People who think students can’t or won’t raise money for their school fundraisers simply need to look to New York City to see how wrong those thoughts are.

The Washington Post reported that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will recognize a group of students who raised around $57,000 to help pay for the 9/11 Memorial.

“Students from around the city participated in the Penny Harvest for the 9/11 Memorial campaign starting in September 2011. The money they raised will be used to help maintain the so-called Survivor Tree — a callery pear tree that was pulled from the World Trade Center rubble after 9/11.”

Since we did not speak to the students we are speculating as to how a group of students could raise that much money – especially a penny or so at a time. But you can’t help but come to the conclusion that the kids were motivated by the purpose of the fundraiser and there is a great lesson for anyone running an elementary school fundraiser or even a high school fundraiser.

You want to make sure that the students are behind the reason you are raising money. In other words if you are raising money for something they believe in then your odds of having a successful fundraiser is that much better.

School fundraising can be tedious. No question. But it doesn’t have to be. When you’re planning your next school fundraiser be determined that you will use these New York students as your inspiration. Get your students on board from the beginning and give them ownership in the end game and you might just be pleasantly surprised at how much money they can raise for you.