Whether you’re a public or private school, budgets are tight. Fundraising has become an important part of any school – for new equipment, trips, even teaching assistants. Here at Bergen Designs we’ve worked with a lot of schools to help them with their fundraising efforts – and we wanted to share a few tips with you here.

Tip #1 – Have a Specific $ Goal in Mind – whether it’s $1,500 for a class trip or $10,000 for a new computer lab, have your $ goal solidified right from the start and make sure that you research ALL costs beforehand. Nothing is worse than getting to the end of your fundraiser and then realizing you needed more money than your original goal.

Tip #2 – Spread the Word – these days there are so many more ways to get the word out about your fundraiser! Create a list of targets – parents, local news, alumni (don’t forget them!), etc – and then next to each brainstorm the different ways to reach each group.

– Local News – have students in your School Government reach out to local news desks and “pitch” them on a story about your fundraiser. Before they call, work with them to figure out a “hook” – a reason for your local news channel to get excited. The hook could be the goal, or even the fundraising activity itself (maybe dunking the local weather guy?)
– Parents – you can reach parents through the PTO, homeroom parents, your school’s facebook page, student government and more
– Alumni – Facebook is another good way to reach alumni, also the former class presidents.

Tip #3 – Keep Communications Ongoing – this is especially important if you have a large goal that will take some time to reach. If you get a good initial response, sending out updates (via email, Facebook, etc) will help bring in new people that may have missed the initial messages. Also, it helps those who contributed early keep up-to-date on progress.