The insider secrets that turn
 an ordinary school fundraiser
 into a multi-thousand-dollar fundraiser …

They are projects that have tremendous affect on the school and its student body.  It makes a difference in how the school is respected in the community and it bonds the students to the school.

You must choose your project with care for the school and its students.  You must care about the image of the school in the community, and you must care about the outcome of your fundraiser.

The money raised must be spent where it changes lives, give the student greater challenges, and serve to help the teachers do a better job of teaching. It must have an impact upon the school purpose and the students’ quality of life.

The project is the objective of the fundraiser. Is sending the Band to the Rose Bowl Parade a worthy project? Is placing equipment in the playground of an elementary school a worthy project?

Much less public projects may be just as worthy. What about a special keepsake to highlight a homecoming, or a giveaway item to excite the crowd at a sports game?

What about awards that bond the student to the school and its objective, or a gift that the student receives at the opening of school to introduce them to a new environment?

Every school is different and only you know what is important to your school. Use your imagination to select a project that will excite your students, arouse the interest of the community, and help your teachers do a better job.

 Choosing an exciting project will make your fundraiser really fun and raise money.  Choosing a worthy project will make your fundraiser worthy of support. Getting involved with a project will get your school and community involved and is a great start.

So choosing a worthy project that will revolutionize your fundraiser is your first important step. Choose it with care!

The second step: Choosing a product

Once you have a worthy project, you need a product that will excite the students and community.  The most common in our school is Cookie Dough or Wrapping Paper, or a Spirit product to challenge a positive response. What ever you choose must get people excited!

Excited people will respond to you positively by contributing to your project. The product must catch their attention and cause them to open their pocketbook and make a contribution.

You notice that I say “make a contribution” not buy your product. This is a fundraiser not a retail project peddling a product. You are not selling the product; it is a gift from those who support your project.

The product must be an interest grabber, but the project, not the product, is the real objective. People are contributing to support your project!

The project is the centerpiece of your fundraiser. The project is the purpose for which you are having a fundraiser. If your product is school centered it will get the attention of your prospect, but your project is the worthy cause for which the contributor contributes.

The product is best if it also has as its secondary purpose to bond the student to the school and its purpose. It can boost School Spirit.  It can create excitement, and enthusiasm, and make the teacher’s job easier.

Use your imagination in choosing your product.  Is it a new product to your community, or has it already run it course? Does it already have meaning or do you have to hold a training session to teach people what it means?

Is it school centered, or is it something people can purchase at the local store? Does it bond the student to the school, or does it have no special meaning to the school?

Choosing your product well may revolutionize your fundraiser and encourage people to support your project.

Third: You must make a good presentation

Whether you have thought of it or not, how you make your presentation determines the success or failure of your fundraiser. This is really where the “rubber meets the road.

If it is a poor presentation you spin out to failure.  If it is a good presentation you spin in to success. Whatever time you spend on the preparation of your presentation is worthwhile because it means revolutionizing your fundraiser.

This is where you get your contribution or fall short. You have an idea to present.  You have a cause to support.  You have something to be proud of. You are involved in an effort that supports your school. So you don’t run to the woodshed and hide, you have a presentation to learn.

 The main thing is to know what you are offering, and what the results are. What does it mean to the students?  What does it mean to the school?  What does it means to the community? When you know these three things you are loaded for bear, so build your presentation and be proud!

Where do you expect to get the funds to support you cause? How much money do you really want to complete your project? You need to know this because it will determine who you want to present your project too.

If the parents and grandparents of the students are your “prospects,” you will gear your presentation to show them why they should support your cause.

It’s the best gift they can give their child, or grandchild. It will get them involved in school and bond the student to the school.

If your project is something you want to get the community involved in, you will shape your presentation to show them why they should support your cause.

Is it a great project for the community and pays big dividends, or for the merchant is it a great source of advertising?

It all depends on how much money you want to raise and where you expect to get it.

Let’s say that your project is to give every student a “Small” School Mascot at school opening. What makes this a worthy project? Why should people support it?  What will be the “reason” in your presentation for this project?

What you present as the achievement of this project will determine your success, or failure. So do it up right, put some effort into your thinking and prepare a “good presentation!”

 We know that students are somewhat anxious at the beginning of school. For some it is the first time they have attended school, for others it is only a new school environment.

Teachers know this and many teachers buy gifts with their own money to give the students as an introduction to their class. You can do better than that!

It would introduce them to a new school, at least for them, and would bond them to the school by giving them a School Mascot.   

The gift is “school centered” in that it is the school logo and later this year the booster club will most likely sell T-shirts with the Mascot image on the front.

You have a choice.  You can purchase these “Small” School Mascots with your own money, or you can look elsewhere to get it.

You can sell them to the students, or you can make it an outright gift. Either way you can use the “excess” money for another project that you have in mind.

Why not approach it this way? You want to give the student a gift to calm their fears, bond them to the school, and make the gift school centered.  The merchant on the corner is looking for a way to get the attention of the families in the community.  Just bring them together in one project.

Get the merchant to buy the mascots so you can give them to the students with his compliments. It will be advertising for him, a gift for the students, and a bonding gift for the school.

You’ve got the best of everything. You keep the difference in funds between what the mascot cost, and what you sold them to the merchant for.  And, besides, the merchant wanted to make a contribution to the project, anyway. It’s good advertisement for him.