Winter break fundraising tips
While winter break is a much-needed time to relax and recharge for teachers, students and parents, it also presents some timely opportunities for fundraising. If you’re actively fundraising, here are some ways to keep the momentum going during this otherwise quiet time.
1. Remind your contacts and potential donors that they have until the last day of the year to make 2018 tax year deductible donations (TurboTax offers some information here). “Make a donation NOW to help lessen your tax bill.” As always, EdCo will provide your donors with a donation receipt.
2. Take advantage of the downtime from busy schedules to thank donors. Ask each team member to write a few thank you notes so that everyone will receive a handwritten letter. It makes a difference. A personal “thank you” may help the same recipient say “yes, absolutely I’ll donate” when you ask the next time.
3. Update your campaign web page with photos or videos or links to press about your plans and progress.
4. When seeing relatives over the holidays, mention your fundraiser and make sure you have the donation link ready to share with them.
5. If you’re the team mentor, send an email to all your team members informing them of the progress made so far towards the goal. They may not be checking the web site frequently, so sending such an email will keep them aware the total amount raised.
6. Brainstorm new local businesses you can reach out to for donations. Groups tend to approach local retailers, but there are many smaller companies in town you may not have considered. Check out the company directory of local office parks and consider other companies or organizations that do not have a storefront (i.e., manufacturing plants, funeral homes, the chamber of commerce). Search for local companies via Chamber of Commerce Directories.
7. Continue posting to social media over the holidays. People have more free time to scroll through their newsfeeds, so more likely they’ll see your team news.
8. Engage your team. Check to see how many of your team members submitted contacts. It’s more than likely that there are a couple team members who didn’t submit contacts at all. This is a great time to remind them it is their responsibility to help fundraise by submitting the contact info for at least 10 potential donors. Those who have already submitted 10 or more can go above and beyond by submitting another 5, 10, or 20!
How else can teams raise money over the holiday vacation? Add your ideas in the comments below.