Booster clubs I speak with tell me that they have to raise more money than ever before. More than ever, school districts depend on booster clubs to fill the ever-growing gap between after-school budgets and actual student need. How can booster clubs radically increase revenues? Does reducing overhead mean more money for programs? When does fundraising clash with a club’s mission? Experts address these questions in very different ways. In this post I borrow points from Dan Pallotta’s TED talk … [Read more...]
posted on March 3, 2014 by
Sunscreen for Supporters: Encouraging generosity with voluntary donations
When it comes to fresh fundraisers, pay-what-you-will donation drives can be an exciting twist on classic events. Voluntary donation fundraising can be a great way to update old and tired fundraisers, or utilize new opportunities. We’ve discussed the science behind the model’s success — donors feel proud to choose donating of their own accord, as opposed to purchasing goods in exchange for their support, and tend to be more generous in their giving. Booster clubs have applied this thinking to … [Read more...]
posted on February 18, 2014 by
5 Things You Should Know About Mobile Concession Stands
These days, a snack at the ballgame is a whole lot more than peanuts and Cracker Jacks. Concession stands are stepping up their game, serving fresh, hot meals, and making a bundle in doing so. In Ohio, the Lowellville Rockets Booster Club relies on the money they make from serving up wedding soup and stuffed pepper sandwiches to buy uniforms for all of the school’s athletic teams — their concession stand is so profitable it’s “really the only fundraiser [they] do,” according to club volunteers. … [Read more...]
posted on February 2, 2014 by
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...]
posted on January 30, 2014 by
Statistics Show, Volunteers Get The Jobs
Despite falling unemployment rates, the job market in the U.S. still looks bleak for many. Some attribute this to high numbers of “discouraged workers” — those recently out of work who have, for whatever reason, temporarily given up on finding a new job. Disheartening as this may be, it presents a valuable opportunity for your booster club and the “discouraged” (or the recently retired, on maternity leave, changing careers, going back to school) to work together for mutual gain. In a recent … [Read more...]
posted on January 28, 2014 by
Fundraising Spotlight: #GotTurf?
In Southern California, one high school booster club has taken on an ambitious task. The Scorpion Athletic Booster Club (SABC) in Camarillo began fundraising this fall for their Turf Field Project, a $1.7 million plan to install artificial turf on the Camarillo High School athletic field and resurface the track. While not alone in the scope of their donation, the SABC is one of a small number of booster clubs that have taken on projects of such size. In December, we discussed the club’s first … [Read more...]
posted on January 23, 2014 by
Donor Retention: How active commitment leads to long-term loyalty
This one may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s important to work to inspire active commitment in your supporters. Donors who are actively committed care beyond just a sense of obligation — these are not the people who give once a year to out of a sense of guilt. Actively committed supporters care about the club’s future, and very clearly see their own part in it. Fundraising expert Adrian Sargeant breaks the drivers of active commitment down into three parts: trust, concept of risk, and … [Read more...]
posted on January 21, 2014 by
Donor Retention: Identification as a driver of loyalty
Booster clubs often focus on the basic ties between their supporters and the club — having a child at the school, being a former member of a team or club. Studies continually show a strong connection between donor loyalty and identification with an organization. However, some studies have found that a basic connection — being a parent of a student, for example — isn’t enough to inspire loyalty (or donations). Rather, communities of participation, based on a supporters’ active participation, … [Read more...]
posted on January 16, 2014 by
Donor Retention: Are your supporters really satisfied?
One hundred and fifty fundraisers attended a 2012 talk on donor loyalty where they were asked to raise their hands if they'd ever conducted a donor satisfaction survey. Not a single hand went up. Though it's often overlooked in the rush to attract new supporters, donor satisfaction is key for nonprofits in inspiring loyalty, and it’s more complicated than you may have thought. In customer service, a buyer’s satisfaction can be measured in the comparison of the expected service to that which was … [Read more...]
posted on January 13, 2014 by
Donor Retention: Your booster club’s priority in 2014
The numbers have come in, and they don’t look great for booster clubs and other nonprofits. Recent surveys on charitable giving have found that engaging new donors will become more and more difficult: Of the four generations surveyed, a majority in each group said they expected to give the same amount of money to charity in the coming year and to support the same number of charities. Seventy-five percent of boomers said they would support the same number of charities in 2013 that … [Read more...]
