Giving Tuesday is a great time to remind your students’ parents, grandparents, and friends what your classroom mission is and what your teaching needs are. Giving Tuesday is situated amidst many major holidays, a time when people traditionally feel more generous, and therefore apt to give to their favorite students’ passions.
So why not turn Giving Tuesday into Teacher Tuesday? By mid-year teacher supplies begin to run out, projects and ideas are added to the classroom, and school-related activity needs are more obvious.
Many donors are used to annual appeals where money received goes into a general fund, alumni fund, or something similar, but schools (and teachers) have different and immediate needs that can make a difference in the lives of the children in their care.
Here are 5 tips to turn Giving Tuesday into Teacher Tuesday.
1) Get a Python in the Biology Lab by Telling a Story
Children and animals tug at the heartstrings in a feel-good way. Tell parents, grandparents, and friends the difference between reading about biology and experiencing it firsthand. Now is the time to raise funds to add an animal to your classroom. Students can observe it, learn about it, and understand its care and feeding.
Build your GiveWP form with different levels of giving to correlate to the animal’s needs. For example, maybe $200 buys the animal, $50 buys its shelter, $20 feeds it for a month, and $10 buys bedding.
Be creative, giving donors options in sponsorship. Allowing a donor to give toward something specific allows them to join the story, as opposed to asking for dollar amounts only. You might also consider setting up a camera and live feed so your students can see their classroom pet all the time, even in a distance learning environment.
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2) Get School Supplies by Demonstrating Your Need
If your school supplies are dwindling and you need more to carry you through the year, then demonstrate your needs to your audience. This year, that’s probably easier than ever. Classrooms need pandemic supplies to keep students and teachers safe.
Start a blog on your school’s site demonstrating what you do with school supplies.
- Show your students painting, sculpting or drawing in art class.
- Demonstrate the need for books for the library by giving details on how many books move through the circulation desk in a week.
- Talk about how important health and safety are for your classroom. Let people know how many boxes of tissues, bottles of hand sanitizer, and cups of cocoa your classroom uses.
In each post make sure to highlight a student story and provide a link to your GiveWP form for donors to fulfill your needs. A child’s testimonial about class, the library, or staying healthy will go a long way.
3) Provide Healthy Snacks by Teaching About Healthy Living
Giving Tuesday can help you raise money for healthy snacks in your classroom. Use the Form Content Area of your Give form to explain how you will teach healthy eating through wholesome snacks like fresh fruits and vegetables.
Create a chart where students can keep track of their healthy choices; explain how you will have a classroom visit from a local health coach; and show photos of happy children making healthy eating choices.
The Donation Goal in your Give form can help your classroom hit a healthy goal!
4) Give Families Choices to Sponsor a Field Trip
Let your families “vote” with their dollars on where the class will go on their next field trip. Use GiveWP’s Form Grid to create a donor page where the field trip options are displayed with donation goals. The trip with the most funding wins! This creates a healthy competition that results in a great educational experience!
Explain on your donation page that all money raised through all forms will support the winning field trip. If you raise more than your goal, then add more to your trip, like lunch, souvenirs, or a fun detour.
5) Create a Competition to Name a New School Mascot
Set up a GiveWP Form Grid for each classroom to receive donations toward the new mascot’s costume. The classroom that raises the most money wins the right to name the new mascot.
Use photos of the new design and enticing copy that makes them want to name it. Create your GiveWP forms with a set donation (not multi-level) so that each vote is equally weighted, but anyone can vote more than once. Encourage donors to contribute often!
Bonus Tip for Distance Learning
Your school or classroom might not be meeting in person for the foreseeable future, but that’s okay. All of these ideas also work for a virtual classroom.
Check out our ideas on fundraising for distance learning to see how you can use fundraising to improve online learning. These ideas can help parents connect with out-of-work teachers as well as provide funding for underprivileged students to access the technology they need to stay in class.
It’s Teacher Tuesday but Still Giving Tuesday
Make sure that if you turn Giving Tuesday into Teacher Tuesday to still follow all of the best practices for Giving Tuesday. Don’t forget to use #GivingTuesday!
For more help planning your Giving Tuesday this year, download our free workbook.
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Giving Tuesday
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