Schools should never underestimate the importance of fundraising, despite their tendencies to do so. Fundraising enables schools to provide new programs and scholarships, maintain academic excellence, and complete critical projects.
Having a well-thought-out and properly executed fundraising strategy makes all the difference between prospering and merely surviving for the majority of schools. There are numerous benefits to fundraising. Fundraising can enable your school to provide daycare, additional extracurricular activities, school clubs, and educational programs.
However, when it comes to fundraising, finding out the best ways to make your contributors excited might be challenging. In the end, your donor base consists of a distinct mix of parents, community leaders, teachers, and students of course. So, that’s many voices to pay attention to.
Fortunately, we’ve assembled a list of five proven strategies for schools that want to move their fundraising to the next level. Check them out below.
Plan an online auction
One of the best school fundraising ideas for raising a lot of money and gathering donors is an online auction. It’s similar to a traditional auction where parties can browse items, submit bids, raise bids, outbid other parties, and acquire their item in the end. The only distinction is that this auction takes place fully online and relies on an online fundraising platform.
For that reason, online fundraising platforms to rally donors have become popular lately and they’ve proven to be very successful. With an online fundraising platform, you free yourself from paper bids and lengthy checkout lines. Plus, you can raise money for your school in an instant, and at the same time provide participants with a fun and exceptional fundraising experience.
Utilize smart online giving forms
Another good way to boost fundraising is to create insightful, user-friendly online giving forms. They will make donating easy for everyone. Because these forms are presented online, donors may choose to give from anywhere, and at any time.
Once your school utilizes online giving forms created to make fundraising convenient for all the supporters, you won’t have to be concerned about losing out on donations. Since donating online takes only a few minutes, your school’s donor network will enjoy it.
Undertake peer-to-peer fundraising
Peer-to-peer fundraising is one more fundraising strategy that is perfect to achieve your fundraising goals. With a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, the school calls on a community of supporters to create fundraising pages on their behalf.
Afterward, your school’s supporters reach out to their online networks and request donations for your school. Peer-to-peer fundraising isn’t just a good strategy to raise money for your school. It’s a great way to expand your school’s supporters network.
Because peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns are promoted by your community of supporters online, they reach more attention than ever. Especially when they’re shared on social media and sent to friends or family via email. That way, your school’s donors won’t need to live in your community nor have a child who studies at your school.
Start fundraising on-site at school events
Among the classic school fundraising methods is collecting donations at fundraising school events such as dances, sports events, and so on. Nevertheless, with an on-site giving booth, your school can promote fundraising at those events even more.
An on-site fundraising booth is the same as your online giving form, however, it will allow donors to pay in person at your event instead of doing it online. Although not all of your supporters will want to donate using a booth, having one available will make it possible for your school to collect donations from everyone that finds it convenient.
Set up a discount card fundraiser
Lastly, here’s a fundraising strategy you’ve probably come across before if you haven’t already implemented it ― discount card fundraisers.
Discount card fundraisers make it easy for community members to support your school. They will be able to purchase discount cards with vouchers to local businesses. Discount cards can even help save your donors money.
Your school can offer cards that cost from $10 to $25 and feature a tailored set of local businesses. The deals provided with these cards can last up to one year. That way, your school’s community members will have a lot of time to get the most out of them.
In addition, because these cards are very popular, your school may expect that for every volunteer that enrolls to sell discount cards, they’ll have 5 to 10 cards sold. That’s an enormous ROI, meaning you’ll reach your fundraising goals much faster.
Final words
The above-given strategies will definitely help your school’s fundraising to move to the next stage. You can also consider combining them in order to complete your school’s fundraising strategy.
