School Fundraising Tips & Ideas
At a time when people’s finances are more stretched than ever before, schools need to research more innovative ways to raise money.
In this article, we will propose potential new fundraising avenues to explore and outline ways to communicate these with your parent community.
Align fundraising with national and international events
The Education Group offers this helpful School Event Calendar, providing heaps of inspiration for varying events you may not have considered.
Once you’ve settled on a particular idea, you can then create an event around it, but don’t make the concept too narrow or specific. For World Book Day, for example, avoid the temptation to choose one book with limited scope for creativity. For parents trying to create an outfit for one book in particular, the struggle is real!! Parents who feel too stressed or flustered about it are less likely to donate.
Instead, consider choosing an event and then go broader. For example, at a World Cup 2022 event, you could invite students to dress up as their favourite sportsperson rather than simply a footballer. The goal (excuse the pun) is to keep things simple and make participation easy.
Of course, there can only be so many non-uniform days in a year, and it’s essential to keep the balance between raising money for your own school vs. fundraising for charities like Children In Need and Comic Relief. So how else can you encourage parents and the community to donate?
Go Digital with your school fundraisers
To make donating more straightforward, it’s a good idea to offer a digital way to receive money. Companies like Your School Lottery and Just Giving offer schools and PTAs an easy online alternative to many parents who simply don’t have the cash to hand. In addition, a good selection of these options are free to schools.
Repeatedly advertise your fundraisers
Give enough notice to your parents about events, and send timely reminders. So firstly, put school announcements like these on your website, social channels and newsletters, giving plenty of time to allow parents to save the date.
Then if you have a school app, at regular intervals leading up to the event (including the evening before), send out reminder app notifications. If you’re offering a digital payment, then make that link available on that message.
Finally, if you use a digital calendar with your parent community, ensure that all fundraising dates are included and regularly checked/updated.
Sell advertising space in your newsletters
The humble school newsletter can offer lucrative returns on investment for companies wishing to advertise to a local market. In fact, right now, they’re looking for new and innovative ways to get in front of target audiences that don’t involve social media. If you use a digital newsletter, you can promote advertising opportunities by including an article in every edition.
Similarly, make it someone’s job to approach local businesses for products or services they would be willing to donate. Build up a bank that can be used for regular competitions and giveaways. Again, communicate this in the newsletter, possibly in return for advertising space. These prizes can be used for all sorts of in-school and online competitions in return for a nominal donation. For example, ask your students to submit a picture of their holiday sandcastle or a snowman when the relevant season arrives. This is also a great way to keep in touch with your community during the summer holidays.
If you’d like to chat about how to make the most of your fundraising in your parent communications, get in touch.
