School Fundraising Ideas
A well-planned fundraising strategy creates excitement and pride for the school and gets the community to play a more active role in the student’s education. So, if you’re looking for new ways to reach a larger audience and boost your efforts, choose from these school fundraising ideas and make the most of your event.
1. T-Shirt Fundraising
Don’t we all love a good t-shirt? What’s great about t-shirt fundraising is combining it with an in-person event. About a month before, have t-shirts made with the school’s name, logo, and event name, so all who are attending can wear their shirt on the big day.
Getting custom-made t-shirts is easier than you think. There are companies such as Bonfire and Printful that will boost your campaign, help you save money on printed fundraiser ideas for high school shirts, and create custom print designs everyone will love. Both sites are free to use, have templates and a step-by-step guide to help you with the design process, and will fulfill and ship the orders, so there is one less thing for you to worry about!
2. Online Donations
Receiving online donations is one of the best ways to expand your reach. Create a fun donation landing page and express your school’s needs. What are the objectives of the online donations, the target amount, and how do you intend to use the money to improve the school?
Remember that spreading the word is the tough part and requires attention. Create a Facebook page for the school if you haven’t got one already, and start promoting your donation requests. In addition, you can send a note home with each student and ask them to spread the word. The great thing about social media is how quickly word can spread. When people start to share your posts, you get more of a reach and increase funding. That leads us to the next fundraising idea for high schools – social media.
3. Social Media
Social media ranks as one of the best school fundraising ideas. You can utilize various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Create an exciting post, express your needs, and use hashtags to further your reach.
You can spotlight your initiatives and get followers involved in the school’s fundraising events. Instagram lets you add a donation sticker to your posts. You can go live on social media platforms with a Livestream fundraising event with an easy-to-add donate button so viewers can donate throughout the live event. Lastly, don’t forget the Geotag. This allows your donation requests to be shown to people in your community and establishes your credibility.
4. Text-to-Give
Who doesn’t have a cellphone these days? Texting-to-give is a great new way for schools to communicate financial needs to parents and guardians. The average donation is $107 for text-to-give fundraising, which can significantly impact your bottom line.
Text-to-give helps you gain ongoing support from the community when school fundraising. Use a text-to-give platform, such as Snowball, that gives you unlimited text, personalized campaigns, and offers reoccurring gift options at a low cost. Donors will text a word like “donate” to the text-to-give phone number for the school and confirm the donation amount. Their credit card information gets saved for future donations, and a recurring donate option will help maximize the funds raised.
5. Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is one of those valuable high school fundraising ideas that are a must for any money-raising initiative. An online crowdfunding campaign is done on various platforms such as Livingtree and DonorsChoose. The fundraising management software allows you to monitor the progress, tell your school’s story, and get the whole community involved in the efforts.
Here’s how online crowdfunding works:
- Develop a plan for your campaign and build the outline
- Create an account on your preferred crowdfunding site
- Set up the campaign with the fundraising goals and tell your story
- Make the campaign live and start sharing it on social media platforms
- Monitor the progress of the campaign and adjust if you are not on track to meeting your financial goals
6. Corporate Philanthropy Programs
Corporate philanthropy is a different school fundraising idea that many aren’t aware of, but it can be highly effective. You can contact parents or guardians to inquire whether they own or work for a company with philanthropy programs and find out how to apply.
Three corporate philanthropy programs could benefit a school fundraising program:
- Matching gifts: Many companies will match an employee’s donation to a nonprofit. For example, if an employee gifts $100 to the school, the company will match the donation with $100. Each company is different, and some may have higher contributions than the traditional 1:1 ratio, such as 1:2 or 1:4 contribution ratios.
- Volunteer grants: This is a great way to raise money and get the much-needed hands-on help many schools require. Employees will volunteer their time to a nonprofit, and the company will donate financially.
- Corporate sponsorships: Companies can sponsor events in exchange for positive publicity. For example, a company can fund an event such as a bikeathon or fun run; the school can promote the business in return.
7. Cookie Dough Fundraising Ideas for High Schools
Chocolate chip, cookies and cream, or peanut butter – whatever your flavor, we all love cookie dough! Not only is cookie dough a comfort food that takes us back to the sweet memories of growing up, but it can also be added to your list of school fundraising ideas. Host a cookie dough fundraiser and get parents, guardians, students, and the community involved in this tasty idea.
So, how does a cookie dough fundraiser work? It’s simple. Use a company such as SavoryFoods or Palmetto Fundraising. You won’t have to pay any money upfront; they will fulfill the orders for the sale of cookie dough, and you get to keep most of the profits. Give customized catalogs of the various products for sale or host the sale online. This idea takes very little work, and you can raise money for your school in a fun way.
8. Pledge Fundraising
Pledges and donations are different from one another. Pledges are a promise for donation. For example, you can plan a bike-a-thon, walk-a-thon, or fun run, and people can pledge donations for the distance the participant goes. The pledge gets made and paid at a future date.
Pledge fundraising is a great way to raise money for schools and organizations. It is a volunteer-driven program that raises funds in an annual, one-time gift through a personal fundraising campaign. Through pledge fundraising, you collect donations from friends, family members, and neighbors who support your school financially before the event occurs.
The first step to organizing a successful pledge fundraiser is simply organizing the people who will participate. Second, you should decide on the goal of your campaign and how much money you want to raise during that time period. At last, set goals for the number of pledges you want to receive and then divide up those tasks accordingly.
9. Silent Auctions
Silent auctions are becoming increasingly popular for school fundraising because they offer a fun way for people to bid on items and raise money for the school at the same time. Proceeds from silent auctions help schools solicit more funding, provide more enrichment, and enable more learning. They’re a fun way to socialize and mingle with new people at the event.
Charity Safaris is an excellent company to help raise funds for your school. We can help with the entire process, including auction display, online bidding logistics, and catalog production. Sell one of our hunting trips in South Africa, Argentina, or New Zealand multiple times for the event and raise thousands of dollars for your school. Fill out an online donation request and sell the trip of a lifetime at your school fundraiser.
If you’re looking for other types of silent auction items, The Share Way provides a guide on 400+ companies that donate hotel stays, beauty products, gift cards, and more.
10. Email Campaigns
More than 4 billion people use email, and 77% of marketers say they have seen an increased engagement with their email marketing campaigns over the last year. So, if marketing companies and businesses leverage emails to gain followers’ support, why not do the same for your school and community?
An email fundraising campaign is simple once you have an email list. You can send reminders to subscribers of fundraising events, express the school’s needs, and request help from the community. What’s great about email campaigns is that you aren’t just driving traffic to your fundraising page but can also gain ongoing financial support.