New Video!

It's been awhile since I've posted on here, I've been busy editing videos. So, I thought I'd share one with you! This is a short video testimonial of one of our client's talking about the Believe Kids fall fundraising catalog. Check it out and let me know what you think!

The President Talks Back to School

If you haven't seen Barack Obama's speech on the importance of education yet, you should watch it here.

Why Multiple Fundraisers Don't Work

When I was in high school, I was the vice president of the student government. I remember our officer meeting at the beginning of the year when we discussed all the "unique and creative" ways we could raise money for the school. We thought of everything from a Sadie Hawkins dance, to carnations and heart shaped suckers for valentines day, a halloween teacher costume contest, can drive,a senior class donation, and even a school wide class competition week. But, never once did it occur to me that these were all different types of fundraisers we were organizing.

It really should have, since our main goal with each venture was to raise money for the student government and the school in general. But, you know kids, we thought we were being innovative and thinking up these grand ways of bringing the school together. Though we did succeed in creating a sense of school spirit with some or most of our ideas, we never really did raise that much money. I think the most we raised was a couple thousand dollars with the school dance, but we had to subtract a pretty big chunk of that to make up for the money we spent on transforming our gym into a suitable barn for dancing.

And I remember after each one of these, being extremely disappointed. We put in so much time and effort to make these things fun, but yet we weren't getting a large return.It wasn't until after I had graduated high school and college and started my first job that it occurred to me, high school students don't want to support a billion fundraisers, no matter how well they are disguised as something else. They don't want to spend their allowances on suckers, or halloween costume contests, and their parents don't want to be asked for money every month for some "creative and innovative" way to support the school.

Multiple fundraisers just don't work.

A mistake that many parent groups and school groups make is continuously asking parents and students for money. Even when the money is going to a great cause, even when students get to attend a fun dance or school wide carnival, even when the fundraiser creates school unity, enough is enough. Parents and students are already overloaded at the beginning of school with school supply lists, class participation fees, and exctracurriculer activities. The last thing they want to worry about is a new fundraiser that they are asked to support each month.

Yes, most parents do want to help support their child's school and even get involved in the school by working with the PTA or as a room parent. But is it really fair to demand money from them month after month? It's also not right to expect parents to participate in each and every fundraiser you host. Realistically, it's just not going to happen.

That's why it's best to have only 1 main fundraiser a year. That's right, only one.

Having one fundraiser after another creates "fundraising fatigue" in parents. That's an extremely dangerous place to put parents at your school in because you run the risk little to no parent participation in your school fundraisers. Parents get the attitude of "I'll support the next fundraiser" and then end up not supporting any at all.

But, if you make it clear that you are only going to have one fundraiser for the entire year, you will increase participation. Tell parents your goal, how much money you need to raise to meet that goal, and how if every student and parent participate, meeting the goal will be easy. But if they don't participate, they won't meet the goal and there won't be another chance to meet it until next year. The closer you get to parents thinking their participation is mandatory, the more they will participate.

It's not hard to host just one fundraiser a year. By getting rid of all the smaller fundraisers (typically fundraisers that raise less than $1,000,) you increase your chance of raising more money with just one. And let's face it, your school or parent group will get a better reputation with parents. They'll realize you care about a lot of other things besides just fundraisers, and they will know you respect them and their financial
situations because you are not asking them for money time and time again.

Really, just one fundraiser a year is the smartest choice for any school.

Here's a look at a video I created

One of my passions is using video to create awareness about today's educational environment. As a kid, my absolute favorite class in school was art. I loved being able to create the things that my wild imagination would dream up.

Today, with the school budget crisis, many schools are having to cut back on art programs, and that just breaks my heart. Luckilly, I have the opportunity to work with a company that is trying to change the effects that low budgets are having on schools.

Here's an example of a video that I created for schools that are using the Believe Kids Magical Holidays Catalog as a fundraiser for Fall 2010. I hope you enjoy :)

Something to Smile About- Funny Video

I was uploading a video to the Believe Youtube channel, when I ran across this video. It's super cute and pretty funny too. When you hold a school wide talent show, you get priceless moments like this one. Talent shows are a great way to bring the school together and feature students doing things that they truly love. Could your school or PTA do something like this?

Get Everyone Involved in Your School Fundraiser

For your school fundraiser to be a success, you want everyone to participate. That includes teachers, administrators, principals, students, parents and even the community.

You've got to build anticipation and excitement around your fundraiser. But, how do you do that? With motivation! And, motivating parents is the key to getting everyone excited, and the fastest way to having a better school fundraiser.

Follow these tips and you will have more success and have to do less fundraising.
Inform
In order for parents to participate, they have to know why the fundraiser is a necessity for the school. Before anyone can help solve a problem they must know what the problem is. Let parents know why the fundraiser is important to their school. Hold a meeting and address the budgetary needs of the school for the year and clearly explain how the money raised from the fundraiser will go towards helping meet those needs. Send out informative emails detailing the areas in school that the official budget won't cover. Show videos explaining the need for the school fundraiser. Whatever you do, make sure to emphasize the necessity for the fundraiser. Parents need to know that their money is being used for essential educational needs.

Encourage
For the fundraiser to be as successful as possible, you need to encourage everyone to participate. And, I don't mean just at the beginning of the fundraiser. You need to keep encouraging participation throughout the entire fundraising process. Teachers, parents and administrators need to all lend a hand in making the fundraiser a success. Encourage teachers to do daily announcements to keep their students informed about the fundraiser. Ask principals to send emails to parents asking for support. A principal's email list can generate thousands of dollars in a matter of minutes.Ask teachers and administrators to use promotions to get the kids excited. For example, daily rewards to students who are on top of their fundraising efforts. Also, reach out to parents and encourage them to register online with the fundraiser and send emails to family and friends asking for support. A few emails to out-of-town relatives can generate a lot more money for your school. Teaming up will take your fundraiser over the top!

Incentivize
Everyone loves prizes.No matter how big or small, kids love walking away from something with a concrete item. Offer one big grand prize that every child will want to get. Then, make all the prizes great. If there is more than just one prize that interests them, they will try to keep selling to reach the desired items. Use a variety of long and short term incentives. Offer an ice cream party, limo ride, or extra recess time to the class or grade level that sells the most. Hold daily raffle drawings. Use principal incentives. If the school meets their fundraising goal, the principal can get duct taped to a wall, have to spend the day on the roof or as a student. Incentives don't have to just be for the kids either. You can have teacher and administrator incentives as well. Offer gift certificates to teachers whose classrooms meet their goals, or limo rides to the administrators if their school meets its goal. It's also important to offer family incentives. Have great prizes like a family night out, or tickets to a local amusement or water park for families that go above and beyond and really get into the fundraiser. Just remember, great incentives will always keep everyone motivated!

Value is Key to a Successful Fundraiser

Schools today are relying on fundraising more than ever to fund new equipment, field trips, learning programs and even some teachers' salaries. It's important to realize that fundraising has become a neccesity for most schools across the nation. However, schools should not fall into the trap of having multiple fundraisers throughout the school year. That is both ineffective and unnecessarily time consuming. All a school needs is one hard-hitting, successful fundraiser to raise all of the needed funds for the entire year.

Offering value will create fundraising success.

No matter what type of fundraiser your school decides to hold this year, make sure it's valueable. The last thing you want to do is offer a product that is cheaply made at an extremely high price. Your supporters won't trust you, which means they will not participate in the fundraiser. The same goes for an event, if you are charging high ticket prices to an event that doesn't offer a whole lot, people will not show up. Offering value is important because it creates trust between you and the supporters of your fundraiser. Valuable products and services will also be received well in the community, and that will lead to more money for your school.

The same goes for offering products and events at prices that are too low. You will not make any money if items are priced lower than their value. It's important to hold a fundraiser with products, companies and/or events that you believe in and really feel are a great value and resource to your community.

Bottom line-- if something doesn't seem like a good deal to you, don't offer it. Nobody wants to feel ripped off when they are giving their money to support a school.