Fundraisers can be an extremely life consuming event for schools. There are very traditional and non-traditional ways to make money for a school. This article explores a non-traditional way of fundraising that is VERY effective, and very FREE!
How do you go about organizing a fundraiser for a school? Many times fundraisers start out with a very specific cause or need. They start out with someone identifying an event or place that needs funds possibly for something specific or special. Sometimes the cause is for somebody or a family who has had an accident or illness in the family. Sometimes the fundraiser is for a sports team from the school. Other times the fundraiser is for a school, church, or other non-profit organization. Whatever the event or organizations might be, the need for funds is present, necessitating the fundraiser need.
There are some tried-and-true ways of fundraising for schools. Car wash days, candy bards, carnivals, bake sales, and candy sales are traditional fundraisers. One question remains, are these ways of raising funds really effective? These fundraisers almost always require an outlay of money up front for supplies, cookies, candy, or other product that will hopefully be sold to parents and neighbors, hopefully at more than they cost. There is one way of raising funds that does not require any up front money spending from your school. This way of fundraising is called pay-for-play carnival fundraising.
PFP fund raisers are carnivals that are put on by the school in coordination with an event or party planning company. Traditionally, an event rentals company would charge a school for rental pieces such as jumpers, waterslides, jousts, or other games or inflatable rentals for schools to use at their carnival. This means thousands of dollars spent by the school upfront.
With the PFP structure there is no money spent upfront. PFP works best for a school carnival or fall festival. School carnivals occur all school year at almost every school in the United States . School carnivals should almost always be viewed as an opportunity for fundraising, as well as a fun time for the kids and adults.
The basic premise behind PFP is that the school doing the fundraising and the party rental company meet beforehand to arrange the carnival and lay out the timing, age groups, and quantity of children that will be present at the event. After those details are figured out, the school and event rental company agree on a charge per ride setup that makes sense for both the school and the company. Most times, fifty cents per bounce or slide makes sense for school carnivals.
PFP can also utilize hand bands whereby every kid has the opportunity to buy a hand band for unlimited play. Often these hand bands cost anywhere from ten dollars to twenty dollars, depending on the number and size of the rides. This is the way that most kids choose because they can get more than ten or twenty rides in an hour at a carnival that may last four hours.
How does all this compute into money for a school? This is the easy part. The school and party rental company agree on a profit-sharing arrangement that works for both the company and the school. This revenue sharing structure leaves more cash to the event rental company than the schools, however that is to be common. After all, the inflatable company is spending costs of fuel, labor, time, setup, wages, taxes, depreciation, and they also have to make a profit to stay in business. This has saved the school money because there are no fees or charges to be paid before the event starts!
This carnival structure works great for both the company and the school if the carnival is well attended. If the attendance is not good this setup will still work out for the school, but not very well for the party rental companies. There are zero costs to be covered by the schools, so any profit brought in is theirs. The party rental company does have many costs that need to be accounted for. This clearly shows that the PFP setup works out well for the school, no matter what the outcome of the event!
Try PFP at your next school carnival by reserving with your local jumper rental company. They should be open to this setup as there is huge upside on both sides!
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
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