Introducing: The Fundraising Calendar!
Money, money, money!
Sports have it, heck, even the band has it. But art? We have a budget, for sure, but is it ever really enough? For me, this year it wasn’t. We got a new principal, and don’t get me wrong, I really like her, but she came with a new budget for the arts department. Now, I share $4,500 with chorus and theater. While I love sharing, this is not where I wanted to be. My previous principal seemed to have a laissez-faire attitude towards the budget, buying me everything I needed. While that was great, I also didn’t know what the ceiling was, so there was a problem in that too.
So, I gathered with my arts department team at the beginning of the year, and we decided to give a local grant a shot. We wrote it, gave it our all, and, well, we didn’t get it. They preached thinking big, and we did, but it seemed like we overshot? I won’t lie, I got a little discouraged. While we will try again in the next round, I knew I needed funds now since I had already used my portion of the budget for my basic supplies for the year.
If you’re like me, sometimes I come up with projects on the fly, or a kid gets a killer idea, and it turns out we need something that I just don’t have. I need to be able to run out to the store that very afternoon and grab something for the next day to make the magic happen for this kid, and I can only do that if I have the money to make it happen.
The Solution: The Fundraising Calendar!
So, with that, the Fundraising calendar was born! I had seen some folks on social media posting about their kiddos raising money for their dance studio or baseball team, and I figured, why can’t I do that with my art department? You could also adapt this calendar to any subject, really; chorus, theater, band, FACS, digital art, computers. Us elective teachers need to stick together out here!
What is it?
So basically, it’s just a calendar that each student has that you print off and give them. Then, that student goes and spreads the word to their friends and family, whether in person or online. They encourage them to choose a donation amount that resonates with them, for example, donating $5 on the 5th of the month. Then, the student (or their parent/guardian) simply writes in the donor’s name or crosses out the designated space! Extra donation days can be any amount they feel comfortable giving. Your student gathers all the donations, and once they have totaled the amount and the month is over, they submit it to you and your department!
The steps I had to take to make it happen:
1- Design the Calendar
I did that for you! You can find it here, all you have to do is log into your Canva account and make your personal edits and follow the rest of these steps!
2-Talk to the Money Man (Or Lady in my case)
I spoke with our school accountant. Thankfully, she is amazing and facilitated the conversation with my principal and made sure it was even a possibility at my school.
3-Admin Approval
I had to get permission from my administration. I wrote out a brief description of how the fundraiser would go and sent them the actual flyer and calendar I would give to students and their families. My principal and admin approved; we were a go!
4- Launch
I had to launch. Thankfully, this year I started an art club. I have a solid 25 kiddos who are gung-ho for some art and really like the idea of buying and doing stuff they are actually interested in (consumables like ice-dying t-shirts, drawing gourds, or decoraing cookies) While I launched with all of my students, about a total of 200, my art club kids are the ones who mostly participated! I really hyped up the launch too; I played some loud music as they came in, had them do a huge drum roll on the table, asked them who wanted free art supplies, and they went nuts. I handed them their calendars and off they went.
5- Advertising
Art club kids’ parents are all on a Remind group where I send them text message reminders for all art club things. I used this to inform them and update them throughout the month about the fundraiser. We also have a biweekly newsletter and social media person at our school where I posted my social media flyers and our TikTok video (the kids and I had a lot of fun making it.) It was my first one ever, and if I do say so myself, I am pretty proud of it! I also made posts throughout the month of kids’ work and accolades referencing the fundraiser to remind them!
6- Logistics
The end of the month came, and the logistics of moving money has a lot of rules. I learned about the receipt book and that you aren’t supposed to throw it out if you mess up on one, just void it (whoops.) I wasn’t allowed to accept any money personally via apps, so the students had to submit all their donations in cash or check. I was sure to tell them, though, that they could collect their donations however they see fit! I even made a quick little QR code for them to have a digital version to put online; it’s super quick and free to do. I know that personally I am much quicker to donate a quick dollar via a money app than drive over and give someone cash nowadays!
7- Prizes!
Knowing that I had a hook into my art club kids and that art supplies would motivate them, I made my prizes art supplies. I sat down with my top three donors, and we talked about their work and looked at what they have made recently. I was able to put together materials they needed and some they have never used before. What a wonderful gift! They helped everyone, and in turn, I was able to help them grow. Y’all should have seen their faces when they got their goodies. I want to do this forever, I swear.
The Bottom Line
In the end, I had 24 students submit their calendars. We raised $1,375 in 30 days. So just for a second, do the math. Even if just one student were to fill an entire calendar from the 1st – 30th, that student would raise $465 for your program. And let’s just say that my 24 motivated students did that, it could be over $10,000. Now… will that ever happen? Maybe not for the visual arts, but my little art teacher’s heart can dream. All I know is that I bought sketchbooks for all my kids next semester, new sharpies, a hot glue gun, and I have my eye on some gelli printing plates…
This was my first time doing this, and I am sure there are better and more effective ideas for doing this bigger and better! Do you have any thoughts on how I can take this to the next level next year? Let me know in the comments below, hive mind people!
If you want to give this a shot in your school, I have this for download in my TPT store HERE. I have them as editable documents in Canva. This way you can make it your own, add your school details, change the colors, the prices, anything you’d like. If you do give this a shot, please let me know how it goes. I would be thrilled to know!
