Reimagining Parent Engagement: Are You Overlooking Parent Engagement as Part of Stewardship?
By John Campbell & Pamela McKinney, Director of Development & Outreach, Capital City PCS
Since March, most of us have spent the bulk of our time at home. People feel isolated and are craving human connection, including our families. While “back to school” is typically an exciting time for our staff, teachers, parents, and students, this year will likely present a mix of emotions as we kickoff the school year with virtual learning. Interactions will have to be intentional in a virtual environment, in contrast to years past, where we could have spontaneous interactions with families during the school day, drop offs, back-to-school nights, and events.
Parent engagement will look different but may be even more important this coming year.
It’ll be a priority to be creative with how you engage with families. It may help to take a look at what other charter schools have planned and evaluate what makes the most sense for your parent community.
Here are some parent engagement ideas that DC public charter schools have planned for this fall:
Parent Q&A chats – weekly calls for parents to ask administration questions with language interpretation
Parent coffees – weekly/monthly calls for parents to chat and connect with other parents
Back-to-school nights – Zoom call with a welcome from the principal and breakout rooms for parents to meet teachers
Virtual town halls – foster parent engagement on virtual learning tips, virtual tutoring, after school options, and to ask for ideas on how to keep parents engaged and connected
Family nights – foster family engagement with literacy and math nights, trivia nights, science and art nights, cooking and dance classes, and more
Ambassadors – recruit parent volunteers to check in with other parents and keep them feeling connected
What do you have planned for parent engagement this fall? How can you take your usual activities virtual?
What role can parents play in philanthropy this year?
It is a year where philanthropy is needed to support virtual learning, SEL programs, student mental health, after school enrichment, and the list goes on. Parents play a key role in building a culture of philanthropy.
Parents who give to their child’s school typically stay longer and some even continue to give after graduation. Often, it motivates parents to do more. Parent engagement moves beyond a parent-teacher meeting to planning a fundraiser, hosting a parent event, or asking others for support. It turns into more frequent touches – thank-you letters, impact stories, and more robust conversations about school priorities. The inclusion of parents in philanthropy expands engagement, deepens relationships, and increases your school’s capacity and impact.
At public charter schools, we shouldn’t shy away from parent fundraising.
Parents want the best for their kids, including an equitable environment where students’ specific needs are met. We should recognize parents for any donation and encourage them to give at the level that works for them. Capital City PCS recognizes all families who give to the school, showing no dollar amounts. It goes a long way to demonstrate to all families that their investment in the school matters and has a positive impact on their child’s education.
Peer-to-peer fundraising works well since parents are more likely to donate when another parent asks. In our recent philanthropic survey, we found families represent one of the friendliest audiences, raising 4.8% of total giving and 30% of individual gifts. Parents value your mission and see a direct benefit to their kids. While non-Title I schools raise more from individuals, Title I schools bring in 20% of individual gifts from families with participation as high as 75%. These numbers could be even higher with more planning and attention given to parent fundraising.
A look at successful parent fundraising: examples at DC public charter schools.
At a number of DC charter schools, both Title I and non-Title, parents are a significant part of their fundraising.
Capital City PCS hosts a campaign each spring focused on 100% participation from all families – recognizing all donations of $1 and more. They recruit English-speaking and Spanish-speaking parent captains who reach out to families in their child’s class to encourage other parents to donate. Capital City raises $50,000-60,000 through its Family & Friends Giving Fund and has 50-75% of families participate each year. During a theater campaign, families got their names on the donor wall when they donated $50 while non-families donated $250 – leaving families feeling invested and included in the theatre renovation.
They also recruit “challenge donors” – anonymous board members and families with a greater ability to give – to challenge a classroom to reach 100% participation. The challenge donor adds $5-50 per student when families donate to the school, which can convert a $10 donation for their child’s class to $50 for the school. Challenge donations motivate families to give and make a greater investment in the school… everyone wins.
Beyond monetary donations, this public charter school plans parent engagement to support fundraising. Parents volunteer to sell popcorn to support the annual fund, prepare homemade meals for fundraising dinners, and sell homemade pupusas to support the school. These efforts encourage families to share their own cultural traditions, which furthers their connection and sense of belonging to the school community.
Another DC public charter school replaced the bake sale with a fundraising competition between parents and teachers. The goal wasn’t to raise a ton of money, but rather to encourage participation. The team who raised the most won classroom prizes for students. This month-long campaign engaged students, teachers, and parents – raising over $150,000 for the school. This past spring, several charter schools had strong support from parents for “family in need” and COVID-related campaigns – parents have a desire to help other parents.
Let’s look at parent fundraising through an equity lens.
Some charter schools don’t perceive parent fundraising as part of their culture. But could it be? Equity is often mentioned as a reason but we’ve seen this often stems from preconceived notions more than facts.
There’s an assumption that Title I schools will have a harder time with parent fundraisers
“By not asking parents, we make assumptions about what they can afford and what they value investing in. We shouldn’t make these decisions for them,” shared Director of Development & Outreach Pamela McKinney, “we make it accessible. Everyone who donates gets their name on the wall. It shows everyone matters.” Not asking lower-income families, further marginalizes these communities. Stop thinking of your population as “at-risk.” It puts people in boxes and takes away opportunities to support their child’s education. Even with a large population of lower-income families, parents have the capacity and interest to give. Some have a higher capacity to give, but what matters is that everyone feels supported and included in the fundraising efforts.
Focusing on higher-income families for fundraising can easily lead to inequity
When families who have a larger capacity to give are granted more access to school administrators or sought out for their input on school initiatives, the school has shied away from its mission to serve all students, regardless of income or background. It continues the cycle of racial and class inequity. School leaders and development teams need to recognize it is a slippery slope to cater to higher-income parents and identify protocols and strategies to help avoid this. There should be entry points for all families to support the school – through their time, monetary donations, or sponsorships. Each avenue of support needs its own strategy and outreach plan, and should welcome all forms of donations as beneficial to the school’s mission and growth.
Elevate all voices by including everyone in your “ask”
Parents are closest to our school’s mission and outcomes. By asking families to financially support us, we’re deepening relationships. A $5 contribution from a parent creates a sense of buy-in and partnership with the school. Parents financially invested, feel like they have a voice. We then, seek out their voices and feedback to inform our family fundraising efforts. At Capital City PCS, we hosted a parent coffee with Spanish-speaking families to ask for their fundraising ideas. By the end, our families decided to host a dinner fundraiser for our school community where parents would prepare and sell homecooked meals while building community among families and staff.
As schools, we need to balance mission and philanthropy. Like stakeholders to corporations, our donors have a level of vested “ownership” in our futures. Ask yourself, who owns our work? Do we want a corporation to own us or our parents? Which is in our best interest?
Ideas for expanding parent fundraising opportunities this year
We asked development and family engagement staff at DC public charter schools what they have planned or recommend for parent fundraising and stewardship efforts. All of them echoed that fundraising “asks” should focus on urgent needs right now, and have seen it pay off with a number of donors giving above past levels.
Here are the parent fundraising and stewardship ideas we heard:
Stories – share parent and student stories regularly via email and social media on what makes your school special
Brainstorming – ask a group of parents to share their ideas for parent stewardship and fundraising
Emergency fund – run an immediate need appeal to raise one-time or monthly donations for this fund
Year-end ask – focus on 1-2 urgent needs via email, social media, and mail (plan for longer mailing times)
Spring ask – consider a peer-to-peer ask or friendly parent competition to raise funds for 1-2 urgent needs or ongoing needs
Facebook – ask parents to host a Facebook fundraiser for friends and family (make it easy, help with setup)
Volunteer – ask parents to give their time for virtual book readings, mentoring, speaking on leadership, serving as a homeroom captain, etc.
Matching – ask board members or parents to match efforts, such as $5/student, double donations, etc.
New programs – request financial or volunteer support for SEL efforts, a girls leadership program, etc.
Monthly giving – consider a monthly giving program for parents to make smaller, more frequent gifts
Schools are hubs that students and families depend on for connectedness and support. With so many of us who have never felt less connected and supported, it is an important year to reimagine parent engagement.
A few final considerations to incorporate into your planning:
Ask parents for ideas on how they’d like to engage and support your school this year
Broaden your engagement efforts and don’t forget to treat parents as donors
Consider more integration between your development and parent engagement efforts
Focus on asking for support and funding for urgent needs, such as:
Virtual learning training, virtual tutors, and technology resources
Social-emotional programs or resources for student mental health
Complimentary after school programs focused on connecting with others, building skills, and having fun
What are you doing this year to reimagine parent engagement? We’d love to hear your ideas.