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Step 1
Decide what kind of fund-raiser you want to have. There are lots of fund-raising ideas out there, and many schools and squads will hold popular fund-raisers annually. Many groups hold car washes and bake sales, but these usually glean limited funds, and cheer-leading uniforms aren't cheap. Larger events held over a certain time period are the ones that earn groups big bucks. These events require that you sell something, and you can find help on what this something will be on a number of websites.
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Step 2
Hold a planning session to explain what will be involved in the fund-raising program you've chosen. Make sure all key personnel are at the meeting, including all squad members, parents and other students who are willing to help out and any school officials who need to know the details. During this session, you will announce what goals have been set for this fund-raiser and the amount of time the fund-raiser will last. The time frame will vary depending on the type of items you'll be selling and how soon you need the funds, but most fund-raiser organizations recommend 2 weeks.
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Step 3
Alert your adoring public about the fund-raiser. Hang banners at the school and around town, send home flyers with all the students and ask local businesses if they will help you get the word out about the event. Include information like what is being sold, when orders have to be placed and paid for, when orders can be picked up or delivered and a price list of items being sold.
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Step 4
Promote the fund-raiser as early as possible, even if it will be a few weeks before the actual kickoff. This will help people know the event is coming up, and they will be more prepared to purchase an item(s) when the fund-raiser actually begins. You might even place an ad in the local paper, which the paper may do at a discounted rate or even for free, because it's for the school.
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Step 5
Start the fund-raiser with as much fanfare as you can. This will help get everyone excited about the event. You might even hold an impromptu rally to kick the event off. However you decide to begin, be sure you have the required items for the students taking part in the fund-raiser to hand out. This should include order forms, collection envelopes, brochures of what's being offered or the actual items if they were ordered in advance, and specific instructions on what forms of payment are accepted and when the orders and money should be turned in.
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Step 6
Monitor the fund-raiser's progress daily. Hold short meetings every couple of days where you can announce how it's going, offer encouragement and possibly provide incentives for the students to stay motivated and do even better. When it gets down to crunch time, within 3 or 4 days of the final day, you might want to hold your meetings daily.
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Step 7
Collect all forms and payments from the students at the end of the fund-raising event. Congratulate them on their success and get ready for phase 2, placing the order. Contact the fund-raising company you're working with, place and pay for your order and find out when items will be delivered to the school so the group will know when to pick up their items.
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Step 8
Check your delivery when it arrives to make sure it's correct and nothing is damaged. Arrange to have parents and teachers available to pass out products to the students who will be delivering items to customers. If you also had a preset time and place where items could be picked up by the customers themselves, you will need help from either the cheerleading squad or parents and teachers to hand out items at this time.
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Step 9
Thank each and every person that placed an order. The cheerleading squad should be drilled on providing a polite thank you to each customer, so they will have continued success with other fund-raisers in the future and garner support for the school and the squad.
