Program:  Gift cards for kids A few helpful ideas to ensure that your fundraising efforts are a success. Set a specific dollar amount goal. Striving to raise "as much as possible" is difficult because you never truly know when you’ve achieved your goal. Aim high, but keep it realistic. Look at what other groups of similar size have been able to achieve, then go for it. Make it your priority. Fundraisers often fail to achieve their goals by assuming the fundraising will take care of itself. Make sure you provide constant motivation and support of your participants by actively monitoring everyone’s individual and group progress. Keep it short. By establishing a small fundraising window, there is greater urgency for participants to get out there and collect as much as possible. Extending fundraising periods can actually lead to apathy and an “I’ll do it later.” mentality. You want everyone pumped and working hard. Keeping it short and sweet will help achieve that goal. Offer a prize or incentive for top fundraisers. A small yet enviable prize or incentive can help build team spirit and friendly competition between classrooms, troops or teams. Ultimately, an incentive will motivate participants even more.