Photo courtesy of FarmRaiser
FarmRaiser School Funding
Schools and cause fundraising with FarmRaiser helps students become champions for eating healthy food and raises money effectively.
It’s that time of year when your waistline realizes that a dozen boxes of Thin Mints was probably a few too many. But what if your 11-year-old neighbor raised money for her soccer team by hawking, say, apples from a nearby orchard instead of candy and cookies?
That’s the idea behind FarmRaiser, a business that helps schools and groups end the sweets-peddling to raise money by selling locally-sourced goods instead.
The company does the legwork to connect organizations with regional farmers, food-based businesses or plant nurseries so they can sell products that boost both the local economy and their goals.
“We’re an accessible way to support your local food system while doing something you need to do — raise money for your next trip or computer lab or whatever it might be,” says Lauren Smith, FarmRaiser’s chief cultivator.
Students at Alexandria Country Day School (ACDS) used the platform last year to raise money to host a Stop Hunger Now meal packaging event. They sold boxes of winter vegetables sourced from Virginia’s Blue Ridge Produce, community baskets from Alexandria’s Alive! Food Center and snack packs from Alexandria-based Together We Bake, donating an average of 50 percent of the proceeds to their cause. For other fundraisers, the school has worked with FarmRaiser to source apples from Glaize Apples, a farm in Winchester, Virginia, where a former ACDS teacher now works.
(Learn more about Together We Bake here.)
Smith says the platform can help organizations sell goods from local producers with whom they already have a relationship — or find growers and artisans that fit the spirit of their fundraiser.
FarmRaiser started in Michigan but moved to Northern Virginia in 2015. Smith says being based in the region has given the company access to a growing number of locally grown and artisan-made products, including Alexandria-based companies such as Truly-Life Eco Skin Care and Garden Gifts (see our story on founder Melenie Runion here).
T.C. Williams High School rugby teams have used the platform to sell Truly-Life’s local spa kits alongside locally roasted coffee and chocolates. The funds help the teams cover operating costs since they are not included in the high school’s athletic budget, according to their online campaign.
An online platform that lets participants track their progress in real time — much like Kickstarter campaigns — FarmRaiser replaces the spreadsheets and check-writing with URLs where students can send donors to choose products and plug in their contributions.
The platform has run campaigns in 35 states and continues to grow its network of both organizations and local suppliers. Smith says finding local goods for groups to sell isn’t just about pitching neighbors, friends and family on items they might actually want. It’s also about teaching children to sell items that are consistent with a healthy lifestyle. In that respect, FarmRaiser’s concept is an extension of the broader buy-local movement.
“We want them to be advocates for their local food system,” she says, “to be able to explain to customers why it matters that they’re selling a box of apples rather than Thin Mints or wrapping paper.”
