School Fundraising: Getting Parents Fully On Board

How to Encourage Parents to Participate in Your Campaign.

Parents’ support is a critical aspect of successful school fundraising. They are typically the volunteers and committee members who ensure the campaign unfolds smoothly. Their influence leads students to be either enthusiastic about the campaign or non-cooperative, depending on the example they set with their involvement.

Getting parents fully on board with your school fundraiser is crucial. How do you get parents to support your fundraiser? Let’s take a closer look.

1. Share the ‘Why’

Parents are more likely to support, participate, and encourage their students to get involved in a fundraiser if they understand the importance of the campaign. Be forthcoming with your campaign story. Share the need, and explain how the raise will help you reach the solution.

For example, your science books need to be updated. In that case, you can explain to parents the rate at which information is being updated, the price of new books, how this compares to the school budget, and finally, how much will need to be raised to buy the number of books needed.

Explain the benefits to the students and how this will impact their education. This is the most crucial way to get parents to support your school fundraiser

2. Make the ‘How’ Clear

The easier it is to get involved, the more likely people will volunteer their time, resource, and support. Be clear about your needs and how parents can help fulfill them. Sharing a list of tasks or roles may be helpful and allow parents to sign up for the one(s) that most appeal to them.

Once parents are signed up, walk them through their assigned task step-by-step to ensure they understand and are comfortable with the process from start to finish. Check in regularly to confirm they are on track and confident in their roles.

3. Use Peer Influence to Your Advantage

We’ve all heard the saying, “Everyone wants to be like the Jones.” Their peers’ opinions and actions influence people. If parents know that others are participating, they are more likely to take on campaign roles and support the fundraiser.

You may share a list of contributions and volunteer hours logged, publicly acknowledge those who have offered support or ask parents to sign up in teams.

4. Show Gratitude

After parents have volunteered time, shared resources, or supported your school fundraiser in another way, show them you appreciate their support and help. Not only does this make parents feel good about their contributions, but it makes them more likely to get fully on board with your next campaign if they feel valued.

Show parents that they positively impacted their children’s quality of education and overall school experience.

How to Thank Fundraiser Participants

There are several ways to thank parents for being entirely on board with your school fundraiser.

Some options include:

• Thank you cards
• Phone calls
• Recognition in a newsletter or assembly
• Thank you dinner party
• Send a gift
• Send a picture of the outcome of their help (Ex: students reading new books)

Author Bio

Clay Boggess has been designing fundraising programs for schools and various nonprofit organizations throughout the US since 1999. He’s helped administrators, teachers, and outside support entities such as PTAs and PTOs raise millions of dollars. Clay is an owner and partner at Big Fundraising Ideas.