School fundraising campaigns are essential for providing classrooms with the resources they need, but planning fundraisers can often be a chaotic experience. Without an intentional, strategic roadmap, even the most passionate PTA leaders can find themselves chasing down missing school merchandise, phoning volunteers at the last minute, and tracking down pledge donations recorded across multiple spreadsheets.
Say goodbye to scrambles like this by beginning your school’s fundraisers with the right questions. By taking the time to create a focused campaign plan, you can run fundraisers that are organized, engaging, and resilient to any challenges that may crop up.
1. What is our goal and timeline?
Ahead of your fundraiser, define its parameters. Measurable benchmarks and clear end goals will keep your team aligned and ensure the campaign has a clear focus.
Before promoting the fundraiser to your community, make sure to set:
- Goals: Choose goals that have clear metrics of success, such as earning a certain amount of funding, engaging a specific number of donors, or increasing new supporters by a set percentage. Additionally, when possible, tie your fundraiser to a specific project or outcome, such as funding a field trip or buying new equipment for a science lab. This helps supporters better understand your goals and how their donations can help.
- A timeline: Pick set beginning and end dates to keep planning focused and maintain momentum. Consider what other events are happening throughout the year and how they could influence participation. For example, Read-A-Thon’s guide to Read Across America points out how it’s a prime opportunity for schools to host Read-A-Thons. In contrast, a school planning a walk-a-thon or social media challenge might choose different dates to avoid overlap.
Goals and timelines shouldn’t just be internal guidelines. Let your school community know exactly when your fundraiser will start, what it’s trying to accomplish, and the donation deadline.
2. What fundraising idea makes sense for our school?
An idea that’s a huge hit for an independent middle school fundraiser might not perform as well at a public elementary school. When selecting a fundraising idea, stay conscious of its:
- Ability to engage students. The more you can get your students involved, the more likely the rest of your community is to join in. Choose fundraising ideas where students are key participants, like a Read-A-Thon or walk-a-thon, or campaigns where students can be volunteers.
- Reinforcement of school values. Consider what your fundraiser will say about your school and whether your community will want to support that message. For instance, product fundraisers for unhealthy foods are often criticized, while events that promote positive values, like a Read-A-Thon encouraging literacy, are usually more well-received.
- Fundraising requests. You have to spend money to make money, but only choose a fundraising idea that requires high upfront costs if you know your community has the interest and giving capacity to make major donations. For example, for a silent auction, one school might provide multiple high-cost vacation packages, whereas another might offer tickets for local events and fun gift baskets.
When considering what fundraising ideas your community will respond positively to, think about how you might appeal to local businesses. Organizations in your community might be willing to sponsor your school fundraiser because they want to support your school, connect with your school’s audience, and gain a bit of positive publicity.
3. What are our volunteer needs?
School fundraisers need volunteers, but recruiting and coordinating volunteers can be a struggle if you aren’t sure what your needs are.
Before the campaign, ask yourself these questions:
- How many volunteers do we need? Consider your fundraiser’s scope and who will be involved. Some fundraisers might need just a handful of volunteers for a few hours, such as a small-scale walk-a-thon that needs a couple of volunteers to man a water booth. Others, like a silent auction, might need multiple dedicated volunteers working for weeks in advance.
- What skills do the volunteers need? When you hear “skills,” technical, hard skills might be the first thing that comes to mind. For school fundraisers, however, consider soft skills, such as communication, teamwork, patience, and organization. For certain positions, you might be able to have students step in to teach them these important abilities.
- How will we coordinate our volunteers? Volunteers contribute a lot to your school’s fundraisers, but managing them can also easily be a full-time job without the right technology. Double the Donation’s guide to volunteer management tools recommends looking for platforms that are easy to use, accessible, and integrate with the rest of your school’s software.
While determining your fundraiser’s volunteer needs, consider what your volunteers need from your fundraiser. For instance, many of your volunteers are likely busy parents. For these volunteers, make getting involved easy by creating clear time blocks they can fit into their schedules. Rather than asking for ongoing support over several weeks, you might ask them for an hour of their time every Friday afternoon for three weeks.
4. Does our current software support our campaign goals?
While not every school fundraiser needs software, the right tools can make your campaign significantly easier to run and more organized for both administrators and parents. For instance, when it comes to basic donation and pledge management, it’s far more secure to have students collect online donations than to carry around handfuls of cash.
Ahead of your school’s next event or campaign, assess your fundraising software. Check whether your current systems meet your needs and whether they’ll be able to help with your fundraiser. At a minimum, ensure your technology can support payment processing, project management, supporter communication, and data tracking. These features will ensure you can accept donations, coordinate your fundraiser, market it, and determine whether you’ve met your goals.
5. How can we encourage student participation?
Student participation can make or break a fundraiser. When students are excited about a fundraiser and want to do their best to support it, you’ll get more engagement from families across your community.
Try boosting student involvement in your fundraiser by:
- Choosing an idea that interests them. Students are likely to support fundraisers they’re already interested in. Pick activities that are fun, engaging, or relevant to your student’s hobbies. For instance, Read-a-Thons, sporting events, and bake sales all speak to common interests.
- Offering prizes. Incentives like prizes and rewards can go a long way toward getting students to go the extra mile. For instance, during a Read-A-Thon, you might reward the student who raises the most and the student who reads the most. Plus, some fundraisers, like Read-A-Thons, even set up prize stores where students can use a portion of the funding they raise to choose their own rewards.
- Letting students take charge. Students love opportunities to be independent, learn real-world skills, and take ownership of projects they care about. When possible, provide opportunities for students to get involved, whether it’s having your middle schoolers check in guests at an event or asking elementary school students to design unique flyers.
When thinking of student incentives, keep your school’s unique student body in mind. After all, the types of prizes that young elementary school students get excited about are going to differ from those that interest middle school students.
Planning a school fundraiser takes work, from setting objectives to finding volunteers to earning community support. Make the process easier for yourself by asking key questions during early planning stages to set your fundraiser up for success down the road.