How to Wash a Car

Context/Need: The Blue Valley Northwest Cheerleading Team relies on car wash fundraisers as a primary way to raise money for their competitive cheer season. In recent years, the car washes have been underperforming in money earned.  Last year, customers complained about the service they experienced and the fact that their cars were not thoroughly washed. Parent volunteers at the car wash have given feedback that the cheerleaders do not know how to wash a car and lack a sense of direction on what to do at the car wash. Therefore, cars are not washed well and the car washes run inefficiently.    

Solution: In order to target the end goal, which is to bring in more business and earn more money at the car washes, this training video was developed to teach cheerleaders basic best practices to wash a car and establish car washing standards for the cheerleaders.  The video also outlines how cheerleaders will work together to wash a car, with each cheerleader being responsible for a section of the vehicle. To make the video authentic to BVNW Cheer, three BVNW cheerleaders act in and narrate the video. In addition, all supplies used in the video are supplies used at BVNW Cheer car washes. Defining jobs and expectations for the cheerleaders will help to define cheerleader responsibilities and help parent volunteers manage the car wash. All BVNW cheerleaders and parent volunteers will watch the video prior to the first car wash of Summer 2023.

Results:  Money raised by each car wash doubled in the Summer of 2023 when compared to the previous few summers. Feedback from parent volunteers was that the training video helped the cheerleaders know their job responsibilities and effectively wash the cars. Summer 2023 car washes resulted in no customer complaints, higher donation amounts, busier car washes, and more than a 100% increase in money earned with respect to cheerleader and parent volunteer time given to the car washes.