This page covers what a STEM club actually needs to fund, the constraints that shape how you can raise it, and which event formats fit. If you want the general guide first, start with fundraising by group.
What a STEM club is usually funding
- lab equipment and consumable supplies
- competition entry fees
- field trips to labs, museums and universities
- software licences and computing hardware
- guest speakers and workshops
What makes this group different
These are the constraints that decide whether a fundraiser works here, and they are the reason generic advice underperforms.
- Clubs are often small and newly formed with no fundraising history
- Consumable supplies recur every term rather than once
- Faculty advisors are volunteering on top of a full teaching load
- The club competes with established programs for both attention and calendar space
Why an event-based fundraiser fits
A small club without a fundraising history needs something simple enough for one advisor and a handful of students to run without institutional support.
What is realistic to raise
New clubs have no fundraising history and one volunteering advisor. A modest campaign that finishes gives you a number to build on and credibility with the school; an ambitious one that stalls sets the club back a year and makes the next ask harder.
A working timeline
The dates that matter here are set by this group’s own calendar, not by a generic fundraising season.
- Start small and set a goal you will certainly reach
- Launch with a short window so it does not drag on the advisor
- Event day kept simple, low equipment
- Report specifically — the equipment bought, the trip taken
What goes wrong
- A first-year goal sized like an established program's
- A campaign that runs long and exhausts the one advisor
- Consumable supplies budgeted once when they recur every term
Formats that suit a STEM club
You are not doing this alone
Every Get Movin' group is paired with a Personal Event Coach — a former PTO/PTA volunteer who has run this before. Get Movin's company president and all of its fundraising coaches are former PTO/PTA members, teachers and volunteers. For a STEM club, that means someone who has already helped other groups like yours through exactly this.
Your coach:
- strategizes your budget goal with you
- brainstorms incentives that actually motivate your participants
- advises on promotion and timing
- steers you away from the pitfalls they have already watched other groups hit
You also get the FundHub Event Toolbox — 100+ guides, templates, playlists and printables. Meet the coaches.
The platform behind a STEM club fundraiser
FundHub is Get Movin's online donation platform, built specifically for schools, teams and community groups by former PTO/PTA leaders. It carries 35+ tools. These are the ones that matter most here:
- Personalized student webpages. A parent sets one up in about five minutes, and each page raises an average of $140.
- Teacher access and classroom webpages. Every class gets its own page that the teacher controls, with their own log-in and class-specific incentives.
- Email Builder with Dynamic Flyer templates, person-to-person emails and official school receipts for donors.
- Instant, customizable donation reports for students, classes and the whole group.
- Employer Match Identifier, which finds donors whose employers will match their gift. It located over $1.4 million in matching donations in its first year.
See the full platform on the FundHub page, or book a walkthrough with a coach.
How Get Movin’ runs your STEM club fundraiser
- Book a call or a FundHub demo and get matched with your Personal Event Coach.
- Your coach helps you set the goal, pick the date and choose incentives.
- Your group page and student pages go live; parents set theirs up in about five minutes.
- Families share by text, email and social; the coach checks in through the campaign.
- Event day, with volunteers organized through FundHub.
- Funds arrive by automatic ACH transfer after the event.
What it costs and what you keep
Get Movin’ groups keep 95-97% of every dollar raised. Donors pay however they want — cash, check, credit or debit, PayPal, Venmo, or Apple and Google Wallet. Automatic ACH payout after the event, straight to the group's account.
Full detail on the pricing page.
Next steps
See what a STEM club fundraiser costs on our pricing page, or browse free templates including printable pledge sheets.
Common questions
How does a brand-new club fundraise with no history?
Start small and finish it. One completed modest campaign gives you a number to build on and credibility with the school; an ambitious campaign that stalls sets the club back a year.
Start your STEM club fundraiser
Get Movin’ has powered 10,000+ events and raised more than $200 million for groups like yours since 2007, with 1,300+ five-star Google reviews.
Take a FundHub tour with a coach, or book your event. Questions first? Contact us or call 248-895-0206. Also useful: the free school grant guide, the parent and donor FAQ, and our fundraising webinars.