Crowdfunding success


‘OUR CAMPAIGN HELPED US TO CONNECT WITH FAMILIES’


‘When our school was turned into an “all-through” in 2014, a new purpose-built primary school was added. Visualisers were put into every classroom when this opened, and they have een hugely eneficial to learning. The school was keen to ensure that the secondary students also enefited, which is when we decided to crowdfund. Although we already fundraise


‘WE RAISED £10,758 IN SIX WEEKS’


‘For years, we’ve wanted to turn our outdoor space into an eciting area where children can climb, play and eplore. his amition was realised when a Reception teacher, Katie Brownjohn, put together a proposal that she could drive from the school side, while the PTFA worked with the parents and wider community. We’d already raised £7,000


through PTFA events and a Co-op community grant, but needed another £8,500 to reach our goal. We believed parents and the school community would support an online crowdfunding project, as the playground was just a tarmacked area with no permanent play equipment. We appealed to our community


for rewards to offer supporters. We had a brilliant response through crowdfunder.co.uk, and from talented parents, with rewards including personalised portraits and samba band workshops. Teaching staff offered a term of music lessons and ran a bread-making workshop. The rewards made a huge difference, and our average donation was £97. We took children to the local radio


station to talk about the project, and launched it with an after-school


bake sale. We had a fundraising thermometer at the school entrance and encouraged children to colour in the new total each morning, which was a great visual reminder. Our school is situated in one of the


most deprived areas in the country, and is a community hub, so we were able to secure City Change Fund match funding from Plymouth City Council. The playground is visible from outside the grounds, so we showed that improving its aesthetic would assist with the regeneration of the wider area. We had to reach 25% of our target to be eligible for the fund, which subsequently pledged £4,250 to our project. As a result, we smashed our target,


raising a total of £10,758, which has transformed our playground. The children absolutely love the new space and it has made a real difference to their level of activity and play. Enthusiasm and hard work can create something amazing. Even in our school area, with a high level of surrounding deprivation, it is possible to successfully fundraise.’ Hannah Ames, Friends of Plymouth School of Creative Arts, Plymouth, Devon (1,000 pupils)


through events and grants, this was our first eperience o crowdfunding. We felt that it was something different that would appeal to parents who don’t want to attend events but still wish to support the school. It was also a great way to promote what we wanted to buy upfront, so donors knew eactly where their money was going. Our target was £1,264, which was enough to purchase three visualisers. We launched the RocketFund project via ParentMail and Facebook. Each message stressed the importance of the equipment, how much we had raised, and the fact that it was all or nothing! Historically, our parent base isn’t well connected to the school via social media, and this campaign helped us reconnect to some families. Response from supporters was


slow, which was frustrating, because although we hit our target we didn’t get it until the last day of our four-week campaign. Despite this, with the £1,284 raised we were actually able to purchase an additional two visualisers due to some great negotiation from our site manager and a small top-up of £50 rom the . his means the five key subject areas of the school now each have their own visualisers to share across the department. If you’re considering


crowdfunding, take a chance! It’s a great way of making sure the money people donate is used or a specific purpose. Sarah Ashwin, teacher and co-PSA chair, The Westgate School, Winchester, Hampshire (1,560 pupils)


FundEd AUTUMN 2019 41


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