We’re so excited to have schools, PTAs, PTOs, and other education groups look at our resources as a must-place to go! We’re so happy to have your confidence, and that’s why we continue to share our insights. Our fearless chief marketing officer, Kristy, decided to offer tips on social media and hybrid fundraisers for the back-to-school season. Check out what Kristy shared about social and fundraising for schools and school groups!
Check Out the Webinar
But first, we want to make sure that you’ve got info handy and at your fingertips. Our team recently redid our site and made it more user-friendly. So, if you’re looking for back-to-school information or anything related to marketing or fundraising, check it all out for yourself. Here’s a list for you with links:
Back-to-School Social Media Tips
Instagram Marketing
One of our partners, Girls on the Run, has a fantastic Instagram profile. They use it effectively and have fun with it. So, our first tip for social media is that if you don’t have an Instagram account to get one. What better way to profile your school or education group? As we know, we live in a time where a picture’s worth a million (not a thousand) words! So, you should share the awesomeness of your school and the kids on one of the top photo and video platforms.
As Kristy said in our back-to-school webinar, you could easily add a donate button. But don’t overdo it! Remember, your supporters and community don’t always want to get asked for money. So, think of other calls to action. For instance, you could ask followers to share your latest IGTV reel. As we know, schools and youth groups have lots of fun activities. And you could engage your community by showing them what you’re up to around town.
Sharing Your Social
One thing to always remember for your marketing is that social media is all about social networking and sharing. The days when schools, PTAs, PTOs, and groups provided one channel, or maybe two, to supporters are long past. So, you’ve got to let your community know where to find you. And that means that you have to be everywhere you know your supporters congregate. So, that means being on various platforms, but that also means promoting regularly.
Your supporters include donors, parents, grandparents, teachers, community leaders, school administration, and students. All of those people are on platforms ranging from TikTok to email. So, make it a point to share your social links. If you happen to have a website, add your social platforms. If you do email marketing, we suggest that you add your social media accounts to the footer of your emails. In today’s world, your social platforms should be your main point of focus.
A Few of Our Best Tools for Social Media Marketing
Of course, we always want to share with you some concrete stuff. And in this section, we give you some of the best tools Kristy and our social team use to market our brands. For starters, Canva is excellent if you want to design stuff, and you’re not a designer. They’ve got plenty of templates for social, websites, and blog posts.
Another app that Kristy and the team love to use is Remini. It’s a photo-enhancing app that uses AI. So, if you happen to love a video, but it’s blurry, say bye-bye to the blur. Isn’t tech amazing?! And as Kristy suggested in the back-to-school webinar, the app tightens up lines and fixes any coloring or darkness. Another cool app is Mojo. So, if you want to build ads or do some cool videos for Instagram Stories or Reels, this is a great app to use. It allows you to animate your photos, add text, music, and lots more. To find out more about the apps Kristy and her team use, check out the webinar!
Back-to-School Hybrid Fundraising Ideas
Alright, so that’s a little of what you’ll learn about social on Kristy’s webinar. Now let’s shift to hybrid fundraising ideas. In other words, the following back-to-school fundraisers could happen in-person, online, or a combination. Let’s get started counting down in reverse to our number 1!
12. Ted Talk Style Event Fundraiser
For this type of fundraiser, all you’ve got to do is recruit a local celebrity or panel of guests. Create an hour or two presentation and sell tickets. You could live stream the event for those who can’t attend.
11. Creative Contest or Competition
Everyone loves a bit of competition. All you’ve got to do for this fundraiser is to ask people to participate in photography, essay, art, or whatever other competitions you imagine. Charge a fee for entry or voting.
10. Rubber Duckie Fundraiser
This fundraiser is also known as a “sailboat race.” Essentially, you choose 2 to 4 projects for fundraising. And then you challenge your donors to give to their favorite! The race comes in to see which gets funded first!
9. Local Business Partnership
For this, all you’ve got to do is to partner with businesses in your area. In short, ask them to include a “donation prompt” at check-out. It helps businesses show social responsibility. Moreover, 69% of customers say yes to a donation!
8. Social Media Takeover
Social is incredible and essential. For a social takeover, ask your local celebrity or corporation to take over your social accounts for a day. It’s a chance to have fun and raise fundraising dollars with an influencer.
7. Happy Hour Lesson Fundraising
Targeted to parents and adults, a happy hour lesson involves partnering with a bar or restaurant. Attendees, who pay a fundraising fee, can learn to make cocktails or have wine, whiskey, or other beverage tastings.
6. Donation Matching Drive
If you’ve got a top company or major donor, ask them to create a fundraising challenge. Then, ask your community to meet that challenge by matching the gift 1:1, 2:1, or even 3:1, depending on the amount.
5. Digital Download with a Fundraising Donation
Online donation processing is effortless these days. And when donors make a fundraising donation, you could give them a digital download as a gift. For instance, you could give away student art, e-books, or discounts and coupons.
4. Paint & Sip Night
Again, another fundraiser for adults, which could occur online or in person. Sell tickets to the event and get a local artist to teach people how to paint something interesting. Participants bring their own supplies.
3. Birthday Challenge Fundraiser
Invite your supporters to make a fundraising donation in the amount of their age at their next birthday. It’s a great way to celebrate everyone’s birthday, and you could promote this online for the entire school year!
2. Online Auction
The tried and true online auction’s been around for a long time. And when you do it online, it’s easy to bid with the click of a button. Check out some of these online tools for fundraising.
1. Shoe Drive Fundraisers
You guessed it! Our number one fundraiser is a shoe drive fundraiser. No asking for money. No selling merch. Just collect gently worn, used and new shoes, and we issue you the check!
So, that’s it! We hope that you enjoyed our back-to-school social media tips and fundraising online or in person.
Hey, don’t forget to follow us on social at our YouTube channel or Facebook.
© 2021 Funds2Orgs. All Rights Reserved.