How Our Prize Programs Work For School Fundraisers

We recently had someone inform us that a particular school was very interested in using our Big Event Magic Show as their school fundraising prize program along with one of our fundraising brochures until they saw how much they thought they had to sell in order to get it. They were a new school in a young neighborhood that was adding on grades each year so their student population was only about 250. Without reading any further they moved on. As a result we feel that clarification about how our Big Event Prize Programs work is perhaps warranted.

As it turns out this school would have had 3 different ways to qualify for a Big Event Fundraising prize program:

• The first option allows a school to qualify for a free event if they reach a predetermined school fundraising goal, but if they fall short of that goal, they simply cost-share on a pro-rated basis. In other words, if they do fall short, the closer they get to the goal the less additional money they have to pay. Also, if they do end up having to cost-share in order to bring in a Big Event, they would simply pay out of the money that has already been collected from their school fundraiser. Therefore, they don’t have to go somewhere else to get the money. The advantage to this option is that regardless of their sales results their students will still get a Big Event at their school. Most schools that choose this option are fairly confident that they will reach the predetermined fundraising goal. The downside is that they may have to pay a little more to get it should their sales fall short.
• The second option allows a school the opportunity to graduate up to a Big Event Fundraising prize program from a standard prize program. Consequently they would start out with a standard prize program and if they happen to reach the predetermined fundraising goal then they would switch from the standard prize plan to the Big Event Fundraising prize program of their choice. Most schools that choose this option are not sure if they will reach the goal so they take a more conservative approach. The downside to this option is that if a school does fall short, they then settle for the standard prize program.
• The third option allows for a school to ‘change their mind’. In other words, if a school initially chooses to start with a standard prize program and then switch to a Big Event Fundraising prize plan if they reach their sales goal, this option still allows for them to bring in the Big Event even if they fall short. They would simply cost-share based on their total gross sales. This option works well when a school ends up selling more than they expected and realizes that in order to bring in a Big Event they only have to pay out a little because they came fairly close to reaching the predetermined fundraising goal.

Can I predict my school fundraising sales results before I decide on which option I want to go with?
If you’re not sure about where your sales will end up here is a simple way that you can do the math ahead of time:

Multiply the average brochure retail price ($10.00) by your number of students. Then multiply that number by the individual goal that must be reached per student. For the Big Event Magic Show or Big Event Reptile Adventures Show, the individual goal is 5 items and for the Big Event Super Party and Big Event Super Splash Party it’s 8 items. This will give you a fairly close total gross sales estimate. Keep in mind that some of your students may not sell while others will reach higher prize levels. You will also want to avoid the temptation of comparing previous school fundraising sales results where a traditional prize program was used to what you think your results might be if using a Big Event Fundraising prize plan because they may be very different.