School fundraising is nothing new to educators and parents. The moment schools started popping up across the country, communities were called upon to help keep their doors open.
From trivia nights and 5Ks to cookie sales and dine and donates, community fundraising continues to bolster school activities and extracurriculars. At the same time, our supporters are suffering from donor burnout, especially when they have multiple children (in multiple activities!) across the district.
For districts, finding a way to streamline and energize fundraising efforts is critical to remaining financially viable, especially as ESSER funding winds to a halt this September, and states across the country are cutting back on education spending when schools need it most.
Powering K12 fundraising by centralizing campaigns
At a mid-sized district in Texas, the carousel of school fundraisers started to spin out of control.
Different departments, sports teams, student groups and booster clubs were launching campaigns that administrators were unaware of and often, their efforts overlapped. For instance, two of our middle schools sold cookie dough simultaneously, cutting into sales for both. Even worse, the district had to manage the fallout from donors not receiving items they paid for and proceeds not going to the appropriate promised causes.
To ensure alignment with district objectives, our team knew we had to contain the chaos, establish district-wide fundraising policies and procedures, and identify safe fundraising platforms to streamline our processes. However, because so many of our programs rely on outside funding, we had to make the rollout easy and seamless for all stakeholders, including teachers, parents and students.
Our success centered on three key steps:
1. Extending the conversation outside the walls of the finance department. While fundraising concerns are often seen as a “money” problem, protecting our students’ best interests is at the heart of the district’s mission. By bringing the superintendent, the communications and community relations teams, and various administrators and teachers together in one room, we could better decipher the concerns each one of us had.
We collectively determined that the district needed a standardized platform that included an internal approval process to ensure every fundraiser represented the needs of our schools and extracurricular activities. In addition, we required a reporting mechanism that supported our responsibility to stay financially compliant with the State of Texas requirements regarding fundraising and transparency.
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Through this collaboration, we landed on a fundraising platform that offered greater control and visibility, robust campaign tracking and greater community engagement.
2. Being intentional with the platform rollout. The district had numerous school groups and programs experienced in running successful fundraising campaigns. The last thing we wanted to do was stall their progress by pushing them onto a new platform without any transition time.
So, we launched a year-long rollout, encouraging staff to explore the software in a supportive and risk-free environment before it became a district-wide mandate. A dedicated point person in our administration was also available to guide educators through the campaign setup process.
The soft rollout, along with open communication and transparency about the “whys” behind our effort, excited our team members. Early adopters quickly brought their colleagues on board, creating a momentum that has continued into this new school year.
3. Empowering staff and sharing their successes. Keeping staff engaged with new procedures started by seeking feedback on the platform and, even more importantly, taking action on their recommendations. If team members came to ask us questions, it wasn’t enough to answer them, we had to follow up to see if the solution was successful.
We were also fortunate to work with a solutions provider that listened to their suggestions and challenges. For instance, when multiple stakeholders voiced a need for a point-of-sale system, our partner began tailoring a new solution for which this district will be a pilot.
By successfully securing buy-in from every stakeholder, our new approach to fundraising has streamlined efforts across the district. As administrators, we have a panoramic view of every appeal in play so we can better support our staff and students in their fundraising efforts, while teachers, coaches, and club advisors are happy to find some relief from the headaches of managing multiple campaigns throughout the school year.
Just as important, we’re easing the “giving fatigue” for parents and the community so they can maximize their donations and help make our schools the best they can be.
