School Annual Fundraisers

There are no groups more likely to hold an annual fund raiser than a school. In fact, more often than not schools try to hold the same fundraiser at the same time of year every single year. There is a lot to be said for school annual fundraisers.

There are a few reasons schools do hold the same fundraiser every year. Some are good positive reasons while others may be counter productive.

The obvious benefit of annual fundraisers is that people come to expect them and support them. A few examples of school annual fundraisers include carnivals, cookie dough sales and gift catalogs. When our children were in elementary school, the PTA held an annual carnival in the early fall season. Everyone who ever attended the school knew about the carnival and when it would be held and actually looked forward to it. All the students and their families attended and you would even see some old kids from junior high or even high school attending the carnival so they could see their old teachers. Carnivals, though, required a ton of work and volunteers. The PTA began work on the next carnival almost immediately after counting the proceeds from the current year.

Many elementary schools hold an annual school cookie dough fundraiser. Cookie dough fundraising has become so popular that in most cases it has become the main source of funds for many schools and PTA's. The schools that do really well at it plan the event to be held at the same time every year. They advertise it as an annual fund raiser and promote it well in advance to make sure every one in the neighborhood knows about it.

The schools that promote annual fundraising events get great results because new comers to the school know about the fundraiser before even attending and know they will participate. They may have supported other students by purchasing cookie dough. But the most important thing that makes school annual fundraisers so important is that people know about them. If you constantly change dates or products you must educate your supporters about this year's fundraiser. But if you have a fundraiser that has worked well in the past, promoting it as an annual event may be the perfect way to take advantage and build upon that success.