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How to Recruit Volunteers to Promote Your Next School Fundraiser

By Whit Hunter

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Fundraisers are only as successful as the number of people who know about them. Build a buzz around your event by finding new ways to recruit volunteers to spread the word about your organization.

Keep track of your volunteers, create easily-shareable donation websites, and more with the help of BetterWorld. This online fundraising platform will keep you organized and ready to raise more money than ever. Register for free at BetterWorld today!

Top Tips to Recruit Volunteers for Your Fundraiser

One of the biggest sources of school fundraising stress is one person trying to take on too much. Instead of relying on a select few dedicated people, spread the workload amongst a larger pool of parent volunteers.

After deciding which fundraising roles to fulfill, it’s time to recruit fundraising volunteers! Here are our top tips that will help you improve your fundraising recruitment rate.

Contact Current Supporters

To recruit volunteers for your next fundraiser, your list of current supporters is an excellent place to start. These individuals have already shown their dedication to your cause by volunteering or donating to your organization's previous fundraisers. They are familiar with your mission, have helped in the past, and are likely to lend a hand again.

Whether they’ve donated in-kind items, worked a shift during your fundraiser, or donated money, reach out to them! You never know when someone might have the free time and desire to help you with your fundraising efforts.

To make this process effective, it is vital to maintain a detailed record of parent volunteers who consistently support your school. Since volunteers run many PTOs and PTAs, it is beneficial to have this information easily accessible in an easily accessible format for use year after year.

Check Local Philanthropic Groups

Another way to recruit volunteers is to check with local philanthropic groups, such as your local Lions or Rotary Clubs. Groups like these are always happy to give back to their communities, especially local schools.

Whether you need assistance with event staffing, in-kind donations for auctions, or help with promoting your fundraiser, these groups are a valuable resource for spreading the word about your efforts and recruiting volunteers.

You can also turn to local colleges and universities. Many sports teams, fraternities, and sororities often need to fulfill community service requirements as a part of their group commitment. Ask if any of these groups will volunteer for your fundraising efforts in exchange for volunteer hours.

Don’t forget to tap into your local high school’s groups and clubs! Like the college clubs, many, especially clubs like the National Honor Society, need to complete community service hours as part of their club commitment. What better way for them to do that than to help their local school community?

Make Fundraising a Social Affair

One of the biggest challenges with finding volunteers is the perception that fundraising is a chore. Between work, kids, and life, most parents are already running on empty, and the last thing they want is another commitment.

Rather than making it feel like one more thing they must do, turn it into a social event, and frame it as some fun adult time. One idea is to host a kickoff breakfast where adults can gather, socialize, and work toward achieving your fundraising goals.

If breakfast isn’t the ideal timeframe, consider an appetizer happy hour with built-in babysitting. Get responsible high school kids to watch the younger kids, so parents can socialize and help with the fundraiser without scrambling to find babysitters. This approach allows parents to socialize with other adults and give back to the school without feeling like another thing on their to-do list.

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Have Fundraising Roles at Various Levels of Commitment

Another challenge you will face when working with parent volunteers is the different levels of available free time. Even if parents want to volunteer, responsibilities like work or child commitments may stand in the way of committing to your fundraiser.

Eliminate this issue by offering various roles to your parent volunteers. For example, give a more substantial role to those with more time to commit. For those with less time, offer them a task they can easily fulfill. Smaller tasks like handing out flyers or sharing a website link around social media won’t take as long but can substantially impact your fundraising efforts.

You should also be specific about responsibilities and expectations when assigning roles. Ensure all your parent volunteers know exactly what to do and when. The more unsure a parent is about their duties, the more stressful volunteering will be. If volunteering feels stressful, they are less likely to return to help with another fundraiser.

Utilize Remote Platforms

To make fundraising as easy as possible for everyone involved, use a remote platform like BetterWorld. Whether it's volunteer contact information, ticket sales, or money raised, online fundraising platforms make it easy to keep track of important information.

Your fundraiser is more likely to run smoothly and effortlessly when you centralize everything in one place. Plus, making the fundraising process easy for volunteers and donors will increase the success of your fundraising efforts.

BetterWorld Makes Recruiting Fundraising Volunteers Easy & Fun

Stop wondering how to get parents more involved in school fundraising. With BetterWorld, we give you all the tricks, tips, and tools you need to run a successful and stress-free event.

Our easy-to-use platform allows schools to quickly set up their fundraising campaigns and reach out to a broader audience, making it easier to get more people involved in the fundraising campaign.

Reach out to our team today and discover how we can help you and your parent volunteers with your next fundraiser!


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Whit Hunter
AUTHOR

About Whit Hunter

Whit Hunter is the co-founder of BetterWorld, the free, easy-to-use online fundraising platform. His passion for empowering nonprofits and tech expertise have shaped BetterWorld’s mission to make fundraising more accessible and efficient.

Whit's innovative vision has helped countless organizations raise more funds and reach their goals, driving BetterWorld’s ongoing success.

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