Giving Tuesday and Holiday Fundraising Tips

Published on by

Would more donations to your AdoptAClassroom.org page bring more holiday cheer to you and your students?
We have fundraising advice to help you spread the word about the supplies your classroom needs this winter.

Read More:

Before You Start: Register With AdoptAClassroom.org

You must be registered with AdoptAClassroom.org to raise donations for your classroom with us. 
Registering online is fast and easy.

We even have a quick video guide to help you through the process. 

If you have any questions, our teacher services team is here to help. Just email [email protected].

Register Here

Fundraising Tip #1 – Create A Classroom Page That Stands Out (And Keep It Updated)

Your AdoptAClassroom.org classroom page helps tell a potential donor who you are and why your classroom/school needs their help.

Jessica, an elementary teacher in Texas, tries to put herself into the mind of a donor when writing her classroom page. 

“The people who are going to be donating to me are people who are not in the education field and so I try to think from their perspective. I let them know who my kids were and where they came from so they understood that not all kids come equipped with what they need ready to learn each day.”

Photo of Michele

Michele, a middle school science teacher in California, talks about the opportunities she wants to give her students and includes information on the specific items she’s fundraising for. 

In the past, Michele fundraised for books for her classroom. Many of her donors gave because they remembered how much they loved reading when they were her students’ age. Specific asks like that help potential donors see themselves in your students.

Check out more crowdfunding tips in our teacher fundraising guide, including how to write a classroom page that inspires giving.

Fundraising Tip #2 – Write A Compelling Fundraising Ask

From handwritten letters to livestreams, teachers have shared their classroom pages in a lot of fun and engaging ways. 
Below, we’ll go over some of the most common methods to share your classroom page. But first, write out your fundraising ask! 
If you’re not sure what to write, here’s an easy framework to get you started. We’ll go through an example, too.

  • Attention: Start your fundraising ask with something interesting, exciting, or surprising to grab people’s attention.
  • Interest: Next, generate interest by explaining how donations to your classroom make a difference for you and your students.
  • Call to Action: End by directly asking people to donate and providing the link to your classroom page.

To find and share your classroom page link, watch our short video guide or read the instructions on our blog.

Fundraising Tip #3 – Share Your Classroom Page

There are many creative ways to share your classroom page. Here are some tips for some of the most successful fundraising methods. 

Social Media
Use social media to share your classroom page with a large community quickly. Our teacher fundraising guide has a breakdown of best practices–like character limits, photo guidelines, etc.–for each social media platform. Post in community groups to reach even more potential donors.

One of AdoptAClassroom.org’s Teacher Leaders, Karen, suggests sharing your classroom page on Facebook neighborhood and alumni pages. 

“You’d be surprised by how much alumni love to help their former schools,” she said.

No matter where you choose to post, these tips will be helpful:

  • If you’re trying to participate in our $35,000 Giving Tuesday Donation Match, use urgent language in your fundraising ask.
    • Remind people of limited matching funds, so they should donate now before funds run out.
  • A great photo or video can help make your fundraising ask more compelling, like in the examples below.

Brooke shares regular updates about her classroom on her Instagram stories and feed, including what her current supply needs are.

The best fundraising videos are simple and authentic. Watch our example and then read further tips in our teacher fundraising guide.

If you use student photos or videos, it’s important to protect student privacy. We have tips in this blog post.

If you can’t post photos of students, photos of supplies or your classroom also work. Plus, for Giving Tuesday you can download and use the images below in your fundraising ask.

Download Here
Download Here

Email

Email is one of the best ways to spread the word about your classroom’s supply needs. Our full email fundraising guide walks you through the process of writing and preparing to send a fundraising-related email.

  • On Giving Tuesday, you can email your fundraising ask to potential donors and remind them about our $35,000 classroom donation match.
  • Year-round you can also link to your classroom page in your email signature or on your classroom’s online portal (if your school will allow it).

Text or Direct Message

Teachers shared that a text or direct message to friends and family with your classroom page link can be an effective fundraising method. Let them know how they can help you and the impact their support could make. 
Lisa decided to take the initiative to text her daughter (and 3rd-grade teacher) Kaitlynn’s classroom page link to people she knows. Between May and August 2024, Lisa’s efforts helped raise $2,354 for education!

In Lisa’s words, “it was worth every brief second it took” to text Kaitlynn’s classroom page to people in her life who care. 
Now is the perfect time to try these fundraising tips straight from teachers like you. To help kick off the holiday giving season, we have several funding opportunities for teachers:

Have questions about raising classroom funds on AdoptAClassroom.org? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions or contact us at [email protected].