School Fundraising Warning! Why Traditional Fundraisers Aren't Working

If you are in charge of raising money for your school then you need to read this article. Traditional fundraisers like gift wrapping paper and cookie dough sales have seen a dramatic decrease recently due to the economic recession. If your school depends on these types of fundraisers to raise money, then you are probably all too familiar with the decrease in sales. Couple that with reduced funding from state and local governments, and your school could be in for some serious cutbacks.

So your school has two options: accept the cutbacks as status quo and deal with them, or you can become innovative and find a way to raise the money you need. I don't know about you, but I'm not up for the former and will show you how to focus on the latter. Unfortunately, most schools don't think outside the box enough when it comes to fundraising and will often have a hard time transitioning to something new.

So what's the problem...

One thing you need to realize is that the problem is not with your sellers or parent involvement, instead the problem is the same as any other product that is for sale... the customer's need. In the past, your school could get away with, "We're raising money for _______," and they would buy what you had to sell. Now, you have to go after their need, "We're selling this __________ that will benefit you by (saving you money, saving you time, etc.) and the proceeds will go to help us raise money for ______."

Do you see the difference? By providing something that will benefit them, you are helping them meet a need or a want, which takes the focus off them parting with their money for something they don't know if they want.

So what's working...

At this point, all that is left is to make sure you are providing something of value...something that's a "no-brainer." As someone who has been involved in fundraising for years, I can tell you that I've never seen more interest in Discount Card Fundraisers than ever before. At the end of the day, the benefits FAR outweigh the cost to the buyer that they have no problem forking over $10 or $20 bucks because they know they'll save 5 times that with the savings.