Replacing your fete is worth considering
FETE’S ARE GREAT.
BUT HERE’S THING… TALK ABOUT HARD WORK AND IT’S NOT LIKE THEY ARE WITHOUT RISK!
Finding Volunteers, sorting out Insurances, signing contracts, paying deposits, making COVID-Safe plans, feeding Volunteering, planning the workload, etc… there is a lot to do… and what if it rains on your big day!
With duel incomes almost a mandatory requirement for life these days, it’s become harder and harder to get busy parents to commit to long term planning like a School Fete.
BUT THEY CAN BE BIG PROFIT FUNDRAISERS!
It’s not like you can just swap a Fete for a Sausage Sizzle, Cookie Dough Drive or Raffle. They’ll all reduce the workload, but they just don’t make enough profit!
The other magic thing about a school fair is that they bring community together on the Fete day. School spirit increases on Fete day, often just as much as school budgets do. We all know that Chocolate Drives, Raffles and Cookie Dough or Doughnut sales push product out into the public… they don’t get community engagement happening (at your school) like a good school fair, school fete or school carnival will. So, what is a P&C to do!?!
Avalon Public School wanted to replace their School Fete, which raised the school tens of thousands of dollars. They decided to try a School Fun Run and what a great idea that turned out to be! The school banked a net profit of around $54,000 which they raised in just a few weeks with extraordinarily little effort.
School Fun Runs are such little effort that many schools hold this fundraiser annually, as opposed to School Fetes, Fairs and Carnivals which generally only work on a bi-annual basis (or less) given the workload it demands from the parent group.
Fete or Fun Run?
When you’re looking at school fundraising ideas, a fete or fair is a traditional way to go. It’s a fundraising idea that goes way back. School fairs can be fun for your school community, most of remember fetes from when we went to school. Fetes also provide the change for lots of people to engage with the school and the school community. School fairs can also create lifelong memories for student body. But fetes are not without their downsides. This type of fundraising idea can very time-consuming and they can expose the school to financial risk.
That’s where a School Fun Run can help. Especially a big community event like THE BIG SHOW or a School Colour Run. This type of school fundraising idea are exciting for students and they create magic memories for your school families and teaching staff. They actually have similar draw cards to a school fete, however you might find that they also have less risk and more benefit.
If you are looking for an alternative to a School Fete, keep reading and we’ll try to answer the question “what is better then a school fete?”
1. Organisation
All major school fundraising ideas have an organisational element to them. This should be your first consideration when deciding between a school fete (school fair) or a School Fun Run.
School fetes are large events with many moving parts. That means lots of organisation will be needed, and the effort will need to be sustained, as this organisational aspect is required for many months before your event and on the big day itself. Some of the major tasks you’ll need to consider when arranging a school fete are listed below:
Food and drink vendors,
Rides and activities along with public liability insurance,
School displays,
Parking facilities,
Payment facilities and cash management plans,
Local business support,
Advertising,
Sourcing, training and supervising volunteers,
Risk assessments (and COVID Safe Plans).
As a result, fetes and fairs can take huge chunks of time from your P&C or Fundraising Committee.
School Fun Runs aren’t like that at all! Fun Runs take a lot less time and effort. Plus, they can also out fundraise a fete or fair when done well.
Fetes can take up to a year to arrange, where as School Fun Runs can be organised and completed in the same term. We have even got successful fundraising outcomes in less then 4 weeks! I guess that the extra advantage of using a fundraising provider as they can take care of most of the organisation for you. In turn, that speeds things up and removes even more stress.
When considering fundraisers in a more general sense, you should consider (1) your criteria for success along with (2) how much time you have before the proposed event date, (3) how much time the committee can put into the planning and (4) what is the organisational / management ability within your P&C/F Fundraising Sub Committee is. These questions are particularly important with reference to School Fetes. The answers you decided on might make a few decisions for you!
2. Volunteers
After the planning side of things is sorted, you’ll need start hunting for volunteers to support your school fete or Fun Run.
The truth here is that a School Fun Run requires less volunteers than a school fete will. It makes sense right? School Fetes/Fairs are bigger, they have more moving parts and therefore they need more people to manage all the activities.
In contrast, Fun Runs are pretty simple to host. You’ll need a lot less volunteers. Plus, we find that parents actually want to volunteer because its fun to throw colour powder and water on the kids. The commitment is only for a couple of hours and it normally happens during school hours.
3. Risk
It’s pretty obvious that school fetes and school fairs come with a lot of risk! A lot more then a School Fun Run in any case.
For example, with a School Fun Run, you have NO UPFRONT COST. You don’t even need a budget to start fundraising as its all 100% self-funding. In addition, you have no products to but in, manage and sell. That means you have no left over stock to deal with.
Another factor is weather! With a School Fun Run, you can just postpone. But with a school fete you’ll need to think about rescheduling the volunteers and what happens to any deposits (are they refundable?). It’s much harder to reschedule a fete compared to a Fun Run. It’s also possible to lose money with a Fete, which is not possible with a Fun Run.
4. Budget
Budgets are likely to be a consideration when choosing any school fundraiser but Fetes are top of that list. School fetes have very large expenses, and they will likely require upfront cost in the form of deposits and alike.
Your P&C/F Fundraising Committee will need to consider budgets before you get started on a School Fete. How much are you willing to invest and how much your committee would be prepared to lose. Who will monitor spending and acquire quotes. Importantly, what would happen if you’re committed to going forward, but you have already overspent on the budget and more expenses are due?
With a School Fun Run, you’ll discover a lot less external costs then you will endure with a School Fete. Fun Runs DO NOT REQUIRE A BUDGET AT ALL. They have no upfront costs and no risk becuae they are a self funding fundraiser. With School Fun Run we have set fees at the end (for freight etc) and no hidden charges. You’ll simply pay a percentage of the funding raised, which means you’re set to bank a profit - you cant lose.
5. Net profit
Fundraising is about making memories, boosting school spirit and LEAVING REAL LEGACY at your school. Leaving legacy, means bank real profit. The more profit you bank the more empowered you are to improve the learning environment. So, you’ll want to consider how much money you can make when choosing a fundraising idea for your school.
To help you plan, School Fun Run has no out of pocket expenses for your school and you know what the the total cost will be. School fetes have variable costs and a lot of your expenses might not even be known when you start planning. That makes it harder to budget and forecast your net profit.
For your refence, we have a ton of schools (like Avalon) that have swapped their School Fete or School Fair with a School Fun Run. If you want to chat to us about live examples we love to share them with you. Just request info below are we’ll have a chat.
An alternative to school fete…
If you want to engage your whole school community, boost school spirit, improve student wellbeing and bank a big profit with zero risk… a School Fun Run is the right alternative to a school fete in our view. Request a free information kit today and discover more for yourself.
