Club Recruiting: We want you!

It’s that time again: as we head toward summer, volunteer recruiting will top the agendas of most booster clubs. If your school doesn’t already have a club of its own, it’s the perfect time to start one! Rounding up officers can be a challenge, but there’ s no shortage of resources out there for fledgling clubs. Get the word out by contacting your local newspapers, broadcasting and radio stations. A brief, straightforward announcement like this one from the Shelter Island Booster Club packs a … [Read more...]

30 Things to Tweet your Booster Club

You understand Twitter, you want to make it a part of your booster club's social media strategy, but you're hitting some writers block? Don't dismay, we've got a huge list of things to post. Photos of your participants doing things Rainouts Photos of sponsors and/or their business Playoff schedule Arch rival updates Articles about your club in the local paper or segments on local television Photos of volunteers doing things Updates on alumni (Did they get a music scholarship? … [Read more...]

Twitter Lingo and Etiquette for Booster Clubs

What the #@”RT? With all of the signs, symbols, and jargon, Twitter can feel like a new language. Luckily, you only have to learn a few terms to effectively manage your Twitter account for a booster club or other small nonprofit. This post is a primer on the most essential ones, and has links to the more advanced stuff. See our previous post on Twitter for Booster Clubs. # (Hashtag) is a keyword that organizes content and codes conversations. On first glance, hashtags are just like blog … [Read more...]

Valentines Day Fundraisers for Booster Clubs

Be Mine? Before you get all excited about how to entice donors with a Valentine’s-Day-themed fundraiser, here’s a piece of advice: make your donors your Valentine. Send them love letters, chocolate, and flowers (okay, maybe just e-cards with flowers and chocolate on them.) Seriously, show them some love and shoot arrows through their hearts. Be playful. How can you do that? Here’s an example of a Valentine’s day thank you email from UNICEF Australia, which we found in a blog post by Mary Lynn … [Read more...]

Passive Fundraising With Scrip: 5 ways to spread the word

Once you've set goals for your scrip fundraising campaign and  have a clear understanding of where you’re headed, it’s important to think about how you’ll get there. There are many ways to promote your efforts, and with a long-term project like electronic scrip enrollment or scrip sales, it’s important to continually reach out to your supporters in new and unexpected ways. 5 ways to communicate your campaign: 1. Bide your time. Many boosters who sell scrip or participate in electronic scrip … [Read more...]

Passive Fundraising With Scrip: 4 tips for setting campaign goals

Though electronic scrip fundraising is more passive than selling traditional scrip, some initial legwork is required to get your fundraising campaign off the ground. To ensure your club’s scrip efforts start strong and maintain their momentum into the future, it is important to have attainable goals and a clear plan for achieving them. First, set your target. You want to be sure you have realistic expectations of how your scrip donations will contribute to upcoming projects. If you are … [Read more...]

Passive Fundraising With Scrip: Getting the most from your campaign

In deciding how your club can make the most of scrip fundraising, it is important to consider the context of your campaign. Regardless of how actively you fundraise, with electronic scrip programs, you can only do so much to encourage supporters to shop. Before your club begins fundraising with scrip, you can ask yourself a few questions that will help you make the most of your campaign: Will local businesses support your club's campaign? Make a list of participating merchants in your area, … [Read more...]

Passive Fundraising With Scrip: Little effort, big donations

There are two primary kinds of fundraising that organizations use to increase donations: active fundraising, which requires large amounts of time and resources (like a car wash), and passive fundraising, which goes on in the background and requires little effort on your club’s part. Traditional scrip fundraising falls somewhere between active and passive. Clubs are required to purchase gift certificates or cards from participating merchants at a discounted rate, then sell them at full value to … [Read more...]

11 Sports Fundraising Ideas for Booster Clubs

Looking to engage supporters in experiences instead of purchases? Sports fundraisers let supporters participate, and they’re not just for sports-related clubs. This list offers ideas on how to bring donors together to compete against their friends, neighbors, and family members. Any type of booster club can take advantage of the community feel that comes from these great games. Bocce tournament: probably the last fundraiser you’d think of. But it’s the best game for entire families to … [Read more...]

Boosterwashing

How Companies and Charities “Colorwash” Ever notice how every major cause today gets a color? Pink for breast cancer, green for the environment, red for AIDS--causes cover the rainbow and beyond. This kind of branding is effective, raising millions of dollars in the name of various organizations. Yet like most branding, the color codes have a great potential for abuse. With no clear standards for what counts as pink, green, or red products, fundraisers inevitably find themselves in conflict … [Read more...]