Connecting Schools With Great Fundraising Ideas.

The great thing about writing a blog on a regular basis is that the author has the opportunity to really dive into a subject and examine it on a microscopic level.

Today is such a day, when we pull out our microscopes and peer deeply into our organization’s image. Let’s talk about voice mail and answering machines. We’ve all got ‘em, but are we getting the most out of them that we can?

This may seem like a very basic point, but I do believe it is worth covering, since I’ve heard many, many dreadful messages that have spoken very poorly of the people who recorded them.

10 Cardinal Rules of Recording Answering Machine Messages

1. Keep it up to date.
It’s embarrassing when you have a message that talks about an event or a date that is two weeks old. If you ever change your outgoing message for a time-sensitive purpose or event, make sure to change it immediately afterwards.

2. Make sure you actually have an outgoing message.
Some schools, who don’t have a fancy voice mail system, still use an old-fashioned answering machine, and these can lose their memory if there is a power outage. Don’t have a client or a school family member have to tell you you don’t have a message on the machine. This is the equivalent to being told your zipper is undone. continue reading

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Over the weekend, I found myself in the checkout line of a Toys R Us store in Traverse City, Michigan, with a very excited seven year old. We were just buying one small Lego set, but the joy of a getting a new toy was still overwhelming for my son.

Of course, as a dad, I was feeling like a big spender ($7.99) and enjoyed basking in the adoration of my off-spring. Therefore, I wasn’t really paying attention to the lady at the cash register. We exchanged a brief hello, but I quickly went back to talking to my boy.

As he was showing me how cool this Lego set was, the check-out lady interrupted and asked me for my phone number. I looked up at her quizzically. Her long, red fingernails hovered expectantly over the number pad, waiting to key in my digits. I really didn’t like that question, so I told her that I didn’t have a phone. That wasn’t exactly the truth, but why should I volunteer my personal information at Toys R Us?  What business of theirs is my phone number?  In this day and age of identity theft and robocalls, that’s really crossing the line.

She looked at me with unmistakeable indignation and quickly pressed a button that must have been labeled “difficult customer”. She then asked me for my zip code. I understood what she was doing, but I just didn’t want to play along. So, again, I refused to answer, and she once more pressed the difficult customer button.  Twice for emphisis.  continue reading

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Sometime during the course of your school fundraising experience, it is likely that you will send out a solicitation letter to parents. Maybe you already have. From my own experience, I don’t think this kind of a letter is anybody’s first choice of a fundraising strategy.

You probably arrived or will arrive at this point when you realize that you just can’t, in good conscience, ask parents to partake in another product sale or purchase tickets to another fundraising event, but your budget is still short and so you have no choice.

Why not just put it all out there in a well-written letter and ask parents to pony up to cover the shortfall? I mean, the logic is sound- all parents have to do is write a check- no twisting arms of co-workers or relatives, no volunteering on a Saturday morning for bake sale duty, no decorating the church gym for an auction. Just a few strokes of the pen and the problem is solved. Right?

The real challenge in this strategy is crafting the right kind of letter. This is a very tall order, and if not handled properly, you won’t be receiving very many checks.

Just recently, I came across a blog post that offered a sample of such a letter. The folks who run this blog have offered the letter up for any school to copy and customize as needed. I think that there are some very good parts in this letter; however, I do believe that it significantly misses the mark in convincing parents to take the action step of sending a check. continue reading

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In part one and part two of this series, I have been examining Chris Matthews’ book “Life’s a Campaign”. Specifically, I’ve been looking at the chapter called “Ask!” in which Chris gives examples of how politicians raise millions of dollars for their campaigns. I have been suggesting that many of these strategies are applicable to the life of a school fundraiser, just like you!

With this post, I’d like to share with you the practical advice Matthews shares about how to approach any kind of fundraising campaign. While this advice centers on collecting votes for an election, it is very easy to see how it parallels with fundraising.

“Imagine that you’re running in an election for president of your class or social group. To win, designate a number for each person in the group. Give a 1 to all your friends, a 2 to all the people you regularly say hi to, but don’t consider that close, a 3 to people you feel are probably truly undecided about you, and a 4 to those you figure are strongly against you or loyal to another candidate.

“Here’s your campaign: approach those you’ve give them number 1 to and say that you know you’re friends, but you’re asking them to vote for you. This should nail down your base. Then approach each of those you’ve tagged with a number 2, and make your basic campaign pitch. Tell them what your plans are if elected and how you believe you can really do the job. Ask them for their vote. The important thing with this group is to treat them as people you have to convince. They will appreciate your direct, positive, respectful approach. Finally, go tot the people you’ve marked with a 3 and give them an aggressive, extensive case for your election. They are the persuadables—so persuade them! Do not approach the people you have categorized with number 4. It will only get them aroused. If you bump into them, just be friendly, non-confrontational, and dull. Any active campaigning will simply provoke them. You want them to go to sleep.

“The most vital category of voters for you are the 1s. When my boss Tip O’Neill ran for the Cambridge City Council back in the 1930s, the woman living across the street complained later that O’Neill, still at Boston College, hadn’t bothered to ask for her vote. “People like to be asked,” she said. Tip O’Neill lost that race, but never another.”

I know that this sounds pretty obvious, pretty basic. But, I have been involved in enough capital campaigns and fundraising efforts to know that this advice is often forgotten in the hours and hours spent planning, organizing, and strategizing.

At the end of the day, it’s all about human contact. Get out and make your case. Be brave. Ask!

Link to Part One in this Chris Matthews’ Series

Link to Part Two in this Chris Matthews’ Series

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In the first part of this series on Chris Matthews’ book “Life’s a Campaign”, I wrote about how President Kennedy was masterful at developing an army of volunteers who helped in very small, but useful ways.

With this post, I am still in the chapter called “Ask!”, which gives insights into how large-scale campaigns raise so much money. This time however, I want to focus on Matthews’ story about how Republican fundraiser Ed Gillespie goes about this task.

“I always try to get people to buy into the vision, how what we’re doing with the money is important to the country”. He then gives his potential donor the inside perspective. “We need another two million to get up with television in Ohio. I’d like you to help there,“ he’ll say. Revealing such a shortfall or weak spot is a bonding tactic.

“You’ve got to give them something tangible, show them that you’re not going to piss it away somewhere,” he said. “Sometimes, I’ll lay out a program for direct mail and say how it will get turnout up two percent – but we’ve got to pay for it! A lot of people have the money to give. They’re successful people. But they want to see results.”

We’ve all had that one big donor who is very special to us. He or she is the one who has not only given us the most money, but has also mentored us. At least in my case, that relationship became very important to me in a personal way. continue reading

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