Top 10 Tips for School Auctions & Fundraisers

Kids are the greatest when it comes to fundraising. Whether serving as the ballast for community support or generating funds through their own efforts, children are indispensable resources for securing the very support and funds that help them grow and prosper. By applying the following ten tips to your fundraising efforts, you'll find that you can increase both their frequency and appeal to the public, as they engender more financial and physical support for your school or institution in the process.

1. Promote your event early and often: Here's a tip, paraphrased from a clever sales limerick: those who sit and whisper are sure to keep their wares, while those who stand and shout are more likely to make sales. Of course, any protester on a street corner knows this isn't always the case, but it's wholly applicable in the instances of school and social fundraising.

Make flyers and posters, and promote parent involvement via scheduling software like Parent Booker to inform your community about the event’s details, including when and where it is, why you're asking for help, and who plans to be there. 

In fact, Parent Booker is also an exquisite tool that schools can use to gain volunteers for all sorts of activities, both within and outside of the school curriculum. Exhibit excitement in your call to duty; while no one consciously attends an event of whose existence they're unaware, nobody will be interested in one that doesn't seem like it's worth attending, either. Right now Parent Booker is offering schools free trial for an entire quarter to see if it's a fit.

Get the word out about your fundraiser early on, and keep promoting it in various ways until it actually takes place. Afterward, follow up by thanking the community in the same way that you promoted it to begin with.

2. Get kids excited about fundraising: Often when people can find no other reason to support a cause, they'll do it for the security of a child's future, especially if they live in close proximity to those benefiting from their contribution.

Relay to your children the importance of asking for help and working hard to effect positive change--they'll take to the task and learn to appreciate the wonders of trial and error.

In safe communities and familial neighborhoods, door-to-door sales are still a major source of children's fundraising, though sales at school and after-school activities typically offer more safety and security--not to mention, a more willing audience. For this reason, they comprise the majority of income for a student's fundraising efforts, so arm them with the tools and knowledge they need to start making bank on that holiday gift wrapping paper!

3. Understand fundraising motivations: Many scholastic and religious institutions struggle with applying the concept of fundraising to their own financial forecast. They need the community to offer support, but don't always know how to facilitate, or even ask for, the involvement of its constituents.

Before initiating a fundraiser, make a detailed outline of the reasons behind your request for communal, fiscal compensation. Whether they're directly related to parents' desire to see their children succeed or more obscured, in the case of legal aid or long-term policy goals, clarify your call to action. A transparent, well-planned, and motivated drive for aid is much more likely to elicit repeated community support than one which simply asks for money.

4. Choose great fundraising themes: Organizing fundraisers in a way that presents them as a party or talent show generates more community involvement. Instead of just arranging paper bags for a canned food drive, encourage families to bake their own fresh cookies or cakes, and sell them during school or at a trusted parent’s house. After all, you can't spell "fundraising" without "fun" and "sing," so get into the spirit of giving by inviting students to personally auction off old winter clothes or unused art supplies to their peers in a constructive environment. It’ll boost their confidence, and they'll be happy to have made a contribution to their own education by selling something for which they no longer have any use.

5. Secure the proper facilities: Try to estimate how big of a space you'll need for your fundraiser, especially when planning for auctions. Participants tend to come and go, so you probably won't need as much space as you think. See what other community auctions are doing, and try to get a feel for organizing a venue whose size and location is suitable not only to your needs, but to those of the participants, as well.

Naturally, schools, churches, synagogues, and the like are wonderful venues to hold fundraisers, but you may also find success with hosting them outdoors or at parents' houses. Do your research, and quantify your spending on each event so that you can start to cut back on superfluous expenditures.

6. Sell products with high profit margins: Fundraising is about more than placing items on a table and soliciting donations. Auctions provide a wonderful source of fun and income for many types of organizations, but schools have the advantage that their sales staff can consist of young adults, or even children. Have kids sell things that they're into, like candy bars, stuffed animals, stickers, holiday cards, or various catalog items. The latter is an especially wonderful resource: buyers can choose from a wide variety of goods, increasing a student's likelihood of selling something and, therefore, wanting to keep going with it; and catalog companies usually give little kickbacks, like toys and trinkets, to those who meet various (and realistic) sales benchmarks.

7. Group auction items into attractive packages: Instead of forcing potential donors to divvy up their allowance on multiple goods, create packages with an added sense of value. Packaged deals have the potential to both save and earn you more money in the long run, as they're cheaper to purchase up-front and garner higher donations from buyers on the other end. Sites like Experience Gifts, Kijubi, and Cloud 9 Living offer unique and fun "activity gifts" at a fraction of the cost of their total worth. Ostentatious baskets of food or electronics certainly have their place, but parents are increasingly drawn toward prizes that offer one-of-a-kind experiences or spontaneous vacations.

8. Hire a professional auctioneer: Auctioneers do much more than just sell things at a clip; they impart a sense of continuity and entertainment throughout the duration of their extended sales pitch.

Silent auctions are well and good for in-demand packages and prizes, but auctioneers are great at generating interest in goods and services that might otherwise go overlooked and unsold. By hiring one for your fundraiser, you'll not only increase your odds at earning more money; you'll get people more excited to bid early and often, too.

9. Build smart partnerships with community vendors: Corporate Social Responsibility is an increasingly prominent factor in a company's public image and, therefore, its success. Appeal to local businesses by forming partnerships, wherein their financial aid earns them the right to advertise in or around your school.

This doesn't have to mean transforming your school into Coca Cola Elementary; rather, it means securing mutually beneficial arrangements like agreeing to buy discounted school supplies from only one vendor, or encouraging parents to shop at certain grocery or clothing stores through parish newsletters. The only downside of asking wealthy businessmen for help is that, sometimes, they say "no." Keep asking around, and don't give up.

10. Use the word, "because": Most people on the fence about donating to a charity or fundraiser typically ask themselves, "what's in it for me?" Be aware of this, and have a prepared, honest answer that will quell their fears of dropping their hard-earned money into an abyss. Whether for the acquisition of new learning materials or the ability to retain a sports team, give donors a reason to support your cause by explaining your intent and their ability to benefit from giving aid.

Now go on, get your community excited about raising funds for the kids! When you put in the hours to ensure not only the financial gains of a successful fundraiser, but the resulting happiness and relief of everyone involved, as well, you’ll start to see why fundraising has been such an enjoyable and profitable activity for learning institutions around the world for thousands of years.