Why School Fundraising Doesn’t Stop During Summer

Summer is one of the best things about working or volunteering in a school environment. While everyone else has to keep getting up and going to work every day, teachers, kids, and PTO/PTA members get to kick back and relax for a couple of months. And after nine months of hard work, a vacation is definitely deserved.

In this blog, you’ll learn more about: 

• How Your PTO/PTA Can Use Summer to Plan
• Ways to Keep Your Members and Volunteers Involved
• How Booster Can Make Your Job Easier

But fundraising doesn’t have to stop during the summer. While the next Fun Run may be a while off, summer does provide opportunities for fundraising tasks that may get sidelined during the busier months. It’s also a great time to start dreaming up next year’s events.

Keep reading to learn why summer is an important time to think about back to school fundraising ideas. 

1. Summer is a great time for an end-of-year review.

What better way to celebrate all the work your PTA/PTO accomplished this past year than to take a look back at your successes? Use the end of the school year to assess the year’s efforts and figure out what went well and what didn’t. This will set you up for success as you plan next year’s back to school fundraising ideas. 

You can have fun with this, but also be systematic. Make sure to review every committee/project/event and honestly review what worked and what didn’t. Keep a list of mistakes to avoid in the future (and how) and make note of any tips, resources, or connections you’d like to use again next year.

2. Summer provides more time for low-priority tasks.

You can also use summer break for some light housekeeping, like organizing files and storage and updating logins and passwords. These kinds of tasks are easy to deprioritize during the height of fundraising season when all your efforts are concentrated on the next big event. 

Summer time is like the “spring cleaning” of the school year, so take advantage and get yourself organized! As you perform your end-of-year assessment (mentioned in the previous section) make sure you keep neat notes and file them in a way that can be easily referenced later.

3. Summer provides a transition for any major changes that are planned.

If your PTO/PTA has been dying to change an outdated bylaw, try a new routine, or design a fresh look for your school t-shirts, the break between spring and fall is the perfect time to do it. These types of changes can be difficult to accomplish when everyone is busy with normal back to school fundraising ideas and tasks. Change is much easier to implement and embrace when there’s little else to stress about.

4. Summer parties can help PTA/PTO members stay connected.

Whether there are new PTA/PTO members who could use a fun meet-and-greet or you’re all already great friends, one of the best things about school fundraising is the relationships. So why not use summer to celebrate them?

Throw a barbecue or beach day and invite all the members to simply come and have fun. Now that the hard work is out of the way, your PTO/PTA members can have a chance to get together and simply enjoy each other’s company without worrying about back to school fundraising ideas. 

Plan some icebreaker activities, have a gift exchange - the possibilities are endless. The goal is just to get people together, have fun, and celebrate everyone’s hard work.

5. Summer is the perfect time to plan a back-to-school fundraiser.

While you should definitely take a solid break from work during the summer, it’s not a bad idea to get ahead on planning. If your school year usually starts with a back-to-school fundraiser, you’ll definitely need to get started on planning before the school year begins!

Whether your school does the same event every year or you want to try something new, a back-to-school fundraiser is a great way to jumpstart your fundraising year and drum up excitement for all the events to come. 

Check out Booster’s recommendations for the best types of fundraisers and see if one sounds like the right back to school fundraiser idea for you.

A year-round job

Everyone deserves a vacation, fundraising volunteers included. But the great thing about summer is that it provides plenty of time for both work and play. 

After taking a good long break, don’t hesitate to catch up on some school fundraising tasks that tend to fall by the wayside during the school year. In fact, doing so can make your life a little easier when fall begins and fundraising season gets into full swing.

At Booster, we obsess over fundraising all year long, and it’s given us a ton of know-how when it comes to school fundraising. Want our help? Need some inspo on back to school fundraising ideas? Then we’ve got what you need! Get started today.