How to Leverage Community Support as a School: 4 Tips

Schools rely on their communities for many types of support. Your community can include families, educators, local businesses, volunteers, civic groups, faith-based organizations, alumni, and even local government agencies. These community members can offer enrichment opportunities that extend learning beyond the classroom, provide material resources that fill funding gaps, and advocate for school needs at the local level. When the community is engaged, it helps create a more vibrant and inclusive school environment.

Leveraging community support means recognizing and engaging the full network of people and organizations that shape your school’s environment. The following four strategies can help you tap into that support and turn everyday interactions into powerful, lasting partnerships.

Prioritize Two-Way Communication

Strong communication is the foundation of every thriving school-community relationship. It’s how you build trust, encourage involvement, and demonstrate respect for supporters’ voices. When communication is consistent, clear, and reciprocal, community members feel valued and inspired to show their support.

Keep your community updated and show them you care using the following communication strategies:

• Perfect your newsletter. You may already have a basic school newsletter with calendar reminders and academic information like exam dates, but you can take your communications to the next level by adding more personal touches. For example, highlight students’ achievements or promote new ways for families to get involved. Invite readers to provide feedback on or ask questions about your school’s communication.
  
  
• Create low-pressure forums. Try hosting informal Q&A sessions or open coffee hours led by your principal, a teacher representative, or a parent liaison. These meetings offer a casual setting where families can ask questions, express concerns, or meet school staff.
  
  
• Turn feedback into collaboration. Regularly gather input through short surveys or focus groups facilitated by your school’s family engagement coordinator, principal, or PTA leaders. Ask for families’ opinions on topics ranging from specific events to the curriculum as a whole, showing that your school values their input. Follow up after receiving feedback to share what you’ve learned and how you plan to respond.

Turn Local Businesses Into Strategic Partners

Local businesses are a vital part of your school’s community. Partnering with them is a win-win: They can offer resources for your school to succeed and provide real-world learning opportunities, while the partnership helps them gain visibility and goodwill.

Here are the steps to building and maintaining strong relationships with local businesses:

• Start with shared goals. Identify local businesses whose values or missions align with your school’s.
  
  
• Reach out purposefully. Craft tailored sponsorship letters that clearly outline the benefits of collaboration. QGiv’s list of sponsorship letter templates suggests that schools “clearly show your potential sponsor why your school is worth supporting and how a school sponsorship can benefit their business.”
  
  
• Involve them meaningfully. Co-host a walk-a-thon fundraiser or color run where local businesses gain visibility while contributing to school goals. Invite representatives from the business to speak at career days or lead workshops, showing your students what they can achieve in their own community.
  
  
• Tell the story publicly. Use media outreach to share success stories. Whether through a blog post, press release, or local news feature, spotlighting partnerships encourages continued involvement and inspires others to join in.
  
  
• Recognize and repeat. Keep the connection going by publicly thanking sponsors through newsletters, event signage, or social media shout-outs. Then, check in regularly to see how they’d like to stay involved and grow the relationship.

These connections can evolve into long-term partnerships that go far beyond a single event or donation. Businesses that feel welcomed and recognized are more likely to remain engaged, offering internships, participating in classroom experiences, or even sponsoring ongoing programs. Over time, these collaborations can create a web of support around your school that reinforces student success and helps the entire community thrive. 

Engage the Community Through Collaborative Events

Events are an excellent way to boost engagement from families, staff, and local supporters. These gatherings offer meaningful opportunities for people to connect with your school and with each other. They also serve as soft entry points for those who might not otherwise consider themselves a part of your school’s community, giving them a taste of your school’s culture in a fun, low-pressure setting.

Choose event formats like these that encourage interaction and inclusivity:

• “A-Thon” events: 99Pledges’ list of school fundraising ideas suggests these events because they combine fun and fundraising, inviting families, neighbors, and local businesses to support your school in a hands-on way. Students take the lead as fundraisers, collecting pledges based on their participation in an event—for example, in a read-a-thon, they might receive a donation for every book they read. 
  
  
• Family cultural night: These events celebrate your school’s diversity by inviting families to share food, music, or traditions from their heritage. Cultural nights offer a fun and meaningful way for families to connect with one another and for students to take pride in their backgrounds.
  
  
• Community clean-up projects: Beautification projects that include families and neighbors are wonderful for creating goodwill with your community and getting students invested in doing good.
  
  

To foster a lasting sense of belonging within your community, turn your most successful events into ongoing traditions that give your supporters a feeling of ownership and responsibility to promote even deeper engagement. Remember to always thank volunteers for their hard work to encourage participation across multiple events and years.

Create Flexible Opportunities for Family Involvement

Not every family can commit to regular PTA meetings or long-term roles. That’s why it’s essential to offer a range of participation opportunities to fit every skillset and schedule.

Here are a few flexible ways to get families involved:

• Invite parents to help with a single event or task, such as managing a water station for a fun run or organizing a bake sale table.
  
  
• Encourage community members to read a book aloud to a kindergarten class or share a short presentation about their job or hobby with high school seniors.
  
  
• Provide remote opportunities, such as creating flyers, managing event sign-ups, or helping with social media promotion.