Your school is constantly looking for new ways to improve student education. Whether you’re upgrading classroom technology or expanding your library, it’s easy to get excited about all of the new benefits your students will be able to enjoy. However, to secure the necessary funding to carry out these improvements, you need to spread this excitement to the rest of your school community.

Students, their families, and teachers may care deeply about your school’s success, but over time, they may become overwhelmed or burned out by all of your fundraising activities.

Fortunately, school fundraising fatigue is only a possibility—not an eventuality.

By adjusting your approach and taking proactive steps to engage your community, your school can maintain enthusiasm from one fundraiser to the next. Let’s explore four strategies that will set you up for success.

1. Vary and space out your fundraisers

Imagine this: A family member invites you and several other guests to an escape room to celebrate their birthday. You all have a blast finding clues and solving the puzzles together, raving about the experience long after it ends. However, next year’s birthday celebration is at the same escape room. The year after that? The same escape room. While you’re happy to spend time with your family, you’re tired of completing the same puzzles over and over again.

Fundraising is no different. If you host an identical event every year, the novelty will wear off, and engagement will decline.

Instead, stay on the lookout for interesting new ideas to incorporate into your calendar, such as:

Auctions
Talent shows
Trivia nights
Costume contests
Sports tournaments
Petting zoos

If your school organizes a highly popular fundraising event every year, this doesn’t mean you have to put an end to it. Let’s say that you host a Read-A-Thon every March to celebrate Read Across America, and your community loves rallying to support student literacy. Simply add an engaging theme to bring something new to each event. For example, one year, you could choose a “Time Travel” theme and challenge students to read stories set in the past or future.

2. Incorporate easy, passive fundraising

Your students, teachers, donors, and volunteers likely don’t live and breathe school fundraising—and that’s perfectly understandable! Sometimes, busy schedules and other priorities make it challenging for them to fully engage in your fundraising efforts.

Through low-pressure, passive fundraising options, you make it easy for your community to show their support without sacrificing a bunch of time and energy. Some easy and popular ideas to consider include:

Online shopping fundraisers. Students and their families already shop for groceries, household items, and more. An online shopping fundraiser provides an effortless way for them to support your school while doing so. Sign up with an online shopping platform and encourage families to download the browser extension or app. Whenever they purchase from a participating retailer, you’ll automatically receive a portion of the sales.
eCards. Find an eCard platform and create various designs for birthday greetings, holiday wishes, thank-you messages, and graduation celebrations. You can then embed them on your school website for community members to purchase and send to one another throughout the year.
Matching gifts. According to Double the Donation, companies donate $2-3 billion to nonprofits and schools annually through matching gift programs. When eligible employees donate to your school, their company will match that donation at a 1:1 ratio or higher. These programs double the impact of donations without asking donors to give more.
Online merchandise sales. Boost school spirit by designing branded t-shirts, hoodies, hats, and more to sell online. This way, community members can support your school and receive a high-quality product in return! You can even engage students in the design process by having them submit and vote on artwork that you can print on your merchandise.

Plus, you can keep all of these fundraisers open year-round to build consistent, low-effort revenue streams for your school’s initiatives and projects.

3. Use stories to illustrate the impact of donations

Whether you’re setting up an online crowdfunding campaign or planning a field day, it takes more than an interesting fundraising concept to keep donors engaged and convince those who are on the fence to get involved.

When you purchase something for yourself, you expect to receive a product in exchange for your money. Your school’s donors may not expect to gain anything in return, but they do expect something. Rather than watching their donation simply disappear, they want to see it make an actual difference to students. With this in mind, remember to focus on the impact of donations in your marketing materials and post-fundraiser follow-ups.

For example, if you’re hosting a library fundraiser to expand your book collection, you might share the story of a student who struggled with low self-esteem and academic performance after switching schools. Through spending more time in the library, they discovered a love for reading that inspired them to study harder and helped them bond with fellow book lovers. You could point out that as donors help you update your library collection, you can appeal to more diverse reading interests and help more students find a sense of belonging at school.

Obtain permission from students and their guardians before sharing specific names, images, or details to respect their comfort and privacy.

4. Motivate students with fundraising prizes

Sometimes, students need an extra incentive to actively participate in your fundraiser and rally support from their friends and family. To add a sense of excitement and friendly competition to your next fundraiser, award prizes to students or classes that raise the most money.

Read-A-Thon’s list of school fundraiser prizes covers some of the most popular ideas for students, including:

School supplies
Homework passes
Extended recess
Class parties
School spirit items
Pie a teacher

When you first announce your school’s fundraiser, explain how you’ll award prizes to the top-performing students or classes that participate. Then, in marketing messages and social media posts, gradually reveal prizes to build anticipation and shout out the students or classes that are closest to winning them. By incorporating a variety of prizes into each fundraiser you organize, you ensure that there is always something new that excites your students!

Whenever you wrap up a fundraiser, remember to thank everyone who contributed—from students to donors to volunteers. Taking the time to express your sincere appreciation can go a long way toward reinforcing and maintaining the support your school receives.
And, if you suspect that people are succumbing to fundraising fatigue, don’t be afraid to ask for their input. Send out a survey to learn how you can better align your fundraising strategy with your community’s needs, expectations, preferences, and interests. By staying tuned into how engagement rises and falls, you can continually make adjustments so that each fundraiser is better than the last!