Fundraiser Safety Tips

The safety of our children is priority #1. Many school fundraisers require the selling of products to raise funds. It is essential that any fundraising activity that involves children use the highest level of supervision by both the parents and the school community. Below is a list of fundraising safety tips compiled by School-Fundraisers.com, which ensures that your fundraiser is not only profitable, but safe as well.

1. Register your fundraiser with the school administration office . Any fundraiser that is run by any group affiliated with the school must have permission from the proper school administrators so they are aware of what is going on. The school principal and safety office should be notified of all fundraising activity.

2. No door-to-door sales by children. While this use to be common practice for school fundraisers, times have changed. This is not a safe practice and is not recommended. If you would like to offer school fundraising products to neighbors, parents should be the ones to make the contact. Phone calls, emails and social networking are the preferred choice for fundraising solicitation. If possible, please limit the contact to family, friends and known associates.

3. Parental involvement in fundraising is a must. From phone calls, to events, to social networking, parents will needed to be involved every step of the way. At no point should children take the lead in fundraising solicitation. They can be part of the process, but direct supervision by the parents is essential. This goes for any fundraising activity online (such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.) as well.

4. Never allow children to carry collected money unless accompanied by a responsible adult. Parents should be the ones to handle any funds collected and directly pass this along to the school administrator in charge of the fundraiser. We discourage cash transactions and prefer that checks be the main form of payment, but we understand that this is not practical (such as selling a $1 candy bar) in every case. Please keep all collected funds in a secure location and pass along the funds to the school as quickly as possible.

5. Proper communication between the fundraising organizer and the fundraising participants is essential. All fundraising logistics, especially the safety tips listed here must be properly communicated. It is the fundraising organizer’s responsibility to convey the rules and guidelines of the fundraiser properly. There should be a clear step-by-step guideline of the fundraiser distributed to the parents. Parent letters, emails, phone calls and daily announcements help reinforce the safety regulations of the fundraiser. Do not rely on students to pass along the information to the parents. Parent must be directly communicated with on all matters regarding fundraisers.

We understand the importance of raising money for your school, but please fundraise in the safest way possible. Good luck!