Common P&C Fundraising Mistakes
Being a part of a P&C Committee can be an extremely rewarding experience. But for some people and committees, a lack of organisation and support makes volunteering feel exhausting.
Unfortunately, fundraising can be one of the most time consuming and people-heavy responsibilities of your P&C or committee. The success of your fundraisers and your volunteer program overall depends largely on effective management.
Success flows naturally when volunteers feel supported and successful in achieving the goal!
Achieving positive relationships and great management can be tricky! Here are six common mistakes made by P&C volunteers, and some simple ways to fix them!
1. Failing to plan in advance
As simple as it sounds, a lack of time is the most common mistake made by P&C and committees. Often, volunteers underestimate how long they need to organise events or fundraisers. Other times, they miss out on free inclusions or discounts they may have received if they had booked early.
Not only does this mean less profit, the experience for volunteers can be stressful and disheartening. This also increases the likelihood of conflict and volunteer burnout.
Solution
Decide your annual fundraisers in advance
Choosing your fundraisers in advance is a very helpful way to ensure you are always one step ahead! We have created a free Fundraiser Planning Sheet that can help you stay organised, and reduce the load on your volunteers!
Download Your Free Planning Sheet
2. Inconsistent communication
Communication is an important aspect of managing a team. Regular communication helps you identify the challenges your team is facing and how they can be resolved.
Poor communication will delay organisation, and lead to people to feel like they have to solve problems on their own.
Solution
Use a messaging app to keep communication open between meetings!
If you are meeting in person once a month, you are going to need to communicate in between to keep things running smoothly!
Set volunteers up with a messaging app, such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp or WeChat to help everyone communicate easily and frequently in between gatherings.
3. Missing out on extra bonuses!
Just like End of Financial Year Sales and Black Friday, many fundraising organisations have huge bonus inclusions if you register at the right time! Give your organisation the best chance of success by getting more bang for your buck.
Solution
Join our mailing list to hear about new promotions!
Australian Fundraising is always offering extra incentives for organisations to pre-register for fundraising programs. Plus, with lots of promotions for the highest fundraising schools, best P&C Committees and bonus fundraising credit, there is thousands of dollars in value up for grabs!
4. Lack of belief in the cause
While people who volunteer want to make a difference, they will participate much more fervently if they believe in the cause.
When volunteers know that your fundraiser will make a meaningful impact, they will work hard to smash profits out of the park! Additionally, they will feel a sense of satisfaction and achievement that keeps them coming back for more.
5. Not identifying each volunteers’ strengths
Even if most of your volunteers have the passion to create a fulfilling experience, it will be difficult for them to perform well if they are working outside their natural strengths!
It is important that each person volunteers to complete tasks that they enjoy! Without working within their own strengths, volunteers can quickly become exhausted and overwhelmed with fundraising.
Solution
Get to know each other!
Working together as a team is much easier when you spend a little bit of time getting to know each other. Giving people the opportunity to express themselves and choose the roles they would like to fulfill can be a great way to make sure everyone feels happy with their responsibilities.
If you are particularly struggling to identify the strengths of your volunteers, you could try a Strengths Identifier, like the Myers Briggs Personality Test.
6. Doing everything on their own.
Groups that try to organise all of their fundraising events on their own often feel drained and burnt out. Partnering with an organisation that specialises in fundraising events can help ease the burden of fundraising organisation and increase the longevity and enthusiasm of volunteers.
Solution
Let us help you!
Australian Fundraising has been helping P&C committees host successful fundraising programs for more than 20 years. Whether you choose a School Colour Explosion Fun Run, Cookie Dough Fundraiser or eco-friendly Tree Planting Drive, our fundraisers are sure to keep P&C’s working together and making positive change.