PTO Today, I want to thank you for your site. Last year, I was put in a position that I needed to do some pretty intense fundraising and I don't know how I could have done it without finding this site. I had such success, that I have gone on from that experience and have done several other fundraising project, most of them unrelated to the education system, and now I am getting calls from companies that want to hire me to fundraise for them.
With that said, I would like to give something back to PTO Today. And that is some insite into the art of fundraising. I think I have become so comfortable with it because I understand the concepts that make it work, and I would like to share some of those with you in hopes of helping someone else with your efforts.
Understanding the Concepts Behind Fundraising
Companies need you
In order to be able to successfully fundraise for an event, you need to understand the concept behind business and advertising. Believe it or not...you and your school have something to give to the organizations that are giving you money or in-kind donations. Once you understand that concept, you will have so much success that you won't know what to do with all of the stuff that you start receiving.
It's all about advertising. First, you have to realize that a large company, making millions of dollars a year, will invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising money a year in order to reach their audience. If your school is a concentration of their audience, meaning, if there are 1000 kids who's parents shop at their store, then they want to reach those kids or their parents. If giving $100 or $1000 to your school reaches those potential customers, they will do it in a heartbeat. Trust me.
They don't care what your activity is. As harsh as this sounds, a lot of bigger companies really don't care what you are doing. They don't need to know that you are building a new library or giving food to feed the poor...whatever the cause is. What they what to know is how you are going to advertise for them if they give you money. So keep information about your event simple, sweet and short. Get to what they want to hear as quickly as possible.
How will your activity help their business. This is the bottomline...what's in it for them. This may be a hard concept to grasp when you are trying so hard to help your school. It seems like a company should donate to your cause just because it's a good cause. But if you can let go of your emotions and try to think like a businessman (and yes, this is hard to do), then you will be successful.
These businesses are concerned about their companies, their employees, their paychecks, etc. They need to know that giving money to an organization is going to meet their goals. So you have to convince them of that.
You need to spend some money on them. This is what a company is looking for. You can promise them that if they contribute X-amount of dollars, you will have their business name on a banner that will be displayed 'here'. Or, you will put an add in the local newspaper thanking them for their generous contribution.
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I am going to write more in a little while. But my husband just made dinner .
