Run It Well

How to Launch a Fundraiser in One Week

Most fundraisers do not fail at the selling stage. They stall in the four weeks between someone having the idea and anyone sending an email. Here is the sequence that removes that gap, one day at a time.

Misty Gaunt Fundraising partner, GoodFundraising.org 615-414-3837

Why a week is enough

This model has no inventory to order, no product to warehouse, no cash to collect and no order forms to reconcile. Orders ship direct from LiveGood to the customer. Strip those four things out of a traditional fundraiser and what remains does fit in a week, because most of the old timeline was logistics rather than decisions.

What takes real time is approval and attention: a yes from whoever must give it, and a roster that reads one email. Plan the week around those two things.

1. Monday: get the approval you actually need

   Find out who signs off. In a school it is usually the principal or an activities director; in a booster club it is a board vote; in a church it is whoever owns the calendar. Ask for a ten minute conversation rather than an email thread, and bring the three answers that matter: nobody handles cash, nobody stores product, no cost or contract to start. Get the yes in writing, even if the writing is a one line reply.

2. Tuesday: register the group

   Sign the organization up through the start page. It is free, with no sign-up fee, no minimum order and no contract. Decide two things while you are in there: who holds the account, and who is the second person with access. Groups that skip the second name lose the account the year the treasurer's kid graduates.

3. Wednesday: build the participant list

   Write down every person who might share a link. Students first, then the people organizers forget: parents, grandparents, coaches, alumni, the board, the volunteers who run concessions. Then keep the estimate honest: assume a third to two thirds of that list actually participates, and build the plan on that number rather than the total.

4. Thursday: create and distribute the links

   Each participant gets a personal tracking link, called a Health Hero link. Generate them, then send them in whatever channel the person actually reads. Teenagers get theirs in a text, never on a paper slip. Send each person only their own link, with their name on it, because an unnamed shared link is how credit disputes start.

5. Friday: write the parent announcement

   One short message. Say what the money is for, in specifics: comp fees, the away trip, new stands, the camp scholarship fund. Say what the person is being asked to do, which is buy supplements they already buy, at member prices a few dollars above cost, through a student's link. Say what the group receives: 20% of every first order and 10% of every reorder afterwards. Then give the link and stop. Do not attach a PDF, and do not open with an apology for asking.

6. Monday: hold a five minute kickoff

   Take five minutes at the start of practice, rehearsal or a meeting. Explain the goal, show one product with its retail price next to its member price, name the first prize tier, and tell everyone their link is already in their messages. Then ask each person to send it to two people before they go to bed. A kickoff that ends in one specific action beats a twenty minute presentation.

7. The first week after: follow up once, properly

   Seven days later, post the standings and thank the people who have started, by name. Send one reminder to the participants who have not, and make it easy rather than guilt-inducing: their link, one sentence they can copy and paste, and the first tier restated. One good follow-up does more than four nagging ones.

When the principal says no

It happens, and it is usually not a rejection of the idea. Find out which of the three common reasons you are dealing with, because each has a different answer.

"We already have an approved fundraiser this term"

This is a calendar conflict, not a veto. Ask for a start date after the current campaign closes, and ask for it now while you are in the room. A date on the calendar is a better outcome than a yes you have to chase again in six weeks.

"We cannot promote supplements to students"

A fair concern, and the answer is that students are not the customers. Adults are. Students share a link; the buyers are parents, grandparents and family friends purchasing household products for themselves. Offer to route the announcement through the parent email list rather than through students, which usually resolves it.

"District policy has to review it"

Then take the club route. Booster clubs, PTOs, churches and independent nonprofits are separate organizations and can register on their own. Many groups run it through the booster club and keep the school out of the administration entirely, which is often simpler for everyone.

If the answer stays no, do not push it through the students. Push it through the parent organization instead. The volunteer-load version of that argument is in PTA and PTO fundraising without burning out your volunteers.

When only a third of the roster participates

This is the normal outcome, not the failure case. Plan for it and it stops being a problem.

First, do not spend week two chasing everyone who has not started. The return on that effort is low and it burns your own goodwill. Spend it on the people who did start, because a participant with four customers can often get to ten with a nudge.

Second, widen the pool rather than pressuring the roster. Grandparents are frequently the most effective participants in the whole campaign, and alumni parents are still on the email list. Neither needs a permission slip.

Third, check whether the ask was clear. Most non-participation is confusion rather than resistance. Rewrite the message shorter, name the price of one product, and resend.

What week two looks like

Nothing dramatic, which is the point. No product delivery day, no sorting session in the cafeteria, no envelopes to count. Your only real job is to keep the standings visible and thank people.

That is also the honest limitation. A week gets a campaign started, not finished. First orders come in early, and the reorder share builds slowly from there, which means this is a poor choice if you need a lump sum by Friday and a good one if you are trying to make next season easier than this one.

Two things worth reading before you send the kickoff email: the real prize tiers, in prizes that make students actually compete, and why near-cost pricing makes the ask easy, in why selling near cost makes a better fundraiser. If your group is a cheer program, the season-specific version is in cheer fundraising.

Misty Gaunt

Misty helps schools, teams, churches and nonprofits set up recurring fundraisers through LiveGood. She will look at your roster and tell you whether the model fits before you commit to anything. Call or text 615-414-3837.