Most booster organizations hold regular, scheduled fundraisers each year. The benefit of doing this is that there are fewer surprises if the event is copied from previous years, and also the donations and attendance is higher because attendees from previous years are expecting to enjoy the same program and plan ahead to attend. If your organization has scheduled annual events, you may simply use the checklist from last year to know what worked last time, and you can even give it a few tweaks if you want to change a few things. Alternatively, you may opt to host a brand new event for booster club fundraising, which means starting from scratch.
Booster Club Fundraising Approval Checklist
Before planning the event itself, you may need approval from your school district or other governing body. Even if it is not required, it’s a good idea to keep the school and district abreast of your plans. Many districts require a brief overview of the fundraiser for approval, including:
Depending on your governing organization, there may be more information to submit. Check with your bylaws to see what the requirements are. Many booster clubs don’t allow individual accounts for collecting donations, so consider booster club software to handle online payments and secure the collection of funds.
Booster Club Planning Checklists
To execute a fundraising event, you first need to determine your goals and how you’ll get there. Will you sell things or hold a raffle or silent auction? Invite your board to participate in coming up with ideas and weighing options. Ask the previous year’s board for input on pros and cons of various options and tips that they learned when they were in charge. Ask the same sport or music boosters from other schools what they do for fundraising.
Establish a leadership team to plan and execute the fundraising event. Have clear lines of authority so that volunteers know who is in charge of making decisions on which areas. This will streamline communications and questions/answers throughout the planning and the event itself. Delegate, delegate, delegate. Put individuals in charge of specific pieces of the puzzle if possible.
Next, determine how you’re going to acquire the items for sales. Several companies offer special fund-raising prices for booster clubs for various things, from chocolate to gift wrapping. If you’re conducting an online or silent auction, you may need a subcommittee to seek donations. Make sure that the sales and payment instructions are detailed and you have a secure payment option for all participants.
Then, select a date for the event and/or time frame for sales. If using a venue, be sure to find out first what is available. Are you going to use the school gym, cafeteria, performance hall? Are you going to use a restaurant, community center, outdoor venue? Do you have a backup location on standby in case a last minute change makes your chosen venue unavailable? Are there any tables, chairs, or other physical requirements for the venue that need to be planned for? Do you have a bad weather plan?
Finally, make sure to market the event! Bring all of your board members and students to help with outreach. Give concrete actions they can do to help promote the event, either through a certain number of emails, social media posts, advertising help, etc. Build enthusiasm by offering regular updates on the progress and the approach of the big event. Give sneak peek info into what the attendees can expect at the event. During the event, keep your attendees and participants apprised on the amount raised so as to keep your momentum going. Celebrate your club and cheer on the donations received. Be sure to thank all participants, attendees, and donors.
Put all of this and more into a checklist for the event, starting several months or weeks before, and working your way through to the week prior, day prior, day of, during the event, and then after the event as well. Having a checklist that your volunteers can be part of creating and then can also see, allows them to know who is doing what and when it is supposed to happen.
Stay positive and upbeat! The more positive the experience is for the attendees, the more likely they are to donate to your club.
