Are you looking for fundraising ideas for your children’s school? Or perhaps you’re a friend, family, or community member that wants to raise money for uniforms, sports gear, or enrichment programs. In addition to school fundraising, businesses and community organizations also contribute to education and other causes through fundraising.
Global Non-Profit Charitable Donations
While 75% of people in the United States believe that they donate above average amounts, the reality is closer to 72%. Nevertheless, in 2014, 1.4 billion people across the globe made monetary donations to benefit non-profit organizations.
Showing Support for Education
During the 2005 to 2006 school year a large percentage of parents showed their support by purchasing a fundraising product, such as school spirit gear. This amounted to 9 out of every 10 parents, according to the Association of Fund-Raising Distributors and Suppliers.
Parents often reach out to and encourage friends, family, and co-workers to assist with supporting local schools by purchasing school pride clothing and other products. In many cases, they sell fundraising items themselves, which was true of 71% of the parents surveyed.
While not all schools engage in fundraising, most do so. A software company that works with non-profit organizations, Causera.org, released a survey that showed promising data. They discovered that 98% of the parents that participated stated this was true of their children’s school. Fundraising activities were frequent with 40% of these schools.
Even though school fundraising efforts address student and classroom needs for preschool through 12th grades, 73% of these are for elementary schools. Parents, students, and volunteers all become involved in these activities.
Why Fundraising Ideas Continue to be Needed
Since the recession, there are a minimum of 34 states that now provide less per-student funding. This was particularly evident for the 2013 through 2014 school year.
Last year alone, however, fundraising companies donated $4.8 million in goods. On an annual basis, product fundraising efforts donate almost $1.4 billion to schools for these and other important purposes:
- Field trips
- Athletic team uniforms
- Computer labs
- Playground equipment
Building School Spirit
Does your children’s school principal show leadership when it comes to building school spirit? A recent survey showed that 89% of the principals that participated believed it’s important for them to step into this role. When schools have high levels of school spirit, this is connected to high levels of academic and other types of achievement.
When other personnel become involved, 51% stated that this provided them with the opportunity to be more connected with their school. Showing school spirit was why 34% of these individuals chose to become actively involved.
Fundraisng Ideas for Schools and Other Causes
There are a variety of fundraising ideas, and a non-profit organization can raise approximately $17.00 for every 1,000 fund-raising emails that are sent out. During 2013, online giving expanded 13.5 %, which is likely the result of these and other types of campaigns.
Creating social media sites can be particularly effective for raising awareness. When people engage with non-profit organizations on these sites, 55% have been inspired to take action. Furthermore, when their personal social media community learns about these causes, they will often be encouraged to take action.
Crowdfunding is also effective. When people make donations to these projects or causes, 17% are sent via mobile devices, such as smart phones, which makes it easy to donate.
When Millennials in particular become involved with fund-raising projects, many choose those where some type of physical activity is involved. A recent survey found that 64% of the individuals within this age group create walk, run, or cycling events to raise needed funds.
Fundraising Ideas and T-Shirts
Given that T-shirts continue to be a popular apparel choice, this may be at the top of the list for fundraising ideas. You may not be surprised to learn the results of a recent survey that revealed 62% of people in the United States have more than 10 T-shirts in their closets and drawers. This amounts to about 1.5 billion T-shirts! Given this, a school T-shirt fundraiser makes sense.
Whether you’re interested in hosting a school fundraiser or are involved with another type of fundraising effort, product fundraisers usually generate an average of over $3,100.00 per event. Since these efforts exist throughout the year, there’s no time like the present to get started.
