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School fundraisers provide the vital funds needed to give students enriching learning experiences that fill the gaps in their core education. However, many schools struggle with generating donations while working within budget constraints. How do you make your annual fundraising activities work within your school’s financial restrictions?
Luckily, the right financial management strategies and unique fundraising event ideas can help your school’s fundraising leaders spend less and raise more. In this guide, we’ll cover top tips for managing school fundraising budgets and lucrative fundraising ideas that are sure to inspire the donations you need. While it can feel impossible to step up your fundraising efforts on a tight budget, it’s entirely possible!
4 Management Tips for School Fundraising Budgets
Budgets can be messy and confusing, especially when multiple people manage or oversee them. Cut down on miscommunication and improve your school’s budget management with the following strategies:
1. Uncover insights from past fundraising budgets
Before you evaluate and manage your current budgets, start by analyzing budgets from the past few years. Experience is the best teacher, and looking at the budgets from the past keeps you from trying strategies that didn’t work for previous teams.
As you look into these budgets, take note of everything you find, including:
What worked
What didn’t work
Opportunities for improvement
For example, let’s say that you’re planning a branded merchandise sale as your next school fundraiser. Take a look at financial data from previous similar events, including:
Accuracy of cost estimates
Where you over and underspent
Revenue generated vs. fundraising goals
Number of donors
Contributions from sponsors
These insights can keep you from making the same mistakes in upcoming campaigns, saving money on potentially costly mistakes.
2. Delegate roles and responsibilities for financial management
Due to the hectic nature of school fundraising, assigning people to specific duties and positions in the team is essential. Choose specific individuals to keep track of expenses, assets, incoming revenue, and other finances so someone always has their eye on your funds.
If you are a part of the PTA at your school, you might choose officers from the association to oversee the budget. For example, the PTA treasurer or campaign financial secretary likely has the skills to manage your fundraising budget. Larger schools with more funding to manage may need to assign a dedicated financial management team to the task for the school year.
Financial management can be difficult for schools, so you must establish policies that make the process easier for team members. If you’re having difficulty managing your budget for fundraising events, consider re-evaluating your current financial management methods and adjusting them to be simpler, more efficient, and more sustainable.
3. Leverage the power of corporate philanthropy
If your school’s budget is too limited to work with, it may be time for your team to take advantage of corporate philanthropy. According to 360MatchPro, this refers to a company’s deliberate efforts to contribute resources, funds, and support to nonprofits, educational institutions, and community organizations. While this contribution can be monetary, non-monetary support like product donations and volunteerism are also considered types of corporate philanthropy.
This can be a powerful tool to gain financial support for your school’s fundraising team. Increase the funds and resources available to your team by soliciting:
Event sponsorships. With venue rental fees, catering, supplies, and more, event costs quickly pile up for schools with tight budgets. Partnering with a corporation as an event sponsor is a great way to alleviate some of these costs. With their support, you’ll have enough funds to host a fun and profitable event that results in the funds you need.
Matching gifts. Matching gifts are corporate giving initiatives where corporations match donations their employees make to nonprofit organizations, doubling or even tripling the funds you receive depending on the match ratio. However, $4 to $7 billion in matching gift funds are left unclaimed yearly. Spread awareness of this program through your marketing channels and urge donors to ask their employers if they offer donation matching.
In-kind donations. In-kind donations refer to any non-monetary gift businesses or other entities give to nonprofits. For example, a local restaurant might donate catering services to your carnival fundraiser. These donations add to your budget by reducing or removing costs associated with purchasing supplies and services.
When identifying businesses to partner with, start with companies that operate in your local community or the education sector, such as a tutoring center or bookstore. These organizations are likely to be invested in your success, so there’s a greater likelihood that they’ll support your school. Additionally, be sure to offer them some benefit in return for their support—usually, nonprofits will include their partner’s branding on event materials and even thank them during their end-of-event speech to help the business increase brand awareness.
4. Don’t underestimate the power of post-campaign outreach
An easy way to boost fundraising revenue without increasing budget is through post-event outreach. These communications can grow the fundraiser’s total revenue and boost future donor participation significantly. Maximize your messaging success with the following methods:
Donor recognition. Everyone likes to feel appreciated, and your donors are no exception. Acknowledging donors’ contributions makes supporters feel valuable to your school, encouraging future donations. To show appreciation for donors, try featuring them on your website, sending handwritten thank you notes, or giving them a call.
Email appeals. Email appeals should frame additional donations as a positive opportunity and a chance to take action for a worthy cause. Reinforce that the work is never really done—even if you’ve hit your event goals, there will always be more action you can take to support your students.
Post-event surveys. Use post-event surveys to learn more about donor experience at your events. Make sure to include questions about how participants heard about the event, what they liked best, what can be improved, and if they signed up for any of your volunteer opportunities. Use this information to make adjustments to future events, providing a better experience and increasing donations.
A robust campaign outreach plan could make the difference between a fundraiser that falls short and one that goes above and beyond. Reach out to your donors to build on past successes and avoid mistakes to create the best fundraiser possible.
3 Simple and Lucrative School Fundraisers
While it’s important to stay up to date with key fundraising strategies, simpler is often better for school fundraisers. An easy yet lucrative fundraiser like the ones below allows you to maximize revenue without the stress of managing an event with many moving parts.
Shoe Drive Fundraisers
Funds2Orgs recommends shoe drive fundraisers as a popular and profitable way for schools to raise money. This is how these events work:
Partner with a fundraising coordinator. These organizations will coach you through the entire process, making it a no-brainer.
Receive a shoe recycling kit. Your partner will send shoe collection and shoe drive fundraiser marketing materials to your school to help you spread awareness of your event.
Collect gently worn, used and new shoes. Put out the materials you’ve received and wait for your community to donate shoes.
Coordinate shoe pick-up. At the end of your shoe drive fundraiser, coordinate shoe pick-up with your partner or send them back via mail.
Receive your check. The fundraising coordinator will process the shoes and send you a check!
Shoe drive fundraisers are particularly valuable for schools, as students are constantly outgrowing their shoes. With a marketing strategy that spreads awareness of your event to your entire community, you can collect a great deal of shoes and turn them into funds. Plus, you’ll be doing so in a sustainable way, as shoes that otherwise might be landfilled will gain new life.
Virtual Auctions
Hosting a virtual auction eliminates the extra planning and costs associated with an in-person event. However, there are a few things to keep in mind when setting one up:
Find a great platform so your fundraiser can go on without a hitch. Carefully research potential platforms’ features and reviews from past users to ensure it’s the right fit for your school.
Send a welcome email or text message. Use this to communicate important information to your donors. Include details like the date and time of the event, and add a contact person to address any questions or issues.
Make the event multi-day. Extending the campaign length allows more donors to bid on the items you’re selling. Clearly communicate the auction’s duration so everyone has a chance to make the winning bid.
To boost fundraising and maximize your budget, consider partnering with local businesses to secure in-kind donations of auction items. For example, you might get a private dinner for two at a fine dining establishment downtown or secure behind-the-scene tickets to a popular musical or play.
Crowdfunding Campaigns
Nonprofits discuss diversifying revenue streams frequently, but diversifying your donor portfolio is equally important. While major donors provide valuable support, you must ensure that your school will still have funds if these supporters fail to pull through. That’s why having a crowd of loyal small donors is so crucial—it gives you a base to fall back on.
With crowdfunding, you’ll fund your project with many smaller donations from individuals. This type of fundraiser is extremely popular, as even though the donations are small, when added all together, they can significantly impact whether you reach your fundraising goals.
To ensure your fundraiser goes smoothly, host your campaign on dedicated crowdfunding platforms or through text-to-give campaigns. Be sure to promote these giving opportunities to your supporters, so they know how and when to donate. And, include a fundraising thermometer so supporters can track your progress toward your goals.
Whether you’re hosting an event for Giving Tuesday or welcoming students back to school, managing the budget for your school’s fundraising team can be tricky. Evaluate the strategies above and determine which ones would be most beneficial for your school’s unique needs. Then, leverage them for your next fundraising event so you can build the funds to take on bigger projects in the future.
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