Increase Teacher Involvement in School Fundraisers

How to turn your teachers into fundraising advocates.

Many sponsors focus solely on motivating their students to become involved in raising money. Both the kickoff assembly and prize programs are geared toward the students. Unfortunately, many overlook teachers' value in a sales project. Your teachers can be an essential ally in helping bring in sales for elementary school fundraisers.

However, teachers' plates are already full of other obligations, and thus their time is limited. So what simple and easy steps can you implement to encourage them to help you increase student involvement? You'll want to emphasize some crucial points with your teachers.

Explain the Benefits of your Fundraiser

Attempt a short meeting with the teachers before your kickoff to discuss the purpose of the sale and how it will benefit them. You can arrange a couple of minutes with the principal during a teacher meeting or a particular time before or after school. It would also add a nice touch to bring treats and a beverage. For example, if you're selling cookie dough, be creative by baking the cookies so the teachers can try them. This shows appreciation for their time and gets them to become sales advocates. Asking your teachers to attend your kickoff assembly will also be necessary.

Minimal Teacher Time Required

Tell your teachers that the most significant thing they can do during the sale is remind their students to sell daily. Some teachers will do more independently, while others will buy from their students.

Offer Teacher Fundraising Incentives

During your teacher meeting, you can inform your teachers that you will provide special teacher incentives. Many teachers are motivated by incentives and may be willing to become more involved if they know they may receive something in return. For instance, you can do one of the following:

1. Offer an incentive to the top 5 teachers whose classrooms sell the most.
2. Reward the teacher in each grade with the highest student participation rate.

Show Teacher Appreciation for Helping

Most teachers support school fundraisers and understand how they benefit the students and the school.

Successful teacher involvement can make a big difference when reaching your goals and may be easier to accomplish than you think.

See our brochure fundraisers.

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.