Top Fundraising Ideas for School

Piggybackr is a platform that empowers youth to raise money for their teams, schools, and communities online. Our goal is to help you fundraise with our fundraising ideas for school.

#1: Discount Cards
Discount Cards provide tremendous value to your supporters without any cost on you. You make money, merchants get more sales, and your donors are making great savings!

• STEP 1: Contact 10 – 15 local merchants to advertise (free of charge) on the back of the card. Make sure they provide a good perk or discount in exchange!
• STEP 2: Creating these cards is easy with a photo editor like Photoshop – then sell the cards for $10 - $20. 
• STEP 3: You can use an online fundraising page like Piggybackr to allow for quick and easy donations!

#2: Choose the Torment
Ask students, teachers, parents and staff in your group to make $1 donations as the price of a vote. They can then vote on the type of “torment” to inflict on the most well known teacher or staff member. What kind of torment? Dying hair the school color, or dressing up as a clown for the whole day! The classroom with the most donations gets to submit a creative torment idea.

#3: No Stress Snack BarBuy snacks, drinks, and candy in bulk Sell these goodies at full price at school events Parent teacher days, sports games, field days, or after school People love snacks, and they’d love supporting the school at the same time!


#4: Teacher "Date" Auctions This works well if the teachers at your school are well known by all students and parents. Organize an event (you can make it around the holiday time or Valentine’s day) to auction off each teacher along with a “date” activity. The teachers get to decide what special “date” they will offer – cooking lessons, personal science museum tour guide, private sports coaching!

#5: Mini-marathon or Mini Run
Use a online platform like Piggybackr to organize your students and their donations. Students get pledges from their family and friends for each lap they complete. The goal is for each student to do 32 laps around your school or field. Hold a mini- marathon or fun run at your school.

Girl Activist Fundraising Ideas: a guide to killing it at fundraising

Alice Wilder showcased her fundraising ninja skills while fundraising for SPARK Summit on Piggybackr. We asked Alice to share her top fun & free fundraising ideas.

1. Throw a (fundraising) party

Asking for money is awkward. Asking your friends, who very likely aren’t loaded, for money is even worse. I didn’t want to ask my friends for money, but I knew that they loved going out to eat together. So I invited all my friends over to my house. I said they could donate what they  would have spent on a dinner out.  I cooked dinner, played music music, and I had a secret weapon - I used to work as a peer educator for Planned Parenthood, so I offered to give safer sex tutorials. I put out a jar and had my friends donate as much as they were able. It was a super fun night.

2. Take advantage of low tech media to spread the word about your fundraiser

Alice Wilder's Piggybackr Page

I knew how to use social media for my fundraiser. I used facebook to invite friends to my party,  and Twitter and Tumblr to spread the word about my fundraiser. But this left out a huge group of people. I wrote a letter to my family all across the country, many of whom are too old to hear about the fundraiser from social media. In my letters I explained why I cared so much about the fundraiser. I asked for a modest $25 donation. The next week checks started coming in. Many were well above that $25. Obviously not everyone has family that can afford to do this. I have relatives who are retired and like charity work, so I knew they would probably have a little to spare. One thing others could try is asking for donations in lieu of a birthday or graduation gift. After I received donations I wrote individual thank you notes, detailing how their money would be spent to help girls.

3. Offer donation rewards (and know your audience)

I know teens very well, and I’ve gotten to know my fair share of feminists. Teens love seeing their friends doing silly, slightly embarrassing things. Most feminists love Beyonce. I offered several incentives for donors, but by far the most popular was the individual Beyonce dance video. I pledged that if someone donated $10 I would do a silly, overdramatic dance to the Beyonce song of their choice. It was a hit. I sent countless videos to my friends, making them swear that it would be for their eyes only. One friend would receive an outrageous, dramatic performance and testify that it was well worth the donation. The best part was that this reward wasn’t a chore - I dance to Beyonce all the time. It’s good to offer rewards that you’ll actually enjoy giving to your donors.

Knowing your audience is the key to offering rewards that raise money. Chances are, you know your classmates and potential donors pretty well. Use that inside info and brainstorm with your team.

4. Reach out to your community for support

Contact your everyday community - community leaders, businesses and organizations. But don’t just stop there. There’s an online community for your cause too. Do some research and seek out people who are respected broadly in your community. Who are the most well known people within your cause? Which coaches, teachers, directors, and advocates do you look up to the most? Look for people who are well respected but not so famous that your email or Twitter @reply will be lost in their sea of requests. Think Craig Ferguson, not Jay Leno.

Alice Wilder, 18, is from Charlotte, North Carolina and looks forward to starting her first year at UNC-Chapel Hill this August. She has been an activist for SPARK Summit since June 2012. Alice works with U by Kotex and Girls for a Change’s “Generation Know” campaign. Her work has been featured on Upworthy, the Charlotte Observer and Rookie magazine. You can follow her on Twitter @Alice_Wilder. Once Alice made a rude guy run away from her with a single glance. This is her proudest moment.

Top 3 Take-Aways as a PiggyBackr Intern

I have always valued experience above all else when it comes to looking for summer internships - an internship is the only place where you can actually apply the knowledge and skills you learn in the classroom and transform those skills into a tangible deliverable.

Working at PiggyBackr has allowed me to explore many different fields in business operations - but my top three take-aways go beyond any technical knowledge I’ve acquired. These takeaways are skills applicable to life.

PiggyBackr's Office in San Francisco

1. Self Learning: Working at a startup means there will be execution-oriented generalists who don’t necessarily specialize in a specific field, but are able to deliver a wide variety of tasks. Everyday is a learning process for me because I am exposed to a multitude of tasks. This means I am challenging myself to learn new skills. Sometimes that means doing more research, but other times it means interacting and brainstorming with co-workers. Whatever the task may be, proactivity and self-reliance are necessary skills needed to stay ahead of the game. 

   
   
   

   Don’t expect to know the answers to everything - learning comes from a willingness to listen and absorb other people’s ideas and thoughts.

2. The Importance of Fundraising Online: I’m coming to truly understand the power of crowdfunding and how it is revolutionizing fundraising for all age groups alike. More than ever before, fundraisers are learning to leverage technology and social media to maximize their outreach. In comparison to crowdfunding, traditional fundraisers, like candy bar or gift wrap sales seem hackneyed and limited in scope. The margins are lower, and the time commitment is often less forgiving. Crowdfunding, on the other hand, teaches young adults like me how to incorporate technology into a greater cause, while also reaching a larger audience. You learn money management skills and the importance of relationship building – vital 21st century skills!

   
   
3. Remember the numbers: How do we know what works and what doesn’t? Measuring all our tasks brings our direction into focus. Our operations, processes, and strategies are based on what the numbers tell us. Whether it’s the number of emails, users, or Facebook likes, there must always be a way to weigh your results, so you know how you’re doing and how you can improve.

PiggyBackr is a great fundraising website for kids, and their ability to understand young adults so well is truly why I learned a breadth of knowledge this summer.

About Alicia Li

Alicia Li is a sophomore at UC Berkeley interested in consulting and product management. She is currently researching how consumer elective pricing affects consumer decision making at the Haas School of Business. Interning at PiggyBackr has allowed her to understand the power of technology to inspire and empower youth, and she plans to align this mission with her future goals. Her hobbies include hiking, traveling, discovering new music, and trying new foods.