Sharing the load: Fundraising can stressful and overwhelming
Fundraising. For those that have been involved in fundraising for sporting clubs or schools in the past, this single word can send chills down your spine. I've been on both sides of the coin, co-ordinating large fundraising campaigns as well as fundraising with my child to contribute to a group cause. From my own experience, here are a few tips to make your fundraising journey easier.
1. Set a Fundraising Goal
Many times groups fundraise with the intention of raising 'as much as possible', which becomes exhausting especially over an extended period of time. Ask your fundraising coordinator or committee to set a dollar goal which everyone can work towards, or set a fundraising time frame. For example, we will fundraise from March to October for our Year 7 end of year camp in December, or our goal is to fundraise $2000 towards our new club uniforms. This provides an end goal (or light at the end of the tunnel) for the fundraisers.
2. Set Expectations
In reality, not all families will be able to contribute the same amount of time and effort as others. How will you manage this? Do you offer families the option to not be involved in fundraising, but receive none of the benefits? Or allocate funds raised to individuals based on their own efforts? Whatever you decide, be upfront about how funds raised from your campaign will be allocated.
3. Sharing the Load
Use the talents of your fundraising group to share tasks, especially for large fundraisers. If you hold a Quiz Night or Bogan Bingo evening, it is too much to expect each family to donate prizes, sell a table of tickets, assist with scoring and stay back at the end of the night to clean up. A super social parent may be able to sell multiple tables of tickets, another family may be able to stay to clean up afterwards, and someone else may assist with scoring. Many hands make light work, overloaded hands make cross fundraisers!
4. Be transparent
Let your fundraisers know how much each event raised as soon as possible, and the dollar value of that fundraising that has been allocated to their individual balance (ie for a school camp) or cause. This helps fundraisers to see that the time and effort they have volunteered is making a difference.
5. Be kind
As a fundraising coordinator, cross emails or gossip about the effort of others won't motivate people to offer you help. Ask for assistance, share the load and appreciate everyone's efforts. You are all in this together!
Happy Fundraising.
Brooke.