Have you ever attended a PTA convention and either worked a booth or walked past booths in the exhibit hall?
You can learn a lot about PTA fundraisers by doing that.
The first thing you find is that PTA board members hold two distinctly different positions on their PTA fundraiser of choice.
When asked they will often times defend their choice and tell you how well it does for them. On the other hand, they will tell you how much they dislike fundraising in general.
So we’d like to share 3 things to consider before starting your next PTA fundraiser.
Consideration #1: Be Honest About Your Current Fundraising Results
We have attended quite a few conventions and have talked to thousands of PTA members. Frankly I can count on one hand the number of people that absolutely loved the fundraiser they were doing and felt they were raising as much money as possible with the current program.
For those select few we congratulate them and tell them they would be the envy of everyone else in the exhibit hall. Because just about everyone else through the course of a short discussion admit they could do better.
So good PTA fundraising starts with an honest evaluation of how you’ve done in the past along with a good plan for future fundraising.
The plan should touch on the following points at a minimum:
1. How much do you really need to raise.
2. During your last fundraiser did you struggle to get enough volunteers?
3. Have your results over the past few years been declining or increasing?
4. What are you raising money for? Is it something your students and their parents would feel compelled to rally around?
Consideration #2: Comparing Your Options
When was the last time you compared 3 or 4 fundraising ideas to see whether their was in fact a better fit for your school?
Here’s some data you might want to use to compare those ideas:
1. What is your profit percentage?
2. If you are selling a product what is the retail price? Is the retail price reasonable or is it a price and product people would roll their eyes at and feel they are dramatically overpaying for?
3. How many volunteer hours does each option require? Do you historically find that you have a hard time getting enough volunteers?
4. How difficult will the delivery be at the end of the program? Are you equipped to handle the delivery?
5. Are you using a fundraising company to help you? If you are comparing different companies also compare their service levels.
After comparing this data you might find that your original choice was still the best. But you might find easier ways to raise the money. You will never know if you simply do the same thing over and over again.
Consideration #3: Take a Look at What’s Working for Other Schools
When you take the time to look at what others are doing you might find some interesting stuff.
We did just that at the last couple of PTA conventions and here are 3 different things we were told:
1. Cookie Dough Fundraisers: It seems like lots of PTA continue to depend on cookie dough for their main fundraiser. The ones that do well can do very well. I fact we were told by some schools that they were raising more than $20,000 with the cookie dough sales. But honestly that was the exception not the rule. Most did agree that cookie dough was easy to sell. But lots of people complained that sales had grown tired.
2. Read-a-thons: More and more schools it seems have started to add event fundraisers like Read-a-thons, Walk-a-thons or Fun Runs to their fundraising mix. We heard lots of positives about these programs.
3. School Discount Cards: Lots of schools continue to produce an annual discount card. The cards offer ongoing discounts at anywhere from 8 to 16 merchants. The PTA sells the cards for around $10 and can make up to $9 per card depending on how many cards they purchase. The customer gets a good deal if the PTA can get good merchants to offer reasonable coupons.
Why Use Easy Fundraising Ideas for Your Next PTA Fundraiser?
It seems like a typical PTA spends more time on fundraising than ever before. But they are critical. A PTA school fund raiser tends to be held on a large, school wide scale and usually is intended to meet the needs of the operating budget. Take a look at the different PTA fundraising suggestions that you might consider for your school. We offer some of the best options above.
More and more schools have come to depend on PTA fundraising ideas to fund programs and purchase items not covered by the school budget. Elementary school PTA fundraisers are more common than gym class these days.
Schools try all sorts of ideas. Some groups have tried Elementary School PTA Bingo Night Fundraisers. But we have more basic PTA fundraising ideas for you to choose from.
We want to make sure your PTA school fund raiser is successful and easy to manage. That is why we offer tried, proven and profitable PTA fundraising suggestions.
