Use Product Fundraisers

<--begin rant-->

I just realized something.

8 out of 10 public elementary schools use a traditional product sale of some sort in their fundraising efforts.

I'm not really sure what constitutes a product fundraiser in the study that produced the statistic but that means that most of those have to be gift & wrap fundraisers and frozen cookie dough. There just aren't many other school-wide product sales that I know of besides magazines and those are usually the middle schools.

So, stop and think about that number for a minute. 80% use product fundraisers!

The fact is, product sales are heavy-hitting fundraisers - that work!

I have noticed a bit of a groundswell recently on messageboards and comments on my blog from companies that want to build their businesses out. The thing is, they are so quick to say that nobody wants to buy gift wrap or magazines or chocolate or cookie dough.

And that's their marketing strategy!

I mean, seriously? I think what they really mean is, they want to spread the rumour that nobody wants to buy that stuff so they get some traction on their fundraisers.

The truth is, it's just NOT TRUE!

They don't market that they have a more profitable or effective fundraiser, just that they have a better option if you truly believe nobody will buy cookie dough.

<--end rant-->

Top School Fundraisers - Fundraising Options for Elementary Schools

If you're considering a fundraiser for fall 2010, you've got one good shot at hosting a wildly successful fundraiser! You can do this despite anything stacked against you.

Here are the most successful fundraisers for elementary schools:

• Fall Gift & Wrap Catalog
• Frozen Cookie Dough
• Large Well-organized Events

This fall is very important. As a matter of simplicity let me just suggest that if you have a successful fundraiser such as an auction or fall catalog sale, stick with it. Make improvements to what you currently offer - make it more important, make it more obvious that you need the support of students and parents.

If you are being hit up by a wide variety of companies offering various fundraisers, get the facts. It only takes a few minutes to ask some of the tough questions. The factual questions that will allow you to minimize your risk. Concentrate on some of these items before moving on to the ones that feel more comfortable to you:

• What is the average sale dollar amount per student
• What is the average number of items sold per student
• What is the average overall participation rate
• What is your profit margin given these numbers at your student count

These numbers will allow you to calculate the potential sale with that vendor. If you are considering an event run through these same numbers estimating your attendance and average sales.

Do this for every vendor before you decide on some of the other factors such as:

• Volunteer time needed
• Student participation programs
• Drawing prizes & incentives
• How order processing works
• How product distribution works
• Quality of products / service
• Commitment to customer service
• How damaged / missing items are handled
• Commitment to offering value
• Number of backordered items last year

There are just some fundraisers floating around out there that will not be in the same league as the fall gift catalog, cookie dough or large event.

Affiliate programs, single product fundraisers such as trash bags or coffee, donation drives, box tops, scratch cards, discount cards, seasonal items, cell phone / toner recycling, clothing drives, hair cut nights, spirit nights or pizza fundraisers are not created equally. These programs often earn only a small percentage of the heavy-hitting traditional fundraisers.

Do your research, then put all of your marketing efforts behind your largest and most profitable fundraiser you can. You can increase your fundraising profits for the year by removing efforts that do not work and by concentrating more on the fundraiser that creates the highest sales average and participation percentage!

_____________________________

Jay Moneta is the Vice President of Believe Kids Fundraising and blogs regularly about elementary school fundraising. If you would like to discuss this or any of my posts, please comment here or on twitter - twitter.com/BelieveKids

Thanks for the opportunity to share my thoughts and if I can put my company to the test with any competing fundraisers for the benefit of your school, just let me know.

If you enjoyed the content here, please consider forwarding a link to a friend or co-worker that would enjoy them as well. I am working hard to provide helpful information and would appreciate any support in terms of interested visitors you may be able to recommend. Thanks!

Elementary School Fundraising Prizes and Prize Programs

If you have been involved with fundraising at your school, you are certainly aware that there are many ways to get students and parents excited about your elementary school fundraising efforts.

The basis for a good promotion of your fundraiser will likely be a student prize program. Most fundraising companies offer these and some are better than others. Schools also can purchase product on their own if they want the extra work.

A student prize program that is cumulative is the most effective. These student prize programs allow students to earn numerous prizes depending on how many items they have sold.

________________________

Self-Promotion Warning:
In the following sentences, I tell you how great we are.

Make sure to get the highest quality prize program you can. There are reports of cheap prizes out there and if you purchase them yourself, try to get the highest quality items you can.

Believe Kids fall prize program is very good. If you need a prize program to compare to, let me know. Believe Kids offers 11 cumulative prize levels. There are 4 prizes at 10 items sold and the top item is at 125 items. You won't believe the items being offered either. Please get in touch if you would like to see it. You will get a sense of what a truly exceptional prize program is.

End self-promotion

________________________

On top of a student prize program, many times one or more incentives or goal rewards will be offered. These could be really anything that adds to the excitement of the fundraiser because of hitting goals, rewarding top-sellers, daily incentives or group rewards.

Here are a few ideas in no particular order that cost a lot of money:

Lunch Limo Ride
BMX Show
Video Game Truck

In these scenarios, a fundraising company will likely pay these for you and they should not take profit percentage away. I have heard of some companies taking 5-10% of profits for these events. I would recommend that you work it out in terms of the cost of the event instead of a percentage - if your sale does well, you would be spending a lot more than the event costs to host.

If you are hosting your own fundraiser of some sort, make sure that the money these efforts cost do not make your fundraiser profits suffer. I read about a $700 gross fundraiser that a school held where they incentivised it with a $400 estimated limo ride. You really have to be careful about these things. These incentives work best when enhancing your highest-profit fundraisers.

Here is a quick list of a few promotions that don't cost much:

Invite a student to be principal for a day
Lunch with principal or favorite teacher
Movie & Popcorn with principal or favorite teacher
Ice cream social for top-selling class
Ice cream for entire school when goal is hit
Principal gets a mohawk when goal is hit
Principal spends day in tree (or other zany idea) when goal is hit
Duct Tape faculty to wall (be careful with this as there has been some sexual related problem lately. Always cover personal parts with cardboard before taping.)

There are some daily drawings that also work well... Consider these:

Some sort of treat for children who hit their sales goals (yes, I guess I mean candy and yes, my kids eat too much of it already so I am hesitant here).
Have a drawing of an iPod or some sort of popular electronic item
Purchase various prizes and have a drawing every day the fundraiser is going on.

If you put some incentives into your fundraiser the results will follow. You can rely on a fundraising company to help or do it yourself. In the end, anything you can do to build excitement around the fundraiser will help create success.

Thanks for looking!

__________________________________

Jay Moneta is the Vice President of Believe Kids Fundraising and can be reached via comment on any of my blog posts, at www.BelieveKids.com or on twitter - twitter.com/BelieveKids

I wrote this one pretty fast so it is not my best work. I still would love any comments, feedback or suggestions you would like to offer. Thanks so much!

Fundraising Incentive - New Charm Necklaces for Fall 2010 School Fundraisers

I took a look at our new daily incentive offer for fall 2010 school fundraising today and it's amazing!

Schools use complimentary 'Charm' necklaces to promote their fundraiser while the fundraiser is underway. It's a great way to add excitement surrounding the fundraiser and reward students for promoting the sale.

This program is free and is very easy to use! These things are amazing so I can't wait for you to see them in person!

Fundraising Prize Program for Fall 2010 School Fundraising Announced...

I won't go into detail on here just yet but believe me when I say you have to make a call on this one. We've just announced the very best student prize program out there for fall 2010 school fundraising!

We will be offering 11 prize levels and although I really want to announce what they are here, I will wait just a few days. If you get a chance to and are interested in knowing more, call toll-free 1-877-723-5438 and get the low-down!

Elementary and middle school fundraising is going to look a lot better this fall!

Top Elementary School Fundraising Ideas for Fall 2010

School fundraising has had an interesting go of it for the last few years. The economy and other factors have really created some confusion as to what works best in the fundraising world. On top of that, it's harder to get parents and the community involved. Hopefully, In just a few short paragraphs, I can shed some light on the most popular fundraising ideas for elementary schools.

If you are in the market for an elementary school fundraiser that will be school wide, you need to know that there are really no new and unique fundraising ideas that will out-perform the traditional fundraisers everyone is accustomed to for a large school-wide fundraiser.

Right now the top 3 fundraisers are:

1) Fall Gift Catalog
2) Frozen Foods (Cookie Dough)
3) Well-promoted Event (Auction, A-thon, Carnival)

Hands down, these three are the only way to raise the big bucks. There are plenty of single product fundraisers out there such as shopping bags, batteries, popcorn and chocolate bars. There are also some brand new fundraisers being tested - things like gift card sales for online shopping, voucher programs, etc. Although, it's possible to raise money with these other fundraisers, they may be suited for smaller groups.

School-wide fundraising is really a challenge so when it comes to fundraising ideas and getting unique fundraisers going - be cautious. Take into consideration the fact that the money may not be there in the end to the same extent you would have received through a gift catalog, frozen food fundraiser or a school-wide event.

What is clear today is that the more consistent and focused fundraisers are these days can determine their success. If a school gets behind a fundraiser, they can get out of it as much as the individual fundraiser will allow.

Gift catalog and frozen foods are the best performing product sales and work best for school-wide sales because of the support that comes with the programs such as incentives and prize programs. It's not a labor intensive operation so schools can run these sales pretty easily. Frozen food delivery does require help though because it's generally a lot of product being processed quickly during the pickup times.

At Believe Kids, we don't have anything to do with event fundraisers, but we think they are amazing if done well. Auctions, any A-thon such as a jog-a-thon etc. and school carnivals are tremendous. They do take a bit more volunteer effort but by hosting a good event can really galvanize a community while raising a lot of money.

We do recommend schools limit their fundraising efforts and most of the time, we suggest that schools do a fall gift catalog in the fall and a carnival in the spring. Frozen foods appear to perform very well in both fall and spring. Just be careful not not to overdo it. Fundraising fatigue is a bad thing. If parents are hit up too often they will resist more of your fundraisers expecting another to be right around the corner. Your school doesn't need this type of fundraising reputation - just stay focused on the big stuff.

All 3 of our fundraisers listed, when proper focus is put on them, can create an activity that can be repeated every year with an ability to anticipate the outcome to a certain degree. I have seen many events that have been a yearly endeavor and it becomes a 'thing'. When you have an expected activity like election day, a holiday or Black Friday for instance. They gain a certain marketing prowess. Everyone knows about the event and the result is that people get involved.

Hope that helps!

_______________________

Jay Moneta is the Vice President of Believe Kids fundraising. I encourage comments and feedback here on my blog or at twitter - twitter.com/believekids Thanks for looking!

Author note: I am very aware that I have a personal interest in promoting catalog and food sales and it may seem a bit self-serving :) Unfortunately for any skeptic, I do not have an ego about these sorts of things and I don't supply information without the ability to back it up. I feel it's important to get the information out there and have folks think about things on their own.

Alrighty, till next time!

Tips for a smooth frozen food and gift catalog fundraising delivery

KEEP IT SIMPLE...

I just posted some quick tips for a smooth frozen food and gift catalog delivery. They are super-quick. Here's the link: http://hotpockets.blogspot.com/2010/03/i-just-witnessed-combination-frozen.html

Basically, the idea is to have a very smooth delivery with as few items undelivered as possible. I was just able to witness a delivery of frozen food and gift catalog at the same time to an elementary school. I will be posting more about this soon but in the meantime, let me give just a quick rundown on what makes this process work well.

• Staying calm - The group stayed calm and formulated a simple plan on setup and execution. It just wouldn't have been much fun if there were a lot of stressful excitement. Do not worry!

• Get help & take your time - Doing a catalog fundraiser and a frozen cookie dough sale can add up to super-huge profits. But, don't make the mistake of thinking that there is no work to do on delivery day. Although, it's all easy and manageable, it's not likely one person can do everything in 30 minutes. Get help and give yourself plenty of time!

• Create a good flow in the room - When the pickup is going to happen, students and parents will have to enter the room, give their name and move on to checkout. If this is the setup you are after, block the entry and exit with tables in some way as to create a flow of people through the space. You want to leave enough room before the checkout stand so that some folks can line up during your busy rush. Otherwise, you'll have a backup situation on your hands. It's best not to let any parents find their own stuff as this will cause shortages and confusion.

In general, think ahead and keep it simple! Hope this helps!

___________________________________

Jay Moneta is the Vice President of Believe Kids Fundraising - a nationwide elementary school fundraising company. Please take a moment to leave a comment or suggestion here or find me on twitter - twitter.com/BelieveKids

A school fundraising lesson courtesy of a major brand - Walmart.

Doing what's expected.

If your school is searching out a new and unique fundraising idea for fall 2010, consider this lesson from a major retailer. It reminds us why getting rid of things that people want is a risky proposition - even if it's not the most popular!

________________________________

Walmart returns items to shelves after lost sales
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To summarize, Walmart, in an effort to replace items with lower sales with new items, pulled a number of items from stores. It turns out that by removing something the community counted on, they lost the sale.

In the case of Walmart, they realized that instead of customers selecting another item in it's place, they choose to go elsewhere in many cases and do their entire shopping where they could get the specific item they were originally looking for.

When it comes to elementary school fundraising, if you can create a consistent set of fundraisers, whatever they are, you win! The Walmart story reminds us first-hand that if you remove something the customer is willing to support, they may not be willing to support it's replacement.

Concrete Examples

If you do a gift and wrap catalog sale in fall you are already doing the biggest and most profitable fundraiser of the year that we know about.

If you do a well-promoted event such as a thon or an auction and it has popularity and support within the community you are building a repeatable success as well.

If, on the other hand, you were to replace these with the newest and most unique school fundraisers, they must be more popular and more exciting than ever! As Walmart reminds us, you will lose customers just by switching to a new fundraiser the community doesn't understand or expect. Sometimes, new and unique fundraising ideas are not all they appear.

Plus, anything new and unique to fundraising doesn't sell anyway (whoops, did I say that out loud?). What seems perhaps a better way to close is to say that the world progresses by introducing new and unique things - we just need time to get used to them :)
_____________________________

Author Note: I believe that there are some risky fundraisers out there for this fall. They include gift card sales for online shopping, home cookie dough delivery vouchers or any fundraiser that does not have a proper student prize program. Until there is a proven track record with these items, you may consider something else if you really have to meet a fundraising budget.
_____________________________

Jay Moneta is the Vice President of Believe Kids Fundraising and I blog nearly daily here at fundraising-advice.com

If you enjoy my posts, please follow my blog and write comments and send it to your friends and even criticize or send feedback to me here or on twitter - twitter.com/BelieveKids

My company homepage can be found here: http://www.BelieveKids.com

Thanks for looking!

Believe Kids Elementary School Fundraising - The Low Down...

This blog has never been self-serving. I didn't intend for the information here to ever be about my company and certainly not about me. It's time though, given some feedback I have received to give a quick summary about me and my company. I think it will give some valuable insight as to why I spend my time writing about how to improve funding in schools.

First off, I believe my personal mission is to speak up for children that won't speak up on their own. I have two kids and have found that they are very resilient. If they lack something, they find a way to cope and they move on. I believe adults in our society need to intervene any way they can to better provide for children when they wouldn't say otherwise. In my case, I believe good teachers are the key to recognizing when children lack a learning tool.

I believe in good teachers.

A good example of this is my belief in, and commitment to quality teaching. I believe that teachers should make every student feel like they are the teachers favorite. I believe there should be enough teaching styles to reach out to the future artist and the engineer and the zoologist and I don't believe reciting facts is the way to reach these very different personalities.

I believe in technology.

I believe that schools should commit to being ahead of the technology curve and not behind it. Technology has changed the way we teach but I'm not convinced we know that yet. All the research tools and resources needed to create a new and collaborative learning experience already exists in handheld devices and computers already on the market.

I expect a technological revolution in schools within the next 10 years whereby paper is largely replaced with hand-held devices.

I would like to be at the forefront of financing this revolution.

Professionally, Believe Kids Fundraising is about excellence. We pay attention to detail in every product and service so that we not only raise money for schools but maximize the fundraisers profitability so schools can fundraise less. Fundraising less means improving relations with parents and we think having a hand out too often creates resentment. We want parents and schools to work together because after all, both parents and schools need each other.

So, while we raise the bar with our elementary school fundraising programs, we will continue to set our sights on improving relationships and enhancing education with good teaching and technology.

One thing we know about the future of education, is that we are honored to be a part of it!

______________


Jay Moneta is the Vice President of the Believe Group and blogs here and at the School Fundraising PLN. If you enjoyed the article, please comment or share the link to this blog: www.believejay.blogspot.com or hit me up on twitter: www.twitter.com/believekids

Thanks so much!

Believe Kids Elementary School Fundraising Programs - How to find out more about us...

We are not the most aggressive group and we're not vacuum salesmen. In fact, as far as people go, we're a pretty laid back group. We're parents and we're fun and we think that our products should speak for themselves.

We're Amazing but we Hide it Well :)

We spend a lot of out time innovating and improving and we like to think folks will find us and discover what we're all about and how amazing we are. Unfortunately, our mentality there is a bit flawed and we know it. Although we are a successful nationwide school fundraising company, there are bigger, more local and more in-your-face companies out there and let's face it - people are too busy to dig as deep as it may take to find us.

What's the Deal...

The deal is that if you've found this post, take that extra minute to find out more about Believe Kids. If nothing else, visit the homepage at www.BelieveKids.com and take a look around.

Unmoderated Comments

We've got a number of unmoderated comments posted under each of our programs page. We do not make anyone post to there, nor do we remove negative posts if any were to occur. We are a very confident group indeed.

Give us a Call

Call us at 1-877-7-BELIEVE (1-877-723-5438) and if you are a group that does traditional fundraisers such as a fall gift and wrap fundraising catalog or frozen food fundraisers (cookie dough), we'd like an opportunity to get you a customized proposal.

The one thing you can rest assured with is that if you don't feel our proposal is the best, we both move on knowing that one day we may be able to work together. We don't get mad or keep calling on you if we're not in alignment with your needs at any given time.

In the End...

We just can't explain ourselves properly but our referrals can. We can provide an unlimited amount of referrals for you in any state. By having a chance to talk with some of our current and past customers, you may just find that Believe is a good fit for you.

We'll continue to create excellent fundraisers first, knowing that the word is getting out there, but we invite you to take just a moment to discover for yourself what we're all about.

___________________________________

Jay Moneta is the Vice President of Believe Kids Fundraising and blogs here at www.Fundraising-Advice.com

I encourage discussion and conversation as well as feedback or suggestions so please subscribe to this blog, leave comments or find me on twitter - twitter.com/BelieveKids

Thanks for looking and sorry about the self-promotion blog post - it just had to be done. Ok, see ya next time!

Excellence, Customer Experience & the Remarkable

OMG, I loathe the dentist office and always have.

Despite my fear and trepidation, I have found an exceptional dentist. Honestly, I consider myself lucky that they will have me. It's a flat-out remarkable experience every time I am there.

Although dental work has not in itself changed much over the years, there have still been a lot of changes. Sure, people still get checkups, cleanings and fillings but there is a difference between my dental office of the past and my dentist office now - vast differences.

It is obvious that they paid meticulous attention to detail to every aspect of their business. From the front door signage to the rest room flowers, they thought of everything and designed it all in a zen-like space that is clean, yet comfortable. And it's not just the decor - the care is the same way - specific, excellent and well communicated.

Subtlety:

• Customer paper records are hidden behind beautiful cabinetry
• Pain is managed before reeling from it
• Patience don't wait long in the lobby
• They call you by your first name
• Gentle air freshener in the bathroom
• They hide syringes from you just enough to take the edge off

And there are a bunch more.

I am really not sure if I pay a premium for this amazing service but the value I receive is far and above the money I pay them. When you pay close attention to every aspect of your business, people should notice and I now consider myself one of their biggest fans. I would pay a premium for this type of service.

Anyone who knows me would find it hard to believe that I look forward to going there - but I do. I find it fascinating to watch a company work that has a dialed in game plan.

In closing, dentistry is just an industry just like elementary school fundraising or transmission service or a clothing store. There are examples all across the country of exceptional companies in an industry and our job is to recognize them when we see them.

We can trust in their abilities and know that they created their business around a set of principles. Principles that required them to create excellence in every area they touch.

When we are tempted to resist an idea or company that has this embraced excellence, we should push through confidently knowing that we are in good hands.

_________________________________________________

If you enjoyed this post, please leave a comment for me or feel free to twitter me at www.twitter.com/BelieveKids We like to think we have this level of commitment to excellence as well with each and every one of the schools we fundraise with but we know it takes consistent effort to be excellent. Take just a moment to let us know your thoughts. Thanks for looking!

FYI, Believe Kids is a nationwide elementary school fundraising company.

Spring 2010 Elementary School Fundraising - What Works?

The big topic of conversation with PTA, PTO's and other parent groups this spring? Well, probably not what is the best fundraiser for spring, but a fundraising guy can dream right?

Traditional fundraisers continue to represent the largest segment of fundraising income. And as much as we'd like to see unique and new fundraisers come along and provide top dollars, we have not seen one that competes.

This spring, look for frozen cookie dough, spring gift catalog and well-organized events such as an auction or a carnival to be the big winners!

• Frozen cookie dough is probably the most effective spring fundraiser because people have come to know the product over time. Most folks know that the dough is tasty and will drop some funds on it. As a matter of financial truth, frozen cookie dough is an edible product and because everyone eats regularly, there is a big market for it :)

• Spring catalog is popular in spring because it includes a number of items in several popular categories. The catalogs that work best include a selection of flowers which are a top spring seller.

• Spring Event Fundraising - Anytime a well-organized fundraiser can be put together it usually is a winner. Although it takes a lot more volunteerism and organization, putting on an event can raise big bucks. It also galvanizes the community and has a chance to be a repeatable yearly event.

So, there you have it. My predictions of what will work for 2010 Spring elementary school fundraising!

How to Hold a Coin Drive for Haiti

With the devastation that hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, many people are asking themselves, “how can I help?” This biggest way to help right now is to give monetary donations to a trusted organization who will use the money to help those affected by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake.

Holding a coin fundraiser is one way that schools can help the people of Haiti get the medical attention and food that they need. The coins collected will add up quickly to big dollars that will make a big impact.

Follow these guidelines to holding a successful coin fundraiser:

1. Promote your fundraiser by sending a letter home to parents. To make the letter more compelling, have a student at the school write the letter. Put the details in a newsletter and on your website. Also, announce the fundraiser over the P.A. announcements so all of the students know it is happening.

2. Make the coin fundraiser a friendly competition by dividing the school up by classes. Each class will have there own box or jar. The object is to see what class can raise the most. Reward the class with the most money raised with a treat of some kind. Ice cream with the principal is always a great reward! Maybe the school could make a special donation on behalf of that class for their hard work?

3. One week is a good timeline for how long your coin fundraiser should last. This will give the kids plenty of time to collect coins, but won’t be too long so the kids will lose interest.

4. An idea to promote the last day of the coin fundraiser is to hold a bake sale for students (if allowed). This will encourage any final donations, and will also profit a few extra bucks to send to Haiti.

5. Make sure to send the money raised to a trusted organization where the money will go straight into the Haitian people. Without making any particular endorsement, www.redcross.org or www.convoyofhope.org would be an example of an organization that will use your money for food, medical supplies and clothing.

Results are in - Introducing our Fundraising Top-Seller Angelea!

We are so excited to announce to you the Believe Kids 2009 Top-Seller

Angelea!
Angelea sold 160 items in support of her school fundraiser!

Congratulations to you Angelea!

For the next week, our homepage
main image will be in her honor.

Visit www.BelieveKids.com to see our
thank you to our top-seller!

Swine Flu School News - Update

Visit http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/ or visit the WHO website http://www.who.int/en/ for up-to-date information. Seems that the updates are coming in too fast for me to keep up.

5 Reasons our fundraising ordering process is the best - EVER!

These days, there is some debate as to the best way to handle fundraising order forms. For those not entirely familiar, these are the paper forms students use to place fundraising orders with. They are turned into school with the money they raised from their sales.

Today, technology has developed to the point where Believe and other companies are considering a paper-less ordering system. After all, there are enough computers savvy parents to input their students orders online and yet, these methods are still flawed - The paper order forms are still needed to record sales when students are out-and-about collecting fundraising orders.


So, what is the best method?

We believe the best method has to do with what is easiest for both schools and parents.

Believe Kids ordering process is easy! We won't have it any other way. Students take orders with an order form that comes with their fundraising catalog. Then they turn this in to school on the fundraiser due date - That's it!

Comparing this to the possibility of having an internet ordering process, parents would take a paper order form that the students made their sales with and input the sales into the computer one at a time. Although this may seem effective, it is double the work for busy parents. Any other benefits such as being able to track sales and prizes can be done presently on our website athttp://www.shopbelieve.com

When a school is ready to submit an order, it is quickly sorted by classroom and send them in to us. We process the orders from there. Note that many schools do quickly write the amount of money collected on the form and we use that information to provide the school with additional reports. Either way, this process is incredibly easy when compared to other systems. Even the computer entry method by parents requires receipts be turned in and sorted by school voluteers. We believe our system is the right method for today.

Will orders be processed all on the computer someday?

Even though addressing this topic may be better suited for a brand new blog post on the future of fundraising, I think the best way to answer this is - yes. In the future we will enter orders electronically. Especially when our young ones all have portable electronic devices. For now, our paper entry form system is the easiest around! There are no double duties and simply put - we do the work instead of the parents and the schools.

There is not an easier method of fundraising than through Believe Kids!

1) Student order form is always handy and available to take orders.
2) Parents do not have to logon to a website and re-enter all orders.
3) Return order form on due date - no receipt to print on parents home computers.
4) No complaints by parents about not having a computer to enter orders with.
5) Believe will sort and input all orders accurately - no guessing!

Fundraising in a recession - More economic news - Will you be affected?

Below is a grim news story about the economy that should deeply concern schools planning fundraisers this year. Honestly, I wish I had not read it but it's important.

After reading the article I feel that everyone should ask if their fundrising company has put into place any programs to avoid a loss in fundraising revenue? All sales pitches aside, Believe has programs in place so please do not just accept a lower fundraising revenue without a fight. Ask me how our schools will succeed this year - even if you don't register with Believe for your fundraiser.

Economy shrinks at fastest pace in 26 years

WASHINGTON — The economy contracted at a staggering 6.2 percent pace at the end of 2008, the worst showing in a quarter-century, as consumers and businesses ratcheted back spending, plunging the country deeper into recession.

The Commerce Department report released Friday showed the economy sinking much faster than the 3.8 percent annualized drop for the October-December quarter first estimated last month. It also was considerably weaker than the 5.4 percent annualized decline economists expected.

READ THE FULL STORY:

http://www.comcast.net/articles/finance/20090226/Economy/

Littleton Community Fights to Save School...

Parents form an association, rally to raise money to save Ames Elementary, a top-ranking school in the Littleton Public School district, Named in Honor of Colorado's first school teacher. View News Story