The Future of School Fundraising

School fundraising is at an interesting crossroads.

Somehow we need to bring back the 'glory days' of school fundraising. It would seem that long lost are the days when every parent that could financially help contributed when asked.

Lower participation today is having an impact on all fundraisers and events. As a result, schools have been adding more and more fundraisers to make up for lost revenue due to the economy and less students participating in the fundraisers.

Rest assured, this is not just traditional fundraisers such as fall catalogs or cookie dough that have lower participation. These fundraisers are performing better than ever, but participation is down across the board.

Schools across the nation are reporting less traffic at their events, fewer auction bids, fewer attendees at fundraising concerts and less money from bake sales. Clearly, the economy is having an impact across the board.



That's not to say that there aren't stand-outs. Even in a bad economy, people start successful businesses or sell a new invention or even become movie stars when conditions are less than ideal. Your fundraiser can be a wild success even in difficult times as well. While many schools are complaining about less than stellar fundaisers of all types we have hundreds of success stories just from last year alone! All schools that succeeded in the face of an economic downturn and lower participation.


So, what's the future of fundraising look like?

First off, this is a loaded question. Nobody knows if the Government will step up to properly fund schools or what corporate or governmental changes will occur to have an impact on it. It's easy to assume that no changes will be made and schools will continue to lose financial ground, but nobody has a crystal ball.

It's no surprise to hear that school fundraising is not generating the interest it once did. Of course, the need for fundraising has continued and the need for financing in schools has only increased.

There are a lot of fundraisers out there and school pta, pto, ptsa and ptso groups want to try new things. There's a changing of the guard so to speak because fundraisers do not generate the participation they did a few years ago.

Here's the solution.

As a general plan, I believe that hosting a large traditional fundraiser or school-wide event per semester and focusing entire efforts on it is the way to go. But, every parent must know that the school expects them to participate. Parents must be told how much money they should give or raise and then be provided incentives to encourage them to hit the goal!

Keep it simple

I suggest keeping things simple, downplaying small fundraisers and promoting the main fundraiser with everything you've got! Use the principals email list, newsletters, online, using posters and banners, etc. to market your event!

Involve the Principal, Administrators and Teachers

There is considerable power in a group getting behind an activity. If a principal doesn't lead the way, administrators and teachers will no doubt make fundraising less of a priority at the school.

Yes, teachers do not want to lose valuable instruction time to fundraising. The only way to accomplish this is to have them fully support one fundraiser per semester. Then they won't have constant interruption when another fundraiser comes along to make up for lost revenue.

Get parents involved

In my opinion, schools have to do more to get the parents involved. This starts with schools making their expectations clear.

Demand more from your fundraising company

Fundraising companies have to do more to offer true value and incentives that affect sales and participation. Fundraising companies that care how much money a school makes will be the ones that re-invigorate fundraising and forge the future.

Barring a change in Government or a restructured educational system, using heavy-hitting fundraisers and getting faculty and the community involved can return us to the glory days of fundraising.

A better economy won't hurt either :)

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Jay Moneta is the Vice President of Believe Kids. A nationwide fundraising company offering fundraising catalogs and frozen cookie dough fundraisers.

If you have a comment or suggestion, please leave it here below or find me on twitter - twitter.com/believekids

Thanks for looking!