The parent letter is one of the most important pieces of your color run fundraiser. It is the first thing families see, and it sets the tone for how seriously they take the pledge ask.
Most schools write letters that are too long, too vague, or too focused on the event details instead of the donation ask. This guide covers what actually works.
What Your Letter Needs to Do
A color run fundraiser letter to parents has one job: get families to share their student's pledge link with donors.
Not to explain every detail of the event. Not to list every volunteer opportunity. Not to cover the history of your PTA's fundraising program.
One job: get families to open the pledge link, understand what it is, and forward it to grandparents, neighbors, and anyone else likely to give.
Everything in your letter should serve that goal or be cut.
What to Include
The what and the why. Tell families what a color run is in one sentence, then tell them what the money is for. "We are running a color run fundraiser to raise money for new classroom technology" is better than a paragraph of background.
The goal. Give a specific dollar amount. "We are trying to raise $20,000" is more motivating than "we are trying to raise as much as possible." People give more when they feel like they are helping hit a target.
How it works. Two or three sentences maximum. Students have a personal pledge page. Families share the link. Donors give online and the money goes directly to the school. That is all most families need to know.
The link or instructions for finding the link. This sounds obvious but many letters forget to include clear instructions for how families actually access their student's pledge page. Be explicit.
The deadline. Give a specific date when donations close. Open-ended fundraisers consistently underperform fundraisers with a clear end date.
The event date. Families want to know when to show up and what to wear. One sentence is enough.
What to Leave Out
Details about prizes and incentives. These matter to students but they rarely motivate parent donors. Save them for the student-facing communications.
Long descriptions of how the platform works. Donors do not need to understand the technology. They need to click a link and enter a credit card number.
Apologies for asking. Many PTA letters include language like "we know everyone is busy" or "we hate to ask but." Cut all of it. You are raising money for your school. That is worth a direct ask.
Template: Color Run Fundraiser Parent Letter
You can copy this and customize the bracketed sections for your school.
Dear [School Name] Families,
Our annual color run fundraiser is coming up, and we need your help to make it our best year yet.
This year we are raising money for [specific goal, e.g., new playground equipment, classroom technology, arts programming]. Our goal is [dollar amount], and we are counting on our school community to help us get there.
Here is how it works: every student has a personal fundraising page where friends and family can make a donation online. The money goes directly to [School Name] with no middleman. Donors can give any amount, and every dollar counts.
To access [student name]'s fundraising page: [Instructions for accessing the pledge page]
Please share this link with grandparents, aunts and uncles, neighbors, and anyone else who loves your kids. A quick text or email from you is the most effective thing you can do to help us hit our goal.
Donations close on [date]. The color run event is on [date]. Students should wear white or old clothes they do not mind getting colorful.
Thank you for being part of our school community. We cannot do this without you.
[Your name] [PTA/PTO role] [School Name]
Tips for Getting More Out of Your Letter
Send it more than once. One email is not enough. Plan to send the initial letter, a mid-campaign update, and a final reminder before donations close. Families are busy and miss communications. Three touches is a minimum.
Personalize when possible. If your platform allows it, include the student's name and their current fundraising total in the email. "Jake has raised $45 so far" is more motivating to a parent than a generic update.
Send by text as well as email. Text open rates are significantly higher than email open rates. If you have parent phone numbers, send a short text with the pledge link in addition to the full email.
Time your sends. Tuesday through Thursday mornings tend to get better open rates than Mondays or Fridays. Avoid sending during school holidays or busy school calendar weeks.
A Note on Tone
The most effective parent letters sound like they were written by a real person who cares about the school, not like they were drafted by a committee. Read your letter out loud before you send it. If it sounds stiff or formal, rewrite it in plain language.
You are not writing a press release. You are writing a message from one school parent to another. Keep it warm, keep it direct, and keep it short.
What Comes Next
Once families receive the letter and share the pledge link, the fundraiser largely runs itself. The job of your follow-up communications is to maintain momentum, share progress toward the goal, and remind families who have not yet shared the link to do so.
RunPledge's Premium tier handles the follow-up communications automatically, sending timed reminders to families throughout the pledge window so you do not have to track it manually.