Fundraising is not exactly a new thing to education. For over 200 years, schools have sought contributions from their communities and local donors to help provide programs. With public education chronically underfunded, schools are always looking for exciting and fun ways to raise funds.
As a sports coach or sports director, we are sure you have racked your brains thinking, ‘How can I raise money for my team?’ You know that funding your school or raising money for your team can be a nightmare at times. It requires planning, creativity, promotion, and hopefully, luck will be on your side. After all, people are not always feeling sufficiently philanthropic. Luckily, pretty much everyone in school is a potential contributor to your fundraiser. This includes students, teachers, parents, family members, coaches, etc.
We decided to make it a little easier for you by rounding up three ways of raising money that are reliably successful.
As a bonus, we’ve added a few more just in case you want to get your creative juices flowing. Let’s do that now!
Spell-a-Thon
What better way to raise money for your team while encouraging students to display what they have been learning? A spell-a-thon is not only a fun idea, but it is also easy to set up. Students will no doubt relish the idea of outdoing each other in a spelling competition. To make it effective, use pledged fundraising methods.
Set up the competition using the spelling bee model. Alternatively, you can make it a personal spelling challenge. If you elect to go with the second option, you can select several challenging words to test students together. Whichever option you choose, the students pledge donations that match the number of words they can spell correctly.
It is important to note that you are encouraging the students to expand their minds and healthy, sportsmanlike competition. Ultimately, the point is to raise money while encouraging your students to use the knowledge they have acquired in school.
Fun Run
This one is not only a good idea to raise funds, but it also encourages healthy habits through physical activity amongst participants. You can have the students solicit sponsorship from their family and friends based on the distance they’ll cover on the run.
To make it more exciting, have members of your team participate too. You could add even more spice by making it a dress-up or costume run. Encourage parents to participate as well, either from home or at the school on the weekend.
Teacher Charity Game
You want to raise money for your team. What harm is there with involving teachers in that endeavor?
This one is a pretty simple idea. Organize a friendly match between teams involving your teachers. You can then make it a fundraise-a-thon by inviting parents and students to pay to watch the match. Students can easily convince their parents to watch teachers compete. Don’t be afraid to get creative by throwing in some twists like dress-ups, costumes, or competitions to build excitement for this fundraiser.
Read-a-Thon
Just like Spell-a-Thon, this is another excellent opportunity to raise funds while encouraging students to learn. All you need to do is pick a special Book Day to have students read their favorite books within a set period. The students can have their family members and friends sponsor them to read. The more pages a student reads within a specified period, the more money they can raise.
Teacher Challenge
This one is probably the most exciting of the bunch. You will have a teacher or a group of teachers do something they wouldn’t normally do, e.g., dye their hair green, dip themselves into a bath with freezing spaghetti noodles, take a pie to the face, etc. The sillier or more embarrassing it is, the more it costs students. On a lighter note, you will need a teacher willing to be a victim, sorry, we mean, volunteer.
From there, set a fundraising target for the school to reach within a specific timeframe (including teachers and students). The most important thing is setting a realistic target that the students can quickly raise.
Once the target is reached, the volunteer teacher(s) holds their end of the bargain. Hold the event at the school to make it high profile.
Talent Show
Your school’s got talent!
What could be more adorable than watching students show off their talents? Granted, they may not be Billie Eilish yet, but they sure have plenty of potential. Their talent could be singing, acrobatics, dancing, performing a piece of magic here and there, you name it.
Students are talented, and hosting a talent show is a good opportunity for them to show the world what they’ve got. Charge a small entry fee to the event and invite their friends and family to witness greatness in the making. You can even invite judges over and have small prizes for the best performers. Fun and funds go together as far as we are concerned.
Final Word
All the above are unique and FUNdraising ideas that will help you raise the much-needed funds for your team. Pick whichever idea works for your school, and be on your way to achieving your goals and engaging students in a meaningful drive. All the best!
Don’t forget that LeanStream is the ultimate partner for your school’s fundraising needs. Please take a look at our fundraising and e-commerce solutions for your entire education family.
For inquiries, feel free to contact us. Our team is always ready to help you make a difference.
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