How to fundraise for your school
Fundraising Tips
Hello there and welcome! It looks like you’re hunting for the top tips and coolest secrets on how to raise the most money possible for your school.
BIG congrats to you on finding this page because I’m going to share with you five ways to upsize your prize and help your school smash its fundraising goal. If you read to the end, I will also share a BONUS TIP!
So, let’s get to it...
TOP SECRETS OF OUR HIGHEST FUNDRAISING STUDENTS
MAKE A V.I.P. LIST OF DONORS
It’s exciting to just jump in and start sharing your fundraising link online. Believe me, I know first hand how seeing the donations roll in can sometimes be more fun than watching Netflix.
However, before we do that, grab a pen and make a short list of V.I.P Donors. These will be the people that are most likely going to support your fundraising effort. The usual suspects are Grandparents, Uncles, Aunties and close family friends.
The highest fundraising students always invite these people to donate first, and they do it personally via text message or email.
PRO TIP: Remember that anyone in the whole wide world can support you. All they’ll need is your online fundraising link. So, think far and wide. If you have relatives living overseas or interstate they should definitely be on the V.I.P List. That’s because these people don’t often get opportunities to be involved in things like this and we find they normally jump at the chance. So, invite them personally via text or email (it will make them feel so special)… and invite them first!
SHARE YOUR LINK ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Give your VIP Donors a couple of days to make their donations and then share your online fundraising link public using social media.
It is an exceptionally good idea to share your link every couple of days as not everyone in your (parents) friend’s list will see every post you make. Of course, you can ask people to tag other people who they think might want to support you and the cause.
When you share your online fundraising link, feel free to give an update on where your fundraising is at and how the school is going. You can be as creative as you like! Some students have created their own video updates with their parents help. Keeping the donors up to date keeps them feeling included long after their donation!
THANK YOUR DONORS PUBLICLY
If people take the time, and make the effort to donate, we think its a good idea to thank them publicly. Our suggestion is to write a personalise note on social media and tag them in your post for everyone to see. However, if one of your donors is a private person, it would be a better idea to send them a thank you text or better still, give them a phone call to express your appreciation.
Donors will appreciate your acknowledgement and thanking people publicly might even lead to others supporting your cause.
UPDATE YOUR PERSONAL STORY
You’re going to be sharing a fundraising link with YOUR family and friends. So, it is a great idea to personalise your story and let them know about the Fun Run in your own words!
It is also a great idea to tell them your personal goals. You can share how much you want to raise and what you hope to achieve on the Big Day! Maybe it’s running a certain distance, or maybe it’s just having a great day with your friends.
The bottom line is that people want to connect with your story, so share it with them by customising your story on the Student Profile Page.
Here is another example of how you can do this: If your school is raising money for new water bubblers or air conditioning or playground updates… you should explain how that will improve your school life. The more personal you can make your story, the likely it is that people are going to jump onboard and support you.
GET CREATIVE
We love seeing the exciting ways you all come up with to promote profile pages online (and your fundraising in general).
For example, it’s totally fine to just copy and paste your online fundraising link into social media, or text it to someone. But, you might also want to go the extra mile make a little video to share with the link. The video could explain why you’re fundraising and how people can help. A later video might thank the people who have already supported you with donations and invite others to get involved.
In the past, we’ve even heard of students starting their own mini businesses to go towards their fundraising; extra jobs around the house, car washes etc. Note - It is important that a trusted adult is always present if you’re planning to go outside the box with an adventure like this!
We love hearing your ideas too, so feel free to share them with us on the School Fun Run Facebook page!
BONUS TIP: GOAL SETTING
Make sure you select a ‘goal prize’ and remember that the best goals are called SMART goals. S.M.A.R.T stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Below are some examples of how this might look:
Specific: Your goal might be to raise enough funding to receive a Lava Lamp.
Measurable: For example, to reach the above goal you would need to raise $150 for your school.
Achievable: Make your goal attainable — You can always start low an adjust your goal as you progress.
Relevant: Make sure you know why your school is raising money and how your personal goal will contribute to achieving that outcome.
Time-bound: The best goals have a defined start and end date. In this case, your time period is defined by the fundraising start date and the closing of your prize order window. For example, if your goal is to raise $150 and you have 4 weeks to fundraise you should aim to raise $40 a week. Breaking your goal down like this will help you track your progress and give you a good idea as when to share your online fundraising link.
The above things are what top fundraisers do. We have learnt these tips after 35 years of helping families fundraise for their schools and we hope they help you too.
Remember to have FUN with your fundraising and thank you again for making the effort to read these tips. We love engaged families and on behalf of your school we want you to know that your efforts are hugely appreciated.
