Middle School Fundraising: Preparing Your Prospect List
Like many great sales companies, middle school fundraising projects need consistent supply of prospects such as customers, volunteers and business partners. Creating and building a good list of prospects is one of the key tasks that you should do in order to make your fundraising efforts profitable.
In organizing a middle school fundraising event, you should always secure first your list of prospects. This list will act as your guide on who will you ask for support as well as a basis for future fundraising references. Right them down on your notes; people tend to keep their prospect list in their minds. This would lead to people forgetting potential people that could help them on their cause. Put them on paper, in a spreadsheet or you can even make a prospect database in which your members can also take part in suggesting promising people that could take part in your events. This system is much easier, and will grow at a faster rate. After you have written down your own prospect list, ask your board members individually to suggest people whom they think can help you in your goals and objectives. Your board likely has a great network of people in which your fundraising project could use. The next step is asking your donors, supporters and sponsors for their own prospect list and help you expand your team. You can either meet them in person or ask them to mail to you, your choice. When you are asking them for assistance, this would make them feel important in your fundraising events and in return they would do their best to supply you with a great list of prospects. This could also lead to a good relationship between you and your supporters which could be advantageous in the future. When you have found potential prospects, don’t just go and ask them immediately since this could be intimidating to them. You should hold non-formal meetings where you can invite your contacts to bring their prospects for a dinner or lunch and have them hear about you, your organization and what it does. Keep in mind never to reveal them that they are your prospects or ask them to join right away. Build the foundation for a good relationship first and then you can ask them to take part in your efforts if they are interested. Do you know a certain group, club or organization in which its members share the same affinity? This includes car clubs, business organizations or professional associations. This can be a great way to get new prospects especially if you can get their leaders. There is a high chance that when leaders of these groups join a certain event, he/she will likely invite his/her members to take part also. You can get the support of the entire group by just encouraging their leaders to join. It’s like hitting two birds with one stone strategy.
Always make sure to keep your prospect list updated at all times. This can be your life saver especially if you are low on your human resources.
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