The private school fundraising ideas that raise the most money belong to the development office: the annual fund, parent and alumni giving, reunions and a capital campaign every decade or so. Bake sales and fun runs are the parent association's territory. They raise smaller sums and do a great deal to bring families together.
We cover both here, development office first, grouped by where the money comes from. After that come recognition and a school-year calendar that gives each effort its month. For gifts to parents and alumni, our page on gifts for independent and boarding schools shows what we have made for schools.
Private school fundraising runs through the development office
At an independent school, a small number of families, alumni and trustees give most of the money. Graham-Pelton's guide to independent school fundraising draws on data from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the National Association of Independent Schools to show how concentrated that giving is. That is why most of what follows is about the annual fund and major gifts, and the relationships that lead to them.
Independent school fundraising at a glance
- Annual fund: a themed campaign, class and parent agents, named giving levels and a year-end match.
- Giving day: class-year contests, a grandparent challenge and a student-run broadcast.
- Parents and alumni: a welcome before the first ask, grade chairs, reunion class gifts.
- Campaigns and planned gifts: naming, lead donors and a legacy society.
- Recognition: gifts drawn from the school's own crest and colors.
The annual fund pays for this year at school
The annual fund is the yearly campaign for unrestricted money that supports the current operating budget, and everyone connected to the school should hear about it.
Launch a themed annual campaign in the autumn
Give the year's appeal a name and a single story, such as a new teaching post or the library, and launch it once families have settled into the term. With a theme, class agents have something to talk about besides the total.
Recruit class agents and parent agents
People give when someone they know asks them. Recruit 1 or 2 alumni per class year and 1 parent per grade to write to their peers, and give each of them a short script and a deadline along with their list.
Name your leadership giving levels
A leadership giving society with named levels shows donors what a larger gift means, and it gives you a reason to thank them every year. Mark each level with its own recognition gift. Our page on stewardship gifts for giving societies shows how other institutions do it.
Close the year with a match
A trustee or alumni match in the last weeks of your fiscal year gives undecided donors a reason to act now. Graham-Pelton also cautions that participation numbers "might not be the best indicators of success", so set the match around dollars and new donors as well as percentages.
A giving day turns the annual fund into a school event
A giving day packs the whole ask into 24 hours. GiveCampus reported that in 2021 Ransom Everglades School drew 628 donors and $214,778 in 24 hours, and Portsmouth Abbey School raised $513,181 from 578 donors. Notre Dame Preparatory School's day brought in $86,304 from 245 donors.
Set class years against each other
Greenwich Country Day School ran an alumni March Madness challenge, with odd class years competing against even ones. A contest like that keeps alumni checking the leaderboard and nudging their classmates.
Give grandparents their own challenge
Ransom Everglades promised its students a smoothie social if 50 grandparents gave, and in the end 66 did. Grandparents are easy to forget about, and plenty of them are glad to be asked.
Let students run the broadcast
At Notre Dame Preparatory School, students ran an 8 hour livestream on the campaign page. Student-made videos cost little, and a student asking their own friends to give is often more persuasive than a polished appeal from the office.
Thank every donor within 48 hours
Send thanks the next day if you can, and in your wrap-up name the challenge donors, with their permission. A quick thank-you makes next year's ask easier.
Parents give when they feel part of the school
Parents already pay tuition, and Fun Pasta Fundraising warns that families stretched thin can burn out on repeated asks. Ask for fewer, larger things, and make sure families feel they belong before the first request arrives.
Welcome new families before the first ask
Host new families in the autumn term and introduce them to the head of school and the development team. Hold back the annual fund letter until they have had time to get to know the school.
Recruit parent fund chairs by grade
A chair for each grade turns the parent fund into a series of small, friendly campaigns. Parents who know each other from the sidelines give more readily to a classmate's parent than to an office.
Make the senior parent gift a class tradition
Invite the parents of the graduating class to give together, and name the gift for the class. It gives families a way to say thank you as their time at the school ends.
Invite grandparents
A grandparents' day with a short giving moment, such as a book for the library in a grandchild's name, brings in a generation that many development offices overlook.
Kent School made its scarves as gifts for parents as well as alumni, so parents who never studied there received the same scarf as the School's graduates.
Alumni give back at reunions
Reunion weekend is when alumni are most open to giving, so plan for it a year ahead.
Set a reunion class gift
Give each milestone class a gift goal, the 5th, 10th, 25th and 50th reunions above all, and let a reunion committee lead the ask. Announce the total at the class dinner.
Build young alumni giving on small, frequent gifts
Recent graduates give small amounts, and what you want from them at this stage is the habit. Ask for a modest monthly gift, and thank them as warmly as you would a much larger donor.
Give reunion classes something that carries the crest
An alumni gift drawn from the school's own heraldry gets worn for years and turns up in photographs at every reunion after. Kent School's silk scarf carries its heraldic coat of arms, and its Saxony wool scarf comes in the School's colors. Saxony wool scarves were first introduced to students at Oxford and Cambridge as a mark of academic excellence. Ours are woven on the same looms that make the scarlet cloth for the Guards' uniforms at Buckingham Palace. Our guide to reunion and commencement gifts covers the occasion in more detail, and our alumni engagement ideas deal with the years between reunions.
Capital campaigns build the campus and the endowment
Graham-Pelton notes that schools run capital campaigns roughly once a decade, and that each one lasts several years and depends on major gifts. Among its examples, The Madeira School raised $85 million starting from a $15 million lead gift, and St. Benedict's Preparatory School raised $108 million, well above its goal. The Potomac School raised more than $36 million.
Offer naming opportunities
Buildings, rooms, scholarships and teaching chairs give lead donors a lasting place in the school. Price them before the quiet phase begins.
Hold a launch event for lead donors
Before the public launch, thank the donors who made the quiet phase possible, so they hear the total first.
Endow scholarships
An endowed scholarship lets a family give in a way that lasts long after their own children have left the school, and the development office gets a story it can tell for decades.
Thank lead donors when the campaign closes
Mark the close with a gift made for that campaign alone, such as a cast brass paperweight engraved with the crest, from $58, or a merino throw woven in the school's colors, from $88. Our capital campaign examples show the gifts that marked other campaigns.
Events raise friends as well as money
Events cost time and money, so judge them by the relationships they start as well as by the night's total.
Gala and auction
For many schools, the spring gala and auction is the biggest night of the year. Our guide to fundraising gala ideas goes through choosing honorees and running the paddle raise.
Golf outing and homecoming
A golf outing brings in alumni and local businesses as sponsors, while homecoming hands the development office a crowd that is already in a good mood.
The head of school's dinner
A dinner for a few leadership donors at the head of school's home often does more for major gifts than any large event.
Whatever the event, thank sponsors from the stage on the night and with a gift afterward. Our post on sponsorship gifts has thank-you letters you can adapt.
Planned gifts secure the school's future
A legacy society for donors who name the school in their wills recognizes gifts the school may not receive for decades. Give members a lapel pin, from $15, or a brooch, from $38, as the mark of membership, and invite them back each year. Our guide to legacy society recognition covers the rest.
Parent association fundraisers add community and smaller sums
Parent association events raise less than the annual fund, and they are still worth running for the way they bring families together. These are the ones most schools use:
- A read-a-thon, with pledges per book or per minute read.
- A fun run or color run.
- A silent or live auction, often alongside the spring gala.
- Spirit wear in the school's colors.
- Restaurant nights that return a share of the bill.
- Product sales, from wrapping paper to pasta.
- Theme days, where students pay a small sum to dress up.
Fun Pasta Fundraising recommends 1 major fundraiser per semester, led by students. Agree a calendar with the development office so that parent association asks never land in the same week as the annual fund appeal.
Recognition keeps donors giving
A donor who feels thanked is likely to give again, and at many schools the thanks still stop at a letter.
The basics
Publish an honor roll, name your giving levels, ask students to write notes by hand and call every new donor within a week. Our donor stewardship guide and our thank you letter templates cover each step.
Gifts drawn from the school
A school gives a designer more to work with than most clients do. Families already know its crest and colors by heart, and a gift drawn from them reads as part of the school.
Silk scarf from the crest
A bespoke silk scarf starts at $65 and is printed on lustrous silk twill, with the crest or a detail of the campus drawn into the pattern. Our guide on how to design a custom silk scarf walks through it.
Saxony wool scarf in the school colors
A Saxony wool scarf in the school's stripes starts at $58 and comes finished and boxed for presentation. See Saxony wool scarves in the catalog.
Woven club tie
A woven club tie, from $55, carries the school's stripe and emblem through the weave.
Blazer badge
A medallion or blazer badge, from $52, is handmade in gold and silver gilt metal wire thread and has a magnetic, felt-covered back. We made a blazer badge for the University of Chicago.
Lapel pin for society members
An enamel lapel pin, from $15, gives members of a giving society or a legacy society something to wear to school events.
"We were fortunate indeed to find Harris Made when looking for special gifts for our alumni and parents. Harris Made delivered items of exceptional quality with lasting appeal and with a special significance, items that are uniquely KENT." Kathy Nadire, Director of Development, Kent School
Exclusive to the school, and presented properly
We draw every gift from scratch around the school's own crest and colors, and we never sell it to anyone else. Emma starts each one as a hand-drawn sketch, and we make samples for your approval. The finished gift arrives in a presentation box branded for the school, with a notecard that carries its provenance. Our requested minimum is 125 per design, and our process page explains how a Harris Made project works.
A school-year calendar keeps every effort in its place
| Months | Development office | Parents and alumni | Recognition |
|---|---|---|---|
| September and October | Annual fund launch | New family welcome, grade chairs recruited | Thank-you calls to last year's donors |
| November and December | Calendar year-end appeal, giving day planning | Grandparents' day | Honor roll published |
| January and February | Campaign and major gift visits | Reunion committees set class goals | Reunion and commencement gifts designed |
| March and April | Giving day, spring gala | Reunion class asks | Gala honoree and sponsor gifts |
| May and June | Year-end match, if your fiscal year closes in June | Reunion weekend, senior parent gift | Reunion gifts presented |
| July and August | Stewardship reports, next year's plan | Volunteer thank-yous | Giving society gifts planned |
Most of our projects take 8 to 16 weeks, so count back from your reunion weekend or gala and ask us about timing for your date. When you are ready, start a project or see more of our work for independent and boarding schools.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best fundraisers for private schools?
The annual fund, major gifts and a capital campaign every decade or so raise the most money. A giving day with class and grandparent challenges is good for participation, and parent association events add community and smaller sums.
What is the most profitable fundraiser for a school?
Major gifts. At independent schools a small share of donors gives most of the money, so time spent with leadership donors returns more than any event.
What is the 80/20 rule in fundraising?
It is the rule of thumb that about 80% of the money comes from about 20% of donors. Check your own gift records to see how concentrated your giving is, and plan your time around the donors at the top.
How is private school fundraising different from public school fundraising?
Private schools run development offices with an annual fund, parent and alumni giving, endowments and campaigns. Public school fundraising runs mostly through parent associations and education foundations.
What gifts do independent schools give alumni and parents?
Gifts that carry the school's crest and colors. Kent School gave its alumni and parents a silk scarf with its heraldic coat of arms and a Saxony wool scarf in its colors, and club ties, blazer badges and lapel pins also suit schools.
When should a school order reunion gifts?
Most projects take 8 to 16 weeks, so start the design well before reunion weekend and ask us about timing for your date.