If you're trying to raise funds for your team, club, school newspaper or grad night committee, here's a tip that will help you tug at the generosity of others–don't let your parents do the fundraising for you.
We're always willing to do our part to support high school activities. And it makes sense for us to give back to the communities who bring their business to us.
But when a parent calls me and asks if I'd be willing to support her son's soccer team by running an ad in their team directory, the first thing I wonder is, "Why isn't your son making this call?"
I know that parents are just being supportive and they should be applauded for that. But when parents take this job away from kids, they take away a lot of the learning–and earning–kids should be doing themselves.
Students need to learn how to approach people they don't know, how to make a phone call, and how to write a properly punctuated and grammatically correct email. They need to learn how to shake a hand, how to follow up, how to send a thank-you note, and how to gracefully take, "No" for an answer. When kids do their own fundraising, they learn these lessons.
It's much harder for a business owner to say, "No thanks" to a polite teenager who's just trying to raise some money for the soccer team or the pep squad or the school newspaper than it is to say, "No thanks" to a parent. I'm not worried about hurting a parents' feelings. But I want to reward that kid for making the effort.
Don't tell me that you're too busy. I know you're busy. But you have to be willing to earn support if you want people to support you.
It's OK for parents to advise. But the more kids do for themselves, the more successful they'll be.