5 Ways to Get Parents Involved in School Fundraisers

Instability in government funding leads to budget shortfalls for public schools, resulting in fewer extracurricular opportunities, outdated educational materials, and teachers providing supplies out of pocket. To prevent these issues and maintain a high standard of education, many schools are raising revenue through school-wide fundraisers, from classic walk-a-thons to t-shirt sales.

However, many parents dread the fundraising season at their children’s schools. Parents want their children to experience field trips, sports teams, student organizations, and more, but they may have a hard time getting involved in the fundraising process that makes these activities possible. There are many valid reasons for them to feel this way, from lack of time to lack of interest.

This can be a very frustrating challenge if you are a teacher, parent, school official, or volunteer dedicated to supporting students’ educational experiences. So, how can you boost parental involvement in your elementary and middle school fundraisers?

 

1. Get the students excited.

What inspires parents to get involved? That’s right, their children. When students are excited, parents feel compelled to participate in your fundraising efforts. Given the bad rap school fundraising often has, if a student is not interested, then the parent will think they’re off the hook—and there goes your fundraising revenue. 

This means marketing your fundraising efforts to your school’s students is vital. Keep in mind that kids are motivated differently from adults; they tend to care more about the benefits they’ll receive for earning money. Instead of focusing on the mission behind the fundraisers, offer incentives for money raised by students to increase involvement and donations from families.

A few examples of incentives that work well with elementary and middle schoolers include:

• Bounce houses
• Limousine rides
• Pizza parties
• Free dress days, if your school has a uniform
• Plushies
• Stickers
• Homework passes
• Ice cream coupons
• Novelty stationery

Consider establishing fundraising levels with varying prizes. The more money a student raises, the greater the incentive they receive. This often encourages friendly competition among classmates—they’ll be begging their parents for fundraising help in no time!

For older students, like high schoolers, promote your fundraiser in a way that shows how they will benefit. For example, a high school student probably won’t care if new funding will help you generally improve your programs. However, they might be more interested if they know the funds will make their prom bigger and better. Pair this marketing strategy with an incentive to increase interest among your older students significantly.

 

2. Offer a variety of volunteer roles.

Not every parent in your school will fit into the traditional fundraising role. Many parents and guardians are extremely busy, making it difficult for them to participate in more fundraising roles. By recruiting parental assistance in various roles across the fundraising process, you increase the percentage of families who can help.

Parents and family members can assist in these ways:

• Organizing: Some parents are better suited for the behind-the-scenes work involved in planning a successful fundraiser. Different campaigns will involve varying levels of planning. For instance, organizing a read-a-thon involves deciding on logistics, pledge collection, and boosting excitement throughout your community. Dividing the workload among eager parents is a great way to prepare an excellent event while fostering a school-wide community between families and other supporters.

• Promoting: Busy parents can quickly and easily boost their child’s fundraiser through the power of social media. Parental involvement with social media practices is a key strategy for growing your donor network. Aunts, uncles, and grandparents from all over the world can help fund your projects because of family members’ involvement.

• Set up and tear down: This option is appealing for parents with limited time who want to enjoy your fundraising event. Whether you’re hosting a fun run, carnival, or another event, you can benefit from some helping hands to set up activities and seating. When the event ends, these volunteers can tear down, clean up, and return the venue to its original state.

• Event staff: Other parents may assist in the main event, ensuring the day goes by smoothly. Parents and family members can sell tickets, accept day-of registrations, serve food and beverages, distribute prizes, photograph the event, manage your auction software, or handle other tasks essential to your fundraiser.

Make sure your fundraiser is inclusive of non-traditional families by inviting grandparents and other guardians to help out as well. This will ensure that all students are encouraged to participate and keep their families engaged with your fundraising efforts.

 

3. Host unique campaigns.

Many schools (and other organizations) often get stuck in a rut and end up reusing the same bland fundraising ideas each year. Not only will students and parents both tire of repetitive campaigns, but so will their friends and family members who are pledging their support. 

Taking advantage of unique campaign ideas is an effective way to boost your fundraising revenue and levels of parental involvement. Here are a few unique ideas you can use for your school:

• Reverse raffle
• Pop-up thrift store
• Teacher “dunk tank”
• Movie night under the stars
• Silent disco
• Family cooking class
• Art auction
• Pet parade
• Video game tournament
• Penny wars
• Scavenger hunt

You can also take tried-and-true fundraising ideas like bake sales or talent shows and put a creative spin on them. For example, you could try converting them into a community event by implementing exciting peer-to-peer fundraising ideas that engage parents and students. Or, add a fun theme or unexpected twist to the event—for example, host a teacher talent show instead of a typical student talent show.

Regardless of which fundraising ideas you host, make sure you have the tools necessary to facilitate a great experience for students, parents, and all other attendees. 99Pledges recommends leveraging a dedicated school fundraising platform to streamline your campaigns, save time through automation, reach more supporters (including parents!), and ultimately grow your revenue.

 

4. Ensure events are family-friendly.

The most successful school fundraisers are family-oriented because they are a great way to involve parents, students, and other children! Here are a few tips for making your event family-friendly:

• • Offer age-appropriate activities well-suited for children, teenagers, and adults.
  • Provide family discounts or bundled tickets to encourage entire families to attend.
  • Incorporate interactive activities so parents and children can work together or compete against each other for higher engagement.

• Include kid-friendly snacks, such as popcorn, cotton candy, juice boxes, and more.

• Provide photo opportunities so families can leave with a souvenir or keepsake of the fun times they had together.

For example, you may host a family fun day full of games, snacks, music, etc. This can be an exciting event that your whole community can rally around. You can fundraise by charging admission, selling snacks and drinks, hosting raffles, and accepting donations. 

As another option, you could throw a parent’s night out. For this event, parents drop their kids off at school for an evening of games and movies, while they head off to a much-needed date night. Teachers, staff, and volunteers can stay in to entertain the kids, while parents get affordable childcare, an opportunity to do something special, and an easy way to support their child’s school.

 

5. Show your appreciation.

Because parents are busy, they like to know that the organizations they give to appreciate their time, effort, and hard-earned money. Show your appreciation for their gifts. This can be as simple as a handwritten thank-you note, a personal phone call, or even a follow-up email.

Thanking families for getting involved will leave parents with a better impression of your school and will encourage repeat donations or volunteering. Here are a few groups you should thank:

• Students: Make sure to thank the kids who bring your campaigns to life with their enthusiasm and knack for competition. Although their parents may have done most of the hard work, it’s nice to appreciate the students who take on the role of a fundraiser for their school.
• Parents: Thanking the parents for their involvement in your campaign is an effective way to build relationships with some of your school’s most important supporters. A genuine thank-you to these vital constituents is key to establishing repeat donors and getting needed funding.
• Donors: If students bring in donations and pledges from their family members, friends, neighbors, parents’ coworkers, etc., it is nice to take an extra step and thank those donors for their support. For a more personal touch, you can have the students create their own thank-you cards for their supporters.
• Volunteers: This includes anyone who helps plan, organize, set up, run, and/or clean up your fundraiser. Even if your volunteers do not donate to the school, you should still show that you value their efforts.

To boost the impact of your messages of appreciation, also take the time to ask the recipient for their feedback about your fundraiser. You can send out a dedicated post-event survey with multiple-choice and short-answer questions to make the process quick and easy. Then, after you’ve received responses, look through them with the rest of your team and decide how you should change your strategy for future fundraisers.

With these five strategies, you should notice an increase in parental involvement. Don’t forget to strengthen these relationships with proper donor retention practices, ensuring you build a strong school community that’s ready to rally for your next fundraising initiative. Best of luck!

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