Top Tips for Managing a Successful Full Service Fundraiser

So, you’ve signed up to lead a fundraiser here on Boon Supply? Congratulations! We are so glad you’ve chosen to partner with us for your fundraiser. Now, it’s time to learn about all of the actions we suggest taking as a Fundraising Chair in order to help your fundraiser succeed.

( Note: If you haven’t committed to hosting a fundraiser on Boon Supply quite yet, click here to learn more about the benefits of doing so and then go ahead and sign up! We promise, you’ll be glad you did).

Here’s a step-by-step guide to raising as much money as possible for your cause:

Before Your Fundraiser

Preparation is key! The steps below will help you get everything you need for an outstanding fundraiser lined up and ready to go.

Connect with Your Consultant & Order Fundraiser Supplies

Within a few days of signing your Fundraiser Agreement (the final step in signing up for your fundraiser), you will be contacted by your Boon Consultant. Think of your Consultant as your personal sales coach - our Consultants are fundraising experts here to guide you through every step of your fundraiser.

During that initial call, your Consultant will discuss your objectives for your fundraiser, and how we can help you achieve those goals. You’ll learn about the supplies that we have available for you:

Lookbooks - Lookbooks (catalogs) provide a stylized snippet of Boon Supply’s product offering for the season - they’re a great tool to show supporters the various ways they can shop to support your fundraiser. We offer both printed and digital versions, you can view the current version here.
Product samples for displays - One of the best ways to spread the word about your fundraiser is to show off the amazing products that supporters can purchase to give back to your organization. We offer an excellent discount on products you order for this purpose.
Prizes (where applicable) - We offer an enticing prize program (for free!) to elementary and middle school fundraisers. The program incentivizes action by rewarding sellers (students) for sharing their fundraiser and for each item purchased by supporters on their behalf.

The supplies listed above are great ways to engage your participants and supporters - maximizing your fundraiser sales. After discussing your needs, your Consultant will place your order. Learn more about ordering fundraiser supplies. Please note: all supplies must be ordered at least two weeks before your fundraiser begins.

Feel free to contact your Consultant at any time throughout their fundraiser, they are invested in your success. Find their contact information in the upper right corner of your Chair Dashboard (more on that in a bit).

Develop a Game Plan to Encourage Participation

One of your most important jobs as a Fundraising Chair is to invite others to join your fundraiser as a seller, and to encourage participation amongst them. The higher the participation rate, the more successful your fundraiser will be. It’s important to create a sense of urgency that drives action, so we have curated ways for you to get everyone excited and involved:

Plan a Great Kickoff - In the context of school fundraising, a kick-off is an event (typically an assembly) where you give students the information they need to understand the fundraiser and why it is important to participate. Discuss kick-off options with your Consultant, who will know how to make your event as fun and engaging as possible.
Select School-wide Incentives - Instilling a sense of team spirit and making your fundraiser FUN are great ways to increase participation. Our favorite way to do these things is by implementing a program that we call Faculty Frolics - which is a totally free incentive system where frolics (A.K.A. fun stuff like school-wide pajama parties or teacher talent shows) are earned when the school reaches certain predetermined goals.
Announce Teacher Incentive - Get teachers on board to help encourage student participation! Let them know about Boon's incentive that rewards teachers with a 50% or greater classroom participation rate a promo code for $100 to spend on our site, or a code for $150 to those with 75% or greater participation.
Have a Plan for Prizes - If you are leading an elementary or middle school fundraiser, you’re eligible for our free prize program. Make sure you’ve discussed this with your Consultant and have a plan in place to get students excited about the awesome prizes they can win!

Learn more about each of the ideas above by reading our in-depth guide to Encouraging Participation.

Learn to Use Your Chair Dashboard

This one’s an especially big deal. We’ve designed a user-friendly dashboard that makes it simple for you as a Fundraising Chair to easily manage your fundraiser from one place. The dashboard contains an overview of the fundraiser’s status, sharing tools and templates, and downloadable reports. It’s critical that you get well-acquainted with your Chair Dashboard before the fundraiser begins. Review our in-depth guide to Using Your Chair Dashboard now.

Get Lookbooks & Parent Letters Ready

If you ordered lookbooks with your Consultant, you should receive them about 1-2 weeks before your fundraiser begins. By this time, your Parent Letter will be finalized as well. We suggest having the parent letter printed, and grouping it together with the lookbook for easy distribution (and, so there is a better chance of both items making it home!). Set everything aside for now, and distribute to students the day your fundraiser begins. Another tip: set aside a few copies of the parent letter in the school office, so staff has the correct information to provide to anyone who calls to inquire about the fundraiser.

Schedule your Email Campaign

We’ve designed Announcement Letters for you to send to parents and school staff throughout the course of your fundraiser. Familiarize yourself with each letter, who it should be sent to (and from), and when it should be sent by reading this article. The first letter should be sent about a week before your fundraiser begins. We suggest setting yourself reminders to send each letter on the suggested date.

Other Ways to Get the Word Out

Be sure to spread the word far and wide that your fundraiser is starting soon. Here are some of the best ways to share the news:

School Marquee - About a week before it begins, update your school’s sign to let everyone know your fundraiser is starting soon. Something like “Our Boon Supply Fundraiser Starts Soon! Share & Shop to Support: September 1-15” does the trick.
Robo Call - If your school has the ability to robo call parents, record a message that you can deploy the day your fundraiser begins. Let them know that the fundraiser has started, when it will end, and that they should lookout for a package with a lookbook and letter coming home with their student that day.
Social Media - Post about your upcoming fundraiser on the school and/or PTA’s social media accounts. These teasers build excitement for what’s to come.
School Website - Update the school website with information on your upcoming fundraiser. After the fundraiser is live, you will want to add a link to your Fundraiser Landing Page.

During Your Fundraiser

By the time your fundraiser begins, you will have completed the preparation needed to set yourself up for success. But, it’s not time to take your foot off the gas just yet! Follow through on the steps below to keep sellers and supporters excited throughout the duration of your fundraiser.

Host that Great Kickoff

One of the most critical elements of a school fundraiser is getting sellers (students) motivated, and a fundraiser kick-off is the best way to ensure they are motivated from the start. You’ll want to host the kick-off event that you planned with the help of your Consultant the day the fundraiser begins. Main objective: get students excited! They’ll spread that excitement to their families, which will help get their parents involved.

Invite Sellers to Join Your Efforts

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we want to reiterate that one of your most important jobs as a Fundraising Chair is inviting sellers to join in your fundraising efforts and encouraging participation amongst them. As soon as your fundraiser begins, go to your Chair Dashboard (by signing into MyFundraiser) and click the Invite Sellers button. A window will appear with the options to share via Facebook, Twitter, email, or by copying a link that you can use everywhere. These options all direct your network to seller registration.

Hint: We also suggest directing sellers to our articles on Top Tips for Seller Success and Using Your Seller Dashboard, so they are well-versed on all of the resources at their disposal as well.

Share Your Fundraiser

Sharing your fundraiser is critical to its success, so we highly recommend reading this in-depth guide to the various ways you can share your fundraiser. And, be sure to take advantage of our incredible Boost 10 tool (fundraisers who utilize this tool earn an average of 3x the amount of fundraisers who do not!).

As the Chair, you want to be setting a good example by sharing the fundraiser yourself, but you should also be encouraging sellers to spread the word far and wide. The more people who know, the more who will help, and the more you’ll raise. Anyone can share your fundraiser in less than a minute!

Distribute Prizes

If you’ve opted in to our prize program, we suggest checking to see who has earned their Boost/Sharing prizes - collectible Mystery Coops - about 3 days into your fundraiser. You can do this by reviewing (and downloading, if desired) the Sharing report on your Chair Dashboard. Check the report again every few days, and distribute prizes to those who have taken action within that time frame. We suggest letting students know when you’ll be distributing these prizes in order to create a sense of excitement and urgency that compels them to act as soon as possible.

Bonus tip: We’ve found that when the school staff makes it a point to recognize top sellers by announcing their hard work and distributing the prizes publicly, it spreads a tidal wave of excitement. It’s a fun way to celebrate your sellers and encourage others to share the fundraiser so they can earn prizes too. Talk about a win-win!

Execute Your Email Campaign

Don’t forget to send the Announcement Letters that you scheduled before your fundraiser began. There are letters to send the day your fundraiser begins, halfway through, and a few days before it ends.

After Your Fundraiser

You’re almost at the finish line! Now that your fundraiser has ended, there’s only a few more things that you need to do.

Request Your Fundraiser Payment

At Boon Supply, we designed every step of the fundraising process to make it as easy as possible for you to raise money for your cause. That philosophy doesn’t end when your fundraiser ends - we’ve streamlined the payout process as well. See how simple it is to request payment. Note: requesting payment triggers the shipment of prizes, so we suggest requesting as soon as possible after your fundraiser ends.

Distribute Prizes

If your school opted in to our prize program, you will receive the prizes students earned for each item sold on their behalf approximately two weeks after you request payment. Prizes will be sorted by student and easy to distribute. This is one of our favorite parts.. time to play Santa!

Follow Up with Thanks

After your fundraiser ends, you will want to let your community know the outcome of your fundraiser and thank them for their hard work and support. If you were raising money for a specific item or project (like a new playground), follow up again when the item is secured or the project is complete. It’s not only kind, but it also keeps supporters connected to your cause.

Until Next Time…

Once your fundraiser is over, reach out to your Boon Consultant and let them know what worked well and what could be improved for next time. We always love feedback. And discuss your timing for your next fundraiser - it's never too early to start planning!