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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Recently, I have been reading a book called “Life’s a Campaign” by Chris Matthews, who is the host of MSNBC’s program Hardball. The subtitle of this book is “What Politics has Taught Me about Friendship, Rivalry, Reputation, and Success”.

In this book, Matthews shares the lessons he’s learned from working with and covering successful politicians.

I was particularly struck by a chapter he wrote that was called “Ask!” In this chapter, he gives many examples of how successful politicians raise the millions of dollars needed to run a congressional or presidential campaign.

Many of the lessons he draws upon can easily be applied to raising money for your school. Over the next few posts here at Top School Fundraisers, I will share with you some of these ideas that I have found to be particularly interesting.

One of the thoughts that made a lot sense to me involved enlisting the help of small donors and thus creating a large army of people dedicated to your cause.

Matthews uses President John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign as a prime example. Since this book was published early in the current election cycle, he does not mention the immense grassroots campaign that Senator Barack Obama has built. continue reading

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If you have children who are old enough to be involved in any kind of a group activity, you are most likely going to encounter the dreaded “fundraiser”. For those of you who have multiple children, you already know the pain far too well.

Whether it be for school, gymnastics, dance, Little League, or junior underwater basket weaving, there will come a day, if it hasn’t come already, when you will be asked to become a salesperson for any or all of the following items:

• Cookie dough
• Popcorn
• Candles
• Wrapping paper
• Chocolate bars
• Christmas wreaths
• Frozen pizza
• Coupon books
• Magazine subscriptions

It doesn’t matter if you are a professor of astrophysics at M.I.T., a Supreme Court Justice, or a professional underwater basket weaver, raising money for your kids is the great American equalizer.

Fundraising done wrong, however, can make everybody unhappy. So, I want to share a few strategies that make this maligned rite of passage a little more tolerable for all involved.

Step One: Don’t Surprise Them

If you really want to tick some parents off, go ahead and spring random fundraisers on them. One day, completely unannounced, send home a letter and order form telling them they have to sell cookie dough. And the money’s due in ten days. I promise, you’ll make a lot of friends.

No seriously, this is not a good idea. It is much wiser to actually set a fundraising plan before you kick off your year or season. Know exactly which fundraisers you will be running and set the dates in stone. Write this information down and give it to all the parents involved.

This becomes your bible. Do not stray from it. If mom and dad know that there is going to be a frozen pizza sale in February, they can cope with it. They have time to plan or perhaps time to flee the country.

Step Two: Be Very Clear on the Goal

Sometimes it seems that we fundraise just to pay for all the fundraising we do. Honestly, I have been involved in groups where I’ve been asked to sell something or other, and I’ve had absolutely no idea what my money was going to buy. I would seek out other parents to ask them if they knew, but they just had this glassy look in their eyes and chanted: “Must sell the donuts… Must sell the donuts…”

This is the wrong way to go about having a fundraiser. Along with letting everyone know well in advance what’s being sold and when, you really must give parents an exact picture of what’s at stake. If the money will be used to purchase new equipment or help pay for a really great trip, that gives parents a solid hook for their sales pitch at the office.

If the money you collect is going to fund the general operating budget, just pick something attractive that you were going to buy anyway and say that fundraiser is for that. I don’t believe that this is dishonest, as long as your organization is truly going to purchase that thing during this year. The money all goes to the same place, but you are giving a face to your campaign, and that’s important when trying to raise money.

Step Three: Don’t Sell Junk

Now, I need to be a little careful here, because I don’t want to offend anyone, so I’ll speak in general terms, but honestly folks, some of the stuff that we, as parents, are asked to sell is useless, overpriced schlock. Really, some of the things that get passed off as a “fundraiser”, I wouldn’t give to my worst enemy.

I pay close attention to this sort of thing, and I’ve noticed that there are some businesses these days that get into the fundraising racket, just to increase their bottom lines. No matter that they sell radioactive Popsicle sticks, they put out a brochure that proclaims “It’s a Fundraiser, and you get 10% of the profit!” While this may be a slight exaggeration, it’s not far from the truth.

If you want to make parents happy and have a profitable fundraising sale, you really need to make sure the item you’re selling has a broad appeal, is reasonably priced and is of high quality. If your item doesn’t hit it on all three of these markers, don’t sell it. If you have any doubts, ask a handful of parents before committing. Call some other schools or groups to get their take on the subject. Your parents and their customers will thank you for it.

Step Four: Let Parents Opt-Out

Ah, the opt-out option. This is like a grown-up version of the “Get Out of Jail Free” card in Monopoly. Many schools and groups are moving toward this option, and if we’re lucky, perhaps one day all fundraisers will be opt-out-able.

Basically, an opt-out option, if you are unfamiliar with it, is a plan under which, parents can pay a certain amount to NOT participate. Beauty, eh? Some groups even go so far as to make the entire year of fundraising optional, as long as you’re willing to write a big, fat check.

What’s great about this option is that it appeals to a segment of your population that perhaps didn’t participate in your fundraisers before, because they were simply too busy. Giving money wasn’t a problem for them; it was just a time-thing. Now, with the “official” opt-out option, they have a way that they can still give to a cause they believe in, but don’t have to go through all the machinations to do it. Talk about a win-win!

Conclusion

Fundraising is a necessary part of life. We, as parents all want the best for our children, and that often means that we have to pay for it. Product sales, auctions, golf outings, and walk-a-thons have become common tools in helping us achieve our financial goals. Unfortunately, the entire process has become a little unpleasant. However, with a few key strategies, you will be able to keep the parents happy, while you’re still sticking them with the cookie dough.

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