Promote your fundraiser using the best practices presented below, and you’ll have a good shot at achieving or exceeding your fundraiser goals.

Fundraisers usually don’t reach goals when a group doesn’t fully leverage all its resources. Owner [email protected] or (708) 420-8128 is ready to help you.

As an example, suppose you have a smaller group, say a school with 100 students. How can you leverage a group of 100? By appealing to the networks of those 100 students. A network can be composed of parents and other friends and families, social networks, neighbors, work colleagues, community members, clubs and organizations in everyone’s networks. If each student has an average of 100 people in their network, suddenly this relatively small group has a network of 100 x 100, or 10,000, which is suffiently large to run a successful fundraiser. You might not sell 10,000 water bottles. But you might!

Here’s a link to our fundraiser calculator.

Following are best practices to promote your fundraiser.

1. Limit competing fundraisers. After reviewing the calculator above, you’ll find that a concentrated effort with your Lively Bottle fundraiser may earn sufficient proceeds to meet all, or many, of your goals.
2. Fundraising is about story telling and emotion. What is the purpose of your fundraiser, what is your use of proceeds? Drawing your network emotionally into your fundraising journey is very important.
3. What is your fundraiser goal? If you’re trying to sell 1,000 water bottles, everyone should know that.
4. Design a unique and memorable water bottle. Lively Bottle will help. Your reusable custom water bottle is one-of-a-kind. Consider artwork created by your student-artists. School and team logos. Personalize each bottle with the purchasers name. Add an inspirational quote or the school motto.
5. Use your custom water bottle to brand your school, team or group. Unlike snack food fundraisers such as popcorn, candy and cookies, your Lively Bottle lasts forever.
6. Appoint a fundraiser chairperson who is passionate about your fundraiser cause.
7. Build a team – one person cannot conduct a successful fundraiser, but a team can.
8. Design an award or prize program – get your team excited!
9. Use all forms of communication available to you:
   • Flyers in school and in the community. Reach out to people and businesses in your community to find ways to collaborate. Use the community’s events to promote your own campaign by setting up an informational booth, launching a pop-up shop, or just networking with potential supporters. You can even post about the businesses that help you out on your organization’s Facebook page, providing free promotion for their good deeds.
   • School announcements
   • Email is a cost-effective option, and works best for many age groups including parents. The key is to provide new and exciting content in each email you send out. Contact your email list early and often, being sure to share success stories and progress updates every step of the way. Send out a personalized thank-you email to anyone who contributed (big or small) to the success of your campaign. Not only does this show genuine appreciation, it also improves your chances of renewed support for your next fundraiser.
   • Social media
     • Video is a great way to communicate
     • Social media advertising is relatively inexpensive and can target your community using zip codes
     • You can create a Facebook Page or Event which will allow you to post sales updates, share sales tips, and send reminders. The goal is to keep your audience engaged in your cause. A visual representation of how close you are to reaching your goal can keep everyone motivated and focused. Also, try posting on other social media platforms such as TikTok, Twitter and Instagram.
   • Progress signs keep people engaged, and remind them of the fundraiser goal.
   • School events such as sporting events, dances, club meetings, faculty meetings, parent-teacher conferences all are great opportunities to mention the fundraiser.
   • Whether you are posting on social media, sending an email or hanging up posters, it’s important to keep all the marketing messages consistent. Use the same color scheme, pictures, hashtags, etc. on all messaging. This creates less work for you and helps your audience easily recognize your campaign.

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the fundraiser, but make sure to have fun and stay positive throughout the campaign. This enthusiasm will branch out to other aspects of your fundraiser and will create an environment that everyone will want to be involved in. Everyone involved will feed off your fun, positive energy. Attitude is everything!