School Fundraiser Embraces the Teachable Moment & Succeeds

Jennie Moore Elementary Students via Moultrie News.

Jennie Moore Elementary captured the “teachable” moment and taught their students how to be great sellers which raised nearly $10,000 for the school fundraiser.

As teachers you are saddled with a nearly unachievable, insurmountable task. The amount of knowledge and wisdom you are sharing and instilling in your students is vast and unending. You have a HARD job…like capital letters H-A-R-D. 

So anytime you are able to kill two birds with one stone, you should.  Are you an educator? Have you been put in charge of the next fundraiser? Intrigued by the outstanding results highlighted above? Here’s how to embrace the “teachable moment” in your classroom and motivate your students to sell Fun Pasta for your fundraiser.

1) Create a game show with questions that are tied to incentives and rewards.

2) Create a classroom economy where your student seller’s “pasta sales” are directly linked to their “expense account” for spending to cover field trips etc.
 
3) Discuss e-commerce and the laws of supply and demand.
 
4) Teach your class about the “4 P’s of Marketing” (product, place, price and promotion) internet marketing. Ask them “What’s the real message?” Discuss real vs perceived value of the fundraising products being sold. Teach them about the power of “choice”
 
5) Teach your sellers to “sell”. Have students work in groups to create “best practices” and make a list of tried and true “sales techniques”. You could also have your student’s create a “commercial” to sell the product.

Kids benefit from product fundraisers with these enrichment opportunities but they may also learn much more when you capture a “teachable moment”.  Students learn valuable customer service skills and many gain increased confidence from friendly competition and teamwork.  They also learn about goal-setting, money management, people skills and business ethics. School fundraisers also offer parents a discussion opportunity to talk about money and reinforce math skills taught in the classroom.