School Fundraising Ideas for 2014

It's school fundraising season again. Here are some fresh new ideas to revitalize your school's efforts.

It’s a new year and that means our favorite school activities are just around the corner:  prom, graduation, and elections.  As exciting as those events are, they also bring headaches for all the students and advisers trying to figure out, yet again, how to raise enough funds to cover costs.

The reality is that everyone is incredibly busy.  Students are stretched thin between demanding co-curricular activities, homework, and social lives. 

Kendall Ciesemier, knows a thing or two about fundraising.  At age 11 she started a non-profit called Kids Caring For Kids, which to this day organizes fundraisers in schools around the nation. Her tip is to keep a fundraiser dead simple.  They also have to be “cool” in some way and make students feel like they’re part of a bigger sense of community.

Not only are you competing with busy schedules, there is also fierce competition from all the different groups on campus. The reality is people are tired of labor intensive and low-margin fundraisers.  You can only have so many restaurant nights.  You can only buy so many candy bars.  And you can only get your car washed many times.

Although there isn't any way to magically make money appear, you can look for new approaches to fundraising.  Here are seven ideas that might help you revitalize fundraising in your school.

Used Text Book & Prep Book Sale

What do most students have in excess?  Prep books- for SATs, AP Classes, SAT 2, and so on.  Those books are used just once and then discarded when the test is over.  Never mind that they contain pencil scribbles – these books are undoubtedly valuable to rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors.  Host a 2-3 weeklong drive to collect used textbooks and prep books and throw a used book sale during lunch. Seems like a good way to help a student save a buck, maybe even get into college, and maybe even get into college.

Pie Auction on Pi Day

This year, Pi Day (March 14) falls on a Friday.  Celebrate a little bit of math and fundraising fun by throwing a Pi Day Pie Auction.  Students can pay $1-$2 to pie their fellow students, $5 for teachers and maybe $20 will get you the Principal. To create affordable and quick pies, use paper plates with whip cream as the pie.  Throw in some other pie or 3.14 themed goodies and you’ll have something cool for people to talk about for at least a day.

Used Clothing Sale

High school students are always outgrowing their clothes or moving on to the latest fashion trends.  Capitalize on the “vintage” clothing movement by hosting a school clothing sale.  You can include prom dresses too!  Spend a couple weeks collecting gently worn clothing from students and then open up the clothing sale to the entire school community.  Have left over clothes?  Donate all the remaining things to a local shelter or Goodwill. 

Adopt a Restaurant

Encourage each club or class to adopt a favorite local restaurant each semester. Have students pledge to help the restaurant with marketing, social media, and throw all meetings and events at the restaurant.  In exchange the restaurant should pledges a couple hundred dollars -or maybe thousands - sponsorship.  It’s a win-win – students learn business, share their social media-savvy and businesses get the word out.

Crowdfunding

We’re so used to selling things or collecting dues within the confines of our school.  What about engaging our communities outside of school?  Tap into the power of the Internet to reach grandparents, mentors, relatives, and businesses to do some grassroots online fundraising.  Several people giving $25 or $50 online can really add up. And you’d be surprised how many want to help if they are just asked! 

Throw a something-A-thon

These things aren’t just for cute elementary school students.  Host a jog-a-thon, spell-a-thon, dance-a-thon, walk-a-thon, swim-a-thin, or whatever-a-thon.  Get all the athletes involved, have prizes for winners, and have family and friends pledge money for each lap, word, or minute.  See students have fun and stay fit too!

Recycle and compost programs

See if your school will let student groups run school wide recycling or composting.  Each week or month, a different group can sign up to manage on-campus recycle bins deliver it to the local recycle center and keep the cash.  Want to be even more eco-friendly?  Consider having students make compost and sell the soil to the community. 

This post is written by Andrea Lo, CEO of Piggybackr, and originally appeared in National Honor Society's January 2014 issue of Leadership for Student Activities magazine.

Sports Fundraising Tips

Are you a sports team? Here are some tips to help your team fundraise!

Fundraising is NOT the reason you got into team sports. In a perfect world, equipment would never break, jerseys would never get worn out, and airlines would jump at the chance to sponsor out-of-town tournaments. Considering that airlines would also jump at the idea of charging you for putting down your tray table, fundraising is probably here to stay.

The good news is that fundraising can be fun. As a team that regularly works together on the field or court toward a common goal, you already have the skills and traits that are hallmarks of effective fundraising.

Having coached thousands of sports teams of all ages to raise hundreds of dollars through online fundraising on Piggybackr, we are here to share 5 tips to help you win at fundraising like it’s just another game. Whether you hold an online fundraiser, car wash, or candy bar drive and need to raise $5,000 or $100,000, the principles of effective fundraising remain the same.

1. STRONG LEADERSHIP.

Just like having a strong coach is integral to winning a game, having one person dedicated to leading a fundraiser is crucial. From communicating the fundraiser’s progress, recognizing members doing a great job, to encouraging those in need of help, it keeps the fundraiser rolling towards its goal.

There is nobody better at this than the coach. However, if it’s not possible or practical for the coach to act as the fundraising leader, we recommend that the leader be a parent or a particularly responsible team member. But it’s critical that the coach is kept informed and involved. Players take their cues and look up to to their coach. They’l bel more enthusiastic and motivated if he or she is.

2. COMPETITION.

Your team shows up to every game and “gives 110%,” right?  Everyone on your team is naturally competitive and leveraging that competitive drive is a great way to raise more money.

Make sure you give each team member an individual fundraising requirement so that each person is held personally accountable. Foster a sense of competition by recognizing the highest-performing team members every week, which can serve to encourage everyone to pulling their weight.

3. OFFER A PRIZE.

Offer up prizes to whoever raises the most money, brings in the most donors, or sells the most product. No matter how little the prize, people of all ages genuinely get excited about winning something. Prizes can be as simple as a day off practice, first dibs on bus seats to away games, or an after practice snack. We’ve seen grown men get excited about $1 prizes. Everybody likes winning.

4. HIGH STAKES.

Whether you’re raising funds for day-to-day operations or tournament costs, make sure the entire team understands the tangible reasons of why they need to fundraise and what’s at stake if goals aren’t met.

Whether it’s practice facility rental fees, league dues, equipment maintenance, or scholarships, if the team understands what’s at stake, they’ll better understand why doing their part matters to themselves and to the team. While fun competition is healthy, it’s important to remind the team that – as with everything you do – this is a do or die team effort.

5. DEADLINES.

Many athletes thrive under pressure. It’s the same with fundraising. Make sure you set clear expectations and concrete time deadlines for your fundraising efforts. Whether it’s a day long event or 3 week long online fundraiser, deadlines provide constraints and prevent burnout. You could be fundraising all year round or have 2 well executed fundraisers – we believe the later is more effective.

Remember that you’re a team that relies on each other to get things done all the time and this is no different. The very same skills that drive your team through every tough conditioning session or playoff game are what will drive you toward success in raising the funds you need to continue doing what you love.

And while you didn’t get into this for the fundraising, know that seeing your team shatter its fundraising record can be just as satisfying as a Gatorade after a well-fought victory, because now you can have your Gatorade and buy more of it too!

Piggybackr is a team fundraising platform designed to help members of all ages and experience levels raise funds in an easy, fun, and effective way online. Get your team up and running in less than 5 mins and start raising an average of $76 per donor rather than selling 76 candy bars per donor. Since launching nationwide in 2013, Piggybackr has helped thousands of teams in 47 states reach their funding goals. If you’re interested in fundraising online with your team, visit www.piggybackr.com.

This article appeared originally on the TeamSnap Blog on Oct 14. 

by Andrea Lo and Reed Kavner

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.