The beginning of a new school year means new beginnings. To a lot of parents, these new beginnings can be as simple as their child starting a new grade with new expectations or even becoming involved in the school’s parent teacher organization. Theses parent teacher groups are responsible for many of the things that make school great for the students. From creating a caring and supportive atmosphere in the school to providing help and support to teachers, the parent teacher group does it. But, one of the biggest responsibilities for parent teacher organizations is the school fundraiser. One important reality that students and parents alike are noticing this year is the need to fundraise because of school budget cuts. So if you are a parent that is new to the school PTA or PTO this year, or you have been involved for awhile and are just looking for a better way to raise money, follow these tips, and they will lead you to the most successful fundraiser possible.

Set goals

Setting realistic goals is perhaps the most important step in a school fundraiser.

1 If you haven’t already used your summer to start planning your school fundraiser, get started immediately! This will give you enough time to develop an effective marketing and promotion strategy. Try to use more than just one. Think ads, letters to parents and the community, and events to really market your school fundraiser and raise awareness throughout the community.

2 Be smart when planning the time of your school fundraiser. You don’t want to hold a fundraiser during a month when retail stores are having big holiday sales, or when the cheerleading squad has their big fundraising event. Try to schedule it for a time when there is as little conflict as possible from the community and smaller groups within your school. This will ensure less competition and more participation from parents and the surrounding community.

3 Be clear. Have a concrete reason in mind for what the money is being raised for, exactly how much money it will take, and when you need the money by. Then, calculate all fundraising costs and figure out the amount you will need to raise to meet your goal. Don’t forget to communicate this with parents and the community.

4 Do some research and figure out what type of fundraisers have been the most successful for your school or group in the past. People like things that are familiar, so if you’re school is used to doing a catalog fundraiser, try not to deviate from that because you know it has worked in the past.

5 Keep a clear schedule throughout the entire process. Try setting a beginning and end date for each step along the way. This will help you keep track of how fast things are moving along in your plan and help you stay on task.

6 Use past fundraisers as guidelines. Check and see what funds were needed and use them as goal points for your current fundraiser.

7 Make sure you have a visual reminder of your goals and display it. Having a visual reminder hanging in the school keeps students, teachers, faculty, administration and even parents on track and motivated to reach the ultimate goal.

Types of fundraisers

There are three main fundraising categories. Make an informed decision for your school and choose the best one for your group based on the size of your group, how much money you need to make and how many volunteers you have.

1 Product Fundraisers

Product sales work very well because there is an exchange of product for donation, which increases participation. Sales extend into the community at large, not just to parents of students. Also, there is an option of online sales with most fundraising companies that will help you extend your sale beyond the local community.

Tips for product fundraisers:
•Choose a reputable fundraising company. Make sure you do your research and pick a company that has a proven track record and provides high quality products as well as quality prize and incentive programs.
•Promote the product fundraiser with a school wide kick-off. Make sure the students know what they are selling and what kind of prizes and incentives they can earn.
•Product fundraisers can generate enough money to be your one main school fundraiser, so make sure you take the time to research different products and companies and choose the one that works best for your school.

2 Event Fundraisers

Event fundraisers are a popular choice when you want to get the entire community involved in doing something together. The event can be anything from school carnivals, car washes and talent shows to golf tournaments, walk-a-thons and even consignment sales.

Tips for event fundraisers:
•Event fundraisiers require a lot of volunteers. Check out volunteer logs from past events your school has thrown, and see if anyone would be willing to lead a committee. Try to match up volunteers with skill and interest levels.
•Use incentives that people will want. If you are holding a walk-a-thon, come up with a way to award people who walked the most miles or earned the most pledges. Reward committees who have done a lot of work and gotten a lot of donations.
 •Promote, promote, promote! Try using a countdown until the event, ask the principal to talk about it in morning announcements or ask teachers to hold silly contests. The more you promote the more likely participation will be higher.

3 Pledges and Donations

Pledges and donations can be done on their own, or they can be combined with product or event fundraisers.

Tips for pledges and donations:
•Have a list of potential donors that you know you can approach for a donation. Send them letters and/or call them personally.
 •If you are having an event fundraiser, you can place donation envelopes on tables for people to give while at the event.
•While there have been some big success stories, pledges and donations are the most successful when combined with something else.

Volunteers

It’s important to know that with any fundraiser you do, you will need to have volunteers. Encourage teachers at your school to put a volunteer sign up sheet in their classroom so parents can sign up when they drop off their children. At PTA and PTO meetings, make a point to ask for volunteers and encourage members to ask their friends and family members if they would be willing to get involved. Motivate your volunteers with incentives and prizes, and reward all-stars!

Promotion

Promotion needs to be a priority with any fundraiser. Your community needs to know that there is a fundraiser going on, and they need to know what the money is going towards. Make sure to announce this in PTA or PTO meetings. Ask the staff and administration at school to put up a bulletin board about the fundraiser, talk about it in daily announcements, and offer incentives to students participating in the fundraiser. Get the principal involved also. Making the fundraiser a priority will lead to success.

Use these tips and tricks to help your school have the most successful fundraiser yet!