Fundraising Help

5 Tips for School Fundraising
By Jennifer Lawton

As soon as the school doors open and the bell rings for the first day of class, school fundraising is already in full swing as well.  Funds raised support a variety of school activities, both educational and extracurricular.  To truly have a successful school fundraiser, parents, teachers, students and everyone need to work together to make it a success.

Here’s 5 Tips for Planning a School Fundraiser
1. Think about the fundraisers that your group has done in the past that the students and parents really got excited about.  Choose something that people enjoy and you are more likely to get a lot of volunteers and participation.  Also consider what people don’t want to do…such as spend too much time on multiple fundraisers.  Make your second fundraiser of the year something easy and that doesn’t take much time, like a cell phone and ink jet recycling program.

2. Let everyone have a voice.  Too often parents let the decisions about fundraisers be made by someone else.  Often this is out of their control as fundraisers are chosen during the previous school year.  Teachers and booster club leaders should survey parents and even those of incoming students to find out what types of fundraisers they would like for the next school year.

3. Get “buy in” from the principal, teachers and other decision makers. This one is a must! Make sure those who are in authority, and those who would be likely to volunteer for your fundraiser agree with the type and timing of the fundraising program.  This is a special reminder for high school students who may be excited about a fundraiser for their club, but may forget that they need “permission.”

4. Plan ahead! Easier said than done, right? Well if you can start planning in the spring for fall’s fundraisers you’ll be one step ahead of the game. If you haven’t planned ahead be realistic about how much time a particular fundraiser will take. Events usually take several months to plan while product sales can usually be done and over with in just a few weeks.

5. Empower volunteers…there’s nothing worse for a parent than volunteering and then feeling useless! Find out what abilities and time availability your volunteers have and tailor assignments accordingly. If you are the committee chair who’s reading this, don’t fall into the trap of thinking you have to do all thedecorating, cooking, planning, and other work yourself – you don’t!