Schools Blog

Are you having a problem getting volunteers to help out? Try this quick tip. Invite people to do specific tasks.

When you get specific in what you ask, it is much easier for people to gauge the amount of involvement that will be required and whether they have the skills to meet the need.

So, don’t ask for volunteers. Ask for someone to help set up the book fair from 9:00 – 12:00 this Thursday.

Sure, every parent group would love to have a stable of volunteers to call on for any need, but people are unwilling to commit if they aren’t sure what they are getting themselves into.

Next time you need something, think of your entire parent database as your volunteer base. Ask for people to fill in with specific needs.

Of course, the more you know about your parents, the easier. If you know a dad has a day off mid-week, you will know you can ask for his help that day. If you know a mom designs websites, you can ask her to help with your group’s site.

You will still get plenty of no’s. But you may get a few surprising yes’s if you can ask specifically. Also, it doesn’t hurt to stroke a person’s ego. Let them know that you heard they were really good at a certain task, and that you really need their expertise.

If you are not getting enough volunteers, you may just not be asking in the right way.

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photo credit: Kid_SBTG

One of the key building blocks for better participation in your parent group is communication. Plain and simple, good communication matters.

A Little Communication Goes a Long Way

Spending a little time focusing on improving your communication efforts can really help your parent group get more participation. We’ll talk more in a later article about what you should be talking about, but in this article lets focus on the systems that you can use to communicate better with your school community.

First of all, you should be using the internet to communicate. It is fast, it is easy, and its mostly free.

Build an Email List

Every parent group should have an email list of all the school parents. You can build this list over time at open houses and events. Be proactive in getting emails and explain that it is a primary means of communicating about issues that effect their children.

Once you have a list, send out regular emails. We use MailChimp to send out our emails and we really like the service. Plus, it can be free if you have less than 500 email addresses.

Your emails don’t have to be fancy. They should be direct and to the point and should share important information. Try to keep parents “in the know.”

Get a Website

Beyond email, you may want to start a website or blog where you can post information for people to view.

Be More Social (Online)

Another important area of communication is online social networks. It would be a good idea to start a Facebook page for your parent group. You may also want to start a Twitter account. This is another way to stay in touch with your community.

Communicate Within Your Organization

Finally, you may need a more targetted means of communication. There is a web service called MemberHub which allows you to communicate with your group members via an online interface, email, and even text messaging. You can set up separate hubs for the different committees in your group, and have a main communication hub for every parent in your school.

Use the Tools

Once you have the right tools, it it just about using them. Practice makes perfect. Just make it your goal to better communicate with parents and to learn the new tools of communication that will help you build a more involved group.

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photo credit: Milestoned

Whether you like it or not, building parent involvement in your parent group is a long process. If you don’t take the long view, chances are good that you will be continually frustrated. That frustration will only hamper your efforts at the parent group.

What you need is a game plan. If you have low participation right now, start thinking ahead about how you can build that up.

The first step is to make building participation one of your main goals. Everything you do should have a participation building component to it. This includes fundraising and regular monthly meetings. Think of ways you can use those things to build participation. Also, plan family events and other fun things to help build involvement.

When you make building participation a priority, you will start thinking differently about your parent group. For instance, is it easy for a newcomer to get involved? If you find it isn’t that easy, then you will want to start to make changes.

After you start to focus on building participation, you will likely realize that communication is very important. It isn’t enough to post meeting dates in a newsletter and rely on word of mouth. Your group should look into having a web site that you can easily update and setting up an email list. Tools like MemberHub also help with group communication.

Once you begin to show a serious interest in participation, and work toward having better communication, you will start to see an uptick in participation. But don’t expect too much here. You should think about how you measure participation.

If a majority of parents know what your parent group is doing, you can measure that as a win for participation. Maybe they aren’t at the meetings, but at least they are listening. It is a pretty good start. If your fundraisers are hitting their goals and getting positive feedback, your participation is healthy. If you get good attendance at events, that’s good for participation. Of course, all of this is nice, but what you really need is volunteers.

Getting volunteers is easier when there is general knowledge about and involvement with your group. Once you have that, you need to do two things. First, be sure to ask for volunteers. Second, have something specific for them to do. For instance, you may need a volunteer to organize baskets for the silent auction. Another volunteer may be needed to update the website. Be specific when you ask.

The more you focus on building participation and building good communication, the easier it will be to grow both passive involvement and direct engagement through volunteering.

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Written by Bradford Shimp. Stevco Fundraising provides hassle-free fundraising for youth oriented groups and volunteer organizations.

photo credit: A. Drauglis Furnituremaker

With the economy in a state of funk, you may feel bad about asking people to give your group money. But the fact stands that you need to raise money. While the economy is down, people are still interested in charitable giving. There is still money to spend, but people are being more careful about where they spend it.

That being said, there are a few things you can do to make your fundraiser more appropriate for this economy.

Have a Good Reason

The very first thing is to have a good reason for raising funds. As things are a little tighter, be more careful where you spend money. For now, focus on essentials and projects that are popular in the community. Just as people bristled to hear about car execs flying to Washington on private jets, they may bristle if they think your group is asking for money for frivolous things. Do an inventory of your goals and cut away things that can wait.

Once you narrow down to the essentials, be sure to communicate clearly what you are raising money for. Make a case for your fundraiser. Perhaps funds have dried up for an important program, or maybe your group helps families purchase school supplies. Tell a story that tugs at the heart a little, and you commit to doing good things with the money you raise.

Provide Value in Return

The next thing you should focus on is providing value. Remember, people are being more careful where they spend their money. If the only option you give them in a fundraiser is for non-essential items, you are coming across as out of step. Currently, fundraising programs such as discount books and value-priced food items are doing well. Overpriced gift items are suffering in this economy. Try to pick a fundraiser that sells something of value, and a decent price. People will appreciate that.

Be Thankful

Lastly, I know that you are always thankful for everyone who participates in the fundraiser and who buys from it. But there is no better time than right now to go out of your way to show that thankfulness.

For participants, why not a nice thank you note to every family who participates. You could even host an ice cream social just for them. For customers, maybe you can take out an ad in the local paper to say thank you.

Being thankful goes a long way. It shows that you know times are tough, and that you value the help you get.

You can still raise money, even in a down economy. Just be respectful with people’s time and money, give them something of value, and show your thankfulness.

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Written by Bradford Shimp. Stevco Fundraising provided hassle free fundraising solutions for youth oriented groups and volunteer organizations.

photo credit: TheTruthAbout..

In recent years, there has been a serious drop in participation in fundraisers. To turn this trend around for your school, you need to get creative. In this series, we will be talking about things that you can do to increase participation in your fundraiser.

Want to add a little fun while increasing involvement and participation in your fundraiser? Why not create a Clue-like mystery game to go along with the fundraiser. First, create a story. For example, you could say that Mrs. Marple’s dog has gone missing, and that the kids can help find it. Next, create a series of clues that will lead to solving the mystery.

During the fundraiser, have kids report how many items they have sold. Set up a check in counter during lunch time, for instance. For every so many items sold or dollars sold, give away a random clue. The kids can then compare clues and work together to solve the mystery. Have a prize for the first person to come to you with the answer.

To make this fun, make sure the mystery is a little difficult to solve. Give out a set of basic clues and then a set of advanced clues.

An alternate version of this is to do it by classroom. Have a clue-pack for each classroom, and let the kids work together to get the next clue. The first classroom to solve the mystery gets a pizza party.

A clue-based game like this will get everyone talking and get the kids excited about fundraising so they can get more clues.

Have any great participation building ideas? Email us at brad@enjoyfundraising.com and we will include your story here!