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Imagine a fundraiser that earns money for your school twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. There's no need to form large committees of volunteers, purchase and sell products, solicit sponsorships, or ask for money. If you'd like to learn how to create a website that will earn money for your school through affiliate marketing, fundraising product sales, Google ads, and sponsor ad sales this will help get you started.
 
Publish a Website
AFFILIATE MARKETING
Affiliate marketing is a method of promoting web businesses (merchants/advertisers) in which an affiliate (publisher) is rewarded for every visitor, subscriber, customer, and/or sale provided through his/her efforts (Wikipedia.org).
If you take a look at a website, almost all of them feature advertisements and company links. The website/publisher is the affiliate of the company being advertised. The advertisements and links are coded so when a visitor clicks on the link and is redirected to the advertiser's site, the advertiser knows which website referred the visitor. If the visitor makes a purchase, the affiliate is paid a commission on the sale.
To be considered for an affiliate program you must first have a website and apply. Many schools already have web pages established. If you do not, see Website Design (below).
Several merchants offer affiliate programs. These companies will have a section on their site explaining the program. Generally, you will find a link labeled "Affiliates", "Affiliate Program", or "Affiliate Network" at the very bottom of their homepage in small print. See the Barnes & Noble homepage as an example.
Companies like LinkShare ,
Performics, and Commission Junction offer several affiliate programs under one roof. Once accepted through the simple application process, you are exposed to a large number of companies offering affiliate programs that can be searched by industry/product category (i.e. toys, fashion, electronics, etc.) to find the program that best matches your customer's demands. We think you'll find that LinkShare
offers the easiest website format to follow for beginners and makes creating and posting links so simple.
But just as the companies will choose their affiliate partners carefully through an application and review program, you as a website publisher should carefully choose which companies you want to have listed on your website.
- Know your customers and link to merchants that fill their needs.
- Choose companies you know and trust. Remember your reputation is on the line. By placing their link on your site you are essentially recommending them.
- Diversify. Sign up for more than one affiliate program of varying industries. Just as you would diversify when purchasing stocks, diversify the products you offer.
As a school, you automatically have a qualified audience. Parents, teachers, staff, and grandparents are all prime prospects. Think about what they buy on a regular basis and look for affiliate programs that meet their needs. Following are a few suggestions:
Target
Barnes & Noble
Office Depot
Hearthsong
Encourage parents, teachers, and others to shop for products through the school's website so the school will earn commissions on the sales.
- Send out flyers in the student's backpacks.
- Publish a reminder in the school newsletter.
- Send weekly email reminders.
The merchants want their affiliate partners to succeed. All of the merchants we have worked with have always done their best to make posting their advertisements and links as simple as possible by:
- Supplying coded links that you simply copy and paste onto your webpage.
- Sending email updates with links for current promotions and coupons.
- Provide information to contact affiliate program customer representatives to assist with any questions you may have.
Although each affiliate program operates differently, once commissions reach a set amount (in most cases $50.00), the company will mail the affiliate a check.
FUNDRAISING PRODUCT SALES
The creation of a school website also gives you an additional means of advertising for fundraising you may already be doing. Whether it's cookies, pies, candy, gift wrap, or scrip you plan to sell this year, advertise it on your school's website. Most fundraising vendors supplying the products can also provide product links to their site so parents can place orders online. This is great for family members that don't live in close proximity to your school but would still like to support the fundraiser by making a purchase. Online purchases are convenient and eliminate paperwork for the PTO coordinator.
GOOGLE ADSENSE
Also earn money by displaying Google ads on your website. Google AdSense is a great program that matches ads to your site's content, and you earn money whenever your visitors click on them. (Scroll to the top of this page to see a sample.) The dollar amounts vary, but the pennies can add up quickly when you have parents from a school of 400 students viewing the website on a regular basis.
Google chooses which ads are posted to your webpage based on the keyword content of the page. So if you'd like a particular type of ad to be displayed write a few lines of text with some keywords. For instance, if you'd like to see ads related to kids birthday parties, write a paragraph
related to the subject to increase the chances that related ads will appear.
GOOGLE GRANTS
In addition to the AdSense program, which is free to qualifying participants, Google also offers a paid advertising program called AdWords. Under the AdWords umbrella, Google offers a grant program which provides free Google AdWords advertising to various charitable organizations.
Google Grant recipients use their award of free AdWords advertising on Google.com to raise awareness and increase traffic. Organizations must have a website, have a current 501(c)(3) status, and be neither religious nor political in nature to be considered for a Google Grant. Grants are awarded quarterly and each organization awarded a Google Grant receives at least 3 months of in-kind advertising. Organizations already participating in the Google AdSense program are not eligible for Google Grants consideration. More information and the application to apply can be found at Google Grants.
SPONSOR ADVERTISEMENT SALES
Chances are your PTO contacts the same local businesses over and over seeking sponsorship for fundraising events. At times you may feel as though you have nothing to offer them in return except a heart-warmed thank you. With a website, you now have a marketing tool. In exchange for a monetary or product donation, you can offer sponsors advertising space on the PTO website. Businesses are more likely to sponsor if they know their business name will be displayed in some way. A website is a great solution!
REGISTER A DOMAIN NAME
Now that you understand how a school can make money with a website, let's review the logistics of building the site. If the school does not already have a webpage, begin by registering a domain name with a registrar. For example, PTO Ideas' domain name is ptoideas.com. The most common suffixes used to register domain names include:
.com -commerical businesses
.net - network orgranizations
.org - organizations (nonprofit)
.edu - educational institutions
Registrars such as Network Solutions let you search to see if a domain name is available and also offer web hosting and design services at very reasonable prices.
WEBSITE HOSTING & DESIGN
Keep in mind that every site must "live" somewhere to be posted on the web. This is referred to as web hosting. Companies like Homestead and Network Solutions will not only provide the tools to write and design a webpage, but they will also host the site.
 
You no longer need to be large corporation, a computer expert, or even a graphic designer. There are now companies that create the webpage templates for you. Basically, all you have to do is enter your information into the template. If your school or town does not currently have a website, consider:
- Homestead:
 is perfect for small business and professionals who want an online presence but do not want to learn programming. Packages start at $4.99 per month. Includes domain name. Free trial.
- Network Solutions: Offers a Free Domain With Annual Hosting Plan
 . Packages start around $10/month. Design a website for as low as $4.95/month.
- Site Build It: SiteSell offers web hosting services in this comprehensive package to help you build your own website. Web design, hosting, domain name, submission to search engines, blogging, and much more.
You will have the option of designing your own site or choosing from several, different, style templates, each of which offer a different layout. Whichever you choose, ensure the site is organized, concise, easy-to-navigate, and pleasing to the eye. This does not mean that you need expensive graphics. Place text in organized columns and rows, leaving adequate white space on the page. Remember, if the website offers the information your visitors are seeking and they find your site valuable and easy to use, they will return over and over again.
WEBSITE CONTENT
The purpose of a school website should be to inform parents, teachers, and school staff about PTO operations. This content will be used to draw traffic to your site. Visitors should feel as though they will have their questions answered when they visit the site or whom they can contact for further information. Following are a few ideas on the type of content to include on a school PTO webpage:
- PTO Mission Statement & Bylaws
- PTO Board, including contact information for PTO Officers (President, VP, Secretary, Treasurer, etc.)
- Committees, Committee Chair and members contact information. Types of Committees include but are not limited to Enrichment, Community Development, Special Events, and specific Fundraising Committees such as Auction, Carnival, Product Sales, etc.
- Fundraising details, including who, what, when, where and why the fundraiser is being held. Exactly how will the funds raised be used to benefit the school.
- PTO Training Manual
- Dates & Times of events
- Volunteer request & sign-up
- PTO meeting dates and times
- School name, address, phone number, email address
By posting details online where people can see all of the information in a single location, they are more likely to volunteer for an event. Also, by drawing the traffic to the website with this added information, visitors are also reminded to shop the merchant links and view the Google ads that are posted.
You now have the basic knowledge of how to earn money for your school with a website. Remember this is a trial and error process to see what works well for your school. We at PTO Ideas welcome your questions and comments. Contact PTO Ideas.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Affiliate Masters Course: This is a fantastic FREE guide to affiliate marketing. It's 165 pages of step by step instructions on how to build and market a website. Very easy to read and follow. This was one of the first books I read and found it to be extremely useful.
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PTO Ideas has provided you with ideas. This information is the opinion of PTO ideas and may not be all inclusive. We recommend consulting with the head of your school and any other essential professional. Prices listed are subject to change.
Note: Pricing and information pertaining to the merchants has been provided by the merchants, is subject to change, and should be confirmed by the merchant.
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