DATED: Sept. 30, 2020, 5:09 a.m.

San Franscisco, CA

"TASK-A-THON" PROVIDES AN INNOVATIVE SOLUTION TO SCHOOL FUNDRAISING AND PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT.
ADDS 22 SCHOOL PTAs.

[ micro fundraisers + parental engagement + classroom development ]

The lack of funds is one of the biggest challenges for schools. Task-a-Thon is a free service that empowers parents to engage with schools by creating tasks and providing monetary rewards. School PTAs and PTOs around the country use the platform as a channel to fundraise all year round.

Research has shown that students achieve more in school when their parents are involved in their education. The critical role of parental involvement in a child's education has been examined in countless studies and reports. Parents are a cornerstone of educational success, and we need tools and policies that empower, inform and involve them.

Over the past decade US schools have faced drastic budget cuts, which has lead to less per-pupil funding at the K-12 and also college levels. As a result, more and more teachers and schools have turned to their own fundraising activities and events to ensure that students have what they need in order to be successful both in and outside the classroom. Fundraisers help with the purchase of additional classroom supplies and to pay for extracurricular activities, as well as essential tool such as computers, printers, science equipment, art and music programs, and much more. These events, however, can also be fun learning experiences for students of all ages.

Traditional fundraisers require parents and students to participate in activities or buy / sell products that they may or may not be interested in. While this seems to work in some cases, this does not account for parental engagement or focus on classroom development. Task-a-Thon bridges the gap and takes the concept of fundraising to the next level by letting Parents drive fundraisers with a task - reward model. Parents create tasks (which can vary from a micro fundraiser to a full blown semester long Read-A-Thon.). Having Parent’s drive the tasks dashboard, helps them engage more actively in their schools and act as a source for constant funds. Classrooms play an active role by completing a task and raising a reward claim which are paid out by parents after approval.

Task-a-Thon uses School Fundraising and School Payment Solutions from PayPal under the hood and passes  100% of the payments to the schools . Schools and parents are requested to create a paypal account to participate during signup.

What type of Tasks make sense?

Parents, teachers, and educators use a variety of TASKS on task-a-thon to raise money for their classrooms and schools. Some tasks are more effective than others, however. Here’s a list of tasks curated by the task-a-thon community. The list is not arranged in any specific order.

• Inter or Intra class Debate competition:

  • Sponsor the reward for a inter or intra class debate competition. This will get the kids talking and learning.
  • Stretch: Sponsor prizes for the most eloquent speaker, most interesting idea among others.

• Student Led Presentations

  • Sponsor student led presentations on a topic of your choosing or pick a topic after discussing it with parents in the replies section of your task. This can take anywhere from a week to a couple of weeks.
  • Stretch: Request that the sessions be recorded and shared with the parent community on Task-a-Thon.

• Walkathon

  • A walkathon inside or around the school premises is a perfect way to get the kids moving.
  • Sponsor a walkathon for your grade(s)

• Read-a-Thon

  • Read-a-Thon is a popular educational fundraiser that will get the little one’s reading. Scale it down to actionable goals like ‘read 3 books from level 3/C reading level’ for instance. No need to expand it to a semester for a read-a-thon.
  • Do these more often.

• Writing letters for a cause, project or event

  • Define a clear cause, project or event and ask kids to write letters.
  • The letters could support a cause and indirectly support the classroom with writing skills and rewards.

• Mini Sports Tournament

  • Pick one or more sports (football, basketball for instance)
  • Ask the grades to organize and classroom tournament
  • Sports tournaments are a great way for kids to learn team dynamics and be active.

• Classroom Spelling Bee

  • Repeat often, keep kids learning.

• Mini Marathons

  • Ping Pong, Badminton, Dancing.

• Formals Day

  • Sponsor a Formals Day Task for your grades where students are allowed to wear formal clothes to school for the day.
  • Make sure teachers and staff get in on the fun as well

• <PICK A TASK>-a-Thon

  • Bike-a-Thon, Dance-a-Thon, Sing-a-Thon and more.
  • Make sure teachers and staff get in on the fun as well

For questions, general enquiries or support requests, please submit a request here