Shoe Drive Fundraising: A Mini Guide for Schools and Clubs

What is shoe drive fundraising?

Shoe drive fundraising is quickly becoming one of the most popular fundraising options for schools and clubs of all sizes! As an incredibly simple and effective fundraising method, shoe drives are a fantastic way to engage your community, set a great example, and raise some serious funds.

Check out our quick guide to starting and directing your own shoe drive fundraiser! Use this table of contents to navigate the page and find some quick answers:

  1. Who conducts shoe drive fundraisers?
  2. How does shoe drive fundraising work?
  3. What are the benefits of shoe drive fundraisers?
  4. What are some ways to conduct a shoe drive fundraiser?
  5. How can I promote my shoe drive fundraiser?
  6. Additional fundraising resources

Shoe drive fundraisers are perfect for schools and clubs.

Who conducts shoe drive fundraisers?

Shoe drive fundraising is a great choice for practically any group or organization that heavily interacts with its members, constituents, or other stakeholders at the ground level.

This means that shoe drive fundraisers are especially well-suited for community-based organizations, particularly schools, school-based clubs, and youth organizations.

Shoe drive fundraisers are perfect for schools!

Schools of all sizes can host extremely successful shoe drive fundraisers!

Kids outgrow shoes so quickly! Families tend to have plenty of gently used pairs of shoes lying around that no longer fit. A shoe drive fundraiser is not only an easy fundraising idea, it also lets parents cut out some clutter while helping support their local school.

Shoe drive fundraisers are a perfect choice for your club!

Clubs can also hit their fundraising targets with shoe drive fundraisers!

A shoe drive fundraiser will generate interest all around your school, but, depending on your club’s focus, these fundraisers also offer wonderful opportunities to raise awareness about a number of social and environmental issues!

During a time when both public and private schools around the country face budgetary struggles like never before, it’s important that schools remain aware of all their fundraising options. Shoe drive fundraisers are among the easiest fundraisers for schools to conduct, as facilitator services will typically provide schools with the materials they need and then collect the donated shoes.

Plus, this stress-free fundraising model makes shoe drive fundraisers and ideal choice for any small organization:

  • PTA groups
  • Parent-led booster clubs
  • Student-led organizations in schools
  • School or community athletic clubs
  • Small community-based associations

Check out the steps to conducting a shoe drive fundraiser!

How does shoe drive fundraising work?

With the right shoe drive fundraiser facilitator, the entire process is incredibly simple. They’ll help you set some realistic (but ambitious) fundraising plans. You’ll start reaching your shoe collection goals in no time!

Collect your donated shoes to hand over to your shoe drive fundraiser facilitator.

  • 1. Recruit some volunteers.

    Find the individuals in your school or club willing to help lead your shoe drive fundraiser, and invite them to get involved! They’ll mostly be needed for collecting shoes, identifying partners, and promoting the campaign.

  • 2. Promote your shoe drive fundraiser.

    Explain the shoe drive fundraiser to your school or club members, then ask them to bring their spare pairs soon. Share your campaign on your social media page and in your newsletter emails. Shoe drive facilitators like Funds2Orgs will even provide you with free marketing and fundraising tools for the length of your fundraiser.

  • 3. Collect shoes.

    Provide your donors with easy opportunities to donate their pairs of shoes. Set up a dedicated donation bin in an open location, or provide each classroom or chapter meeting with its own donation bin. As you collect the shoes, fill the special bags or containers provided by the facilitator.

  • 4. Reach your goal and contact your facilitator.

    After you’ve reached your shoe collection goal, contact your shoe drive fundraiser facilitator to arrange a time for them to collect all your shoes. The process is simple and stress-free!

  • 5. Receive your check!

    The shoe drive fundraiser facilitator will calculate the value of your collected shoes and issue a check for the funds you raised. Shoe drives can raise some major funds! For example, some schools and organizations have raised thousands of dollars after just six weeks!

There are several major benefits to shoe drive fundraising.

What are the benefits of a shoe drive fundraiser?

Shoe drive fundraisers are an ideal fundraising solution for schools, school-based clubs, and community organizations for a number of reasons, mainly these 4 key benefits:


Minimal Costs

It takes very little money to host and promote a shoe drive fundraiser. With Funds2Orgs, there are zero out of pocket costs!


Fast Funds

Receive a check for your raised funds in as little at 2 days after your shoe drive fundraiser facilitator collects them!


Global Philanthropy

Your donated shoes will be provided to entrepreneurs to re-purpose and resell in developing economies, stimulating organic growth.


Environmental Stewardship

Discarded shoes are notoriously hard on the environment. Recycling them in a shoe drive fundraiser is a productive way to be responsible!

Shoe drive fundraisers represent a low-cost, high-impact fundraising option for schools and organizations of all sizes! Plus, the most engaged shoe drive fundraiser facilitator services offer great learning opportunities on the environment and the global economics of philanthropy.

There are tons of ways to incorporate shoe drive fundraising into your fundraising goals.

What are some ways to conduct a shoe drive fundraiser?

Shoe drive fundraising is an extremely versatile fundraising method!

They work great as standalone fundraising campaigns. It’s easy to organize a campaign and set some goals with your shoe drive fundraiser facilitator, who will then provide you with some marketing ideas and tools.

Promote your shoe collection drive to your classes, chapters, or anyone else. Then be sure to provide collection bins or bags to your volunteers or classrooms. You might be surprised how quickly you can reach your collection goal!

Shoe drive fundraisers also make an effective additional component to any of your other campaigns or events!

If students or parents will be gathering for an event to benefit your school or club anyway, it’s easy to incorporate shoe drive fundraising into your planning and promotions.

If you host any of the following types of school fundraising events, think about the ways that a shoe drive could be integrated into your fundraising:

  • Game Nights or Tournaments

    Maybe two pairs of donated shoes could replace a registration fee for your casual competition events!

  • Raffles

    Offer free raffle or auction tickets as an incentive to encourage shoe donations!

  • Online Fundraising Campaigns

    Your crowdfunding or peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns are perfect opportunities to add shoe drive fundraising as additional challenge elements.

  • Service or Product Sales

    Think car washes and bake sales. Why not offer shoe donations as a payment option?

  • Fairs or Festivals

    Larger festival events are perfect for promoting or incorporating your shoe drive fundraiser!

Shoe drive fundraisers are easy to promote to your community and members!

How can I promote my shoe drive fundraiser?

If you’re conducting a shoe drive fundraiser as either a standalone fundraising project or alongside a larger campaign, it’s crucial that you spread the word and encourage your students, members, and community stakeholders to make donations!

As a unique fundraising concept, shoe drive fundraisers are fairly easy to promote.

There are a number of key promotion strategies that work great for shoe drive fundraising:

1. Printed Materials

Creating printed materials to explain and promote your shoe drive fundraiser is essential, especially for schools! Flyers, letters, collection tracking charts, and door hangers are necessary tools for clearly labeling and explaining your fundraiser to students and their parents.

Some shoe drive fundraiser facilitators will even provide you with handy templates to quickly create your own printed promotional materials.

2. Social Media Promotions

Your school or club probably already relies on at least one social media platform to promote events or stay in touch with parents or members.

Be sure to promote your shoe drive fundraiser on your social media pages, especially Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Upload some pictures of your volunteers collecting shoes, or maybe even record a video to explain how the fundraiser works!

3. Promote with Your Other Events

If you choose to incorporate your shoe drive fundraiser into other events that you host, it’s important to clearly communicate this in all your promotions!

Invite attendees at your sporting events, sales, community service projects, and festivals to bring some pairs of shoes to donate. Be sure to offer some creative incentives, too!

4. Promote with Your Partners

Reach out to any community partners who might want to get involved! Local businesses and other community-based organizations make great partners for shoe drive fundraisers.

Similarly, if you’re a school considering a shoe drive fundraiser, be sure to get your PTA involved (and vice versa)! The more volunteers and donors, the easier it’ll be to promote your fundraiser and reach your goals.

Additional Fundraising Resources

When beginning a new fundraising project or setting new goals for your school or club, it’s important to do your research! Start with these resources to find the best options and strategies to help you succeed.

15+ Best Crowdfunding Websites

Check out these top crowdfunding websites!

Crowdfunding has quickly become one of the best ways to raise funds online.

Be sure to find the platform best suited to your needs by using this handy guide from Double the Donation!


Free Fundraising Guides from Funds2Orgs

Free fundraising guides from Funds2Orgs!

Check out these free fundraising guides from leading shoe drive fundraiser service, Funds2Orgs!

They offer free resources that can help any type of nonprofit or fundraising project, so be sure to explore.


21 Effective Fundraising Ideas for Kids

Check out these great fundraising ideas for kids!

If you’re fundraising with kids, your strategies can’t just be engaging — they have to be fun!

Check out this helpful list of some effective fundraising ideas from Bonfire for some ways to get started.