Fundraising for School Trips: 6 Great Ideas for Raising Money for Student Travel
Real-world experiences, particularly educational tours of significant locations, are an incredible way to get students engaged with different kinds of subject matter in school. But we know that taking students on large field trips across the country or across the world is not cheap or easy. While Son Tours offers some of the most affordable school tour options available, we also want you to know that there are plenty of fundraising ideas out there to help you raise money for student trips big or small.
#1. The Tried-And-True Methods
The classics never go out of style, so it couldn’t hurt to consider the old-fashioned ways of raising money: bake sales, car washes, and community garage sales are all good options. Ask for donations from your students’ parents of items that they no longer need, like clothes sitting in the back of their closets or old movies they never watch and have a big sale for your school. There are also the old standbys of sweets sales or candle fundraisers that your students can participate in to raise money. With all the proceeds going towards educational goals, people are more eager to participate in these kinds of sales.
#2. School-Wide Events
There are plenty of school-wide events that you and your students can plan to raise money for your school trip. Talent shows, open mic nights, walk-a-thons, student/faculty sports events, and movie nights are all great ideas. You can ask for donations at the entrance or charge an entry fee and sell refreshments, and all the proceeds go towards the trip. You can even try talking to film distributors about showing an upcoming film at your school the night before it premieres in local theaters.
#3. Crowdfunding and Social Media
The internet can allow your school’s campaign to extend far beyond the reach of typical fundraisers. Crowdfunding websites like GoFundMe, Kickstarter, and others offer options for people to post a project, set a contribution goal, and a deadline (careful, though, if you don’t meet your contribution goal within the deadline, you might not get any of the money, depending on the site rules). It’s typically a good idea to set small goals and work from there, making the trip a little easier to fund step by step. Another option is to create a page on social media dedicated to fundraising for your school trip. Just be clear that it is a not-for-profit fundraiser for an educational trip. It costs next to nothing to start these online fundraisers and they can be quite successful if they are marketed properly.
#4. Look Into Large Corporations for Help
Plenty of large companies like Target, Kraft, and others have grant programs for funding school trips. Some have limits as to when you can apply, such as early in the school year, while others have restrictions on grade levels, such as middle school or high school only. Some will also do gift matching, which can double your proceeds. You can also ask students’ parents if their employers would consider matching gifts.
#5. Make a Project for Your Students to Raise Money for the Trip
Teach your students about small businesses, help them learn management skills, and more by creating projects where your students drive the ideas forward. They can offer a small service, like mowing lawns or babysitting, and then create a business plan and marketing plan (like using their favorite social media hangout). This turns it into a fun project to help them really learn while raising money.
#6. Combine Different Methods
Of course, you aren’t limited to just one fundraising idea for a school trip. Get students involved in a project, talk to large corporations, come up with school-wide events, and promote them on a social media page with an online donation option. With multiple options, you and your students can raise money for a fantastic school trip, whether you want to go to Philadelphia or Paris, St. Louis or London, New York City or Naples. Money shouldn’t prevent you from offering your students an incredible educational experience.
Planning School Trips with Son Tours
We offer expertly planned educational tours of cities in the United States and in Europe. We take the headaches out of planning educational trips and we can even help reduce unnecessary costs. Our flexible, customized itineraries will give your students a high-quality educational tour experience with safety and security included, plus so much more. Contact us today to start planning your educational trip today!