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Going to school is not just about learning the three “R’s”. It includes many other fun-filled activities and events as well. But these extra curricular events cost money. There are really only three options to pay for them. It can come out of the school budget, it can be paid for by the parents or admission fees or the school can raise the money in some sort of fundraising event.

It is fundraising that many consider to be like the “third rail” in the New York City subway. It is either viewed positively, as the energizer to make things go or it is the thing everyone wants to shy away from. A properly run fundraiser on the other hand is a blessing to all. There really is no reason why the school staff and volunteers, parents of the students and the community at large should dread the coming of the school fundraising drive. If the product that is chosen is right, the incentives for the students and teachers are worthwhile, the entire process will be enjoyed by all.

Fundraisers that are view negatively are usually ones that are done for just a small segment of the school. For instance, if you are having a school wide fundraiser that most of the money raised is used for the 5th grade field trip, 80% of the school is being left out. Unless something is done to make it worth their while, you’ll have allot of unhappy kids and parents.

Have you ever wondered why some schools, while all else is equal, will have a $50,000 sale and another of the same size has a $20,000 sale? They could even be selling the same product, at the same time and still have that much difference in their sale. The answer to that is really pretty simple. It’s “How” they run the sale that makes all the difference.

A case in point is Fern Bluff Elementary in Round Rock, Texas. For years they had been having $25-$29,000 sales with their 700 students. One year, they made a few changes in only one thing…it wasn’t in what they picked for their fundraiser, that remained the same. All they did was make a change in how they ran their sale and the year after they had a $29,000 sale they had a $68,000 sale. They actually made as much that year as they had sold the year before!

They not only raised more money but they also increased participation of parents and teachers when it came time for delivery. They had always had a problem of finding enough volunteers to help when it came time for delivery. This time they had to turn people away! Nothing like that had ever happened at that school before.

All that came because they chose to run their sale differently than they had been doing it all those years previous. Napoleon Hill once said, “You can get everything you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.” That is the basis for changing the fundraising environment at your school.

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