Virtually all schools depend on fundraising to support their budgets. School fundraising raises money to fund students' academics and extracurriculars as well as occasions for fun and social bonding.
But school fundraising also requires the work of hundreds of volunteer hours to design and implement successful campaigns. That's why PTAs/PTOs turn to school fundraising platforms to help in making fundraising more efficient and effective.
What is a crowdfunding platform?
Fundraising platforms help schools plan and manage fundraisers. There are a variety of fundraising platforms which can be utilized to satisfy a range of requirements. However, the best platforms simplify the following steps:
Campaign creation, for instance creating a campaign page or donation portal
Management of the campaign - directing the stages of the campaign after it's set in motion
Goal and progress tracking and reporting on how close you are towards achieving your fundraising goals
Donor management - for example facilitating online donations, automating communication and acknowledgments as well as promoting donor engagement etc.
Event planning, for instance automated task reminders
Promotion of your event - like an easily shareable link to your page for donations
Certain fundraising platforms are made for specific types of fundraisers such as crowdfunding or silent auctions. They are only employed for a specific purpose, such as the planning of an event, tracking donations or even the actual event.
Others are more comprehensive. These allow you to create an advertising campaign that is specifically customized to your objectives to plan, monitor, and analyze the results from beginning to end.
This is why it's essential to determine your fundraising goals and the kinds of events you're thinking of conducting, prior to making a purchase.
Whatever kind of fundraising you engage in, a good platform for fundraising must be functional, efficient and user-friendly. Read on to learn how to choose a fundraising platform that fulfills these criteria.
What are the most important things to look for in a school's fundraising website
1. Comprehensive support
Software Advice's survey of 2015 revealed that the ability to function was the most important aspect that people are searching for in a fundraising software. The level of support that you receive is a key aspect of the functionality of fundraising software.
At a minimum the platform for fundraising should have a comprehensive technical support team that can resolve issues with how the software works from the administrative and donor sides. The support team must communicate efficiently and quickly to ensure that problems can be quickly resolved.
Booster Tech is more than providing a efficient tech support team that is able to answer any questions you or your donors might have.
2. Reporting and visibility
A fundraising platform's visibility is another important aspect. Administrators need to be able to see donors, donations, campaign tasks and more.
It is important to ensure that the platform you're considering has simple dashboards that are user-friendly and easy to use, so you can keep track of the progress of your campaign in all of the time. It also makes to ensure that that your donations are accurately recorded and acknowledged.
MyBooster's fundraising platform provides industry-leading reports. These reports allow you to quickly see information about donors by type, organize incentives and award prizes. You also have a nice dashboard that lets you manage your the tasks of your campaign in one easy location.
3. Monitoring progress and achieving the goals
Your fundraising platform should keep track of the performance of your campaign. This not only keeps the fundraiser on track but also allows for gamification which could increase the engagement of donors.
Booster's fundraising platform enables fun contests to make donors and students enthusiastic about participating. Furthermore, your school has the capability of seeing their achievements in real-time and it's a major motivator for students, volunteers and others in the school group who are working to make the fundraising a success.
4. Utilizable Integrations
The majority of schools employ a mix of various types of fundraising events throughout the year to increase their profits. It is ideal to have a fundraising platform that can support the most diverse campaigns possible.
It is also important to look for connections between fundraising platforms for individuals and any other programs or software. Double the Donation, for example, integrates with MyBooster's fundraising platform, so that users can conduct corporate gift matching programs within the same place they manage all other fundraisers.
5. Communication capabilities
School fundraising is only successful in the event that people are aware of them. When looking for best fundraising platforms for individuals, make sure it allows for easy, effective communication not only between administrators and organizers, but also with donors, participants, and even the general public.
The school's success in fundraising can be enhanced by integrating with the most popular social media platforms, email platforms, text and other tools. For example, with Booster Tech, families can create videos that are unique to their students simply by uploading a picture. They can then share the video on social media to advertise the school's fundraising.
6. Donor management
No matter how hard your team works It's the donors who can make or break the success of your fundraiser. For that reason, donation tracking is a fundamental part of every fundraising campaign.
The best software will enable you to eliminate spreadsheets and handle donors and donations right within the fundraising platform. You should, in the end, be able track donors and donations as well as communicate with and thank donors in your fundraising platform.