Fall Festival Fundraisers | How to Manage and Collect Money with Pool

The air is crisp, and the foliage is brilliant. This autumnal shift isn't only a tempting time to snuggle up with cozy cardigans. It's also an excellent time for a fall festival fundraiser.

Fall festivals are a fun way to celebrate a new season and fundraise for an important cause. But they require careful planning, including setting a budget, managing finances, and collecting donations. Where do you begin?

Pool is an intelligent solution that simplifies money management, collection, and spending. Whether you're planning a fundraiser for your school, church, rock climbing gym, or local fire station, you and your committee will like Pool. So will your festival attendees.

Keep reading to learn more about Pool, set up your free Pools, and plan a successful fall festival that raises lots of money for your chosen organization or nonprofit.

Contents:

• How to manage fall festival finances with Pool
• How to organize fall festival fundraising with Pool
• How do you plan a successful fall festival?
• What is Pool?
• How do you advertise a fall festival?

How to manage fall festival finances with Pool

When you imagine your fall festival, it's fantastic. Apple cider stands. Face painting for kids. Raffles for homemade chutneys. But you need money to bring this fall festival to life. Here's how to use Pool to prepare for your event financially.

Start your Pool and invite committee members to join

Once you sign up at Poolmoney.com and create your Pool, you can invite other committee members to join. As soon as they sign up and accept your invitation, they can manage the Pool with you.

Pool admin members can:

• Spend Pool funds with the Pool debit card
• View Pool transactions and the Pool balance
• Transfer Pool funds to a bank account

Set a budget that everyone can track

How much do you have to spend on the upcoming fall festival? Once you decide on your budget, add funds to your Pool. It's your dedicated place for fall festival money.

Festival money never mixes with personal bank accounts. It's in one Pool where everyone can see it. Pool isn't just transparent. It's crystal clear.

Pay for festival expenses from the Pool with the Pool card

Admin members can buy festival supplies directly from the Pool using the Pool virtual card. You can order a physical debit card, too. With the Pool card, you can spend 100% of your Pool funds wherever Visa is accepted. There are no fees.

To keep everyone within budget, you can set spending permissions and limits. This way, no one accidentally overspends. Pool members can view the balance and transaction history at any time. This way, everyone stays on the same financial page in the lead-up to the event.

For example, one committee member might purchase decorations, another might pay for food supplies, and another might coordinate raffle prizes. With Pool, approved organizers can use the Pool debit card while everyone maintains visibility into event spending.

What is Pool?

Pool is a modern money solution for everyone

Pool is a new way to collect, manage, and spend money with others. You can use  Pool to collect money during one-time events, like fall festivals, or for ongoing needs, like membership dues.

Pool is innovative

Unlike other peer-to-peer money-transferring apps, Pool is designed for multiple people. You can share your Pool with as many organizers or fellow volunteers as you like. We'll show you how that works below, so keep reading!

Pool is quick

You can set up Pool in minutes.

Pool is free to use

Create as many Pools as you need and keep 100% of the money that gets contributed. Raise as much as possible and spend or disburse funds as you see fit.

Pool helps organizers manage fundraising together

Pool gives festival organizers a dedicated place to collect, manage, and spend funds together. Invite trusted committee members to join the Pool so everyone can stay aligned on budgets, contributions, and event expenses.

How to organize fall festival fundraising with Pool

Fundraising events often involve multiple volunteers managing contributions, expenses, and event purchases. Pool helps keep everything organized in one place.

Invite organizers to join the Pool — Once your Pool is created, invite committee members and trusted volunteers to join. Members can help manage fundraising activity and collaborate on event finances according to their assigned permissions.

Collect and organize contributions — Pool provides a dedicated place to organize contributions and fundraising funds separately from personal finances. This makes it easier to track event budgets and fundraising progress.

Spend directly from the Pool — Approved Spenders can use the Pool debit card to pay for festival supplies, decorations, food, entertainment, raffle prizes, and other event expenses directly from the Pool.

How do you plan a successful fall festival?

Now that you know all about Pools and managing festival finances, here's a closer look at how to plan a smashing (pumpkin) event.

1. Organize your committee — Fall festivals have lots of moving parts. To pull everything off, put together a committee of effective leaders who can organize and delegate. You might need to fill the following roles: food and drink, volunteer recruitment, sponsors, decoration and setup, activities, and advertising and marketing. When you use Pool, everyone on your committee can check the balance, view transactions, and stay within budget.
2. Choose a theme, date, and location — When choosing a festival theme, pick something that matches your organization and attendees. The more they enjoy themselves, the easier it will be to collect donations. You can keep it simple with a fall theme or go with pie, homecoming, Halloween, or Oktoberfest. Consider: how many people would you like to attend? Is the location easy to access and weatherproof? Do you have bathroom facilities? Does your date conflict with other local events? Is there enough time to prepare?
3. Choose games and activities — There are many fun ways for people to enjoy themselves at a fall festival: puppet shows, face painting, wet sponge throws, bobbing for apples, ring toss, horseshoe toss, pumpkin carving, square dancing, popcorn and cotton candy machines, location-specific activities (a rock climbing gym might offer beginner challenges; a firehouse might do a hose demonstration), pie baking competitions, scarecrow building, chili cook-off, a themed dance party, tailgating, Oktoberfest with local breweries, or a No-shave November wrap-up event.
4. Set your prices — Decide how you will collect money: charge one admission fee, offer free entry with donations for activities, charge per offering, or offer tiered admission (e.g., 1 entry + 1 pie slice + 1 child activity).
5. Organize food — What's a fall festival without food? Decide what your budget allows and give your attendees something yummy to munch on. If your food budget is low, ask volunteers to bring caramel apples, buttery popcorn, homemade cookies, etc. All-time favorites like hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, potato salad, and corn on the cob are always a hit.
6. Plan your setup — A little preliminary planning goes a long way. Based on your location and estimated attendance: how many tables and chairs do you need? Where will you place signage, food booths, and activity centers?

How do you advertise a fall festival?

It's easier than ever to create a buzz for your event. Place flyers around town and advertise on social media. Invite friends and family to spread the word, too. Remember to share festival highlights and fundraising goals in your marketing materials to attract more people.

And remember to use Pool! Pool simplifies budgeting, expense management, and collaboration so your committee can focus less on organizing money and more on creating a memorable fall festival.