Utilize these helpful fundraising tips to maximize your efforts and create the best outing for students on your next field trip
One of the best ways for students to get an all around enriching learning experience is to get out of the classroom every once in a while. With museums, historic sites and performance venues there are countless places students could be taken to align with lesson plans. Unfortunately, there have been serious cuts to travel budgets across departments, and the crucial fundraising apparatus for many schools has been decimated due the toll of remote learning over the past couple academic years. There is good news—with students fully back in the classroom, there will likely be a push in your local district to resume fundraising and give your children the experiences they’ve earned and need. But what are the best methods to fundraise? Below, we explain well-honed approaches and emerging, tech-centric ideas to create the ultimate student fundraiser.
Making the most of a school fundraiser requires careful planning and execution. Below are some best practices for any school fundraising idea.
Bake Sale
Bake sales might be the one of the most common ways that people fundraise. It has been so popular for some time because, like auctions, they rely on donated products. Bake sales work by having volunteers – typically parents or other community members – provide baked goods to then be sold at a community event. A bake sale can be a great opportunity for community bonding, and who doesn’t love endless options of dessert.
However, there are several important considerations to make when planning a school bake sale. You’ll need to organize a sign-up stage of what baked goods you need and how many of each. You must have clear instructions so there is no confusion amongst your volunteers and you end up with a wide range of desserts and baked goods. You’ll also need to staff the event and carefully plan your location. A signup sheet can be used for the staffing as well. Finally, you’ll need to check your local health codes and allergies to make sure your bake sale doesn’t break any laws or make anyone sick.
Auctions
Charity auctions are another tried-and-true fundraising option that can work great for schools—with this type of fundraiser, schools auction off donated items or experiences, using the participants’ bids to support the school’s budget. An auction night can help schools raise a lot of money at once while also providing a fun experience for guests (i.e., parents and community members). Schools can choose to host live auctions or silent auctions, in which bidders use bidding sheets or apps to make bids.
One advantage of this school fundraising idea is that auctions can be held either in person or online. It can easily be adapted to a virtual format, so fundraising bodies don’t have to worry about finding a space to host the event, and it can be planned in less time. Schools can even choose to implement auction software at a live event to make the process more efficient, convenient, and professional.
The biggest challenge of hosting an auction for school fundraising is it can be very unreliable. No one can know for sure how popular items or experiences included in the auction will be and therefore if the school will raise enough money. If you’re hosting a live event, you’ll need lots of resources to both plan and host the event, including finding an auctioneer. If any part of your auction will occur online, you’ll need to choose the right software and make sure to carefully check all technical equipment beforehand to make sure the event runs smoothly.
Runs/Jog-a-Thons
Fun runs and jog-a-thons are another one of the most popular fundraisers across many sectors, not just schools. One of the strengths of this type of fundraiser is that it centers on physical fitness, emphasizing the importance of being active and therefore showing awareness to two causes at once. Participants get the chance to get outdoors and be active in a fun, non-competitive setting, when they might not always get the chance to.
Physical events do have drawbacks to be aware of. Due to the fact these events focus on physical activity, organizers need to take extra precautions to protect the safety of participants. This may mean providing food or water, setting up nurse stations, and/or having medical staff on hand. Not only this but depending on the season and the weather on when the event is held, they may need to provide shades and or sun protection for participants and volunteers as well.
Fun runs and other physical activities also require more space compared to most fundraisers. You’ll need to carefully plan for the location of your event. Will it be held on school grounds, or will you need to get permits to hold the event off-campus?
Finally, you’ll need to make sure you have enough volunteers on hand the day of the event, including people to set up, supervise, and clean up or tear down any physical materials.
Work Directly with a School Fundraising Company
Traditional school fundraising requires hundreds of volunteer hours, from planning stages to the execution to final evaluation. Different school fundraising ideas require different planning and organization steps, and schools typically rely on multiple fundraising outlets at once to meet all their fundraising goals. All of this can put immense strain on volunteers who may be balancing other responsibilities.
By partnering with a fundraising company like Booster, you can let the experts handle some of the more time-consuming aspects of your fundraiser, such as planning and execution, so that you can focus on the most important thing: your fundraising goals. In fact, Booster’s fundraising options can help you combine multiple goals into one fundraiser to maximize your efforts. Learn more about how Booster can help take your school fundraising to the next level.
Create a Promotional Campaign
Even the best-planned fundraiser can’t succeed if people don’t know about it. Today, spreading the word about school fundraisers means taking advantage of all the communication channels available, especially social media. The following tips can help you connect with more people regarding your event and maximize donations:
- Assign someone to lead promotion efforts. It’s a good idea to have someone or even a group of people in charge of promotion. This can include but also not limited to planning the promotion efforts, drafting and producing promotional materials and sharing information to social media.
- Have a promotional game plan. It’s not effective enough to share a few posts the week of an event. People have to know about your event in advance and they should be able to remember it. Part of the planning process of your fundraiser should include a specific timeline of your promotional efforts, such as when you will begin promotion, how often you will post on social media or send emails, etc.
- Share on social media. Social media is a must when it comes to promoting events these days. Use multiple social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, you have an account, it should be on that platform. You want to gain as wide of an audience as possible and sharing to multiple social media platforms will be a huge help in accomplishing that.
- Utilize hashtags. When sharing on social media, maximize your reach by using hashtags related to your school, community, or event. This can also help to organize any posts that people make related to your event and make it easier to find information on your event. Create a unique hashtag to your event and have everyone use it as much as possible.
- Make promotional campaigns personal. Don’t just share the details and goals of your event – share photos and videos to let donors see who or what they’re supporting. When people make an emotional connection, it makes them more inclined to help in some sort of way.
- Reach donors where they are. It’s best to use a variety of communication channels to get the widest reach. Take time to understand who your potential donors are and how they prefer to receive information. You will likely end up combining efforts such as email newsletters, social media posts, brochures, and/or a campaign website, depending on the type of fundraiser.
Fundraising Best Practices
1.Identify specific goals. Donors like to know where their money is going. It’s important to align your fundraising methods with the amount of funds you need. Start by identifying the specific needs the fundraiser will be supporting, whether it’s buying new computers or funding a school trip and be sure to try to make it personal to adhere to your audience.
2.Align school fundraising ideas with your goals. Once you’ve determined your fundraising goals, choose school fundraising ideas that will help you best meet those goals. For example, a DIY crowdfunding campaign generally works best for specific projects, whereas you may be able to use a spirit wear store for general funds.
3.Form a planning committee. Your fundraising body, such as the PTA/PTO, likely has many fundraising projects to manage throughout the year. It’s important to be clear on who will be working on what project and when. Within each committee, assign roles and responsibilities carefully so that everyone knows their part and everyone contributes in some way.
4.Determine how you will promote the fundraiser. With all the volunteer hours and resources that go into a successful school fundraiser, it’s crucial to make sure people know about it so that you can actually accumulate the benefits. Have a plan in place for how you will get the word out about your campaign including social media, emails, brochures etc.
5.Evaluate the success of the fundraiser. The best way to improve your school fundraisers is to evaluate the successes and failures of past campaigns. After each fundraiser, have the planning committee discuss what worked well and what didn’t and record these discussions for future planning, after all, we learn from our mistakes.
By Alyssa Mastando
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