Successful School Online Fundraising: Indigo Adopt a School

This year the Adopt a School program, run by the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation, donated over 40,000 books to 193 schools across Canada. As a close partner on the Adopt a School program, we at FlipGive are so excited about the impact these books will have on students in the program.

With growing success year after year, the FlipGive team thought it was time to share with the world what makes this program such a hit. The secret is simple: Successful fundraisers create their own success.

If you aren't familiar with Adopt a School, here is a quick run-down:

• Schools across Canada are adopted by an Indigo, Chapters or Coles store.

• Each school sets up their own online fundraising campaign, spreading the word to family and friends.

• Every $12 donated gives a book to the school.

• At the same time, the school's partner store collects donations at checkout for 3 weeks in order to contribute more books.

So, how did these schools create their own success?

There are 2 big takeaways that you can apply to your own online fundraising campaign:

1. Successful schools used all the channels available to them

2. Successful schools used the power of their networks to spread the word.

When planning a fundraising campaign, one of the most important steps is thinking through all the outreach channels available to you. Don’t limit your outreach - the more touch points you have with potential supporters, the higher the probability that they will have you front of mind and support you.

Common channels used by successful schools include:

• School campaign page (Using pictures, videos and a personalized caption are all essential for capturing the heartstrings of your potential supporters)

• Online Adopt a School blog and thank you tool (Schools posted their success with pictures and videos for their supporters to see and get excited about)

• School newsletter

• Parent take-home letter

• School posters

• Social media

• Personal emails

• School assembly

Once you have identified all the channels available to you, it's time to start spreading the word!

To amplify your reach, invite others to join your cause. Ask those equally invested in your cause (fellow parents, coaches etc.) to become team members. Have each team member reach out to their network to garner support for your campaign. Team members can help you reach a whole new pool of supporters as your reach expands to different networks. This is especially effective by sharing posts through social media.

So there you have it. Two keys to success that helped schools across Canada raise over 40,000 books. We hope you can use these learnings to make your own fundraising efforts a success!