The Power of Fundraising
Fundraising is an essential tool in aiding the success of schools, teams and other organizations. Without otherwise accessible funding, institutions may struggle to provide necessary resources and programs. Fundraising efforts not only help financially, but also create a sense of community and involvement among the supporters.
Typical fundraising causes:
- Schools
- Sports teams or booster programs
- Travel teams
- Uniform or equipment funding
- Leagues & tournaments
- Non-Profit organizations
- Animal Shelters
- Homeless Shelters & Food pantries
- Churches
- Causes
- Capital Campaigns
- Tragedy assistance for families or individuals
Fundraising ideas
There are many ways that schools and organizations can fundraise, and the best approach depends on the institution’s resources, audience, and goals. Some great fundraising tactics include:
Bottle Drives:
A bottle drive can be a specific event with a date and time, or can be an ongoing fundraiser when you partner with a willing redemption center. Some bottle drives are organized on a specific date when a group will canvas neighborhoods throughout their towns knocking on doors to ask for bottle and can donations to their cause. These donations are then brought to a local redemption center where the bottle deposits are redeemed and the money is used for the cause. Bottle drives can also be ongoing when an organization partners with a redemption center. In these cases, the redemption center collects bottles and cans that are dropped off for that cause and the money is donated back to the organization running the fundraiser. Some of the most successful ongoing bottle drives are those that partner with a redemption center and also place bins in high traffic areas like ball fields and local transfer stations to collect donations at many locations. These bins are periodically collected and brought to the redemption center to redeem the bottle deposits for the cause. Wicked Adventure Redemption is one local redemption center that works with dozens of local entities in this way to raise money.
Online Stores:
Many organizations use online stores to sell custom apparel and other promotional items for their team or organization. These stores sell branded apparel or team items and a portion of the proceeds goes to the team or organization raising money. At Adventure Advertising, we offer online stores for many organizations including travel sports teams, high school teams, schools, and food pantries to help them raise money. These stores include t-shirts, sweatshirts, water bottles, mugs, tumblers, hats, bumper stickers, water bottle stickers, stadium seats, and even items like softball and little league pants, belts and socks.
Other ideas for fundraising include:
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- Bake Sales
- Shoot-a-thons
- Races or walkathons
- Car Washes
- Auctions
- Garage Sales
- Business Sponsorships
- Printed programs with sponsorships
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Strategies, and tips for fundraising
No matter which tactics you choose, the best way to fundraise is to find a method that engages your audience. An engaged group will participate in the work needed to facilitate a fundraiser and also in donations to generate the most money for the cause.
Establish Fundraising goals: Establishing goals for fundraising campaigns for schools and organizations is essential and should be determined early on in the planning process. Having clear and achievable goals will help guide the fundraising efforts and ensure that the campaigns are aligned with the institution’s vision and mission. Some common objectives for fundraising include raising money for educational programs, purchasing new equipment, funding extracurricular activities, and supporting special projects. The specific goals may vary depending on the institution’s priorities. As important as it is to set realistic fundraising goals, you should also develop a timeline for achieving them.
Generate awareness of your fundraising campaign: No matter what you are fundraising for, making sure that your target audience is aware of your campaign is essential to its success. There are many ways to advertise your efforts, but finding those that are low cost and effective is important to not take away from the funds you are raising unnecessarily. Take advantage of free advertising options and those that have high visibility. Some of the best fundraiser advertising ideas are:
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- Promote in a school newsletter to parents
- Include in a newsletter or e-newsletter to prior donors and patrons
- Post to organization Facebook and other social media channels
- Post to local Facebook message boards and groups
- Send flyers home with students at schools
- Place a banner at sporting events
- For non-profits many radio stations will do a free spot advertising events or causes
- Press Releases
Get Organized: Organization is key for the success of any fundraiser. Ensuring all events, promotions, collections and use of funds are clearly defined, planned and executed is key and will attract more people to the cause. The better people understand what is needed, the more willing they are to donate their time and their funds to a cause. Be sure to plan for success.
There are many ways that schools and organizations can fundraise, and the best approach depends on the institution’s resources, audience, and goals. Ultimately, the key is to choose fundraising methods that are appropriate for the institution’s objectives and audience while also being creative and fun. At Adventure Advertising we are happy to help you with your fundraising efforts. We can help from the planning stages through the execution of the fundraisers. Contact us today to get started.
