Learn how one assistant principal improved her school fundraiser sales by over
$60,000 in only 3 years.
Most schools are content if they raise the same amount of money year after year. Some aren’t satisfied until the maximize their sales potential. The truth is, many larger schools are leaving lots of money on the table. Instead of focusing on growth, they’re focused on total sales. Here’s an example of why that’s the wrong way to view your school fundraisers.
Which of the following 2 examples is doing a better job of maximizing their potential? ‘School A’ has an enrollment of 1,000 students and raises $50,000. ‘School B’ raises $30,000 with 400 students. True, ‘School A’ raised more money; however ‘School B’ got more out of their fundraiser.
Now here’s a real-life example. One school that we’ve been working with for many years has more than tripling their results from a modest $30,000 sale to over $90,000. With 800 students they have over 500 selling 12 items or more. With a school that size, those are amazing numbers. And to top it off, they didn’t reach this pinnacle just once. They’ve been doing it consistently for several years now.
Wouldn’t it be great if more students participated in your fundraiser? If sponsors better understood the numbers they would be amazed at how much money they could make.
How To Choose a Fundraising Company
Here’s how this school achieved their results, and is maintaining their level of success.
It Starts with the Fundraising Sponsor
This particular sponsor truly understands what it takes to be successful. Being an assistant principal at the school she already has a lot on her plate. She also understands that she only has to commit to two full weeks out of the school year to get her students to sell. Giving less than 110% to promoting her sale in her mind is unacceptable. Once her fundraiser is over, she has no regrets. She knows that she did everything possible to bring in sales.
One of the promotional strategies that she incorporates are prize drawings. Every day for the entire two week sale, students anxiously anticipate getting their names drawn out. She’s not merely announcing her sale and reminding her students to sell like the average school does, she’s keeping them excited about her fundraiser from start to finish. She does this by making a big deal out of her drawings. Ultimately when students see other students winning special campus privileges they naturally want to be a part of the action as well.
One of the privileges on her prize program that students really enjoy participating in is the Student VIP Card. Students already know that they have to sell additional items and reach a higher prize level to get it. However, she promotes it to the point that students feel they’re missing out if they don’t get a card.
She has what they call ‘Student VIP Day’ once a month for the entire school year. This is where every student that qualifies gets to exercise the privileges on the back of the card. These students get to participate in such activities as sitting down at the ‘principal’s table’ for a special lunch, or they get a pass to sit wherever they want for the day.
She heavily promotes the benefits of becoming a ‘card-carrying member’. The students can see that the sponsor is excited, so they’re excited as well.
Learn more about Improving Fundraiser Sales without Using Money
Big Event Super Party Upgrade
This was an important step that this school took several years ago. The assistant principal was not satisfied with her annual $30,000 sale, so she was looking for ways to increase her fundraising results. She ended up switching from a more conventional prize program to our BigEvent Super Party.
She was willing to try it because it was different and thought it would be exciting for her students. Her belief was that it would push more students to sell additional items. She was right because her sale increased by $15,000 her first year. And that was only the beginning. The second year her sale increased by $27,000. And by the third year, her sale exceeded $90,000.
Improving Fundraiser Participation
This sponsor quickly realized that students who saw, but didn’t get to participate in the super party, were motivated to sell the following year because they didn’t want to miss out again. This is what drove the increase in participation and sales.
This is one of the great things about a Big Event Prize Program. Since our events are held at the school, everyone knows what’s happening. Many students who don’t participate the first year, are more inclined to get involved the next. After witnessing how much fun their peers had, and especially hearing what they had to say about it, they’re much more motivated to become involved the following year.
Every student wants to have fun with their friends. We’ve found that this upward trend usually continues over time. This primarily why this school exceeds their sales goal year after year.
Everyone now looks forward to the school fundraiser and this is why her sales are so good. Even the parents embrace it. The super party has become a yearly event that her students expect and look forward to.
And what’s another huge plus? They raise all the money they need for the entire year with only one sale.