This is a sponsored post. I’ve been compensated by FutureFund to write about my experience with and opinion about the fundraiser. All opinions are 100% mine and haven’t been influenced by the sponsorship agreement.
Hands up if you’re looking for easy, yet extremely profitable PTO fundraisers for your school!
Of course you are, and I’m so glad you’re here because this post has just what you’re looking for.
We’ll dive into three fundraisers that are super light on time, but also don’t have any sort of financial investment required and give your PTO a 100% profit return!
So much to love about all of that, so let’s get right to it.
The Direct Ask
First up is a fundraiser that is plain and simple because a lot of times, asking directly for what you want and need is best, and PTO fundraising is no different.
Instead of setting up a product based fundraiser where your PTO earns only a portion of what is collected, instead ask school families for a straight financial donation instead.
Alternatively, every time your PTO offers a product or catalog fundraiser, add a direct donation option where families can make a financial gift in the amount of their choice.
Both approaches work because many parents and supportive friends and family would rather just give money than buy anything.
Ultimately, they want to support their students, but not if it means having to deal with the hassle of ordering an item they don’t really want.
Instead, they prefer a clean and easy option of writing a check or making a donation online.
Every family’s budget and discretionary income is different, so you’ll get a bunch of different amounts, but they’ll all add up really quickly!
Even if very few families choose this route, it’s money that wouldn’t have come in otherwise, so don’t miss out!
Part of increasing participation for donation rates is making it as easy as possible to make a donation.
Some people have moved beyond using checks and will need an online donation option to participate, so don’t leave this group out.
One of the best online donation platforms I’ve seen is hosted by FutureFund.
A key feature that differentiates their system from others is that they have a built in process for accepting recurring donations!
And this means donations have the possibility of being much bigger than they would otherwise since donors can easily budget for them!
For example, if a donor chooses to donate $5 a month because that fits into her budget more easily than a one time donation of $50, your PTO will end up with a $60 donation after a year, a 20% increase.
So not only is it nice to offer flexible payment options, but your PTO could make out like a bandit in the end!
Bottom line is that a direct donation option is a good thing for your PTO, so don’t miss this opportunity to raise funds for your PTO by forgetting to offer this option.
Pledge Based Fundraiser
The next fundraiser every PTO should have is a pledge based fundraiser.
This is similar to a direct donation fundraiser, but the difference is that the fundraising is usually tied to a particular event or support of students’ activities.
A Walk-a-thon or Read-a-thon are two good examples of a pledge based fundraising where students ask friends and families to make a pledge to donate so much for every lap they walk, or book they read.
The pledge can also be a flat fee, but usually the students solicit pledges before the event and then collect the pledged money after the event is over.
Pledged based fundraisers can be a fun way to turn the fundraiser into a friendly competition. Incentivize participation with prizes for students who collect enough to hit pre-set milestones.
Normally tracking donations with an individual student is a headache for the Fundraising Chair, but the folks over at FutureFund have it all figured out for you and have eliminated much of the work.
With FutureFund’s ready-to-go Pledge Fundraiser feature, you’ll be able to more easily run homeroom contests to really juice profits to a greater extent, making for a more successful fundraiser!
Employer Donation Match
This last recommendation for a fundraiser every PTO needs is a Corporate Matching program. Not familiar with this type of fundraiser? Here’s how it works:
Many companies offer this philanthropic perk to employees where they will match what’s donated by their employees.
For employers, it’s an easy way to give back to an organization their employees support and at the same time show their commitment to their employees as well as the community.
For employees, it’s an even easier way to boost what they can give to the PTO and school since their donation gets multiplied, increasing the impact of their gift.
And for PTOs, corporate donation matching represents an incredible opportunity to double donations, with zero outlay of anything other than a bit of time.
Here’s how it works: When an employee makes a donation to your 501(c)(3) PTO, they’ll also submit a matching gift request to their employer.
The employer will then send a donation to match what their employee gave to your PTO.
But some will match at a higher rate, so it’s possible to more than double the donation!
If school families know about their employers’ matching programs, then the PTO literally has no work other than cashing the check.
How awesome is that?
If your PTO isn’t getting fun mail like this, then make plans to start by recruiting a dedicated volunteer to consistently promote this program.
The time the volunteer spends reminding parents of this opportunity will really pay off because the money that can be generated is eye popping.
Generally about 30% of parents’ employers will match donations, so that means donations could be boosted by as much as 60% if both parents’ employers match.
Convinced to start this program, but you don’t have a volunteer to spare?
No problem.
Check out the Corporate Matching program FutureFund offers.
They have a corporate matching program all set up and ready to go for you, once again minimizing the time required to pull off this fundraiser.
Wrapping up
If your PTO isn’t careful, it’s easy for fundraising to turn into a full time job. But the good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way!
It’s possible to raise money for your PTO to meet or even beat your goal without having to work at it night and day when you put a Direct Donation, Pledge Based Fundraiser or Corporate Matching Program into place!
Learn more at FutureFund!
