Fundraising Strategy

FUNDRAISING STRATEGY A. Fundraising Event Ideas Ideas for fundraising events might include: a) Bake sales; b) Craft sales; c) Movie screenings; d) Music, dance and drama performances; e) Sponsored walks; f) Raffles (prize drawings from ticket sales) selling vegetables; g) Renting out the school building. It is always easier to raise funds for specific, well-defined projects (e.g. a new soccer field, student field trips or additional instructional materials). These activities should be planned in the School Improvement Plan (SIP). Successful fundraising begins with an inventory of available resources and skills, possible services the school can provide to the community and potential donors. Remember that it is important to involve the entire community in the event. Let them know that their opinions are valued, as the school belongs to the community. Some community members may not be able to contribute financially to the school, but may be able to contribute to the success of the event in other ways, for example parents may be able to help with chores, student supervision, transportation, creative ideas and skills such as cooking. B. Product Fundraising Product fundraising originated in the early 20th century. The practice typically involves the purchase and resale of popular consumer products by a nonprofit group with the group sponsoring the sale keeping a portion of the gross sales. Products can be purchased in bulk and paid for up front by the organization, then resold to supporters. Products can also be ordered using catalogs, order forms, and other methods. Supporters pay for the products when the order is placed or upon final delivery. In some product fundraising models, the school or nonprofit is required to pay for a certain amount of the products up front. There are three types of product fundraising that schools use to generate revenue. (1) Pre-sale Fundraising, (2) Product In-Hand Fundraising, (3) Online Fundraising, with the popularity of online fundraising increasing over the last decade. C. School-Organized School Fundraising Other school fundraisers that generate significant revenue for schools include auctions and raffles. With these types of fundraising activities, the school solicits donations from local restaurants and businesses in the area, which are then offered at the event. In the case of an auction, people are allowed to bid on dinner, or anything donated by local businesses in the community. In the case of a raffle, people buy raffle tickets that are then drawn at random from a container. Often donations are solicited by parents acting on behalf of the school, who call, write, or know of other parents who work for companies who might be willing to donate. D. Scrip Fundraising Scrip fundraising offers an alternative to fundraising that relies on product sales or raffle tickets. With a scrip fundraiser, a retailer offers gift cards (“scrip,” or “scrolls”) at a discount to a nonprofit organization. The nonprofit then sells the gift cards to family members at full face value. The family redeems the gift cards at full face value, and the discount or rebate is kept by the nonprofit as revenue. A scrip fundraiser differs from other school fundraising programs in that there is no sale. Families do their regular household shopping at a scrip retailer with scrip gift cards. A family that regularly shops with scrip gift cards can easily raise more money each year. Participating schools use these funds for field trips, scholarships, tuition assistance, or fee reductions. One persistent and fundamental question is whether a portion of the funds raised through a scrip program and applied to the family’s school account should be considered taxable income to the parents who purchase the scrip. According to Shop With Scrip, scrips are a reduction in the purchase price from the face value, and are essentially a rebate from the retailer, and thus are not considered gross income.