Whether it is for a club, sports team, or the Festival of Nations, there are numerous opportunities at school for students to help raise money. Teachers and a great portion of the student population organize, participate in, and contribute to school fundraisers.
Biology teacher and COSA Sarah Oberlander claims that so many students gravitate towards fundraisers because “they are very sympathetic towards others and giving to any cause.”
Former COSA and Social Studies teacher Adam Stonehill believes the first step in helping students brainstorm ideas for possible fundraisers is questioning its ability to actually create a profit. He says, “Sometimes you have what you thinks a great idea, but it costs too much. You have to have a low cost item as well as an item that’s going to raise a lot of money.”
He also credits the changes in students’ interests over time as a primary influence on fundraising ideas. He advises, “We should be open to any new potential ideas or work on slightly adjusting older ideas.”
When it comes to choosing a date, MSA President and senior Sarah Defilippo uses a specific strategy to ensure the club raises enough money. For bake sales, she chooses a day when special events take place. She explains, “A lot of students will stay and be hungry after school [and] it’s nice to have a nearby bake sale just 20 feet away.”
Latin teacher and Latin League administrator Jonathan Owens concurred with Sarah about the success of bake sales after school and states, “There is so much of an audience afterschool because kids stay so late for their other clubs [and are] actually buying the food.”
Sophomore and Hawaiian FON Leader Carmela Lopez ultimately believes, “Bake sales, especially FON bake sales, appeal to students because it allows them to explore the different types of food from cultures around the world.”
For larger fundraisers that are not bake sales, making sure the events are interesting for the students play a huge role in its potential success. Senior and SU President Sherin Shibu noted, “Student-teacher competitive events [are] met with considerable popularity. [We] capitalize on that in an unprecedented way [by] connecting the event to concepts that students would actually enjoy.”
In fact, according to Sarah, “A big part of fundraising is that it should reach out to a wider audience.” For the MSA’s larger fundraisers, such as Henna Fest, “we want [the entire school] to join in our experiences.”
Freshman Marsad Kabir shared, “Students attend fundraisers because they are mostly ways for them to be able to hang out with friends after school and take part in activities together.”
Students themselves enjoy helping out the school while at the same time having fun. Marsad believes that it is “satisfying to see how the joy that comes from cheering on and playing in fundraisers transforms into something beneficial for the school, clubs, and sports teams.”
Mr. Stonehill concluded, “When you spend your time doing an activity that is for the school, you’re saying to yourself this school is important, I’m a part of this community.”
