Fundraising is much more manageable when broken into smaller tasks. Here are seven easy steps to fundraising for your trip – ask parents and students for their help!
- Select a fundraiser. First, ask yourself a few questions. How much money do you want to raise? How long do you want your fundraiser to last? When is a good time to hold your fundraiser? Check out Choosing a Fundraiser for more tips to selecting a fundraiser.
- Evaluate your goals. What are your fundraising goals? Setting a goal will help you choose the best fundraiser to meet your needs.
- Hold a kickoff meeting. Use this meeting as a chance to share your fundraising goals. If you have a big fundraising goal, consider breaking it in to smaller, more manageable goals. Set weekly or monthly milestones to make fundraising seem less overwhelming and to help students feel a sense of accomplishment throughout the process. If you aren’t using a third-party fundraising company, or the one you are using doesn’t offer prizes, consider offering a reward system to motivate students. Use your kickoff meeting to set rules about how funds will be distributed and what will happen with a student’s allocated funds should they cancel their trip.
- Request help from parents or your booster club. Many Program Leaders and directors say that parents served as valuable resources and coordinated the majority of fundraising efforts, giving educators more time to focus on planning and promoting their trips.Plus, parents may have connections with local companies they can request donations from. Send a letter home to parents letting them know about your upcoming fundraiser and requesting their help or inviting them to your fundraising kickoff meeting.
- Promote your fundraiser. Your fundraiser will be more successful if you get the word out! Check out Promoting Your Fundraiser to for tips from our Program Leaders and directors on how to successfully promote your fundraiser.
- Supervise. Keep an eye on students to make sure they are conducting their fundraiser in a safe manner. Students should never sell door-to-door or stand in roads collecting donations. Monitor their progress of student and parent volunteers to ensure they are meeting their goals.
- Provide frequent status updates. Be sure to keep parents and students up-to-date on your group’s progress. Hang a poster in your classroom, make an announcement on your class website, or post a status update on your MyTrip page that tracks how much money has been earned and how much more is still needed. Everyone will be excited to see the progress the group is making!