School Fundraising Pitfalls and Pain Points
School Fundraising season is just around the corner! We love partnering with schools. It’s rewarding work and it’s oh so important! We’ve learned a lot from our years of experience fundraising for schools. It’s notable that the same pain points come up over and over again. Here are the most common ones.
Missing or Incomplete Historical Data
We use data when we’re coming up with a fundraising strategy that will raise the most money for your school. You provide the data and we will use it to maximize giving. If we don’t have it, we can’t use it. If you’re lucky, you’ll know what last year’s committee did. Sometimes folks who work on school fundraisers leave instructions with the PTA (parent-teacher association), where they can easily be amended and updated in subsequent years. But if you’re not lucky enough to have a manual, you’re flying blind. A lack of historical data and institutional knowledge is not uncommon when it comes to school fundraising, because folks who volunteer to help out with school fundraisers generally age out when their kids do.
Guests Who Are (Drunk and) Distracted
Ever hear of the biphasic curve as it pertains to alcohol consumption? It’s the idea that a couple of drinks will make you feel good, but too many will make you feel worse – often much worse! Now let’s throw fundraising into the mix. Your donors will likely feel happy and generous after a drink or two. But if they get too drunk, they won’t give. It’s a common misconception that the more donors drink, the more they give. Drunk guests are NOT generous guests. Furthermore, drunk guests are distracted and not focused on your mission. So if you do serve alcohol at your school fundraiser, it’s a good idea to pass some heavy hors d’oeuvres during cocktail hour.
Too Much, Too Many
Too much drinking can be problematic. Too many revenue streams can also be problematic – AND distracting. Too many games, too many activities, too many (boring) speakers. Can you guess as to what this adds up to? Yep – fewer donations. In order to please your donors – which is always, always the goal – you need a variety of mission-focused games, stories, speeches and sales. But not too many! Less is more.
Messaging that Doesn’t Move Your Guests
We all want the best education for our kids. Education is priceless. Your messaging and communications at your school fundraiser needs to be priceless as well. It already potentially is. Your school has GREAT stories! But are you telling them the right way? In a way that moves people beyond a head nod? One of the most powerful and effective ways to do this is through video. A solid speech is great. A talented, dynamic speaker delivering that speech is extra great. But we are visual creatures, and the fastest path to your donors’ hearts is through attention-grabbing imagery.
Your guests already agree with you, school funding is important! They wouldn’t attend your event if they didn’t believe it. However, if your messaging isn’t a clear and powerful call to action, it’s merely community-building. Community building is great but it’s not going to pay for extracurricular programs/activities, nor will it provide tools for teachers that make their jobs more effective. You need donors to raise their paddles, not simply nod their heads in agreement.
We may not all be in agreement over whether schools are properly funded or not. To us, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to keep raising money for schools because we strongly believe education is the key to a better world and a better future for ALL of us. So reach out! Let’s chat and start planning yours today.