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Should the arts be left out of fundraising efforts? Absolutely not. Flex Fundraising is proud to be tied to many competitive sports, and we’re proud to sponsor the arts as well. When it comes to dancing, it’s an art and a sport!

Let’s take a look into Jazz’n Place Dance Studio in Lehi, Utah. Jazz’n Place teaches and directs all sorts of different dance styles, from jazz, hip-hop, contemporary, lyrical, tumbling, and technique classes. Much like sports, dance requires an incredible amount of practice, dedication, and a competitive spirit to improve and perform better. Instead of having a game to go to every Saturday at 10:00am, dance depends on local and national competitions for dancers to perform and compete in. These programs take time to plan, lots of hands to execute, and money from each participating group to be allowed to perform.

As we all know, money isn’t something that just falls out of the sky.

Jazz’n Place Dance Studio and Flex Fundraising

Jazz’n Place has been working their dancing legs off and has found a way to ultimately show off what their students can do: compete for a national title at the NRG Dance Project Convention and Competition in Anaheim, California. With many awesome students coming from different backgrounds, Flex Fundraising wants to ease the expenses that Jazz’n Place will have to spend in order to make their students’ dreams come true.

How is Flex Fundraising making a difference? We’re wanting to help Jazz’n Place raise as much money and more than ever before through our program. With the resources we process and the simplicity of fundraising through us, we’re doing the tough work for them while they are able to share and post about their fundraiser. It’s easy to do and it yields high results. Not to brag, but, it’s true.

From their donation page, “By donating to each dancer you will be helping to expand their dance education by providing them the opportunity to learn from some of the most sought-after choreographers in the industry, train with dancers across the country, all while encouraging them to give back with acts of kindness.”

We love reading being a part of these programs. We’re proud to sponsor fundraisers that will help anyone (especially kids) be able to experience life and be part of things that are bigger than themselves. Participating in such events as a child has massive health benefits, as well.

Why your kids should get into dancing

We truly believe that kids are incredible and that they should do everything they can to discover future talents and hobbies. Although we naturally write and produce much of our content about soccer, football, basketball and baseball, we love to be involved with all sports, clubs, teams, groups, and anyone in between who needs some help with fundraising. One things that keeps us up at night is the worry that kids won’t be able to experience something new due to a lack of funds for the programing. We have designed our entire model with that in mind, doing everything we can to help programs that normally aren’t able to receive the money they need to operate.

Why should your kids try dancing? From the Washington Parent, “From balancing on their toes to raising their arms, dance utilizes the entire body and all of its muscle groups. Dance improves flexibility, coordination, balance, range of motion, stamina, muscle tone, strength and posture. But physical fitness is just one of many benefits of dance that can enhance your child’s life in so many ways.

Dance helps children develop emotionally, socially and cognitively, and the dedication, discipline and focus children must learn and practice are important life skills that will transfer over to school, work and other aspects of their lives.

Committing to a dance class involves showing up on time, every time, fully prepared, with hair fixed and in proper clothing, and instills great habits and accountability. Children learn that their actions not only affect themselves, but others as well. The dedication involved in showing up for rehearsals also shows kids that being committed to something can bring many positives into their lives.”

Kids are incredible. They’re brave, they’re adventurous, and they want nothing more than to explore the world and see what’s out there. I’m surrounded by tons of nieces and nephews and it’s been awesome to see them get excited about new activities and things to try. I’m not child psychologist, but I would bet big money that most kids simply love to try all sorts of different activities. It’s only when we become adults that we start tricking ourselves into thinking that we can’t create new hobbies or find new passions. What a silly thing that is.

You might be thinking to yourself, “Look man, I know what you’re getting at, and believe you me, my child is not the athletic type and will not enjoy any organized sport, this I swear.” I understand that you might believe your child was not born to be an NFL player because they can’t yet catch a football at the precious age of 5. There are wayyyy too many stories about professional athletics not even being introduced to the sport until much later in life, and then making a profession out of it, like Ziggy Ansah.

You might be writing off your kid for an awesome experience much too early.

The reason I believe every kid should try a ton of different sports (regardless of skill level) comes from an experience I had with a coworker in a softball league. I had an old job where we all played in a local softball league. Not too competitive, mainly good times, but enough of a challenge to make anyone who hasn’t really played a softball like sport pretty nervous. We had been inviting our coworker for weeks. We knew he wasn’t athletic, but we wanted him to join for the good chill time that every game was. We finally convinced him.

He went 0-3 and stumbled on a couple of catches and didn’t really know what he was doing.

The next day, I talked to him thinking that he would never want to play again. To my surprise, he excitedly asked when the next game was. He talked about the great time that he had, how he enjoyed being outside and hanging out with some friends/coworkers and got to try something he hadn’t before. I was shocked and delighted! And shocked. I was sure that he wouldn’t want to play, and when he did, I was sure he wouldn’t want to play again. I was quite a fool.

I’ve thought about this little story a bunch since it’s happened. Just because someone hasn’t tried a sport yet and you personally think they’ll hate it doesn’t mean that they will. You have to allow them the opportunity to grow and be excited about it. My nephew was terrified of baseball and couldn’t imagine being good at it. The first couple practices were scary, he cried when his dad would drop him off, but now he’s in love with the sport and can’t get enough of it.

Some kids need to get over the initial fear stage before they unlock the potential they have for something. Some kids are ready to dive head first into a new activity. Some might need the encouragement of mom/dad coaches or their friends to get out of their comfort zone. And guess what? They might not even like whatever they’re trying! Once they’ve given it a true shot, you can both feel proud that they tried something new, stuck with it for a bit, and discovered a little more about themselves.

Little league coaches are underrated. Think about the time, the effort, sometimes even the PERSONAL cash coaches put into their little league teams. It’s incredible. And why, exactly, do they do it? They could be doing it for the simple love of the game, or the fact that their child is on the team and they want to spend more time with them. In between coaching and organizing and running a team, coaches are often helpless when it comes to fundraising.

Why exactly do little league coaches need to fundraising? There could be a few reasons.

• Raising money for new uniforms. Kids normally won’t complain too much about what they’re wearing for games, but it is certainly nice to have some nicer uniforms. Makes getting them dirty all the more fun!
• If the team is invited to a local or distant tournament, they may need some money to participate, travel, hotels, etc.
• Teams are often responsible for raising some money to pay the league so that the league can keep their fields nice, get new equipment when needed, pay umpires or onsite workers, etc.
• Teams want their fans to be able to dress with the team! Raising money for fundraisers can get proud parents, siblings and friends some shirts with the team name, logo, and their name on the back!

Take all of these points and try to understand how tough it is for a coach to balance all of these things. Not only are they running a team out of their own good will for no pay, they’re spending this time outside of their normal work and personal life schedules. Pretty incredible. When you need to add fundraising to the already complex equation of everything else coaches need to do, it often gets put to the bottom of the “to do” list. It’s likely the last thing that coaches want to worry about. They’re busy helping a team learn to play the sport and compete!

The kids that make up the team and simply want to play the sport might not be super enthusiastic about the idea of fundraising. When I was a kid, I had to stand in front of a Kroger’s and sell these crappy chocolate bars for $5 a piece. Some kids might be a little more into sales at the tender age of 8, but I and most of my teammates were not one of them. It’s pretty intimidating to stop strangers in their tracks and bother them with mediocre chocolate covered nougat.

We at Flex Fundraising want to help alleviate the pain of fundraising for these coaches that are already donating so much of their time and effort to a team who needs him/her.

If you are currently running a little league team or know someone who is, be sure to point them in our direction. At Flex Fundraising, we do everything we can to take away all of the stress that comes when running a fundraiser. Our platform makes it simple to get biggest return as you’ll do the least amount of work ever before in a fundraiser. Come see how we can help you out today!

Do you remember your elementary school teachers? We have lots of respect for the teachers of the world here at Flex Fundraising. Teaching is certainly not an easy profession–spending time with some high energy kiddos can quickly become exhausting! When I think back on my days of elementary school, I marvel at how Mrs. Church and many others were able to keep up with all of their kids. Not only are they balancing their careers that revolve around kids, but they have their home lives and health to balance as well. 

With the respect that we have for teachers, we at Flex Fundraising want to ensure that we can simplify an aspect of their careers. Our model of fundraising is designed to help out those that have tons of work in their everyday life. 

Let’s look into the fundraising that an elementary school in Sandy, Utah was running. Crescent Elementary was able to raise over $14,000 in their fundraiser with Flex Fundraising. We couldn’t be more excited to see the incredible results of a great campaign ran by the school. The magic of our work is that it makes fundraising simple, exciting, and accessible by nearly everyone. Crescent Elementary did many things well in their campaign, and I see three of those that would be great to highlight in this post. 

• Use great incentives to motivate entire classrooms 

What’s better than motivating one kid? Motivating an entire class! You might think that it’s tough to get an entire group of kids excited about something, but you’d be surprised to see the simple and awesome incentives that Crescent Elementary created for their school. First off, they used incentives that rewarded an entire class for their work. The “leading class” for a certain chunk of the donation would receive the incentive. This created many chances for classrooms to get excited about receiving the incentive! Genius, I say, genius! 

Some of the incentives include: dance parties, pie-ing teachers in the face, allowing the class to do the hair and makeup for their teacher, and having one specific teacher sleeping on the roof for one night! 

• • Have many donation options 

Having one option for donors? Fine. Two options? Better. Five categories with dozens of options?? Incredible. Doing this lessens the pressure for your donors and makes it so much more enjoyable for them to contribute towards something they find interesting. Crescent Elementary had options for beach days, dress up days, hat days, change your name for a day, face painting, sidewalk chalk, cotton candy, picnic lunch, snow cones, kickball tournaments, race a teacher, and water relay races, JUST to name a few. Asking for cash is fine, but giving your donors nearly 50 options is awesome.

• Keep their website up to date, interesting and competitive

Not only did they keep their Flex Fundraising page up to date with the donation totals and progress bars, but they also had interesting content on their own website. Having content lets the community know what you’ve been up to, future plans with the organization, and helps you look more up to date. Doing so will give anyone who stumbles on your website a reason to stick around, which will naturally help your donation chances. Trying to be the top class is always motivating as well!

Check out their full fundraiser: https://flexfundraising.com/crescent-carnival/

 

Think about something that you worked hard for. Was it training for a marathon? Getting a promotion at your job? Picking up an instrument and learning to play? Beating your personal challenge of making ten free throws in a row? When people are working towards something, they’re putting time, effort, and emotion towards a massive goal that will change their lives, typically for the better. 

Why, then, is it so difficult to work on things that’ll benefit us? Oftentimes, we get burnt out. We’re excited to work towards something new at the beginning, but when the first challenge comes along, we quickly negotiate with ourselves on how badly we really want this. We often lose this battle, and we’re back to square one. This happens all the time in fundraising. 

How can you keep yourself and your teammates from getting burnt out as you work towards your fundraising goal? One major tip: incentives. Follow the quick four tips below to ensure your future fundraiser goes better than the last by sprinkling in rewards. 

• Understand how incentives work

The use of incentives, in general, has mixed reviews, especially in the workplace where they’re often thrown around to motivate individuals. According to Forbes, the use of incentives can help lead engagement and performance when used correctly. In order to use them correctly, your incentives need to help your teammates feel motivated towards a goal. Especially with kids, incentives can be the ultimate weapon that will keep them engaged and excited about the work they’ll need to be doing. 

• Know what motivates your team 

Just because it’s something YOU think is awesome doesn’t mean everyone else will. If I were to personally want an incentive for something, it would be different from what others may want. Handpicking incentives that are interesting for everyone is really easy on a football team and really tough on a football team. Do whatever you can to appeal to the masses with incentives. If it means doing more incentives to cover a wide range of prizes, great. If it means scaling back and doing a few large ones, awesome. You know your team best–make it about them! 

• Be specific, avoid ambiguity

You ever see A Christmas Story? The one with Ralphie and the Red Ryder BB gun? Ralphie, throughout the movie, is working towards a goal: to uncode the super secret message from Little Orphan Annie. He’s getting little things here and there towards his goal–a decoder, announcement messages, etc. He has no idea what the secret message is, but he is sure, without a doubt, that it’s worth his time and effort. When the time comes for him to finally decode the message, he learns that this awesome, super secret code was simply an advertisement for Ovaltine. 

Moral of the story? Don’t do what Ovaltine did to Ralphie. Give your team a clear incentive that they’ll be happy to work towards. Having the incentive being something like a “super cool prize that everyone will definitely love!” is something that is bound to create some disappointment in its unveiling. 

Keep your incentives specific. Make sure they know exactly what they’re working towards. Things like, “Something fun at the end of practice” is ambiguous. Instead, replace it with an unmistakable reward that cannot be confusing. “We will play dodgeball instead of conditioning on Thursday” “The top seller from this date to that date will get to pie coach Jones in the face”. These are specific, thrilling, and will allow your team to work hard and have some bonding moments once the incentive hits. Your teammates can then visualize their reward as they’re working for it!

• Sprinkle them in early and often

Let your team know that you’ll be rewarding them often throughout the process. Sprinkle in these incentives as early as you can to set the tone for the entire fundraiser. This will give your team a clear vision on how the fundraiser will operate. Make sure your first incentive is particularly interesting so that you can peak interest right off the start. 

What do you do if they fail to hit their goals and they don’t get the incentive? You can certainly go with the “tough love” option, meaning that they simply do not get to experience the incentive. You can allow those that did reach to the goal to experience the incentive. Or, you can secretly stack the incentive for a later time, perhaps doubling up with another incentive to create another opportunity for the team to succeed! Check this post to see how to use one major reward instead of incentives if you feel that would be better for your team. 

I would be surprised if anyone gets super excited about fundraising. All the times I was essentially forced to fundraise throughout sports, school events, scouting programs, etc. led me to believe that there was nothing cool about fundraising. What I’ve learned, however, is that many of these fundraising events made it really tough to feel enthusiastic about because they failed to do something that would have made it much better: provide some incentives. 

Incentives, I feel, should become more and more of a thing in general. With everything that everyone needs to balance in this world, it’s hard to remain ultimately focused on one sole thing. Having incentives allows people to get excited about what they’re working towards. Incentives remind us that the work we are doing is beneficial and that, while everyone is working towards a good cause, there’s something in it for them as well. 

When it comes to raising funds, incentives can be your best tool to keep your students happy, engaged, and thrilled about the journey they’re on. Let’s face it–raising funds is tough. It requires marketing, networking, advertising, sales, and nowadays, digital media knowledge. That’s a lot to ask for someone to dive into! Having prizes, either for the individual or the team, is exactly what will help a younger audience be excited about fundraising. We’ll quickly mention one school who knocked their incentive out of the park through a major grand prize. 

One Major Reward

The All In. All or Nothing. The Big Cheese. This is the ultimate grand prize. THIS is what people will be talking about for years and years. Can you imagine what it would be like to win THE grand prize? This is a great route to take if your students would feel more motivated by the competitional aspect of winning it all, rather than receiving smaller prizes along the way. 

Friendly competition can be a useful ally in the spirit of fundraising. 

Take Durango High School out in Las Vegas. You wanna know what they did? They have their grand prize be a $400 pair of Jordans. Let’s go over why this was a beautifully hand-picked prize for this group. 

• It speaks to the group. The grand prize here was something that every player would want. What basketball player doesn’t want an insanely expensive pair of shoes? 
• It was a huge reward. Not only was it a nice pair of shoes, but it was a pair of shoes that players likely wouldn’t be able to get with their own cash. Being able to incentivize through an expensive prize is highly motivating. 
• It gave them something to look at. There was no mysterious “grand prize”. It was THIS prize. Showing the students right off the bat what it would be they were competing for left away any thoughts on whether or not this “grand prize” would truly be grand at all. 
• The $400 Jordans probably got some traffic towards the fundraiser that wouldn’t have come otherwise. The news of a grand prize can quickly get whispered around the hallways of the school, and it’s no wonder that the overall donation total was incredible because of it. 

Durango figured out how to use their grand prize to their advantage. It catered to the team and to the individual, was exciting, and was worth the extra effort students were giving. It gave those players a reason to be fiercely competitive. It gave them something to cheer for. Do whatever you need to in order to create this same drive for your group!

Are you currently stuck doing a fundraiser? I don’t think there’s anyone in this world who likes to fundraise. The beginning idea of it is fun (pun intended)–you have big hopes and dreams of all the cash you’ll be bringing in for your group. Then a couple days roll by, you find yourself NOT bringing in as much as you thought, and suddenly you find your enthusiasm quickly getting killed by the doors slammed in your face.

Trust me, we’ve all been there. 

There are tools out there that will alleviate your fundraising pains this year. Thanks to improvements and technologies and some innovative ideas, fundraising is getting easier than ever and bringing in more cash than ever. 

Below are your top 5 tips on improving your fundraising game!

• Check out Flex Fundraising for your fundraising needs

The best way you can solve all of your fundraising problems is to simply switch to a company that knows fundraising better than anyone else! Flex Fundraising is the new and innovative service that makes fundraising easier than ever. You’ll earn more, keep more, and do less than you ever have. 

I would highly suggest this option if you’re sick of getting little return for all the work you and your teammates are putting in. Flex gives you the flexibility to sell whatever you want and not be limited to what you can and can’t take. Cash donations? Perfect. Swag? Got it. A thousand homemade chocolate chip cookies that you want donors to enjoy? For sure.

Plus, they’ve figured out how to get you your biggest return without needing to leave the house or stand awkwardly in front of a grocery store peddling those awful chocolate bars for $5 each. 

Partnering with Flex Fundraising is free, simple, and will get you the most money you’ve yet to raise. Plus, it’ll make following the next four steps much easier. 

• Make a SMART goal and stick with it  

You know SMART goals, right? Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and with a time frame. Setting a goal like this will give you a clear vision of what you want to do. Create a goal as a unit that will encourage teammates to work hard but not feel like the task is too daunting to realistically reach. 

The nice thing about fundraising is that the massive number you’ll set as your overall goal can easily be broken down to give everyone a realistic amount of money to raise. Each teammate can have a small goal to raise a couple hundred dollars, which will naturally contribute to the whole.

Check out Forbes’ article on why athletes that succeed are those who use SMART goals. 

• Ditch the door to door method–use that smart phone

Door to door may be the oldest technique when it comes to raising money. Not many people want to be disturbed in their own home from some kid going door to door asking if they want to buy a $20 coupon book. It takes a ton of time, it’s hard to track where everyone in your team has been, and it has the worst ROI. 

Instead, use that smart phone of yours and send out some texts about the fundraiser. Texting or emailing allows people the flexibility to donate or not without the added stress that comes from donations. I believe that people are more understanding this way as it feels less invasive. Teammates can text their friends, coworkers, neighbors, share on facebook pages, etc. 

• Have a cash option 

Do you remember the last time you gave that kid at your door $20 for that coupon book? You may think that they received most if not all of your generous donation, but in reality, only $10 made it back to the school. Plus, that coupon book is now a chore to the donor, and they feel like they have to use it to get their money’s worth. It’s a whole thing. 

Having an option to simply donate cash is a great way to allow people to contribute totally to the school, which might be the only thing they want. 

This adds some greater flexibility as well, allowing donors to name the price they want to donate. Some may reach well above what you would ask for in a set amount, which is a win for everybody! 

• Have a reward during and after the fundraiser 

No matter what age group you’re working with, it’s always a good idea to have incentives and rewards during the journey. This will help with burnout and keep people from forgetting about the fundraiser altogether! 

When I was a kid doing a fundraiser, we were told that if we raised a certain amount of money over the weekend, we wouldn’t have to do conditioning for a couple days. That was incredible motivation to a bunch of kids who don’t want to do sprints after practice. We hit our goal with no problem. 

Incentives can be wide ranging. You can skip out on conditioning, have people enter for a raffle, let your teammates throw a pie in your face, etc. Little rewards go a long way and keep people interested in the fundraiser. 

Use these tips to get the most out of your future fundraisers, and be sure to use Flex Fundraising for your fundraising needs! 

A high school football coach has dozens of things to worry about throughout the year. Before the Friday night lights illuminate up the brilliant stadiums filled with thousands of excited fans, the school and its coaches need to put in a great amount of work to make those games happen. 

 

Along with getting a group of teenagers ready for the big game, the head coach needs to get the players in weight training and conditioning, along with watching film on their future opponents, coming up with unique strategies on how to counter their opponent’s strengths and attack their weaknesses. Head coaches need to strategize, plan, hire, and train, all while excelling in their own careers. 

 

It’s incredible that anything gets done with this sort of schedule, and even more incredible that Perry Football was able to increase their fundraising profits by 40% this year by switching to the up-and-coming Flex Fundraising fundraising platform. 

 

The last thing a head coach wants to worry about is fundraising for their team. The idea of coordinating a fundraiser for his fellow coaches and players to participate in is one more thing at the bottom of the “To-Do” list and ends up being a hassle to execute. 

 

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when people think about fundraising? Selling chocolates in front of grocery stores, selling coupon books door to door–things no student athlete wants to spend their precious weekends participating in. 

 

Flex Fundraising was created based on these issues, and with its new and innovative system of fundraising, receiving donations has never been easier and more exciting. 

 

Located in the heart of Gilbert, Arizona is Perry High School. Head coach Preseton Jones leads a successful football program, bringing the team to the state championship in 2017 and 2018. His overall record is 90-57, an incredible feat in the competitive environment of Arizona high school football. 

 

Coach Jones made the decision to go with Flex Fundraising for his fundraising needs in the 2021 season. Managing a fundraiser can normally be exhausting with little return for the amount of time spent. Neither coaches nor student athletes get excited to go door to door, selling coupon books that are naturally a tough sell. Instead of going through the usual motions of fundraising, coach Jones found a new platform to alleviate his fundraising pains. 

 

Jones said in an interview that he usually uses “… multiple fundraising platforms,” to generate the amount of money to put towards necessities for the football team. His decision to go with Flex Fundraising saved him from managing multiple parties of fundraisers, which brought him time and money. Making the choice to go with one fundraising platform can be an intimidating one, especially with a company that is relatively new to the fundraising world. However, when the company is started by athletes that have been through the rigorous process of typical fundraising, it makes sure to solve all the problems they once had to go through. 

 

Flex Fundraising uses an online platform to make fundraising easier and more exciting for everyone involved–including those being asked to donate. Part of the beauty of their platform is making the fundraising efforts engaging for every player and coach. By giving each player their own page on the Flex Fundraising website, Jones found that everyone was more eager to help raise money for their team than ever before. 

 

“It was exciting and easy to track,” Jones said. He mentioned that goals and incentives were hittable and fun. Each player can decide how much they want to try and raise, and the website shows a bar with how well they’re doing. Each player averaged over $500 in donations. 

 

Why are players hitting higher numbers than ever before? The secret to Flex Fundraising’s recipe is to allow donors to have options. Most fundraisers limit the choices to cash donations, buying coupon books or mediocre sweets, and so on. Flex Fundraising gives each team the flexibility to have as many or little options for donating as they want. Jones was able to sell slick apparel and discount cards while accepting cash donations and corporate sponsorships. People could also choose to donate their money to game day banners, which adds an awesome element to every Friday night. 

 

These options take the initial pressure off from donors. Donors can feel pressured or forced into buying something they may not want. Pressuring a donor to buy something can make it a tougher sell for that donor in the following years when they’re likely asked again for donations. Options allow them to decide how much to donate and what they would like in return, simply making the process easier and more rewarding for everyone.  

 

Along with the simple process of donating came another great feature from Flex–giving the student athletes a chance to share their pages on social media. It’s no secret that social media plays a large role in nearly everything we do. High school sports use social media to provide updates, highlights, create excitement for their sport and promote the team. Flex’s system makes it easy for student athletes to share their own pages on social media, email, texting, and so on. Instead of traveling door to door, they can create and share an engaging profile, which exercises their design and marketing skills along the way. All of this results in a higher return while spending less time on fundraising. It’s the epitome of working smarter, not harder. 

 

It’s simple features like this that allow student athletes to use the tools they feel comfortable in: design, social media, online marketing. The coaches can track team and individual progress. This tool allows for interesting goals and incentives they can use to add some extra motivation over the weekend. Some coaches have given their student athletes one of these  weekend challenges: the goal is to raise $X amount by a certain date. If they hit that goal, they don’t have to condition for a week. Such goals help team building and make fundraising something to look forward to. 

 

How successful was Perry High School with Flex Fundraising? For their 2021 season, Perry High School raised over $98,000, increasing their donation total by 40% compared to their last season of fundraising. Coach Jones describes working with Flex Fundraising as effortless, easing the pains that have normally troubled them every year. 

 

Coach Jones, after 15 amazing years with Perry Football, has announced his retirement. It is certain that Perry High School will continue in two traditions: having a winning football program and using Flex Fundraising to raise more, keep more, and do less.