In a perfect world, every student would buy a yearbook every year. They would just line up to pay for it.
There are a few schools like that. Seattle Preparatory School, a private Jesuit school in Seattle, Wash., is one of them.
A well written and designed book that has good coverage of the entire school population will sell well. Probably no single factor does more to sell a book than the intrinsic value of the book, which can be improved with four features.
Since the yearbook always requires such a large amount of money every year, it has become necessary to do several large fund-raisers that bring in a great deal of money in one day, even though it takes a month or more to plan and implement. This is the 10th year for the Avella yearbook staff to sponsor the Powder Puff Football Games.
Since the yearbook always requires so large amount of money every year, it has become necessary to do several large fund-raisers that bring in a great deal of money in one day, even though it takes a month or more to plan and implement. This is just one of the fund-raisers the Avella yearbook staff conducts each year.
It came about from a need for some additional funding due to poor ad sales three years ago. The staff and I had a roundtable discussion about new ideas. I told the staff about my own high school experience when my all-girl school had a banquet that celebrated the relationship between mothers and daughters. I discussed it with my staff and a new tradition was born.
Our staff members go to dances and the cafeteria during lunch a couple of times each year and sell “Buddy Pictures.” This is a great income generator, as we do not sell advertisements.
Looking for a creative fund-raiser? Check out these ideas, sent to us from advisers across the country. If you send us your fund-raising success story, we will send you Pizza Hut coupons for your staff if we post your suggestion online.
Auction off the marching band for an event. Get band to agree to split the proceeds.
Two yearbook advisers in different parts of the country came to that conclusion about the same time – Olga Martinez-Pagnussat at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in Miami, Fla., and Jai Tanner at Franklin High School in El Paso, Texas. Previously, parents and students had great influence in how their personal ads would look in the book. At Our Lady of Lourdes, an all-girls school, the seniors would create their own collages, with photos that were scanned, grainy and too small.
Tips for Developing and Marketing a Yearbook People Will Buy
If you have trouble selling as many yearbooks as you would like, you are not alone. Many schools and their hard-working yearbook staffs experience the frustration of low book sales.