Join the #WhyISchoola Movement & Win!

Join the movement and raise awareness for how enrichment programs are disappearing from our schools due to underfunding. Share your favorite school memory on social media for a chance to win a $50 gift card to Schoola March 1 – 31, 2016.

Join the movement–here’s how:

1. Post your favorite school memory and how it shaped you on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram.
2. Use the hashtag #WhyISchoola.
3. Tag Schoola on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
4. Bonus points for including a photo in your post!
5. Below are a few examples!

When: March 1 – March 31, 2016 at 11:59PM PT

Prize: We’ll select 5 winners to receive a $50 gift code to Schoola. We’ll choose the winners on April 1 and notify them by commenting on the winning posts.

Restrictions: You can enter the contest as many times as you’d like, but you can only win once. Your $50 prize code can’t be combined with any other codes and is only valid for one-time use. Not valid on new-with-tags items.

Have questions? Email hello@schoola.com.

Thanks for saving programs that help kids reach their full potential!

Make the Most of Your Spring Clothing Drive

Maybe it’s frosty in your neck of the woods, but spring is in the air and your school year will be wrapping up in a flash. Now is a great time to book a clothing drive – you can take advantage of the season change (spring cleaning can mean lots of new inventory for your school!) and these items will be listed just before the end of the school year, providing earning potential all summer long. Here are some tips on scheduling drives and what to donate to maximize your fundraising potential:

When to Book: Schedule drives seasonally, and book ahead:

• Think about seasonal moments, whether it’s time for ‘spring cleaning’ and Earth Day, you’re gearing up for post-holiday end-of-year giving, or you’re jumping into a new school year.
• Think of big events when parents will be at the school like Open House or performances, and have a drive that week with a drop-off at the event as well.
• Our most successful schools hold 3-4 drives a year. Your Schoola coach can help you set up the right cadence for your school.

What to Donate: You know the basics: we accept women’s and kids’ clothes, but here are some tips to help make your donations go the distance:

• Only donate items that originally retailed for over $15. To maximize earnings for schools, we don’t accept any items below this price threshold – so to ensure that that the inbound shipping cost is as low as possible (this cost is deducted from your school’s earnings), please don’t send them in.
• Don’t forget to donate shoes and handbags. These items sell for more, meaning that your school share is biggest for these bigger-ticket items.
• We also accept men’s clothes for our Teen Boys section (no suits please!), as well as baby and maternity clothes.

Pick and Choose: Ask yourself these three questions when cleaning your closet:

• Have I worn it in the last year?
• Do I love it?
• Does it fit?

If you are holding on to anything that is a “no” to any one of these 3 questions, consider donating them to Schoola – turn it into money for your school instead.

What are you waiting for? Reach out to coach@schoola.com to book a drive today.

Schoola Welcomes 60 Schools to the Millennium Club!

The final fundraising period in 2015 was truly impressive and we couldn’t be more thrilled to finish the year by helping more than 22,000 schools raise funds with Schoola. Each fundraising period has exceeded the last and more importantly, the average that schools earn with each drive has continued to increase, showing the power of engaged parents, grandparents and communities to supporting their schools.

Now more schools than ever have raised $1,000 in a single 3-month period. So we are pleased to present The Millennium Club, 60 standout schools who received a check for over $1,000 this past earning period.

Here are some highlights from our Millennium Club schools:

• St. Stephen Protomartyr School ran their first drive in October of 2015 and collected 185 bags of clothes! They are using their funds to support their Spanish program.
• The French School, the only public French immersion school in St. Louis, MO, is putting all their funds toward their 5th grade trip to France. Talk about turning gently used clothes into an educational adventure!
• Montclair Elementary (pictured above) activated their student body, getting students to volunteer as Clothing Drive Ambassadors. They helped make signs, pass out flyers and stickers and they even collected the bags from parents at drop-off so parents didn’t even have to leave their cars. Montclair’s ambassadors’ hard work has really paid off—they’ve raised over $3,000 to date. What a great learning experience for the students!

Think your school can reach Millennium Club status? We’re here to help. We asked some of our Millennium Club members for their favorite tips. Here are 3 easy ways to increase your earnings in the next fundraising period and year to come:

1. Get the student body involved! Empower the students to take charge of the drive. Help them make flyers and posters that advertise the drive, and get them excited about helping with collecting and boxing up the donations.
2. Make the clothing drive a learning opportunity. Teaching the students about the importance of giving clothes a second life will help them see the direct affect their donations have not only in supporting their school, but on the environment. (It takes 700 gallons of water to make a cotton shirt!)
3. Utilize your Schoola Coach: Schoola has an amazing team of fundraising coaches with tons of knowledge and resources ready to help you every step of the way.

You can see a list of the top 10 schools from the Millennium Club below. We look forward to seeing what new milestones schools will hit in the next fundraising period!

Top 10 Millennium Club Schools:
Kipp Academy Middle School: $12,415.73
Granada Elementary: $9,980.33
Yick Wo Elementary: $4,255.53
St Stephen Protomartyr School: $3,965.93
St Justin The Martyr School: $3,626.01
Second Friends Preschool: $3,408.44
Laurel Elementary: $3,340.25
St Therese School: $2,655.30
Montclair Elementary: $2,523.58
St Ambrose School: $2,504.85

The Look of Love Contest: Win a Romantic Dinner for 2 & $50

Wanna win a romantic dinner for two from Omaha Steaks and a $50 gift certificate to Schoola? It’s easy! Here are the details for our Look of Love Contest:

When: Feb. 5-Feb 14, 2016 at midnight PT

Here’s How:

• Snap an outfit photo that you’d wear on Valentine’s Day, whether you’re celebrating with your sweetie, bestie, or whole family. Think pink and red, hearts, all that romantic stuff. For this contest you don’t even have to be wearing clothes you bought at Schoola!
• Tag us on Facebook (@Schoola), Twitter (@Schoola), or Instagram (@Schoola2U).
• Use the hashtag #SchoolaStyleVDay.
• On Feb. 15 we’ll pick our fave photo.

What You Win: The winner will receive a Romantic Dinner In from Omaha Steaks and a $50 Schoola gift certificate. If you win we’ll notify you by commenting on your photo entry.

You’ll win a Romantic Dinner In from Omaha Steaks!

Psst, if you haven’t already check out our ongoing #SchoolaStyle contest and learn how you can win $50 each week.

Questions? Ask in the comments below. We can’t wait to see your lovey-dovey looks!