“Marketing through Parent Booster Website”

Our parent booster group uses a website as a marketing tool to support our work. Available on the website is an “about us” section, a list of team members, contact information, a link to information for our biggest fundraiser, a link to corporate and individual sponsor lists, and a way to donate online.

The primary purpose of the website is to collect donations online to the group. We use a QR code on the bottom of our concert programs that links to the website so that the audience can scan and donate at each event. Additionally the website is used to recruit new members by explaining our mission. Also the website is a great place to display our sponsors. Each sponsor is linked to their business so viewers can access sponsor information with the click of a button. Because there is high traffic to the website on concert nights this is a good marketing tool for our sponsors and showcases many town businesses.

Our target audience is the Canton community. Many people have questions about our fundraising events and our cause and the website is a great way to answer questions. Additionally our community sponsors are displayed on the website and our community can access pictures of the events and donate right online!

Our website was created about 6 years ago. We needed at that point to develop a way for parents and community members to donate online versus handling cash and checks in school with kids. That was the main driving force for development. Since then our website has been updated each year with new pictures from our events, new sponsor lists, and updated team members.

Our website was developed by Tim Boucher who was a parent volunteer with a child in the music program. Since then his child graduated and the website duties have been passed to Chris Wiley. He makes sure the website is up to date and accurate each year. Our current treasurer handles the donations that come in through donorbox. This process is ongoing and takes at least 10 hours per year.

We use Donorbox to collect donations. Our website is powered by weebly.

When we switched to online availability for donations our profits increased. Additionally we have seen increased contacts from the public with questions or interest in volunteering.

Weebly charges a monthly fee to operate of $12 per month. Donorbox charges a 1.75% platform fee for donations.

We were glad to have the website already set-up prior to COVID 19 pandemic. This allowed us to continue with donations as scheduled. One challenge is keeping the website up to date. Assigning a specific person in charge of this certainly helps to manage the responsibility.

We believe our initiative is effective. We get the majority of our donations through this website versus cash or check. We have seen an increase in parent inquiries to be a part of the organization as well.

Our ability to collect donations online allows us to collect more money for our music program and district. We typically donate $15,000-20,000 back to the school through music equipment, scholarships, buses for trips, Clinics with professional musicians, professional development, and our borrowed instrument program for families in financial need.