4 Tips to Keep Parents in the Know to Make Your School Fundraiser Better

Most schools hold school fundraising events for many reasons. Most of the money will be used for off budget items that the school needs.  New sports equipment, field trips, and new computer equipment are just a few of the many things that school fundraising money is used for.  Sometimes it is the PTA or PTO that run the school fundraising.   Many times smaller groups such as the yearbook, student council or a class raising money for a field trip that run the school fundraiser. Though each of these school groups work very hard to raise the money that they need, they sometimes have a difficult time.

One thing that we might overlook in planning new fundraisers is the fact that parents are just as busy in their lives as we are in ours. They are always on the run. If they are not going to the grocery store then they are running to the dry cleaners, or driving a child to an event or practice. Life in our world is quite hectic and as a result we often forget things, especially things that we have not been reminded of lately.

To increase parent participation in our school fundraising we must make every effort to ensure that they are kept in the loop and reminded when events are scheduled and will soon be coming up.

Here are 4 tips to follow when planning new fundraisers that will help you get the most out of your school fundraiser.

1.) Beginning of School Year Correspondence

At the beginning of the year we should send a letter to the parents outlining our plans for any and all school fundraiser events that are planned throughout the year.

2.) Secondary Correspondence

As we have said parents are just as busy as we are and sometimes an upcoming event may slip their mind. Send a letter home with the students take home pack a short time before the beginning of each school fundraiser throughout the year.

These first two tips are helpful in keeping parents informed of what you are planning but if you really want to keep them in the loop read on.

3.) Publish a Newsletter or Ezine regarding your school fundraiser.

Use your ezine or newsletter to keep parents informed of happenings at the school and to promote upcoming school fundraiser campaigns. Encourage parents to sign up for the newsletter in any correspondence that is sent home.

Public schools and other educational institutions should have newsletter or ezine that is published regularly. A simple form should be placed on either the school’s website or that of the local board of education. This will make it easy and painless for parents to sign up.

4.) Gather Email Addresses of your parents

Every school sends correspondence home that needs to be completed by parents and returned. On any correspondence that must be returned to the school add a space for an email address.  You can also use this space to help you find volunteers for your school fundraiser events.

Build a list of all these email addresses and when it is time for the school fundraiser, send out a friendly reminder message. You would be surprised at how effective this tactic is in making your school fundraiser a huge success.

These 4 tips will help you increase parent awareness and participation in your school fundraiser events.   Go to AIM Fundraising at http://aimfundraising.com  for more.