As a Parent, What Should I Do When a School Fundraiser Comes My Way?

Supportive Parents Help Kids With Their Education.

What Should I Do When a School Fundraiser Comes My Way?

Hey, let's face it.  As a parent, we want what's best for our child.  We read to them, we help them with homework, we get them to school on time (mostly).  Stop to think about the things you'll do to show your love and commitment.  You tie your kids shoes, pack lunches and put permanent marker to brand new jackets.

Some parents do even more.  

There are school helpers, who volunteer time inside the classroom.
There are library volunteers who read to children.
There are crossing guards, who enjoy their morning coffee at a crosswalk.

What's more, there are parent groups such as the PTA or PTO that provide for the classroom as well.  The parent group is a volunteer organization that originally provided the little extras that made learning fun.  Today, the PTA is responsible for making up for budgeting shortfalls.  In some cases, this means they are funding music and art programs, buying books for the classroom and even providing the new technology inside the classroom.

School Fundraising is evolving.

It's becoming more necessary and at the same time, more resisted then ever before.  As a parent, you've seen your share of fundraisers.  And that's part of the problem. Too much fundraising is partially responsible for poor results...  It's very common for a parent group to promote something that generates very little income right before asking parents to participate in something that would have made substantially more.

School fundraisers are improving so you can feel better about the value and quality.  You can write off your purchase just as you would a donation to the Red Cross or your church.  The difference is, your school is a charity that puts your donation to work right inside the classroom your child sits in.

So, provided your school is not over-burdening you, what you should do when you get a school fundraiser packet home is PARTICIPATE!

Pick out your items, email family, post on facebook, bring to work, do whatever you can!   Write your check and promptly return to the school!  Keep in mind, what you're doing by participating in the fundraiser is putting an iPad right into the classroom.  You're keeping the art teacher on staff.  You're buying a book.  All these things help your child find their passion!

Everybody else is not going to contribute - You still have to!

If what I've said here is offensive, chances are, your school is not making important fundraisers important.  It may be that they've gotten into a habit of fundraising continuously because of lack of participation.  If you're offended, you may just be the perfect person to change the way fundraising is done at your school.  Here's to fundraising LESS but MORE EFFECTIVELY!

Thanks for reading and sharing.  Keep the conversation going at twitter.com/believekids

Ok, until next time!



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school fundraisers

Small Victories - Posting to this Elementary School Fundraising Blog Daily...

Hi!  I don't do self-promotion on this blog.  It's not that I am above it or anything, but I believe that content should rule the day.  In short, I believe that if I write truly remarkable things, you will search me out.  If I am determined to blog daily about things that matter to you, you will return and share.

So, I discuss elementary school fundraising in a real way.  I am probably the one and only person doing it.  And dispite the fact that there are no others, I will help you or your PTA or your principal or a parent.

Small victories keep me coming back to post daily.

I'll be here posting so I have a question...

What fundraising related questions can I help you sort out?

Ok, until next time!

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Keep the conversation going!!!
Leave comments and questions below or visit any of the following:
Twitter.com/BelieveKids
www.BelieveKids.com
facebook.com/BelieveKids

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5 Questions Every Parent and Teacher Must Be Able to Answer

Many of us work in support of learning.  I do both as a parent and as an elementary school fundraising guy.  When I come across anything that gets across the importance of supporting learning, I get excited and want to share.  Here it is:

 

5 Questions Every Parent and Teacher Must Be Able to Answer 

 

Ok, until next time!

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Elementary School Fundraising
Believe Twitter

Teachers and Parents Relationship Important...

I just wrote a post on the educators PLN ning site.  I wrote it because I just released a book written by Hunter Thomson and myself entitled '101 Low and No-Cost Promotions for Your Fundraiser'.

The book outlines 101 low and no cost fundraising promotions that encourage fundraising participation, keep things exciting and reward sellers.

The point of the blog post was that the relationship between Teacher and Parent is critical and should be encouraged.  In order to give that relationship the chance to develop it requires, a few things have to be in place.  Minimizing distraction, adding responsibilities, disappointing parents, asking for too much too often and other factors all play into the dynamics that allow teachers and parents to have a trusting relationship.  The type of trusting relationship that encourages parents and teachers to work as a team to help children learn.

In order to create this trust, administrators, principals and parent groups need to be cautious what is introduced into that relationship and what demands are put on both teachers and parents.  Things like fundraising too often or not very effectively is a big concern.  Additionally, offering  products, services and events that do not offer value or are not professionally done can also be a disappointment that undermines a teacher's ability to include parents in their child's education.

Take a quick look at the post here:

http://edupln.ning.com/profiles/blogs/101-low-and-nocost-promotions

As always, let me know what you think.  If you would like more information on how to effectively host a high-dollar elementary school fundraiser, just let me know.  Otherwise, comment below or on twitter - twitter.com/believekids

Book download is available from Slideshare - just hit download button towards the top of this slideshare page.

Thanks!!

Announcing TheFundraisingPLN.com - Personal Learning Network for School Fundraising

Please take a look at The Fundraising PLN when you get a chance -  www.thefundraisingpln.com

It's about time elementary school fundraising got some good advice and inspiration.  Please share with your parent group (PTA, PTO, PTSA, PTSO) as well as principals, educators and parents.

Through education, we will change funding in schools!  So, we offer fundraising ideas and advice for your enjoyment. 

Check it out!! www.thefundraisingpln.com

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The Personal Learning Network for School Fundraising is brought to you by Believe Kids Fundraising.  Hope you like it :)

Elementary School Fundraising - Keeping Things Simple for Schools & PTA's

Reminder to schools and parent groups to keep things simple and have a plan. Above all, ask questions!

School fundraising, while critical to schools and groups everywhere, is very often left in the hands of hard-working volunteers working for a PTA or PTO group. These volunteers come with a wide variety of backgrounds and in many cases juggle work, family life and volunteerism and are generally very busy.

It's sometimes hard to remember to that a volunteer organization will be instrumental in raising tens of thousands of dollars in just two weeks using our fall fundraiser. What's more is that parent group volunteers are not necessarily business people.

We work with so many amazing people, we could easily overlook the reality of the situation and treat everyone as-if they need to be experts in business and school fundraising. But, we don't.

Parent groups deserve the simplest, most effective fundraisers we have to offer and that's just what we deliver. This isn't as much about us as it is about understanding that delivering ease-of-use to a PTA or PTO group will have a lasting and positive effect.

Having said that, there are still a number of questions that come up no matter how simple and effective things are.

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Case in point: I was reminded the other day when questions arose about if our fundraising packets should be left in teachers boxes on a Friday afternoon. When the question arose, it was very obvious we had an answer. If the packets go into a teachers box on the afternoon of the first day of the fundraiser and teachers didn't pick up their stuff by the end of the day, an entire class would miss the first weekend of the fundraiser. We simply suggested that every teacher grab their class packets on the way out of the Kick-Off assembly and everyone received a packet.
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If you are one of the hard working volunteers assisting with a fundraiser, plan ahead as much as possible. Keep things simple and above all, ask for advice for items both big and small!

There's no reason in this day and age, not to reach out to an expert in a time of need. Just ask us anything you can think of - anytime!

On our end, just know that we will give you as much complimentary assistance you would ever want - even if it's just a matter of the small stuff and we'll always cover all the big stuff and we'll have great answers to any of the small stuff as well!

Here's to a successful, easy and smooth fundraiser! Thanks!!

Your School Can Have Consistent, Successful Fundraising Efforts - Despite the Economy!

It's easy to forget that traditional fundraisers and large events make up the vast majority of school-wide fundraising income. A fall gift & wrap catalog, frozen cookie dough and large events such as a-thons, auctions or carnivals are still the way to go when it comes to raising the big bucks.

With the economy being what it is, every type of fundraising is being challenged... It's not just selling fundraisers. An article I just read reported less attendance at spirit nights, less attendance at their fundraising events and less overall volunteerism. Everything is down across the board.

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Read Schools suffering as PTOs feel pain from the recession

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Despite the economy, any school can have consistent, successful fundraising efforts - and even raise more than ever. It takes a good simple plan, consistency and a bit of stern communication.

So, I have been following this post on the ptotoday.com messageboard. It has a number of replies for fundraisers that do not raise much money.

These fundraisers, as pointed out on the messagboard, creates fundraising 'noise'. This overabundance detracts from the success a school will have with their efforts.

I am not saying that these smaller fundraisers aren't valuable in the right circumstances, It's just that today's school-wide fundraising has some challenges. In particular, parents are more willing than ever to not participate in school activities and 'fundraising fatigue' is common.

Today, for a fundraiser to truly succeed, it needs to stand out and take center stage so to speak - it needs to be remarkable.

Here's why:

If parents get the impression that another fundraiser is coming right around the bend, they will pass on the current fundraiser. If parents believe a fundraiser will not have any positive effect, they will not participate.

If the parents do not participate in the fundraiser with the highest average sold per student and the overall participation rate, fundraising revenue for the school will drop significantly.

By offering a high number of small fundraisers, mediocre events and spirit nights, schools make it easier for parents to pass on the fundraiser they really should be participating in. Some schools exacerbate the issue by allowing teams, groups and charity drives to fundraise freely without due consideration.

By limiting fundraising efforts, parents will want to be involved with their kide education and will support it. The trick here is to offer the fundraisers that produce results. After all, a fall gift catalog, cookie dough sale or well organized events have a dramatically improved average over these other types of fundraisers.

Do what works and don't worry too much! You don't have to dismantle your entire fundraising scheme necessarily to succeed. Just start by thinking critically if there is anything you can do to focus efforts on the fundraisers that work best for you and minimize promotion of the ones that just don't.

(to be continued after some shameless self-promotion...)

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Shameless self-promotion:

Knowing what is a large traditional fundraiser and what is a smaller niche sale can be difficult. My company, Believe Kids, offers a spring and fall catalog as well as frozen cookie dough programs. We consider our offerings to be the most profitable product fundraisers in existence today for elementary schools.

Please visit www.BelieveKids.com to take a look at what we offer.
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(End shameless self-promotion)

Here is a screenshot from a school website I recently ran across. It is an example of how bolding and highlighting can send the wrong message. In this case, the school is hosting an upcoming fundraising event, however, based on this screenshot, parents need to be focused on box tops. The lesson here is to focus efforts on what works and reconsider promotion of things that are not making a huge impact.

This same school just wrapped up an event where they raised $700 but offered a limo ride which I can only imagine was $400. How is it worth their time and effort to promote this fundraiser when they could concentrate efforts on something that would raise many more times that amount. The $300 they raised could be made up by just a few students participating in a catalog or cookie dough sale. It's cleary a case of effort spent on things that don't produce results.

Concentrate on less frequent, more focused, heavy-hitting fundraisers.

By way of example, our largest cookie dough sale this year was $97,000 and 50% of that went back to the elementary school. There would have been no way for this school to achieve such a success if they hadn't done some things very right.

There are wildly successful event fundraisers as well. I recently heard about a private catholic high school that raised an astounding $750,000 in their fundraising efforts. Although for most schools something like this is unrealistic, we can still learn some valuable lessons from them.

Here are some quick thoughts on what is contributing to fundraising success today:

1) Choose the right company and fundraiser type for your group.
2) Limit the total number of fundraisers throughout the year.
3) Vigorously express the importance of participation to parents.
5) Incentivise students, parents and faculty in every way possible.
5) Involve principals, faculty, staff and volunteers in a cohesive effort.
5) Use every tool at your disposal to market the sale.
6) Extend the sale beyond just school attendees parents.
7) Make it remarkable!

Regardless of what type of fundraising you do, make it special and make it important. Remember that less is more!

If there is one thing that you take away from this article, please just remember that if you roll from one fundraiser to another, it will become very easy for parents to dis-engage and lower participation will surely follow. On the flip side, if you keep it simple and focus your efforts, you will work less and profit more!

Thanks for the opportunity to share my thoughts and I hope the information is of help to you and your school!

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Jay Moneta is the vice president of Believe Kids Fundraising. If you enjoyed the information on this site, please consider forwarding on the link or following my blog. I also encourage feedback, comments and suggestions here on my blog or on twitter.com/BelieveKids Thanks for looking!