Raising Money for Your School
Fundraisers have moved way beyond bake sales as creative parents help cash-strapped schools look for every extra dollar to boost their budgets.
School fund-raising has evolved since the days when a group of parents would set up a card table and sell cupcakes after school. Now most school fund-raising falls into one of two main categories: the traditional approach of selling items (food, magazines, etc.) and the more recent approach of online fund-raising, in which schools raise money through online shopping malls. In this overview you'll find resources for both types of fund-raising.
Traditional Fund-Raising
Traditional fund-raising calls for children to sell products ranging from candy and cookie dough to books and wrapping paper. Selling these seemingly small items adds up to a lot of cash. School groups as a whole raise more than $1.5 billion every year selling various products. The profits account for about 80% of the funds school groups use to provide "extras," such as computers, field trips and playground equipment for schools. But it can be tricky for school groups to decide what to sell and what will bring the greatest return in their school community.
The same concerns over childhood obesity that are prompting states to crack down on school soda sales are forcing athletic booster clubs to think twice about selling candy to fund sports programs.
One innovative and high-yielding fund-raising option is recycling cell phones and printer cartridges. Since most families change their cell phones annually and toss out an average of three to four printer cartridges per year, and local businesses throw away even more, this is an easy market for school groups to tap. It's also a good way to teach kids about recycling.
Recycling companies pay anywhere from 50 cents for simple ink jet cartridges to $5.50 for high-end laser cartridges.
Choosing the Right Product
The bottom line in any fund-raising drive is maximizing the amount of money you can raise. That is why it is important to carefully choose a product that will sell well in your community and to work with a company that offers a fair percentage and low shipping or delivery costs. It is important to consider the quality of the products as well. If you choose a company that offers a high percentage but has inferior products, you may not have as many repeat customers or earn as much money in years to come.
Once you have weighed all the factors and have chosen a company with which to work, contact its sales representative and take advantage of his experience and knowledge to wage the best sales campaign you can. Many companies offer free promotional materials, prizes and advice on how to craft the campaign.
Online Fund-Raising
The Internet has ushered in a wave of charitable online "shopping malls"--that is, sites that let you make purchases from a variety of particular online merchants, such as Amazon.com. These charity malls allow people to raise money for a school by making purchases online. The charity mall gets a sales commission from the online merchant that averages about 5% to 8% of the purchase price. The charity malls pass on a portion of this commission to whatever school the shopper designates. The percentage received by the school differs for each mall. For example, a $20 purchase made on one of the leading online malls would result in a donation of 75 cents for the designated school.
Beware of companies that offer commissions as high as 20%. These are generally short-term promotional campaigns in which part of the commission goes to the school and part goes to the fund-raising company.
Schools do not generally have to enroll to begin accruing funds through charitable malls, but they will need to register in order to receive a check for the funds accrued. Most sites wait until schools have accrued a minimum amount before sending a check—usually about $50. Donations to a school made through charitable shopping malls are not tax deductible.
Updated January 2008
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