During this festive season, as well as bringing our loved ones closer, it can be a time for thinking of others less fortunate than ourselves. As you know, giving is not just about donating money – at this time of year household funds can be tight, so remind people that donating time or skills can be just as valuable.
In fact, this week is the perfect time to show parents why volunteering their time is worthwhile, and inspire them to get involved or donate funds to their school community because it's Giving Tuesday – a global day to celebrate and encourage giving.
Here are some ways you can inspire new volunteers to be giving of their time, by promoting the following messages on social media, via your email newsletters or in your PlanSocial community hub.
Tell parents in your school:
1. What volunteering means to you personally
On Giving Tuesday you can inspire other parents by explaining what you get from volunteering – that warm fuzzy feeling, knowing you’re creating fun memories for the children and providing them with better resources. Share your joy of volunteering and talk about the skills you’ve gained, and the friends you’ve made, or how it makes your kids happy to spend time volunteering with you at school.
Click the sentence below to share the following tweet or write your own tweet or Facebook post – and hashtag #GivingTuesday to join the global conversation today.
2. How the kids benefit when parents fundraise for their school
Talk about how much you raised last year, what you have bought with the money – ideally even post pictures online of new playground equipment, iPads or whatever you purchased with the funds.
3. What you are raising money for next
Be clear about your fundraising goals for the rest of the year, what you are raising money for and how you’re planning to do it — with THEIR help! Motivate them to get involved from now on.
4. How they can help in some small way
You can list any small tasks with full instructions for a brand new volunteer to roll their sleeves up and join in. All the info is there for people to browse, so even if they can’t make it to the meetings they can feel involved and welcomed.
Why not invite new parents to get started by just asking them to take a look at a short list of volunteer opportunities?
Here are some example tweets to get your message across on Giving Tuesday — click to tweet them!
Can you help our school fundraise? Check our #volunteer opportunities or donate! #GivingTuesday
Can your place of work offer #matchfunding to our #PTA? #GivingTuesday
Support our #PTA this year and make a big difference together! Donate to support our school #GivingTuesday
Looking further afield on Giving Tuesday...
You could also use Giving Tuesday as an opportunity to highlight local community projects or charities that need volunteers, for example helping the homeless and refugees.
Since you are reading this blog, you’re likely to be a person who enjoys giving already – we hope this post will help you inspire others to join you.
About PlanSocial
PlanSocial curates resources and educational materials for school parents and their families, focusing on everything from educational support for your children, self-development and career re-entry, to home improvement, family well-being and even where to find the best family holidays.