What Do Schools Wish They Knew Before The First Fundraiser?

What School Fundraisers Has The School Already Done

Before planning a fundraiser, it’s important to narrow down fundraiser ideas. Look into what types of fundraisers and campaigns the school has done in the past to understand their level of success. Speak with other members of the school community to learn about what school fundraising has looked like over the last few years. All of this will help determine what decisions you should make to create a successful fundraiser. Flower sale fundraisers are known to be successful, but it’s still important to assess the situation before making big decisions. School funds may be allocated to help build a stronger school fundraising campaign, but this should be figured out very early in the planning process. Continue reading to learn some fundraising tips, fundraising ideas, and how you can create a successful school fundraising campaign without a large budget or access to liquid funds.

How Will You Advertise to The School Community

Word of mouth advertising can be effective, but there are additional ways to advertise your school fundraising project to other members of the community. Schools will typically allow a PTA event or school fundraising campaign to include information in the school newsletter. Emails are still an extremely effective way to reach many people, especially considering how quickly the process is. Social media posts can go a long way, especially if you can get students and parents to engage. Creating digital flyers that volunteers and students can share will reach many people within the community. Provide flyers that can be hung in public spaces, like employee lounges or community boards. Any way you can reach the community will help your fundraising event substantially. There are great ways to communicate with others without spending money; you just need to be persistent and involve your volunteers, students, and parents!

Set Clear Goals with the Fundraising Team

Creating a clear strategy for the fundraising campaign with distinct goals will provide a sense of direction for your volunteers and the community members who are offering help. Once your fundraising goal is met, teachers, students, and members of the school community will see the fundraiser as a success. For some, fundraising can be burdensome, but by reaching a clearly set goal, they are more likely to feel connected to school fundraisers and to believe their efforts truly contribute to students and their education. General fundraising is possible, but volunteers and students will be more inspired to help if they’re working towards a specific goal, like funding for school trips, community events, facilities improvements, or extracurricular clubs. Pointing all of your efforts into a clear objective will also help donors and “customers” of your flower sale feel involved in bettering the students’ lives. If you’re incorporating incentives for students who reach individual sales goals, you may need to create a budget. When doing flower sales with JOCO Growers, there is no upfront cost. Once your sale ends and you’re done collecting money from sales, we’ll deliver the plants to your desired pickup spot and collect payment.

Starting The School Fundraiser Strong

If you’ve ever organized a school fundraiser, you’ve probably experienced that there is a drop-off in interest as time goes on with many fundraiser parents and students. Students can become busy with school, sports, and other activities, and similarly, parents may not have the time or energy to focus on school fundraising for weeks at a time. It’s extremely important to start your school fundraiser strong, creating a strong path to success in order to keep participation high. Create incentives for students to compete against each other for prizes. Break this up between grades or classrooms and track the success of each team throughout the entire school fundraiser. Providing clear and concise instructions to parents will help get more families to volunteer. Parents often ask colleagues, friends, and extended family to contribute. While flowers are a great seller, some may just want to give money to the fundraiser. Create an option for anyone who wants to make a donation without purchasing products. Getting everyone involved early increases the chance of success. School fundraising can be extremely successful with the right tools and approach.

Plan Pickups at The School Before Starting the Fundraiser

Pickups can be one of the more chaotic parts of school fundraisers because it requires organizing with volunteers, parents, students, teachers, and donors! By planning the pickups before the school fundraising campaign begins, you can create clear instructions for everyone. Ensure you can share the pickup information across all of your communication channels, including email lists, school announcements, social media, and any others. Be sure to have a plan for those who don’t pick up their orders and inform them ahead of time what will happen to their flowers. On pickup day, you’ll need volunteers to help facilitate the process. Schools with large parking lots or one-way loops are easier to direct traffic. Be sure to involve the school in the pickup date to get access to traffic cones or any other tools that will help streamline the pickup process. This sort of event always requires more help than expected. When all else fails, just be friendly and kind; most people willing to help with school fundraising understand the process can be bumpy!

In Summary: Prepping for A School Fundraiser

School fundraising can be difficult without support from others. Work with the resources you have available to you, including volunteers in the school. Communicate clearly with the school staff when fundraisers are happening, and come up with a clear plan. Plan out how to take payments for flowers, and what the donation process will look like for those who simply want to make a financial donation. Create a schedule of when the fundraiser begins, ends, and when pickups take place. Don’t rush the process, but don’t drag fundraiser sales on for too long. The community can get fatigued by fundraisers that last a month or longer. Teachers are often spread thin, so be sure not to add more to their busy schedules. Pull in as many parent volunteers as you can.

Organizing Fundraisers with JOCO Growers

JOCO Growers works with schools and other non-profit entities for fundraising opportunities. While we started locally, we have been able to expand to the surrounding states to help more schools bring in more money to support their kids! JOCO Growers has 3 greenhouses and provides delivery of flowers to a location of your choice. Contact us to learn more about fundraising opportunities and fundraising ideas!