“How will we pay for this trip?”
It’s the first question parents have and one that you, the educator, probably considered before the trip was even on the calendar.
But raising money for your group’s trip shouldn’t be daunting. In fact, with some thoughtful planning, fundraising can do so much more than pay for the trip.
When students, parents and the community work together to achieve a goal, something magical happens. Memories are made, friendships flourish and the culture of your program grows stronger.
Fundraising activities give students one more way to grow as a group, reinforcing the bonds they form in classes and rehearsals. For your students, a car wash on a Saturday afternoon isn’t just a means to end – it’s an opportunity to work together, laugh together, and get one step closer to the trip of a lifetime.
At Bob Rogers Travel, we’re here to help you set your fundraising goals and tackle them, one milestone at a time. (And have fun in the process!) Ready? Let’s get started.
Develop Your Fundraising Plan
Building the right fundraising plan starts with three words: What, when and how.
WHAT are your goals?
A clear goal provides guidance for the rest of your fundraising plan. And it’s remarkably easy to establish.
Start with the total estimated cost of your tour. Reduce that number by the amount of any existing funds or booster monies that will be applied. You now have your net trip cost.
The next question: How much of the net trip cost would you like fundraising to cover? This answer is different for each program, ranging from “just a little” to “all of it, please!”
If in doubt, we’re in favor of aiming a little high. Why? Because any fundraising reduces the cost for each traveler, which means more students can participate – and that’s what it’s all about!
With your fundraising goal in hand, let’s turn to making it happen.
WHEN will you start?
The best time to fundraise is before you really need to. Many programs fundraise year in and year out, whether a trip is on the horizon or not.
But the next-best time is now! At a minimum, you’ll want to be ready to start fundraising when you announce the trip to parents and students – excitement will be high and they’ll be ready to get crackin’.
HOW are you going to fundraise?
There are dozens of fun, effective ways your group can raise money, and different methods work for different programs. Before you pick yours, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Focus on opportunities with a high profit margin. Some fundraising programs – often those where you’re selling products – deliver profit margins that are very low. We want you to get full value from your fundraising efforts, so focus on fundraisers that bring in 75-100% profit.
- Get parents involved right from the start. Parents, boosters and supporters are often your most helpful fundraisers. They bring time, energy, ideas and connections to the table – so let them know you welcome them!
- Create partnerships with local businesses. They often want to contribute to the community and can be terrific partners for sponsored events.
Choose the Right Fundraising Idea(s) for You
The sky’s the limit when it comes to creative fundraising ideas, but the most successful ones are tailored to your students, your school and your community. You know these stakeholders best, so use that knowledge to make each fundraiser your very own.
Performances
Give your talented performers another opportunity to shine – and raise money! These can include talent shows, concerts, recitals, Christmas carols, etc.
Performances can provide multiple fundraising streams, like ticket sales, concessions and sponsorships in the program and event signage. And, shockingly, student performers usually don’t mind one more opportunity to perform.
Events
You can also put on non-performance events: Some of our schools have hosted golf tournaments, auctions, craft fairs and polar plunges. These events can become loved and anticipated in your community, allowing you to have annual fundraisers on the calendar whether you’re traveling that year or not.
Individual student activities
Encourage your students to find ways to use their unique talents and skills to raise money for the trip. Music lessons, sports coaching and tutoring are excellent ways for students to raise funds. And neighborhood jobs like lawn-mowing, dog-walking and snow-shoveling are oldies but goodies.
Selling “homegrown or homemade” products
Think bake sales, pancake breakfasts, plants in the spring, pumpkins in the fall, holiday pies, spaghetti dinners and chili cook-offs. These can also become annual traditions for your program.
Though there are supply costs for these kinds of ideas, parents and local businesses may cover these costs. And they’ll yield a higher profit margin than most campaigns through fundraising companies.
Trip Donations by BRT Payments
Every trip with you book with Bob Rogers Travel includes Trip Donations by BRT Payments, a crowdsourcing feature that can dramatically reduce your fundraising burden.
Here’s how it works: When they sign up for their trip, students and parents receive a personalized donation link they can share via email, social media or however they’d like. Then, friends, family and neighbors can make donations that are instantly applied to that student’s trip. It’s that easy!
This feature is a gamechanger, making travel possible for even more students. In fact, in the two years since we launched Trip Donations, our student travelers have generated over $2 million in donations!
Track – and Share – Your Progress
The goals have been established, the troops have been rallied, the funds are rolling in – now you’ll want to keep that momentum going by sharing your progress with the group.
There are many ways to track progress, from pen & paper to spreadsheets to apps. But by far the easiest: If you’re working with our team here at BRT, we can manage the process for you through our BRT Payments system, where we collect all student payments and where you can easily apply fundraising and booster monies.
A monthly email update is an easy way to keep parents and students in the know. Make sure to reinforce what they’re working toward – some educators pair the monthly update with a brief preview of one of the key itinerary items, and we love that idea.
You can also hang a “thermometer” poster in your classroom and update it as funds come in. Have fun with the theme – for instance, for a trip to the Big Apple, we’ve seen a classroom poster with a thermometer in the shape of the Empire State Building.
But Wait! There’s More!
When you work with BRT, we partner with you on every detail of your trip – including fundraising. We can offer more ideas, talk through your unique fundraising situation, and apply what we’ve learned from working with over 10,000 traveling schools and programs.
We believe travel helps students grow – as performers and as young adults. We want as many students as possible to experience the life-changing moments that happen during performance travel, and fundraising makes those moments possible. To learn more about how we can not only plan your trip, but support you in leading it, reach out – we’d love to help.
