School Fun Run has been a part of the fundraising landscape in Australia for more than thirty years, and during that time has helped schools hold tens of thousands of Fun Runs.
Originally starting as a healthy alternative to food-based fundraising in the 1980s, School Fun Run was ahead of its time for its approach to wellness-based fundraising. It is now well established as a leader in Australian fundraising with offices across Australia and New Zealand.
Fundraising Idea: all-inclusive fun-run events, incentive prizes, online fundraising and personalised support
Suitable for: all Australian and New Zealand schools
Profit: 60% of all money collected goes directly to the school, 30% of the money goes towards incentive prizes for students or can be donated to charity
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Who is the Fundraising Group?
The Fundraising Group is the award-winning company behind School Fun Run, a family-owned business who has been working in the area for more than 30 years. Their mission is to deliver easy, inspiring and profitable fundraising events to schools across the country.
They do this by constantly innovating; being the first company to introduce online fundraising in 2012 and online prize ordering in 2017.
In 2020, they are offering something even bigger and better: The Big Show.
The Big Show
School Fun Run can help any school, anywhere in Australia to host a Crazy Colour Day, Splash & Dash or Classic School Fun Run, but their new event ‘The Big Show’ takes all the excitement of a fun run and amps it up with three enormous inflatables for your students to run through, a PA system with music, flags, bunting and safety cones.
You will also have a personal visit from Chase the Cheetah and two support staff to help with set-up. Schools that quote Fundraising Mums will also receive free colour powder.
The Big Show has been shown to consistently raise even more money than the classic School Fun Runs, with four schools so far raising over $90,000 from a single event and one school raising over $110,000 during COVID-19. That’s more money than most schools make from a fete which can involve a year of organising and an army of volunteers!
Currently, The Big Show is only available to schools in Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast and Brisbane, and there is only one spot per city per day – so you need to secure your date early.
School Fun Run stats
Total money raised by Fun Run schools in 2019 = $9,000,000+
How far did the kids run in 2019 = 600,000km (that’s 15 laps of the planet)
Top amounts raised by schools during COVID-19 = $110,000 and $91,858
Average amount raised during COVID-19 = $16,900
Average raised by Top 100 schools = $32,000
Average amount raised per Big Show$23,000
Number of prizes processed every year = 160,000
Incentive Prizes
Prizes excite kids and they are a great way of rewarding the effort that goes into fundraising. Because students are able to see the range of prizes on offer before they start, they can set their own fundraising goal and work towards their dream prize.
Prizes are received for raising as little as $10 and there are five options within each prize bracket. Families can order their own prizes online through the special prize portal, which means organisers don’t need to worry about tally forms and order sheets for the whole school.
Incentive prizes range from bag tags and putty ($10-$19), Sherrin footballs and 30 pack gel pens ($50-$74), backyard cricket sets and remote control cars ($100-$149) all the way to electric scooters and Samsung tablets ($700-$999).
Students who raise in excess of $1,000 can even receive a laptop computer or 10-foot trampoline.
Breaking News
New in 2020, if families don’t want prizes, children can now donate their prize money to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation to help ‘Keep Kids Safe’ or they can donate their prize money to GreenFleet and they will use it to plant trees!
How much does it cost?
Holding a Fun Run with School Fundraising has no upfront costs, and therefore there is no chance you will lose money on the event. All Fun Run events have the same cost structure.
At the conclusion of the event, two invoices are raised by School Fundraising: 10% (plus GST) of the total which covers all the support and promotional materials and staffing costs, and 30% (plus GST) to cover the cost of student incentives and prizes.
The remaining 60% of the total raised is kept by the school.
The 10% fee for The Fundraising Group covers the following support package:
- Full-colour sponsorship forms, posters, guides and teachers kit
- Access to the online event management system which gives you real-time updates on fundraising progress and allows you to set up automated or customised emails to keep your community motivated
- A dedicated Fundraising Coach who is available before and during the event to answer all your questions
- Template letters for parents, media releases, assembly scripts and more
- Access to Online Fundraising so each student can make their own personal fundraising page and access sponsors across the globe.
There is one other cost for schools who choose to do online fundraising with Everyday Hero. While they wave the $600 set up fee for schools doing a School Fun Run, there is a charge of approximately 1.5% to cover bank fees. However, experience shows that schools who use online fundraising raise up to four times as much as schools who only collect cash.
Important to remember
You will be charged GST on both the support fee (10%) and the student prizes (30%). Therefore, your initial payment will be 44%.
However, schools should be eligible to claim back the GST paid. Check with your School Accountant. This is important to keep in mind, as schools can usually claim back GST but P&Cs might not be able to.
Bonuses and Special Offers
If you’re a Primary School, mention FUNDRAISING MUMS to receive FREE COLOUR POWDER with your event.
One family every year will also win a $20,000 Webjet gift card, simply for being part of a School Fun Run.
For more information
Please make your booking at least 8 weeks prior to your intended date. Get more information at www.schoolfundraising.com.au or call 1800 FUN RUN (386 786).
