Peer School-to-School Fundraising Program Playbook

The Peer School-to-School Fundraising Program provides opportunities for parents, PTAs, principals, and schools to come together around a buddy system model of fundraising to address inequities across the district by activating school communities.

Why the Peer School-to-School Fundraising Program was created…

In 2020, Ruben Diaz was a parent at Jefferson Elementary looking for a way to share the wealth between SFUSD schools. “I wanted to make a difference in our community”, said Ruben. He had seen firsthand how PTAs were able to raise supplementary funds for projects at their schools or to fill gaps in their budgets, and wanted to use the momentum he felt amongst district parents and PTAs to fundraise for a fellow SFUSD school. 

Parent fundraising acting as a solution to budget cuts has benefited many SFUSD schools, but has also inadvertently widened inequities across the district. A 2014 article in San Francisco Public Press examined the disparities among SFUSD PTA fundraising and the greater impact, noting that “the majority of San Francisco schools are unable to raise money at the same level… and reliance on parent fundraising appears to undermine the equitability goal of the district’s own funding methods.” One strategy that emerged as a potential solution is to build bridges between schools and PTAs to support one another through fundraising. 

The Peer School-to-School Fundraising Program answered the call. 

Motivated by a desire for equity among district schools and with the goal of developing a buddy system model of fundraising, Ruben joined Jefferson’s PTA and reached out to Spark for assistance. Together, Ruben and Spark developed a scalable and shareable model — buddy schools build relationships, identify needs, promote fundraisers, and Spark provides technical assistance and processes donations.

With a fundraising framework and a resource partner in Spark, Ruben set out to identify and form a relationship with a partner school. A suggestion by a fellow parent led him to John Muir Elementary and Principal Sara Liebert. Ruben worked with Principal Liebert to understand the needs of the school, which included a half-time special education position. A fundraising goal of $55,000 was determined and the Jefferson PTA committed to raising funds for Muir as part of their 2021 gala. To further the relationship between the two schools, Principal Liebert attended and spoke at the event, which raised $15,000. After a successful first partnership, Jefferson and Muir reunited in 2022 to collaborate on a second year of fundraising, this time meeting their $25,000 goal! 

To build the momentum among other schools, Ruben introduced the program to parents at Chinese Immersion School at Deavila, and in the spring of 2022, they hosted their first fundraiser in partnership with Redding Elementary. Together, they agreed that a goal of $15,000 for a new play structure was the most feasible way to address an immediate need, and at their end of year event, the Chinese Immersion School at Deavila community raised over $14,000 for Redding. Participation in the program was educational for all, with Redding Elementary Principal Maurice Gause noting, “This was truly a learning experience for us and it was wonderful to get fresh ideas as to how other schools fundraise.”

As we have seen during the first two years of the program, the power of partnership cannot be underestimated. From the community that has participated so far, the common thread throughout is a desire from parents to help other parents, principals to support fellow principals, and everyone is strong in their commitment to the district's students, teachers, and school communities.

To learn more about the Peer School-to-School Fundraising Program, please contact:

Ryan Smith at smithr6@sfusd.edu