Planning Your Next Fundraiser

Summer vacation is nearing its end, and parents everywhere are thankful for the lack of homework, soccer practices, and extracurricular obligations that come with the school year. One thing you can start to think about is planning the upcoming school year’s fundraiser. Waiting until the last minute while school is in session can mean your child’s fundraiser is messily put together and not as successful as it can be. There are a few things in mind to think about when you begin to plan your next fundraiser:

Choices, Choices…

There are a ton of different options to chose from when it comes to picking a fundraiser. From online shops, to frozen foods, brochures, holiday gifts, direct sales, school spirit items or a color-a-thon blast, making a decision on WHICH fundraiser to choose can be the most difficult. Keep in mind the most important factor- your child. How old is your child? a ten year old may shy away from a brochure fundraiser, or a teenager might scoff at the idea of going door-to-door with holiday gifts. Play to your child’s skill sets.

Timing is Everything

Think about what time of year you are going to conduct your fundraiser; is the event you are raising money for in the spring or fall? Do you plan on conducting an outdoor event or going door-to-door around the neighborhood? In that case, a January event may not be the best choice. Holiday gifts are going to sell much better at the end of November than in the beginning of April. Keep in mind some of the fundraising trends and changes in 2015.

Skill Development Preparation

Your child may be motivated by prizes, but conducting a fundraiser develops many skills you child can use later in life, like interpersonal skills, leadership, communication skills, and learning how to market yourself. Talk about these skills with your child ahead of time. Give them some ideas about approaching people and presenting themselves. Preparation on this front is key to develop those oh-so-important soft skills of fundraising.

Plan the upcoming school year’s fundraiser ahead of time and see the difference it can make. Better yet- conduct an event in the summer! With Gifts ‘N Things, the options for fundraising are nearly endless; the hard part is picking the right one for you. Follow a few of these tips and your next fundraiser is sure to go off without a hitch.

Having a Succesful Year of Fundraising in 2015

The first month of 2015 is nearly over, and for most organizations, the new year marks a time of rebirth and renewal. Businesses, schools, and nonprofits alike utilize January as a pivotal starting point for new ideas, goals, and trends to increase their fundraising efforts over the next calendar year. So what are the best ways to approach 2015, fundraising-wise?

According to The Non-Profit Times, visual storytelling will be crucial to being successful while fundraising this year. “Organizations will have to find creative and innovative ways to engage supporters in a world full of distractions, and visual components are key,” says Rich Dietz, senior product manager for digital fundraising at Abila Software in Austin, Texas. Previous research indicates that people process visuals at least 60,000 times faster than text, meaning if your organization is looking for engagement, creating something eye-catching is necessary.

Another opportunity to be on top of your fundraising game this year is to be aware of donor’s wants and needs. Most donors are interested in knowing directly where their contributions end up, and as GuideStar points out, there’s a simple formula for how to talk about your strategy in a successful, communicative way.

The “MPI formula,” created by Gail Perry, focuses on three fundamental parts of any fundraising conversation. These basic questions are:

• M: How much money your organization wants to raise.

• P: What project will fund.

• I: What impact your fundraiser will make.

Perry says the initiative works because it requires your organization to define a concrete goal, connect to donors specifically, and inspires communication about your project and what it will accomplish. Successful communication between volunteers, donors, and leaders is key in establishing trust between your organization and the people who help it, which usually results in more investment in the long run.

Another key in having a good fundraising year is understanding your audience. While audiences differ depending on the organization, it has been documented by the Huffington Post that sixty-four percent of donations are made by women, and seventy-seven percent of people in the United States believe everyone can make a difference by supporting causes they care about. Do some research on your audience to cater to your target demographics, and see the difference in your donations.

Last but not least is looking at the role technology plays in your fundraising efforts. The Pew Research Center states that more than ninety percent of all Americans own a cell phone, making it the most popularly used form of technology to date. But is your organization utilizing it the way it should be?

Larger organizations, like nonprofits and schools with larger budgets, will benefit from using responsive design on their website -- allowing users to seamlessly browse from either smartphones, tablets, or computers. Smaller organizations can also use technology. Social media, like Facebook or Twitter, is a great way to draw attention to your fundraiser without spending more money than you can afford.

Of course, there are numerous ways to have a successful fundraiser, and these are just a few trends worth noting as you create your goals for the upcoming year. It is worth pointing out, however, that organizations willing to embrace new ways of thinking and take risks often benefit the most from new trends and research.

We wish your organization the best of luck in the new year, and hope to help you with any and all fundraising you plan to do in 2015!

5 Tips for Your Child's Fundraising

Make Fundraising a Fun Learning Experience

Fundraising can be a daunting task, especially to young children and can cause them a great deal of anxiety. With a little push you can help your child be more comfortable fundraising and make it an enjoyable experience for everybody involved. To do this, Gifts 'N Things has provided the following tips to make your child's fundraising a fun and successful one.

1) Know The Product
One of the most important things when fundraising with children is that they know what they are selling. We don’t mean they know they are selling candy bars, but rather what is in the candy bar and how it tastes. This is impressive when a young “salesperson” can show knowledge of their product.

2) Go along for the Ride
Going door to door with your child is one of the best ways to have a successful fundraising campaign. By going door to door (preferably in your neighborhood), your child will be able to show their knowledge about the product with your neighbors and work on socializing with people they may not know that well. Most of the time they are more than willing to help support your children.

3) Buddy-Up!

When it comes to children and having to do something outside of their comfort zone it helps to have at least one other child with them. Our next tip is work in pairs or groups. This is a simple way to help make your child more comfortable and you can help the other children with their fundraising too.

4) Don't take over

Often times we see parents doing the selling for the children. Let your child do the work they are given to do. There is a good chance that they fundraising they are asked to do directly benefits them and is given to them for a purpose that cannot be achieved if you do it for your child.

5) Don't Bail Them Out

Our last tip is in regards to your top clients. More often than not, your family and close friends will be more than willing to help your child out. The great thing about seeking support from friends and family is that your child will be more comfortable around them. More often than not, parents end up buying too much of their children’s product. This does help your child meet the minimum requirements for selling but then you have an overabundance of something that cost you money. By setting limits on how much you will buy, your children will be able to know how much they must sell. Approaching close family and friends is a great way for your child to start tackling her or his additional quota.

By following the tips that we gave you you can make fundraising an overall successful experience for both you and your child. Good luck and happy selling!

How to Motivate Children to Fundraise WITHOUT Prizes

Use These Five Ideas to get Students Excited about Fundraising

For years, schools have executed successful fundraiser by awarding prizes as incentives for students to raise money. Sometimes however, prizes are not financially available or students do not desire the available prizes.

The good news is - it’s entirely possible to motivate children to fundraise without product-related rewards. Try using one or more of these five ideas:


1. Focus on the end-goal. Have your students remember what the money is going towards. Is it going towards the school itself, a special cause, or a new playground? If you make the goal real and show what it takes to reach, students will be more likely to engage in reaching it.

2. Hang “thermometer” posters in the hallways and classrooms to directly track progress. Not only does this directly show how much your team has made, but it inspires the students to reach the top of the thermometer.

3. Show inspirational videos. Is your fundraiser for a specific cause or charity? Showing videos related towards the cause make it even more real. If possible, bring in a guest speaker who represents the charity or cause you're raising money for. If it is not cause-specific, you can still show other inspirational videos that show how positive action and giving can go a long way.

4. Slime the top-selling students. While this might sound ridiculous, this activity creates a lot of hype between the students. It's almost as if students dare each other to do their best at fundraising (and calls for a celebratory school wide slime-ceremony)!

 

5. Create a no homework pass for a day to the top selling student. Rallying students around the idea of no homework often has exponential effects.