Introduction
Institutions and charity-based organizations arrange fundraising activities to seek financial contributions from the public. These finances are put to productive use for a particular cause, like education for school and college students. Finance is integral to all organizations, whether for-profit, not-for-profit, government, or private enterprises. Charitable institutions regularly engage in these fundraising programs to finance their services offered to the public without the motive of earning profits.
However, fundraising programs are more than just gathering finance for an important cause. Although raising funds for educational institutions is a necessary avenue, there are no restrictions that say you can’t make them exhilarating. It is also an opportunity to teach children the essence of planning events, teamwork, creativity, and financial responsibility.
Online fundraising platforms enable you to increase donations for school initiatives that offer donor and alumni engagement for building communities. They grow collections through virtual and hybrid events by providing tools to PTOs, schools, fraternities, clubs, and other non-profits. Intrigued by how to get creative with your educational prospects? Read on!
- Virtual Auctions
COVID-19 severely impacted charities and non-profit institutions, especially educational ones. Over 91% of the schools and colleges suffered heavy losses and insolvencies over the past 18 years, while 45% tried to sustain through adapting. Today, over 41% of them are dipping their services and moving towards the online platform for their core competencies.
One such online program is online auctions. Auctions are fun in themselves, with a number of people actively participating. Virtual auctions enable children’s international relatives and distant close ones to join through a public link. All you have to do is upload auction products and start the bidding. Online fundraising programs and software come in handy in this regard, with additional features like video and audio-based interactions, text widgets, easy-to-fill donation forms, and a whole lot more to trigger excitement among participants.
- Food Parties
The best way to reach finances is through the stomach. Surprise the young pupils by treating them to some delicious pizzas and pies. Are you in for some more fun? You can add some video games, movies, music, and other exciting activities that feel like a party made in heaven.
If pizza is not a good option, you can implement the same with tacos and ice cream shots. You can also make this exciting by organizing a raffle competition for the most donations. There are tons of online platform software that provide tools for raffles, where the highest contributions win exciting prizes.
- Apparel Design Contests
Virtual designing contests are not only an innovative way to ignite a creative spark in your students but also help to increase donations for school initiatives through online voting and ticketing platforms. These platforms offer customized questions and an easy interface to work with. Apart from this, you are provided an array of tools like online giveaways, auctions, virtual crowdfunding, ticketing and voting, peer-to-peer charities, and more.
Let the students compete with each other by designing school-themed T-shirts and dresses. Then you can move on to use the virtual voting program for putting their outstanding apparel on display. The ticketing will enable participants to vote and determine the winning clothing. You can also spice it up with virtual real-time leaderboard updates and trackers.
- Obstacle Course Runs
Physical activities are crucial in the digital era. Why not turn this into a fun fundraising proposal? You can organize an obstacle course run with fun obstacles like spider rope-climbing, rabbit jumping, caterpillars, sandbag carrying, and water balloons. Not only will these campaigns put your children in shape, but they can also provide loads of entertainment for the bypassers. Provide exciting gifts for the trophy-holders and arrange certificates of participation.
You can enhance your funds through entry charges and registration fees. Virtual tracking software and fundraising programs will handle pre-registration activities and check-in facilities without hassle. They will enable you to track all the participants directly on your event dashboard and organize the relevant information in one place.
Final Thoughts
And that puts an end to exciting fundraising ideas that any educational organization can practice. The advent of COVID-19 led to charitable institutions moving towards an online way of gathering resources and finances, which opened up multiple virtual platforms with valuable tools. Implementing the ideas mentioned above can significantly collect donations and raise funds.