Homecoming is a highlight for any school, filled with traditions and community spirit. It's a time for students, alumni, and staff to celebrate their school pride together. By launching a homecoming fundraiser, you can secure support from alumni and their families to carry on your tradition of academic excellence. In this guide, we will discuss five ways to plan an engaging fundraiser that boosts participation and revenue.

1. Organize an auction

Holding an auction at your homecoming fundraiser is a great way to attract alumni by offering unique or sentimental items to bid on. According to SchoolAuction.net’s guide to auction planning, there are several popular auction formats to choose from, including:

• ‍Online auctions. These are usually held over a longer period of time or used to supplement a live fundraising event. Guests will browse photos and descriptions of your items online and place their bids online as well.‍
• Live auctions. These are in-person events where an auctioneer enthusiastically engages a live audience to bid on one auction item at a time. They are usually complete with entertainment, dinner, refreshments, and a cohesive theme.‍
• Virtual live auctions. During these live-streamed events, an auctioneer or emcee will promote your auction items while bidders watch from the comfort of their homes.‍
• Silent auctions. There are no auctioneers during these events. Instead, guests can peruse auction items on their own and bid on ones with compelling descriptions. Bidding can take place on paper bid sheets or mobile bidding.

To maximize your auction’s appeal, consider offering items that hold special significance for alumni, such as memorabilia from school events, artwork by students or alumni, or experiences like exclusive school tours or dinners with favorite teachers. Combining a raffle with your auction is another way to enhance the excitement and encourage even more people to participate, as raffle tickets are traditionally low-cost.

2. Promote text-to-give

The popularity of smartphones has led to fundraising innovations such as mobile bidding for silent auctions and text-to-give campaigns. Text-to-give is a fundraising method where donors can send a donation to your institution simply by texting a specific word or code to a designated number.

Getting started with the text-to-give process typically follows these steps:

• ‍Choose a text-to-give provider. This provider will set you up with a unique phone number or shortcode for donors to send their donations. If you’re using auction or fundraising software for your event, it may come with text-to-give features that handle this for you. ‍
• Select a relevant keyword. Select a keyword that’s easy to remember and spell, and relates to your campaign or organization. This is the keyword donors will use when they send their text message to make a donation.‍
• Expand your text contact list. Promote your text-to-give campaign to potential donors through various communication channels—social media, email newsletters, event announcements, and flyers. This will help build a robust list of participants who can contribute to your cause.‍
• Receive text donations. Once donors text your chosen keyword to the designated number, they will be guided to complete their donation via a secure link that allows them to enter their payment details. Ensure this process is seamless and user-friendly to encourage maximum participation.

Text-to-give can make it more convenient for alumni to support your homecoming fundraiser no matter where they’re located. After receiving a text-to-give donation, promptly thank your donors and provide them with confirmation of their contribution, as this fosters a positive experience and helps encourage future donations.

3. Enlist peer-to-peer fundraisers

Peer-to-peer fundraising allows your school to tap into the power of your alumni’s networks to expand your reach. Essentially, your supporters create their own fundraising pages, which they then share with their family, friends, and colleagues, asking them to contribute to your school.

Consider these tips for incorporating peer-to-peer elements into your homecoming fundraiser:

• ‍Use your database to identify students and alumni who are most likely to get involved. Focus on those who have been active in past events or have expressed interest in helping your school.‍
• Provide a peer-to-peer toolkit with pre-written messages and images to use. This toolkit should include everything your fundraisers need to communicate effectively, such as email templates, social media posts, and engaging graphics that resonate with the theme of your homecoming event.‍
• Use fundraising thermometers and leaderboards to maintain excitement. These visual tools can track progress toward fundraising goals, creating a sense of friendly competition and urgency.

You can easily adapt peer-to-peer fundraising to your school’s goals, resources, and target audience. This flexibility makes it ideal for any type of activity, whether you're organizing a traditional walk-a-thon around your campus or a virtual challenge that alumni can participate in from anywhere in the world. You could also consider other interesting activities such as dance marathons, bike rides, or bake sales to provide unique opportunities for participants to connect and contribute.

4. Sell school merchandise

Homecoming is a time when school spirit is high, so why not sell school merchandise to help your community demonstrate it? Think about selling some of these popular school merchandise ideas in person or through an online store:

• T-shirts and sweatshirts
• Hats
• Notebooks
• Backpacks and tote bags
• Water bottles
• Keychains
• Stickers and decals

Branded school merchandise can both remind alumni to stay in touch and provide a little extra marketing for your institution wherever they go. Plus, it’s a fun way for them to show their school pride and keep the memories alive.

5. Plan a donation matching challenge

According to 360MatchPro, challenge gifts, also known as donation matching challenges, can inspire first-time donors to give and convince your existing donors to increase their gift amount.

Here’s an example: An alumni might agree to donate $100,000 to your school’s homecoming fundraiser, but there's a catch. Your school must first raise $100,000 on its own during the homecoming events. This setup creates a powerful incentive for other donors, as every dollar they contribute effectively counts as two if you manage to meet your fundraising goal.

To make the most of this opportunity, promote the challenge on multiple platforms, including your school’s website, so that you can maximize awareness and encourage more alumni, students, and families to contribute to your goal.

Once the challenge is over, thank both the challenge donor and everyone who contributed to the fundraising efforts. By doing so, you can maintain and expand your community of support year after year.

As you incorporate one or more of these highly engaging ideas into your next homecoming fundraiser, ensure that your team has all the tools and resources it needs to pull it off—whether that’s auction software or a peer-to-peer fundraising platform.

To gauge the effectiveness of your efforts, measure success through metrics such as fundraising return on investment (ROI) and average gift size to identify which strategies are working and which you can improve for better results next year.

‍

About the Author

Roger Devine is a co-founder of Northworld, the developer and distributor of the award-winning auction-management software - SchoolAuction.net. Before starting the company, Roger worked for many years in software, website development, and publishing. He's chaired at least 30 auctions over the past 20 years (one loses count after a while), has served terms on the boards of several area non-profits, loves all dogs on the planet, and lives in Portland, OR.

‍