The 'Real' Reason the Economy Effected School Fundraisers...

There's an economic reality and it's not been pretty.  Foreclosures up, jobs lost, no money in the bank, no borrowing power.  These are real issues.

But for schools and educators who are accustomed to fairness, promoting a fundraiser knowing that people out there are hurting is often difficult.

It's human nature not to want to ask things of people who are already in a bad position - completely understandable, right?

Well, certainly understandable, but only if you know who is in a bad position and who isn't.  Schools have hundreds of kids.  It's just too hard to know who's financially strapped at any given time.

It's impossible to know who has the willingness and ability to give at any time.  It's even harder to know how much the students suffer at the hands of a fundraiser that doesn't succeed.

So, if you're the fundraising chair, are you making the judgement for people ahead of time, or are you letting the results of the fundraiser determine who had the ability to help out?

Ok, until next time!

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school fundraisers

Geckler Companies Fundraising - Info for Schools and Geckler Fundraising Reps

In the next few days, fundraising representatives and numerous schools will be finding out that a prominent fundraising company in Minnesota and surrounding states has closed it's doors. It's sad news.

Geckler Companies, Inc. Fundraising was locked out by banks last week. Although the specifics of the lockout are not common knowledge at this point, one thing is clear - the fundraising industry has another casualty.

By all accounts, Geckler Fundraising was a customer service oriented company with long-standing customers. In our opinion, Geckler was a generous company with aspirations of becoming a national player.

The schools that are currently working with them are sure to be caught off-guard. They will be surprised to hear that the company is no longer.

The fundraising reps that work so hard to keep schools happy and well-financed throughout the year will be looking for work. Some will find jobs outside the industry but many fundraising reps will go out in search of another fundraising company product lines to offer.

What isn't so clear is if the untimely lockout forced any schools into a situation where they had no product and no fundraising profits. If there is a silver lining, it's that the spring fundraising season is just beginning and fall fundraising season is a ways off.

What is clear is that the newly acquired school supply division of the company, Desktop School Supplies, struggled to deliver this fall. Reports from numerous schools reported that their paid supplies were not delivered.

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Geckler Companies in the news Fall 2009:
Lakeville Company Leaves MN Schools Without School Supplies
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It would appear that Geckler made good on as many deliveries or refunds they could since this news article ran but the fast growth rate of the company combined with the current banking landscape appears to have overwhelmed them.

As the dust settles we extend our best wishes for each and every employee, fundraising rep and school that now will begin the search for another good vendor for Spring and Fall fundraisers. Certainly, we feel for any schools affected if it turns out there are any.

The reality is that business can be extremely difficult and the current fundraising landscape and economic realities put pressure on companies of all types - fundraising or not. What remains is a feeling that a good company is gone and it's a sad reality.

There just aren't many good ones left in the fundraising industry.

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Jay Moneta is the Vice President of Believe Kids Fundraising and can be reached via twitter - twitter.com/BelieveKids

With this or any of my posts, if you find the information valuable, please subscribe to the blog, link to this post, leave comments or reach me directly. I appreciate feedback, comments and suggestions of all types.

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.

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/

Elementary School Fundraising Trends in a Bad Economy

So, I have been asked to write a story on fundraising trends for elementary school fundraisers for greatschools.net. Since the economy is so questionable, I wonder how to accomplish this without sounding trivial and even desperate.

The fact is, I believe that schools will actually have to work pretty hard on their fundraisers if the economy continues to tank. I can't speak for other fundraising companies but I know that my company is working very hard to make sure sales don't drop. It's just not all that easy to predict and how it will pan out in the end so, if anyone were out there and willing to comment on my blog, I would appreciate it. The fact remains that if the same number of students sell less, fundraisers will be less successful.

As a pto or pta member, how would you feel if the experts were telling that your success with your fundraisers this year may hinge on your ability to get more students than ever involved? Don't hate the messenger but I do think that for the first time in a while, a high level of teamwork between schools and fundraising companies will be required to succeed.

Perhaps we operate on the assumption that no matter what, there will be obligation to purchase and that will raise the money needed. There will always be a grandma willing to support the cause. And really, I like that ideology. It looks like grandma will buy less and that's the problem. Tried and true fundraising programs and a plea to family members that their support is needed more than ever may just be the first defense against not hitting fundraising goals.

Ok, well that is the struggle I am facing while contemplating my news story. I think the trends are using high-profit, high-gross fundraisers and leaving nothing to chance. After all, schools have a number in mind that they need to hit for a fundraising goal. It's going to come down to picking a program that has taken into consideration the economic situation and has a plan for how to get everyone involved.

At a certain point, schools will either make that extra effort to succeed and be a partner with a fundraising company or they will choose to accept where the economy takes the fundraising results. Ok, without ranting or being confusing I will leave it there while I develop my thoughts. I think that schools can be wildly successful in any economy at raising their much needed funds but in a bad economy I am not convinced it will happen on it's own.