Lean Stream

School Fundraising Committee

As a school or school system leader, you’ve probably felt the need to explore the possibilities of acquiring funds from external sources through fundraising efforts. Public schools and school systems, especially, find launching new programs and funding initiatives difficult to do without soliciting donations. Establishing a fundraising committee can help your school system achieve its financial goals through proper planning & execution. The committee can help run a successful campaign smoothly and efficiently.

What is a fundraising committee?

Apart from collecting money, a fundraising committee is responsible for supervising and monitoring fundraising campaigns. A fundraising committee is a group of individuals with the goal of elevating the budget to guarantee the economic possibility and substantiality of the organization. Therefore, it is essential to be careful while choosing the committee members.

What does a fundraising committee do?

Unfortunately, almost 50% of nonprofit, startup organizations fail, and the apparent cause is lack of funding. Typically, it’s due to a lack of proper planning, not prioritizing donors, and wasting too much time and effort on activities that produce only nickels and dimes.

Fundraising is not an easy task. It is stressful and requires expert intervention for proper execution. It would be best if you appoint committee members with knowledge and skills that can successfully execute a fundraising campaign. The committee will assign roles and responsibilities to each individual, thereby enhancing the overall experience of planning a fundraiser. So, what are the roles and responsibilities of the members of a fundraising committee?

1. Strategically choose the members

The job of a fundraising committee member is not an easy one. It requires knowledge and skills from different areas. Hence, the committee should choose its members tactfully. The number of members depends on how big a campaign you are conducting.

Committee management is essential to the effectiveness of the committee. The members should be assigned work according to their experience, expertise, and interests. The more tasks align to a particular member’s knowledge, skills, and abilities, the better the performance of the individual member. The committee may also consider adding volunteer positions to fill in gaps and help with the duties beyond those assigned to committee members. Welcoming members from diverse backgrounds allows for sharing of fresh and unique ideas to be considered. The committee should hold an orientation for new members and volunteers to ensure all members are working toward the committee’s goals in an effective manner.

2. Promotes Fundraising Activities

Promotions are the most essential and beneficial part of any business, organization, products, events, activities, campaign, etc. With proper advertising, you can reach a wide audience range, and the success of the endeavor increases exponentially. Therefore, committee members should market their fundraising on every viable platform such as social media, news releases, TV advertisements, pamphlets, or word of mouth.

Nowadays, social media is the latest trend for promotions as it attracts the precise public for the campaign and has no geographical limits. Conducting webinars or press releases can boost your outreach and help convey the message.

3. Event Management

For a committee, the most demanding work is event management, where they have to plan, strategize, and implement. Such events are the primary source through which the committee can get the needed funds and donations.

Some ideas for organizing fundraising events are charity auctions, marathons, talent hunts, crowdfunding, sports games, variety shows, drama or online offerings, and many more. However, charity auctions are the most popular because it exhibits a noble cause and drives funding.

4. Budget Responsibilities

The most challenging job of a fundraising committee is to administer the budget and determine the best strategy. The financial advisor of the fundraising committee will produce a budgetary plan to guarantee expenses are adequately low and progress is sufficiently high.

Managing the budget is a critical factor of any committee. The primary checklist includes:

  • Supervising the fundraising budget
  • Counting raised funds and verifying receipts
  • Collecting payments and donations
  • Presenting administrative work data and expense data for the consideration of the committee
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5. Team spirit

Team spirit is the backbone for any group activity. Committee members should support and encourage one another through the fundraising process. Every fundraising committee should possess this excellent skill to ensure proper functioning & realization of dreams.

Some of the traits of rocking team spirit include – welcoming each team member’s ideas, helping and valuing each other’s work, and a culture of teamwork. The team leader also plays a vital role in developing a positive team spirit. The leader should give clear guidelines, trigger enthusiasm and promote bonding for best results.

Building a solid fundraising group focused on these principles guarantees that you’re ready to launch your next fundraising campaign with the knowledge that the right people are working together to achieve the campaign goals.

Leanstream Fundraising

Leanstream is an Educational Fundraising web-based platform with innovative features and ideas to facilitate fundraising and meet budget goals. It upgrades and supports fundraising while concentrating on accountability, visibility, and control.

LeanStream’s online fundraising platform offers schools the ability to facilitate donation inflow from all over the world instead of limiting to a particular location. It attracts exemplary people for the right purposes, which is the critical requirement of fundraising organizations.

As a fundraiser committee, we consistently watch out for donors whose interests align with our association. Moreover, well-explained features and facilities earn the trust of the donors. Hence, the committee finds Leanstream as a trustworthy fundraising platform.

Conclusion

A fundraising committee can help you thrive in several ways. Money may motivate, but it never inspires. A fundraising committee can fill in the gap. Recognizing and rewarding members for their efforts and, most importantly, maintaining a healthy and friendly atmosphere among members is essential for a successful committee.

The longing to be the best is driven from within, not from the exterior. So, instill these qualities in your fundraising committee, and the sky is the limit.