Community events
SPECTACULAR EVENTS SHOPPING EVENTS
Shopping events combine the convenience of having lots of interesting items for sale in one place with the potential for people to grab a bargain or pick up something unique. Car boot sales are a fantastic event to hold if you have a large school field – even more so if it’s one of the only such spaces locally. Take a look at our guidance from the Trading Standards Institute on legal requirements for second-hand sales at
funded.org.uk. Pamper and shopping evenings help you build relationships with local businesses, and, if held in the build up to Christmas or Mother’s Day, provide attendees the chance to stock up on presents or enjoy a spot of relaxation. Have a variety of treatments and products available, with the addition of a bar and a refreshments area for socialising.
Swishing (or clothes swapping) events work better the more people that attend, as it means more fashion cast-offs to swap! As one person’s trash is another person’s treasure, you’ll be helping local families to give their wardrobes a refresh without it costing the earth. A step-by-step guide can be found at
funded.org.uk. Organise a clothing recycling collection for the following week to capitalise on any unsold items. Art exhibitions can showcase both students’ artwork and the work of local artists, photographers and sculptors. Have a grand opening with canapés and fizz to give it a professional edge that will appeal to audiences beyond parents. Your gallery should include a catalogue of pieces for sale, with the school taking a small commission on items sold. Run a raffle or auction and a bar to further boost profits.
ASSESSING POTENTIAL INTEREST
If this is the first time you're opening up a school fundraiser to the wider community, it makes sense to test the water first. Which events are normally well attended by families at your school? What events do other schools run and what works for them? Use this insight to plan something bigger, without duplicating existing events.
Research your local area,
looking for any gaps and opportunities; for example, has a local pub changed ownership and stopped running live music nights? Has a local comedy club shut down? Conduct a survey – perhaps with a poll on a community Facebook page – to gauge interest. Pre-sell tickets where possible.
Large events can make a memorable one-off, but also have the potential to grow into something annual as confidence builds. Events like these are newsworthy, so make sure you send a press release to local media outlets to encourage attendance. Invite the press to attend and take photos to extend the coverage. Fireworks displays can be a really attractive offering – especially if the nearest display requires locals to travel. Safety concerns are not to be ignored, of course, but given that many schools are already raising considerable amounts of money from fireworks events, we’d recommend that you discuss the idea with a specialist fireworks provider as they will be able to allay any fears over insurance and health and safety. Music festivals are hugely popular, so why not create a buzz by bringing a bit of Glastonbury to your school? By getting local bands together you can really widen the appeal for supporters, as the bands will bring their own fan base with them. If you are a secondary school, invite families with children in Years 5 and 6 who will either be choosing schools or looking forward to joining you. Circus events are fairly easy to set up and run because the circus company does much of the organising for you. If you are a primary school and have pre-schools nearby it’s a brilliant way to attract prospective parents. Movie nights are an obvious choice if you don’t have a cinema nearby. There’s the potential to turn this into a regular event, with different nights aimed at different ages depending on what you’re screening, but be wary of the cost of copyright licences. Consider other ways of generating revenue, such as food and drink sales. Or, even better, how about holding an outdoor cinema night at the start of the autumn term?
SELL TICKETS ONLINE Selling tickets to those beyond families
at your school isn’t as simple as asking parents to hand in forms/cash or pay through your online parent payment portal. To enable the wider community to buy tickets, use an online platform such as Eventbrite (
eventbrite.co.uk) or Jumblebee (
jumblebee.co.uk), which enables you to easily share the link via your school’s website and via social media. See p11 for advice around the GDPR.
FundEd SUMMER 2018 47
IMAGES: SAMRYLEY/
ISTOCKPHOTO.COM; ISLES YACHT CLUB CC BY 2.0 (
CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY/2.0), VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
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