How to Leverage Community Support for Your School Fundraiser

Nurturing academic excellence among students goes beyond the classroom; it involves the whole community. With the support of parents and guardians, teachers, alumni, and other community members, your school can secure funding and pursue the initiatives you need to enhance learning within your institution.

We’d like to highlight how to create dedicated strategies to engage your community during your next school fundraiser, enabling you to maximize your reach and raise more to meet your goals.

3 Ways to Get Your School’s Community Involved

There are many ways for your school to get your community involved in fundraising. Here are three effective ways to encourage participation:

Provide volunteer opportunities

There’s a lot that goes into planning and executing a successful fundraiser—from setting goals and organizing events to marketing and collecting donations. However, your school doesn’t have to tackle these challenges alone. By offering a variety of volunteer opportunities, you can allow community members to contribute in ways beyond just donating.

Common volunteer roles schools might need to fill include:

• Event planner
• Procurement coordinator
• Event setup and cleanup
• Social media marketer
• Graphic designer
• Photographer

Let’s say that you’re about to launch a fundraiser for your elementary school. It’s very likely that parents and other relatives of your students would be interested in volunteering to support your efforts. Sending home volunteer requests is a solid first step toward putting together an effective volunteer team. Then, set up a brief interview with those who are interested to place each person in a role best suited to their skill set.

Partner with local businesses

Local businesses can support your school fundraiser by sponsoring the event, providing volunteers, giving in-kind donations, and marketing.

To build ideal partnerships, 360MatchPro’s corporate sponsorships guide recommends:

• Reaching out to businesses that align with your goals and values. This ensures a mutually beneficial relationship that enhances both your fundraiser's effectiveness and the business's community image.

• Creating a sponsorship page on your website. Your page should detail the various sponsorship opportunities available. Sharing stories of past successful partnerships here can serve as a powerful testimonial to prospective sponsors. 
• Highlighting how the partnership will benefit businesses. This can include recognition on event materials, mentions in press releases, discounted tickets, and shoutouts on social media platforms.

Finding the right fit is crucial for a successful partnership. For example, a school that’s hosting a fundraiser to expand its music education program might reach out to a local music store or venue for a potential partnership. These targeted collaborations ensure that both parties share a common interest and goal, so the partnership is aligned with your fundraiser's objectives.

Encourage user-generated content

According to SchoolAuction.net, to maximize engagement, you should promote your fundraiser on multiple channels such as your website, newsletter, email, and social media. Sharing user-generated content (UGC) can be especially beneficial for schools looking to spread the word about their upcoming fundraiser. Don’t forget Peachjar as a channel as well!

UGC refers to any form of content—such as videos, photos, articles, and reviews—that’s created by people instead of companies or brands.

Some popular ideas for gathering UGC for your school include:

• Photo contests. Encourage participants to submit photos either related to the fundraiser’s theme or a broader idea, such as “A Day in the Life of a Student.”

• Personal stories from students, parents, or alumni. Invite them to share stories about their experiences with your school or how your school has made a positive impact on their lives. You can even ask them to create short video testimonials that you can share on your website or social media.

• Student artwork. You can display student art pieces online or at the event, and even auction them off to raise additional funds.

• Social media challenges. Generate excitement around your fundraiser with social media challenges that spread organically through participants' networks. Make sure the challenge is specific to your fundraiser and includes appropriate hashtags to improve visibility.

At the same time, it's crucial to prioritize student privacy while employing these strategies. When sharing individual photos of students, be sure to obtain permission in advance to respect their privacy and comfort levels. This not only ensures legal compliance but also builds trust among students, parents and guardians, and your broader school community.

3 Tips to Boost Community Support and Engagement

Engaging the community in your school’s fundraising efforts not only broadens your support base but also enhances your fundraiser’s impact and relevance. Here are three practical tips to encourage active participation from your school’s community:

Collect community input on your fundraising plans

Make your community members feel more invested in your fundraising success by actively seeking their input. Involving parents, teachers, and local businesses early on makes them feel valued and part of the decision-making process.

Here are some key areas to collect feedback on:

• Fundraising priorities. Allow the community to voice their opinions on where they feel the funds will make the most impact—whether it’s a specific program, project, or more generalized area like extracurricular activities.

• Fundraising event planning. Gathering ideas and preferences about the types of events community members want to attend can help you tailor your approach to maximize participation and enjoyment. For instance, you could find out which school auction item ideas are most popular among potential attendees.

• Volunteer skills and expertise. Understanding the talents within your community can help you effectively assign roles and responsibilities, ensuring that every aspect of your fundraiser is handled by someone with the right skills. 

• Campaign themes. Themes that reflect the interests and values of your community can drive higher levels of participation and enthusiasm, making your fundraiser more successful and memorable.

To gather this valuable community input, you can use a variety of methods such as surveys, social media polls, community meetings, and informal gatherings.

Offer incentives for getting involved

Incentives can be a powerful tool to motivate community members who are on the fence to get involved.

For example, consider these incentive ideas:

• Free meals or refreshments
• VIP seating or parking
• Gift cards or baskets
• Branded merchandise
• Appreciation event
• Discounts on school merchandise or activities

These rewards not only make involvement more appealing but also add a personal benefit that can tip the scales for those who are undecided.

Follow up with prompt and thoughtful recognition

Recognition plays an important role in building a strong, committed community of support for your school. It’s not just about saying "thank you" but about creating an environment where community members feel genuinely valued and integral to your school’s success.

Here are a few tips to ensure your recognition practices inspire continued support:

• Be prompt. Recognize contributions as soon as possible to send the message that every one of your supporters matters to your school.

• Personalize thank-you messages. Tailor your acknowledgments to address each individual by name and reference their specific contributions. Personalized messages show that you recognize their unique efforts and truly appreciate them.
• Share impact. Communicate how each contribution has helped advance your school's goals. Highlighting the tangible outcomes of community members’ support validates their efforts and shows the direct impact of their involvement.

Recognition can take many forms—from thank-you videos to social media shoutouts—each offering a unique way to express gratitude and reinforce the value of community involvement. Recognition tools such as eCards offer a convenient yet sincere way to express your gratitude to community supporters.

Remember that supporting your students and their educational journeys is a team effort With a thoughtful communications and engagement plan, your school will be able to rally more parents, teachers, alumni, and community members to play a role in your fundraising success.