Creating Winning School Fundraisers in College

Make money for college groups by catering to a young audience with limited resources.

School fundraising on a college campus is a subject that warrants anthropological study. The university setting is teeming with eager groups led by passionate students who want to raise money to support special interests.

It’s also mostly comprised of students on tight budgets with little expendable income, so philanthropic endeavors are challenging. This fascinating mix of social and economic factors makes it a unique fundraising environment.

Luckily, Big Fundraising Ideas has a product or brochure that meets the unique needs of every audience.

Follow this roadmap to increase your chances of fundraising success on the college campus, and don’t be afraid to think outside the box:

• Choose a Smart Fundraising Product
• Time Your Fundraiser Strategically
• Leverage Social Media Fundraising
• Make Fundraising Leadership Opportunities

Choose a Smart Fundraising Product

Choosing the right fundraising product can be the most critical piece of a campus fundraiser. College students have few luxuries, especially undergraduate students that live, eat, and sleep on the school campus. This means some fundraising products don’t make much sense for a college audience.

Cookie dough, for example, is probably a no-go. Few students have the storage space to keep cookie dough—or any frozen dessert—on hand. Gourmet kitchenware is also probably not something that will be immediately useful to the college student.

With this in mind, stick to something simple. Anyone who’s walked a quad before knows that the cacophony of student organizations can make it difficult for a money-raising group to stand out. Picking one appealing product, you can pierce through the noise with may improve your results and ease the fundraising process. Consider items such as:

• Discount card fundraisers will save students more money than they spend over time.
• Cheap treats, such as a 50¢ lollipop fundraiser item or a $1.00 candy bar fundraiser product, allow students to enjoy a quick snack between classes.

The volume will be your key metric in college since higher price points won’t appeal to most students. Focus on things that can bring instant gratification to the student on the go.

Time Your Fundraiser Strategically

Fundraising at the wrong time during a college semester can be fatal to success. Students lead hectic lives, and you want to catch them at financially optimal moments when finals and football games aren’t competing with your message.

Given these considerations, fundraising at the beginning of a semester is ideal. With financial aid disbursements happening early in the spring and fall and with student organizations just getting off the ground for the year, hosting an early fundraiser will afford you an audience that is more likely to spend a little cash for a good cause. It will also prevent you from competing with dozens of other groups that may wait to host fundraisers until the semester is in full swing. Regarding college fundraising, the early bird may very well get the worm!

Avoid exams, big sporting weeks, and holidays, and aim for semester lulls. This may mean working with your group to plan the fundraising timeline before school starts, but it could pay big dividends by helping you meet an important fundraising goal.

Leverage Social Media Fundraising

College students today are more plugged in than ever. Take advantage of the fact that students almost constantly have some screen in front of them with a social media app open. Let students know their opportunity to score affordable fundraising products while doing some good.

Ensure your group members share about the fundraiser on their social media channels. Personal networks among students have the potential to create buzz and generate interest when opportunities for face-to-face interaction may be limited to discreet spaces in common areas. These networks can also let family and friends beyond the campus know about your fundraiser and allow remote relatives to participate.

Consider some of our social media fundraising strategies to amplify your message without spending a dime.

Make Fundraising Leadership Opportunities

Participation in college fundraisers will likely be significantly more limited than in elementary school. Traditional prize programs are likely stronger incentives for younger audiences in traditional elementary, middle, and high school settings. College students are looking for something different in a fundraiser: experience.

Discuss the possibility of setting up a fundraising committee with your college student group, where members can take on certain roles and responsibilities, such as marketing, finance, and student engagement. Your team members will appreciate the chance to add something to their resumes, and they’ll be incentivized to contribute to the fundraising efforts meaningfully.

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.