Sponsors
How To Make Magazine Fundraising Work for You
by the staff at ESPN Coaches Fundraising
Due to school cut-backs, most athletic programs need to fundraise—that's a fact. The most challenging part of this process is finding a fundraiser that works best for your team or organization. Many schools and teams across the country would agree, magazine fundraising is fast, easy and requires very little work on the part of the administrator. Whatever you are laooking to raise money for—whether to purchase new equipment, reduce participation costs, defray travel costs or to provide registration fees for tournament play—magazine fundraising can work for you.
Below is a strategy on how to make magazine fundraising work best for your team, school or organization:
On Your Mark, Get Set...
The more hands in the pot, the better chance for mistakes. Assign a coach, administrator, booster representative or team parent to handle all fundraising efforts for your team. This allows you to concentrate on coaching while allowing eager volunteers to help out.
Do your homework and decide on a fundraising organization you would prefer to work with. Some important questions to ask yourself:
- Does my school have a listing of preferred vendors?
- What percentage of money does my team keep?
- Do we get to keep our profits on the spot?
- Will this be a simple fundraiser for our players to run?
- Are there any added benefits such as prizes for my players?
- Do I have easy access to the staff of the fundraising organization in case I have questions regarding the fundraiser?
- Is the company reputable?
Plan ahead; it prevents headaches down the road. Make sure you have all paperwork needed for your fundraiser at least two weeks before you plan to start and all your questions have been answered.
Set a selling goal and determine a time frame for your fundraising efforts. Once your goal and time frame have been determined, decide how many subscriptions each player needs to sell for your team goal to be met. This will make it easier for you to reach your fundraising goal.
...Go!
Make sure everyone is on the same page—before, during and after your fundraiser. Hold a team meeting and distribute all of the fundraising materials needed for your players to begin. Provide examples of people they should contact for support: Family Members, neighbors, local businesses, etc. Additional questions may arise when your players and parents are fundraising—make sure the fundraising contact is available to speak during this time.
Motivation is the KEY to success. Some players do not understand the importance of fundraising. Motivational tools such as prize programs, contests and parties are way to encourage your team to raise funds.
Crossing the Finish Line
You're only three C's away from finishing. Once your fundraising efforts are complete:
It's that simple. Since your team does not distribute the magazines, your fundraiser is complete. The fundraising company should take care of the rest. Now you can sit back and focus on coaching.
For information on magazine fundraising programs offered by ESPN Coaches Fundraising Program, visit www.coaches.espn.com.