Double Your School Fundraiser By Getting Parents Involved

Elementary and Middle Schools have various reasons to conduct a school fundraiser. The reasons go from filling in for shortfalls in the school budget to providing extracurricular activities for the students. Regardless of the reasons for the school fundraiser, there are particular challenges that become evident when trying to run one.

One thing that we might overlook in planning a school fundraiser campaign 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.

Involvement of the parents is paramount in a successful school fundraiser and if you are the one running it you should include plans to make sure that the parents of your students are informed about your fundraising plans.

Here are 4 things that you can do when planning your school fundraiser that will help ensure that you maximize your results.

1.) Start Your Communication With Parents Early in the School Year

At the beginning of the school year we should send a notice to the parents which outlines our plans for all school fundraiser events that are planned throughout the year. This way, there are never any surprises and this gives parents an opportunity to ask questions or even to volunteer to help.

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.

It cannot be stressed enough that the outcome of your school fundraiser can be greatly affected by how well you communicate with your student's parents.

3.) Publish a Newsletter Edition or Ezine Article about your school fundraiser.

Use your school's newsletter to keep parents informed of things that are going on at school, especially when it comes to your school fundraiser. Be sure to ask your parents to sign up for the newsletter in all correspondence that is sent home. This will pay big dividends down the road.

Public schools usually have a newsletter or ezine that is sent home regularly. Another option would be to have a form that could be placed on the school's website where parents can read about current events at school. It would be a simple matter for parents to sign up for the newsletter or check the school website.

4.) Gather Email Addresses of your parents

When correspondence goes home that needs to be completed by parents and returned be sure that there is a space to put an e-mail address right by the signature line.

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 methods will help you increase participation in your next school fundraiser. Not only of your students, but you will likely find more volunteers from the ranks of the parents that are willing to help.

About the Author

AIM Fundraising's website is chocked full of other unique fundraising ideas to increase your fundraising sales and profits. Communicating with parents is only the first thing needed for a profitable school fundraiser.