Peer-to-Peer Fundraising for Dance Studios: A How-to Guide

Running a dance studio and providing your students with the best dance education possible comes with many costs. Although you generate revenue from tuition, recital ticket sales, and merchandise, you may need to offset some expenses with fundraising.

Since you already have a built-in community surrounding your dance studio, peer-to-peer fundraising is a perfect solution for supplementing your funds. A peer-to-peer fundraiser involves participants—in this case, dance students and their families—fundraising on behalf of your organization. Peer-to-peer campaign participants will reach out to their networks, explain what your studio means to them, and encourage people to donate.

If you’ve never run a peer-to-peer fundraiser before, you’ve come to the right place! Follow these steps to launch a successful peer-to-peer campaign that gets your community involved and raises the funds necessary to provide an enriching experience for dance students and families.

1. Set your fundraising goals.

Begin the peer-to-peer fundraising process by setting goals. Your goals will keep your team accountable for what you want to achieve and help you measure your success.

For example, you may aim to:

• Engage at least 30 dance studio families during the campaign.
• Raise money to offset competition fees, costume orders, or studio maintenance costs.
• Leverage your community’s connections to identify potential local businesses you could partner with in the future.
• Teach your students the importance of giving back to the community.
• Bring your community together in support of your studio.

The most effective goals are SMART goals, which means they’re specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. An example of a SMART goal for your peer-to-peer fundraiser may be to “raise $5,000 over the course of a month-long campaign to offset the costs of developing a new rehearsal space.”

This goal is specific about why you’re raising money, measurable with a certain dollar amount, relevant to your purpose as a dance studio, and time-bound because it has an associated timeline. Whether this goal is achievable will depend on your past fundraising results and the size and generosity of your dance community.

2. Select the right technology.

The right tools will streamline your fundraiser and simplify the planning and management processes. While you can opt for peer-to-peer fundraising software, you’ll likely get more out of investing in a dance studio-specific app or platform.

To take your fundraiser and studio operations to the next level, look for a dance studio system with features like:

• Fundraising tools. First and foremost, the platform you select should enable you to run your peer-to-peer fundraiser by allowing you to set up a campaign, track your fundraising goal, and collect donations.
• Tuition management and payment processing. Beyond donations, your dance studio software should also allow you to collect tuition, gather competition fees, and sell recital tickets.

• Point-of-sale system. Perhaps you want to sell dancewear like leotards, tights, and ballet, tap, and jazz shoes. You may also want to raise funds via a product fundraiser by selling items like cookie dough, popcorn, or discount cards. Seek out a platform with a point-of-sale system to easily create an online store.

• Communication capabilities. Whether you want to email your entire studio a tuition payment reminder, directly message certain parents about their children’s specific classes, or send fundraising instructions to peer-to-peer campaign participants, your dance studio software should empower you to easily and effectively get in touch with your community.

Additionally, think about the tools you already use to manage your studio. For example, you may leverage QuickBooks to track your expenses, create invoices, and run payroll. Research the integrations different dance studio software providers offer to see which ones will work seamlessly with your existing solutions.

3. Promote your campaign.

Since your dance students and families are vital to the success of your peer-to-peer campaign, make sure to thoroughly promote it to your entire dance community. To spread the word about your fundraiser, DanceStudio-Pro recommends using the following marketing channels:

• Dance studio app. Start by messaging your dance studio families via your dance studio app to inform them about the start of the campaign and how they can prepare.
• Email. Then, email dance students and their families to give more information about the campaign, what the funds will go toward, and how they can get involved.

• Social media. Promote the campaign to your broader audience on social media. Get creative with colorful infographics, catchy captions, and funny videos with trending songs and audio to encourage people to join.

• Text. Throughout the campaign, send reminders to your peer-to-peer participants to keep up the great work. You can also share updates about how much you’ve raised so far and how much more you need to raise to reach your goal.

Help dance studio families market your campaign for you by providing templates that explain the purpose of your fundraiser and how their friends and loved ones can contribute. Encourage dance students to use their creativity to promote your campaign online, and repost their original content on your studio’s social media accounts with parent or guardian permission.

4. Pair your peer-to-peer efforts with an event.

Attaching an event to your fundraiser can stir up excitement at the beginning of your campaign or drive it home at the end. Consider hosting a kickoff event at your studio to prepare your dance students and families to participate and help you raise funds.

Then, bookend your campaign with a culminating event like:

• A-thon event. One of the most popular types of peer-to-peer fundraising events is an a-thon event because it allows participants’ friends and families to pledge their support based on a certain activity. For example, you may host a walk-a-thon where people sponsor your dancers for every mile they walk or the number of consecutive days they hit a certain step count. Or, you may even run a dance-a-thon so dancers can earn money for your studio while doing what they love.
• Scavenger hunt. End your big fundraising push with a family-friendly scavenger hunt! Have participants raise a certain amount of money to join. Then, hide items around your studio, and create clues that lead dancers and their families to these items. 

• Holiday party. Wrap up your campaign and kick off the holiday season with a holiday party. During the party, celebrate your peer-to-peer fundraising participants and distribute awards to those who raised the most money.

To raise even more funds during your event, consider selling event-specific branded merchandise that commemorates the campaign. That way, participants can take home a physical reminder of all their hard work.

5. Thank participants and donors.

Once your campaign ends, show your appreciation for peer-to-peer participants and donors. eCardWidget recommends the following tips for making your thank-you messages stand out:

• Send them promptly. The sooner you thank participants and donors, the better—both to show them that you care and to keep your studio top of mind. Ideally, you should thank donors within 24-48 hours of receiving their contributions and thank participants right after your campaign concludes.
• Personalize your messages. Acknowledge participants’ and donors’ unique contributions and relationships to your studio. For example, you may thank a dance studio family for being a part of your community for the past ten years or reference a donor’s specific donation amount.

• Emphasize impact. Demonstrate participants’ and donors’ roles in making your campaign successful and what their contributions will allow your studio to achieve. For instance, you may say something like, “Thanks to your dedication and support, we surpassed our fundraising goal and can provide free entry to our upcoming competition for all participating dancers.”

After you’ve thanked participants and donors, follow up with updates about how you’ve used their funds. Continuing with the previous example, you may send a photo of your dancers at the competition or a video of them thanking donors for their support.

Whether you want to tap into the giving spirit during year-end, offset competition fees, or purchase new ballet barres, peer-to-peer fundraising can help you reach your goals. This type of campaign also provides a fun and memorable experience for your entire studio community as they band together to support your business.