Posted by Jordan Kern on Thursday, October 29th, 2009

During challenging economic times like these, successful fundraising is vitally important because it gives athletes the resources they need to achieve their goals.

Here are some costly mistakes that doom most fundraising campaigns:

MISTAKE #1: Asking your athletes to sell products or services

Expect dismal profits and a lot of aggravation if you select a fundraiser that requires your athletes to sell products or services. Why? Athletes HATE selling stuff. They find it time-consuming and uncomfortable.

Selling is challenging even for trained professionals with years of experience. For student-athletes, it is nearly impossible, and very few reach their sales goals. Some athletes succeed, but the majority will fail.

Avoid selling if you want to have a profitable fundraiser. It has caused more campaign failures than anything else.

MISTAKE #2: Letting a fundraising company take 50% or more of YOUR money!

The magazine publishers, cookie companies, and candle makers love to turn your athletes into a sales force for their products and they get to keep half of the collections. What a great deal … for them!

Can you imagine collecting $5,000 and then dumping $2,500 of it in the trash?

Also, don’t be fooled by promotional sales pitches that promise you’ll “earn up to 90% or more,” because that usually requires your athletes to make an unrealistic quantity of sales. Make sure to read the fine print. Any offer that sounds too good to be true usually is.

Remember, the total amount of money you collect at the end of the campaign is a meaningless number. The more important number, and the one you should always focus on, is the amount of profit you will keep after paying all expenses. Aim for profit margins of 65% or more.

MISTAKE #3 Asking supporters for less than $20

Before you select a fundraiser, do the math and you’ll quickly see that you are wasting a great opportunity to maximize profits when you collect less than $20.

Simply work backwards from your goal and it will be clear that the huge quantity of low dollar amount transactions makes it nearly impossible to succeed.

For example, if your team of 15 athletes needs $2,000, you would need to sell 4,000 candy bars for $1 each – amounting to 267 sales per athlete. Likewise the same amount would require 333 car washes at $6 each, equaling 22 cars per athlete. It’s not happening!

It’s a common mistake: a family friend – who would be happy to donate $50 or more to your cause – buys a $5 raffle ticket and your team loses out on earning an easy $45 extra.

MISTAKE #4: Organizing multiple fundraisers during the same season

This approach never works: selling cheesecakes in January, holding an auction in February, hosting a bake sale in March, selling Easter baskets in April, canning spare change at the mall in May, and so on.

Too much time spent fundraising wears everyone out. Each fundraiser does worse than the one before because coaches, parents, and athletes run out of time, patience, and enthusiasm. We call it “fundraising fatigue.”

Instead, focus on a concentrated effort to accomplish your goal in one shot that takes hours instead of days, weeks or months.

People work much harder and with more energy when they know that a fundraiser will be completed quickly. You’ll find that everyone is supportive and more productive. One quick and profitable campaign per year allows you and your athletes to concentrate on their schoolwork and winning games, not on becoming fundraising professionals.

MISTAKE #5: Allowing fundraising participation to be optional

Don’t be a fundraising wimp! If you’re taking a team trip or purchasing equipment, every one of your athletes is going to benefit. So, why would you allow participation in your fundraiser to be optional?

Equal participation should be a requirement. On every team, there are always some athletes who refuse to pull their weight or parents who don’t want their children to contribute. When this happens, your response should be the same as it is when an athlete announces he or she won’t practice, but still expects to play in the game.

Coaches who demand full participation – and require that every athlete give his or her best effort in competition and in fundraising – always get the best results too. Coaches who present a fundraiser as an optional project and without any importance usually fail miserably.

MISTAKE #6: Taking on too much financial risk

Avoid any fundraiser that requires you to pre-pay the full amount due for products or that heavily penalizes you if you fail to reach your sales goal. Be sure to ask yourself, “How much will we owe the fundraising company if we fail to reach our goal?”

Too many coaches pre-purchase food (candy, cheesecakes, donuts, hotdogs, etc.) or custom print their team’s logo on products (sweatshirts, hats, bumper stickers, etc.) only to discover that the unsold items cannot be returned for a full credit.

Your fundraising company should invest in your success, not hinder it.

MISTAKE #7: Neglecting the strong connection athletes share with their supporters

Selling to strangers is always a mistake. An athlete’s family friends, relatives, and adult personal contacts are much more likely to contribute — and contribute in higher amounts — to your campaign than a random person or business.

In conclusion, the most important question to ask when selecting a fundraiser is Which project will generate the largest profit with the fewest transaction in the shortest time?

Do not make your selection process any more complicated than that. I am available to assist you with you and help make your next fundraiser a huge success. Contact me anytime!