-----------------------------------------------------------------
High
School Fundraising is both an art and a science. If your fundraising
revenues are static or declining, your organization is probably making one
or more of these common mistakes:
-
Lack
of planning
-
Repeating the same old fundraiser
-
Not
recruiting enough help
-
Low
quality merchandise
-
Inadequate sales preparation
-
Poor
support materials
-
No
sales scripts
-
Weak
internal communication
-
Lack
of publicity
-
Continuous fundraising
-
Bad
timing
-
Poor
rewards
-
Letting problems fester
-
Picking the wrong fundraiser
Lack of
planning for Fundraising
Things haven't been thought through. Deadlines produce a
crisis response. Nobody knows exactly what to do. Everything is a haphazard fire drill.
Does any
of this sound familiar? Usually
only a few people have the prior knowledge needed from the year before,
so there's a bottleneck on information. That often produces the
"suffering martyr
syndrome" where the person in charge, who should have had everything
planned
well in advance, instead spends their time moaning about how overworked
they
are. Admit it, you know that person!
All of
this can be avoided if the right preparations are made ahead of time.
The same old fundraiser is done over and over again because that's what
you've
always done. The roles and responsibilities are well known, so it's a
safe
comfortable solution. Unfortunately, your supporters are probably sick
and tired
of it. Your volunteers probably feel the same way. The
typical result is flat to declining total revenue, not to mention all the
missed
opportunities. Have you ever looked at your old records to see what the
average
customer sale and average profit per sale were several years ago? It's a
good
bet that there's been little change. The
root causes of this High School Fundraising inertia are lack of knowledge,
fear of change, unwillingness to upset the status quo, etc. If you will
take the time to expand your knowledge base, then you will increase your
success. Remember
that your goal should be to maximize your revenue and increase your
net every year, not to maintain a breakeven position. After all, the
items and
services your funds raised purchase have definitely risen in price over
the years! Even
if it's just inflation, the things your funds will eventually buy get more
expensive each year, so your net proceeds need to grow as well. Newer
fundraising activities have come along that can increase your net results
per
customer by 25% or more. Don't
let your fundraising efforts achieve less than they could because they
lack
better direction.
Overworking your core volunteer group is a recipe for
disaster. Good people
who are willing to help your cause at no cost are hard to find. Why chew
them up
and spit them out? Increase
your volunteer base by defining all the roles and responsibilities. You
should have written descriptions of what's expected from each support
role.
Make sure that it includes an accurate estimate of the time that position
requires. Break
those volunteer time blocks into two, four, or eight-hour chunks. By
defining how much time a support position requires, you increase the
likelihood
of a match with potential volunteers. Allow job sharing; that is, allow
two people
to sign up for one function and coordinate their own efforts. Another
way to avoid burning out your volunteers is to recruit for all positions
at
the beginning of the year. This requires having your master project plan
for the
year mapped out ahead of time. Offer signup sheets for this year's
positions at
your first group meeting. That's when people are the most receptive to
the idea
of pitching in, particularly if it's for a clearly defined amount of time. Circulate
flyers at every meeting for the remaining open positions. If necessary,
include a call for additional help in your newsletter.
School
Fundraising - Low
quality merchandise
Sales are declining. Customers are saying no thanks all
too often. Multiple unit
sales are a rarity. Complaints are commonplace. If
these are happening to your organization, a wrong decision has been made
somewhere along the line. Perhaps a higher profit percentage on every
item
sold sounded like a good idea. The result isn't higher net profits; it's
lower sales. Those lower sales are coupled with disappointed clients. Your group's
reputation
is suffering. Get
rid of the junky stuff. Ask yourself if you or someone you know would pay
those prices for similar quality goods at retail. If the answer is no,
look for a new
supplier before your support base erodes further. The idea is to buy at
wholesale
and sell at close to retail, not at twice retail.
Inadequate
Fundraising sales preparation
Remember the very first fundraiser you participated in?
Did you know everything
you needed to know as a participant? Chances are that you didn't and that
you
did the best you could without much direction. A
common mistake is to have no written instructions or inadequate
instructions
given to your sales team. Don't expect people to know all the selling
"to-do's"
without adequate direction. Many volunteers could be new recruits or have
served a different function for a past fundraiser. The
results of inadequate sales preparation are costly. You'll end up with
missed
opportunities, order confusion, lost payments, mistakes on order sheets,
and
many others that all cost either time or money to fix.
Be
sure to take the time to do it right and you'll save in the long run.
Poor
Fundraising support materials
Having poor support materials is another problem. Usually
these are obtained
from a supplier and shown to each prospective supporter. The quality of
that
presentation material is a reflection of your organization. Don't settle
for
brochures that make your group look bad. If
necessary, create additional sales materials in-house and supplement what
your sellers have available to them. For example, if your group is
selling
discount shopping cards for $10 each and the accompanying brochure doesn't
really get the message across, create a flyer with large print emphasizing
the
savings generated.
No sales
script
Not having a written sales presentation is another big
mistake. In many
fundraisers, a child is one of the primary sales channels. Why would you
expect
a youngster to be a natural salesperson? Having been in sales for more
than a
dozen years myself, I can tell you with confidence that advance
preparation is a
mandatory requirement for success. Write
out one or two sales scripts that focus on your organization's specific
need
and properly present offering. Distribute those scripts to your team
along with
written instructions on practicing within the family, how to build a
prospect list,
etc. If you think your group has this area mastered, select any seller at
random
and have them give you their sales pitch. I can guarantee that you'll be
surprised. A
boy of about 14 appeared on my doorstep one evening. Shoulders hunched
over, he mumbled his pitch to his shoes, which could barely be seen
beneath his
drooping pants. Less than a week later, another boy came to my door for
the
same reason. He looked me in the eye, gave me two sentences about his
purpose, and asked for my help. To which one did I contribute? Okay,
both of them, but not everyone is a softie like me, but I did contribute
more the second visitor. Work on sales pitch delivery!
Weak
internal communication
This manifests itself in many ways and severely hampers your fundraising
efforts. Not giving clear direction to your volunteers and your sellers equals a
lack-luster
performance.
Here
are some examples:
There are no individual or sub-group goals given at the start of your
drive. The
group's specific goal isn't communicated clearly to the sellers. Your
message
isn't getting across to buyers. No feedback is given to your participants
or to
your supporters about the results. Nobody knows how well the fundraiser
did or
whether it was worth the effort. These
kind of communication problems create a strong drag on profits. Revisit
how your group passes along information. Design a system with multiple
paths
of communication. Eliminate bottlenecks in the flow of information. Leverage
your website as a great source of specific data on everything your group
is doing.
Lack
of publicity
Advertising works. That's why you see so much of it. Put
it to work for your
organization by getting the word out in every possible fashion. Use
flyers,
posters, signs, media contacts, etc. When was the last time your group
sent out
a press release? Publicity
increases community awareness of your non-profit organization and
pays untold dividends. It will motivate additional participation,
increase your
volunteer pool, provide feedback, and give a method for communicating
results.
Continuous
High School Fundraising
Another common mistake is doing too many fundraisers. The
result is burnout of
your volunteers, your participants, and their customers. You know your
group is
in trouble if you belong to the "Fundraiser of the Month" club. Limit
your group to two or three main fundraisers each year. Take the time to
design the right approach that will maximize the results of each
fundraiser. A
well conducted fundraiser can double the results of one that is poorly
planned
and executed. Other
warning signs of doing too many fundraisers include low sales volume or a
declining net per customer transaction. Why do fundraisers at all if you
end up
generating less than $5 or $10 net profit per salesperson? This
book is full of suggestions on how to maximize your revenue for each
fundraiser. One is to have a supplemental offering on top of each major
effort. There are literally dozens of other ideas too numerous to list here. If
you absolutely feel that your group has to raise money year round, move it
to
your website. Create a silent fundraiser there via a store, set up a
click-through
sales commission program, provide a gift certificate/scrip program there,
etc.
Bad
timing
Problems that fall into the category of bad timing include
conflicts with holidays,
poor weather, competition doing same thing, lack of interest due to
another
event, overlapping school exam time, etc. Avoid
planning anything that spans major holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas,
New Years, Easter, July 4th, or Labor Day. Those are wasted time slots
within
your calendar due to the lack of availability of participants and
supporters. Poor
weather means not doing a candy fundraiser for a youth sports group in
August when the candy is likely to melt. For the same reason, don't offer
special
handling merchandise like cookie dough, cheesecake, or pizza kits at those
times either unless you plan everything very carefully. Stay
alert to what other fundraisers are going on in your community. Having a
pumpkin patch sale on the school lawn two weeks before Halloween isn't a
good
idea if there are three other ones within a mile. Offer something
different and
stay in touch with the leaders of other groups. Scheduling
an event-style fundraiser is a bad idea when it conflicts with another
major community event that will draw away most of its customers. Check
the
schedules for sporting events and community functions. Don't be like the
group
that promoted a Saturday car wash at a site only to find that all nearby
traffic was blocked off that morning for an annual running event! If
your group relies on student sellers, don't forget to check when midterms
and
finals are. Their parents won't appreciate extra time demands when
academics
are the highest priority.
Poor
rewards
Poor rewards often have the same effect as no rewards at all. Junk is
junk, so
why bother? Relying
on supplier freebies isn't always a good idea. As mentioned above, go to
your local merchants for a cooperative program that will drive customers
to their
stores while encouraging the merchants to supply motivational rewards to
your
sellers. Invest
the time in designing the right reward program. The increase in sales
will
more than pay for a slight additional cost.
Letting
problems fester
Remember that when you're conducting a fundraiser, you're a
small business
owner whose livelihood depends on maintaining a good reputation. The old
"word of mouth" rule is that each person who has a good experience with
your
group will tell one other person, but the person who has a bad experience
will tell
five other people. Claiming
that you're overworked is no excuse for not being responsive. Don't put
any customer satisfaction issue in the "get around to it" pile. You'll be
harming
your organization in more ways than you realize. Deal
with all problems immediately, even if it means dropping what you're doing
right then. Follow the Golden Rule and do unto others as you would have
them
do unto you.
Picking
the wrong fundraiser
Sometimes a fundraiser is just wrong for a group. It might
be because that
particular one works best for a larger sized group. It could be that it
requires a
longer time period than is available. Others
might not fit because it was picked for its higher percentage payout
rather
than the quality of the offering. The poor value of the merchandise ends
up
lowering sales instead of generating profits. A
fundraiser might have pricing that is wrong for community. Higher priced
merchandise or gourmet food items aren't a good fit in some areas. Put
"best practices" in place within your organization. Design a decision
matrix
that weighs the various factors to help you make the right choice.
Summary
Allowing these mistakes to continue within your organization is costing
you extra
time, lost revenue, lower profits, and it's eroding your support base.
Root them
out now. Act like a business owner and put a detailed plan into place to
correct
these deficiencies.
|
About The
Author: Kimberly Reynolds is
the author of
Fundraising Success, a
best
selling ebook on fundraising. You can read
more of
her
fundraising
ideas on her website, FundraiserHelp.com. |
|
|
