Proven ways to achieve your school’s goal
The field of education is constantly evolving. There are more resources than ever available to help teachers and students grow and learn. While having so many fun learning aids to choose from can make for a fun shopping spree, securing funding for all of those tools, technologies, and potential field trips can be a hassle. Especially when you’ve factored in all the other general school expenses, you can often feel like there isn’t enough money for everyone.
When exploring how to raise the funds needed to provide a top-notch educational experience for your students, consider hosting an online fundraiser. They’re often easier to manage than in-person events and more accessible for people who don’t have a lot of time to donate to your worthy cause. However, don’t completely cancel in-person events. There are still quick and easy ways to host a profitable event that brings your community together. Here are three fundraising ideas for schools that can be easily and successfully implemented.
3 fundraising ideas for schools
1. Virtual Auction
Auctions have always been a school fundraising idea. There’s just something about the excitement of bidding on desirable items! Local small businesses also love donating to auctions because they give back to their community while simultaneously promoting their businesses. In-person auctions allow everyone to have a good time, but also come with a lot of overhead. They require extensive pre-event planning, as well as hours of set-up and tear-down throughout the day. The amount of work required to organize a live auction can be prohibitive and prevent some people from participating.
Virtual auctions take the planning stress and overhead out of an in-person event. They also tend to increase the participation level among your parents, guardians and students, because they are more accessible and require less time. They are also easier for your donors. When your auction is conducted online, they don’t have to worry about clearing the calendar to attend and participate. Just one click to your online fundraising website and they can view your price and place their bids when it suits them.
Create a bidding war on popular items by allowing automatic SMS notifications to be sent to your donors when they are outbid. Make sure these messages invite them to come back and try again with a higher bid. Worried that the virtual aspect will take away the excitement of a live auction? Do not be! With the help of technology, you can live stream your auction on your donation website or other social media platform. This will help your attendees feel like they’re actually at the auction no matter where they are.
2. Online contest
Another popular fundraising idea for schools is an online giveaway. The most popular gifts will include a big ticket item, like a weekend vacation, a large sum of money, or some other attractive prize that’s sure to turn heads and sell tickets. Turn a gift into a school or PTO fundraising is quite simple with the help of an online platform. When choosing a platform, be sure to choose one that will allow you to feature flattering photos of your prize as well as descriptive captions that will encourage people to buy a ticket.
Most platforms will also help you sell and track your tickets. Doing this with a simple website makes it more appealing to potential donors and takes all the stress out of buying, selling, and tracking paper tickets. Just share the link with all your friends and family. Giveaways are successful based on the number of tickets sold, so keep your ticket price low. When your online fundraising is affordable, more people will be happy to buy a raffle ticket or two to support your cause. Once you’ve sold all of your tickets, use an online raffle generator to randomly select your winner. This can often be done directly through your online fundraising platform, which will keep it as fair and automated as possible.
3. Ticketed In-Person Events
Our last foolproof fundraising idea for schools is to host an in-person event. Not only is it a great way to raise money for your school, but it also helps bring your school community together. Students and families will enjoy getting to know each other better outside of the classroom. Some popular in-person events include school carnivals, block parties, 5Ks, obstacle courses, and school dances. Each of these events offers something different but is guaranteed to raise funds and be fun for families.
To help you better organize your school fundraiser, take advantage of online fundraising platforms with a ticketing option. Create an easy-to-share link, or QR code, to sell tickets in advance. Creating an electronic guest list helps you keep track of your attendees and makes it easier for them to purchase tickets. Few people carry more cash, but almost everyone has a smartphone. A quick scan of your code, and they’re on their way to purchasing their tickets electronically.
Organizing the event will also go more smoothly when you know how many people will be attending your event. Once the ticket is purchased, offer your guests the opportunity to pre-register. This will reduce the time spent queuing to register on the day of the event. To make your event more fun and profitable as a school fundraiser, sell concessions, host games, or hold a gift basket auction. With in-person events, the options are endless.
Find success with fundraising for schools
There are a million different school fundraising ideas you could try, but these three have proven successful time and time again. Not only do they all offer great prizes for your donors, but they also raise a ton of money while being easy to host. If you’ve ever organized a fundraiser for your school, you know you want one that will bring in a lot of money in the fastest and easiest way possible. The next time you’re preparing to host a fundraiser, consider one of these three school fundraising options to bring in the money you need quickly and easily!