Consider Online Fundraising for Your School Projects And Costs

If you are a NextStepU reader and have taken the time to read past this headline, one can make this assumption that you, the reader, are an engaged, highly motivated student or teacher. Chances are that you are also probably quite a busy person between school and extracurricular activities.
With a greater focus on project-based learning (PBL) in schools, there is a growing need for funds to cover the cost of your projects and other activities. A great option to consider is crowdsourcing through online fundraising platforms that are available today. Edco is an example of an online platform for the K-12 community that has helped many STEM and robotics teams purchase materials, travel to regional and national competitions and add resources to their classrooms. For example, Ironhorse Robotics from Clovis North High in Fresno, California successfully raised enough money to support their award winning robotics team.
Your goal should be to make fundraising easy and fast – keeping your time investment low and getting the highest yield possible from the fundraiser. Here are a few great tips to help you get the best fundraising results (https://app.ed.co/library).

1. IT’S THE 21ST CENTURY
It is time to leverage technology and social media to reach more donors and raise more funds for your campaigns. Door to-door product sales have a limited “reach” and delivery can be time consuming. Online fundraising significantly decreases your team’s administrative and marketing time, eliminating many upfront costs while increasing the team’s revenue.

2. A DIGITAL TEAM PROJECT
Online platforms allow for a team to build something together, then customize it with videos and photos to send a powerful message to potential supporters. Look at this campaign that a high school robotics team in East Chapel Hill, NC recently created.

3. TIME, TIME, TIME
Online fundraising is a quick, secure, and efficient tool for your donors as well as campaign leaders. No checks to deposit. No cash to count and bring to the bank. Instead funds are quickly and efficiently deposited electronically into the team’s account.

4. PERSONALIZATION AND FOLLOW-UP ARE KEY
Online platforms can keep donors informed and engaged with your progress. You can share a milestone reached, or post photos of how you used the money (e.g. team photo in Washington, DC or holding a trophy). This kind of follow up will make donors more likely to donate the next time you are fundraising as they will see the impact their donation has. They will feel a clear connection to your team, its goals, and past achievements.

5. POWER OF NUMBERS
Email and social media allow for a greater reach. Pick a fundraising platform that allows teams to easily share their fundraiser on social media. And since there is no need to mail anything, friends and relatives from distant places can support the team too!

6. SUSTAINABLE FUNDRAISING
Build upon prior campaigns to create a dedicated donor base, get better results and receive future donations. Your fundraising page never vanishes and always allows you to accept tax-deductible donations. This means that starting your next fundraiser will take even less time and effort. You will also already have a proven donor list from your previous fundraisers that you can reach out to when you kick off your next fundraiser. By putting a little bit of effort into building your fundraiser’s footprint today, you can take your team’s projects to the next level tomorrow.

will boost your campaign with $25 when it reaches the $500 mark https://www.ed.co/nextstep