Sample event:
Teachers Get Silly
We encouraged High School teachers to pledge to “get silly” if they won a fundraising competition
Teachers pledged to “get silly” by
- dressing in costume
- eating bugs
- dying their hair
- shaving their beards
To vote for a teacher, students put money in a collection bin for that teacher
We put a collection bin in each participating teacher’s classroom
We put a collection bin for each participating teacher in the cafeteria
We publicized the event on posters around the school and on Facebook
We encouraged teachers to publicize the event
A group member guarded the bins in the lunchroom every day of the collection
The winning teacher “got silly” (ate bugs) at each of the school’s three lunch periods
Who helped:
Teachers
- specifically those who participated
- some teachers agreed to act as a group and would all dress up
- one teacher agreed to match her bin “votes”
Students
- group members
- students who got excited about the contest and encouraged others to “vote”
Administration
Local Media
- published news stories about teacher/student cooperation for charity
TEACHER COMPETITIONS
Teacher competitions
Blueprint:
Decide on the competition -- think about what kids at your school would like to see, some examples might be:
- Teachers’ Olympiad
- Quiz Bowl
- “Get Silly” Competition
- Costume Day
- Teacher vs. Student Competition
Ask teachers to participate in the competition & inform them about the charity that will benefit.
Use various advertising methods:
- Posters
- School media
- Websites
- Newspapers
Publicize the details of the event:
- who will participate
- what they will do
- when & where it will be held
- information about your cause
Create a competition over who can raise the most money
- among classrooms
- school teams
- teachers
- grades
Final Notes:
- Keep the money in a safe place – if collection bins are involved, make sure that they are always guarded & secure.
- Use the event as an awareness-raising forum: talk about the cause
HAVE FUN & GET THE WHOLE SCHOOL INVOLVED!
What worked at our event:
- We raised a lot of money
- Kids had fun raising money for their teachers
- We raised awareness about UNICEF
- The teachers had fun competing and participating
- The kids liked seeing a teacher “get silly”
- One teacher agreed to match the amount her students raised
- Lots of kids donated in the classrooms
- Some classes really got into the event
What didn’t work at our event:
- Many teachers refused to participate
- Some kids mocked the event and discouraged participation
- Very few kids donated money in the cafeteria collections
Tips:
- Contact all the teachers in your school far in advance of the event
- Tell them about your charity
- Encourage them to participate
- Help with suggestions for “silly” things that can do
- Try to spread the event to local Middle and Elementary schools
- Make announcements and attract attention to the cafeteria collection table
- Target well-known teachers AND teachers who are usually dedicated fundraisers
- Give speeches in the classrooms or encourage the teachers to do so
- Encourage classroom rivalries
- Raise awareness as well as funds during the “voting”
- Advertise the event -- especially in school announcements
- Alert the local media about the event to encourage an article
- Cultivate teacher rivalries
- Set up an English Department vs. Math Department competition or a Battle of the Physics Teachers
- Help reluctant teachers find a way to participate that might be more to their liking, for example in the "silly competition" some teachers felt better doing a group costume, or maybe a teacher didn't want to get silly, but could still promote a fellow teacher's pledge.