4 Easy Ways to Simplify Your Next School Fundraiser

Your school needs to raise funds to continue providing excellent academic experiences and extracurricular activities to students. While there’s a lot that goes into successful fundraising, from event planning to producing promotional materials, we’ll share four strategies to make your next school fundraiser fast and easy. Let’s dive in!

1. Automate tasks with technology.

By leveraging technology, your school can streamline the fundraising process by automating many tasks that would otherwise take up your team’s time and energy.

Here are some effective tools that your school can use to facilitate its fundraising efforts:

• Donor database. This digital platform stores details such as donation amounts, contact information, and giving history, allowing you to personalize communication and acknowledge each donor’s contributions effectively. 
• Auction platform. Your school can host engaging auctions by investing in dedicated silent auction software that offers convenient bidding capabilities, an effortless checkout process, the ability to build sponsorship packages, and more.
• Volunteer management software. This type of software provides tools for scheduling, communication, task assignment, and progress tracking, all in one centralized location. 
• Text-to-give. By sending a text message with a specific keyword to a designated number, donors can quickly and securely donate funds to your school.

While there are numerous tools available to enhance school fundraising efforts, be sure to carefully consider your school’s unique needs and budget when building out your fundraising toolkit. When researching potential solutions, read online reviews, request demos, and take advantage of free trials to inform your decision-making.

2. Make the most of your volunteers.

Many parents, teachers, and alumni are happy to play a role in your school’s fundraising efforts. By enlisting the help of volunteers, you can have more hands on deck to ensure a smooth and rewarding fundraising experience.

Let’s look at an example of how volunteers can promote the success of a school auction. They can provide support in the following areas:

• Event planning. Volunteers can help with tasks such as selecting the theme of the event, securing a venue, planning the layout, and organizing the schedule of activities.
• Procuring auction items. There are plenty of creative and exciting auction items that volunteers can procure to engage attendees. For example, SchoolAuction.net’s list of top school auction ideas includes a parent getaway package, museum trips, and school photos.
• Event setup and cleanup. During setup, volunteers can assist with arranging tables, chairs, and decorations, as well as setting up signage and audio/visual equipment. After the auction ends, they can dismantle decorations, clear tables, pack up unsold items, and ensure the venue is left clean and tidy.  
• Following up with attendees. Volunteers can reach out to attendees to thank them for their participation and contributions. They can also follow up with winning bidders to coordinate the collection or delivery of items.

Consider providing incentives such as gift cards or other small rewards to recruit more volunteers. These incentives not only acknowledge the valuable time and effort volunteers contribute but also can enhance their sense of engagement and fulfillment, encouraging long-term participation in your school’s fundraising endeavors.

3. Use digital marketing to promote your school fundraiser.

Thanks to the internet, your school can expand its reach to maximize participation in your fundraiser. Some of the most popular digital marketing channels that your school can use to spread awareness include:

• Website. A dedicated section on your school’s website can provide all the necessary information about the fundraiser, including the event’s purpose, date, time, and how to contribute or participate. 
• Email. These campaigns can inform and remind your community about the fundraiser’s details, goals, and progress. There are many free email marketing tools that your fundraising team can leverage to automate event outreach, fundraising appeals, and thank-you messages to donors.
• Social Media. These platforms allow you to create event pages, share updates, images, and videos, and engage with the broader community. 

To maximize the impact of your fundraising efforts, carefully tailor your marketing materials and content to resonate with your school’s target audience. Understanding the preferences, interests, and values of potential donors—whether they’re parents, alumni, local businesses, or community members—is key.

4. Track your school fundraising performance.

One of the best ways to improve and simplify your school fundraisers is to learn from experience. NPOInfo’s nonprofit data collection guide recommends gathering the following information to evaluate your fundraising performance:

• Event attendance. Tracking the number of participants at your fundraising events provides crucial insights into their reach and appeal. By analyzing attendance trends over time, you can identify which events are most popular and why, allowing you to replicate successful elements in future fundraisers.
• Donor satisfaction. Measuring donor satisfaction is pivotal for understanding the effectiveness of your fundraising efforts and for building long-term relationships with your supporters. Gathering feedback through surveys, interviews, or informal conversations can provide invaluable insights into what donors appreciated and what could be improved.
• Donor acquisition cost. This metric helps you assess how much you are spending to attract each new donor, including marketing materials, events, and advertising costs. By tracking and analyzing these costs, your school can identify the most cost-effective methods of donor acquisition and allocate resources more wisely.
• Revenue earned. This data provides a clear picture of your fundraiser’s effectiveness in generating funds, allowing you to compare against past events and set more strategic goals. Understanding revenue trends helps identify which types of fundraisers resonate most with your community and yield the best results. 

After your school fundraiser, take a look at your data and identify how you can improve your results going forward. For example, if your team notices that there are quite a few unsold auction items from a specific category of your catalog, you might decide to lower the pricing for those items to encourage more bidding at your next event.

The key to enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of school fundraisers lies in continual evaluation and strategic adjustment. As you free up more time and energy among your team, consider adding more engaging elements to your fundraisers, such as fundraising eCards or raffles. By committing to ongoing analysis and refinement, your school can ensure that its fundraising efforts are as impactful as possible.