4 Tools That Can Streamline Your School Fundraising

 

Whether you’re a school administrator or a PTA member, fundraising is one of many priorities you have to balance at your school. Successful fundraisers bring in the revenue you need to maintain school facilities, purchase new educational resources, and support extracurricular activities, but they can take a lot of time and energy to plan.

 

Fortunately, there are many tools that transform school fundraising from a chore into an opportunity that your whole community can’t wait to participate in. Let’s explore some game-changing resources to add to your school fundraising toolkit.

 

1. Online Fundraising Platforms

 

According to Read-A-Thon, online school fundraisers allow you to reach more donors, cut down on costs associated with planning a physical event, and recruit fewer volunteers. But before you can start seeing these benefits, ensure you have the right tools to accept and process online donations.

 

Depending on the type of fundraiser you want to host, look into online fundraising platforms for:

 

  • Read-A-Thons. During a Read-A-Thon, students log their reading minutes while friends and family make donations to cheer them on. Look for software that allows you to set up individual student fundraising pages that display their reading progress, donations, and words of encouragement from their loved ones. You should be able to track metrics such as total donations earned and total minutes read to measure participation.

 

  • T-shirt fundraising. Many students and their families love purchasing and wearing your school’s t-shirts to demonstrate their school spirit. With a t-shirt fundraising platform, you can sell custom shirts to your school’s community—including some designed by your students. After your campaign ends, the platform typically handles printing and shipping the shirts you sell.

 

  • Crowdfunding. A crowdfunding campaign is perfect for raising funds for a specific project, such as a library renovation or a new school garden. The top crowdfunding websites allow your school to keep the donations it earns, regardless of whether you meet your pre-determined fundraising goal.

 

Use your fundraising goals to inform your research. How much are you hoping to raise? How quickly do you need the money? For example, let’s say a school requires urgent funding to repair a building damaged during a natural disaster. In this case, the school might look into text-to-give tools that allow its community to give immediately through their phones.

 

2. Volunteer Management Software

 

While online fundraising requires fewer volunteers, your school can always benefit from extra helping hands. Even if you aren’t coordinating an extensive team of volunteers, adopting tools that streamline sign-ups, scheduling, and updates allows you to manage and retain your school’s volunteers with ease.

 

Some additional features to consider when researching volunteer management software include:

 

  • Custom application forms that allow you to collect the essential information you need to evaluate each prospective volunteer.

 

  • Integrated background checks that allow you to prioritize school safety without putting an additional burden on your team and volunteer applicants.

 

  • Volunteer hour tracking that allows you to measure engagement and recognize top contributors to your school fundraising efforts.

 

The platform you choose should be user-friendly and come with support if needed to ensure that your team can get up and running without too much hassle or training.

 

3. Social Media Marketing Tools

 

Your school’s community is full of people who are eager to support your growth and success. But first, you need to get the word out to them. Thanks to its widespread popularity, social media is a highly powerful marketing channel for promoting your fundraising efforts.

 

To maintain an active social media presence without turning it into a full-time job, look for social media marketing tools, such as Hootsuite, that allow you to:

 

  • Monitor all of your social media pages on one platform.

 

  • Schedule social media posts for optimal times.

 

  • Collaborate with team members through sharing drafts and feedback.

 

  • Track metrics such as impressions, likes, and shares.

 

Plan a variety of social media content before, during, and after your school fundraiser to build and maintain excitement from start to finish. Post countdowns leading up to the launch of your fundraiser. Then, during the event, share progress updates and highlight student prizes to boost participation. Once your fundraiser concludes, consider publishing a short video to thank your community and illustrate how the donations will impact your students.

 

4. Matching Gift Software

 

Every dollar counts when it comes to school fundraising. With matching gift software, your school can double the dollars it earns—all without asking your donors to give more. According to Double the Donation, educational institutions such as K-12 schools are often eligible for corporate matching gifts, in which companies match the donations their employees make to your school. Matches are typically at a 1:1 ratio, doubling donors’ impact.

 

Your school can use matching gift software to embed a search tool on its website, such as the donation page. Then, when donors navigate there to give, they can search for their employer to see if they’re eligible for matching gifts and receive the forms necessary to request one. You can even automate reminder emails to potentially eligible donors to remind them to confirm their eligibility and submit a matching gift request.

 

Other corporate giving opportunities that matching gift software can help uncover include volunteer grants. Companies with volunteer grants programs will donate to the schools or nonprofits their employees regularly volunteer with, the amount depending on the number of hours contributed by the employee. Simply knowing about these opportunities can make your school’s community members more eager to support your fundraising campaigns and further their impact.

 

As you implement new tools into your school’s fundraising process, take the time to assess your results.

 

Suppose an elementary school tries a Read-A-Thon in the fall and a t-shirt fundraiser in the spring. It might find that the Read-A-Thon earned more funds since families were more inspired to donate to support their student’s reading goals than to purchase a t-shirt. With these insights, the elementary school might decide to host a Read-A-Thon every spring during Read Across America to embrace how the fundraiser improves student literacy.

 

Additionally, you can survey your school’s community, from volunteers to donors, to collect their direct input on what works and what can be improved in the future. Stay on the lookout for new tools that will streamline your fundraising efforts so you can stay focused on what matters most: your students and their education.

 

This guest post was generously provided by the good folks at Read-a-Thon.