Founded by parents, Raise Craze was created as a fun, meaningful alternative to the annual school fundraiser. Since the beginning, we have aimed to keep inclusivity, kindness, and fundraiser success at the heart of everything we do.
The first year we implemented it, it was the most successful fundraiser in the history of our school! Parents, students and staff said it was their favorite fundraiser ever...it created a culture shift of kindness throughout our student body and the cherry on top was most of the backend work was done for us by Raise Craze!
- Riverside Elementary PTA
Inclusivity
First, our strongest desire is to get rid of the divide between those who can and cannot raise money. This division often presents itself during a traditional fundraiser - as most participants are only recognized for their ability to bring in donations.
Everything we recommend, from our incentive plans to our traveling classroom trophy, sets the tone that ALL students are equal regardless of their ability to raise money. Kids cannot control their socioeconomic status, but they can control how kind they are. We encourage all leaders to keep this at the forefront of their fundraising efforts. Let’s unite our school communities together by celebrating all of our students!
Kindness
To say the world needs more kindness is an understatement these days. We believe that the best thank you for a donation is a thoughtful act of kindness for someone else - this is a way to pay their donor’s generosity forward. Instilling gratitude and service in young kids will create awesome citizens that help strengthen our communities. For this reason, we encourage leaders to help students reflect on the impact they can have.
Our recommended goal of 3-5 acts of kindness per student is a reasonable target over the 2-3 week fundraiser - one that puts the focus on helping others in an intentional way without overwhelming parents and students.
Goals and friendly competitions are fun, but we also want to encourage leaders to shine the brightest light on those acts of kindness that truly make a big impact - quality over quantity :-). The Acts of Kindness Report exists so that those extraordinary acts are easily identified. We also think it’s very kind to lift the burdens on our teachers by only asking them to encourage participation and kindness.
Fundraiser Success
We’ve always stood firm in the belief that schools, groups, teams, and organizations should keep as much of the money they raise as possible. Our program is designed in such a way that you really can have the best of both worlds: inclusivity while still meeting your financial goals.
Our email-based approach allows for reach beyond your immediate friends and neighbors to potential donors all across the world! And the great news, emails work! Here are a few stats:
Students that send between:
1-4 emails = $70 average raised
5-9 emails = $147 average raised
10+emails = $260+ average raised
The average amount kept is 93% of gross earnings
Asking families to send emails also feels more empowering than asking for a dollar amount to raise, which can often feel crushing to families who are struggling financially. Most parents feel proud to ask for donations through email knowing the acts of kindness their child plans to do are on full display to donors. Our platform also supports text requests and social media sharing.
thank you
At the end of the day, the biggest piece of advice we can give is to keep it simple. We know the funds will come if you focus on participation, kindness, and inclusivity first!
We are so thankful for each of our leaders! We’re constantly inspired by their ability to guide their participants toward a brighter world ❤️
