Ensuring families stay informed on important student information is a priority for all schools, especially at the beginning of the year. Making sure parents know how to conveniently pay for meals and fees online should be a part of your communication plan. With our free digital communication tools you can be sure to reach families online and in-person.
Here's your guide to the key resources you should be using to keep parents informed:
Update your website
Many parents first look at their district or school website to find information. Coordinate with your school's IT team or website coordinator, to add a banner or button to direct parents to MySchoolBucks for payments. You can also post a website announcement that includes more details on how to sign up for MySchoolBucks. Include a button within the announcement so parents can easily navigate to the site and manage their students' accounts.
Send out emails
Deliver information directly to parent's inbox! To help make this even easier, you can easily send invite email to parent's that do not have an active MySchoolBucks account. With this feature, you can select student's individually or by group to send invite emails to all parent email addresses associated with each student record. This is a great way to get in touch with parents who don’t yet have an account and encourage them to create one before the new school year begins. Check out our recent article to learn more about this feature and see how it works. Read more >
Or, we also have a variety of email templates that can be used to send within your districts' Student Information System or preferred email platform.
Add a blurb to your newsletters
If your school has a regular newsletter, include mentions of MySchoolBucks to raise awareness. You'll find templated messaging on our digital communications page that you can edit specifically for your school. Here are a few key times to include a specific message:
- Before the school year begins
- The first week of school messaging
- Announce specific program fees
Get the word out on social
After updating your website and preparing emails, the next step is to leverage your school's social media presence. You can share social media posts that feature images and pre-written captions highlighting the benefits of using MySchoolBucks. These posts are customizable so that you can add any additional information of your own that is important for students and families to know. Social media is a great option and can help you reach an even wider audience to establish awareness of MySchoolBucks and get the word out to parents.
Print flyers and letters
You can download letters and flyers to help you market MySchoolBucks to parents. Customize each document to your program's specific needs. These are perfect for printing our to mail home or distribute to parents and student. You can also use these as digital pieces to attach to emails as well. Our flyers are available in both English and Spanish.
Phone home to parents
It's important to utilize several different forms of communication to ensure you’re reaching all families. That’s why we also have templated call scripts you can use with automated systems to share information about MySchoolBucks. If you’re a school that uses a mobile app to communicate with parents, check out our in-app messaging, too.
Add MySchoolBucks to existing materials
As always, you may have custom materials that your schools create with their own resources! Easily download the MySchoolBucks logo to add to existing materials, such as cafeteria menus and school documents, to help increase visibility. We also provide QR codes that can be added, allowing parents to quickly scan and be directed straight to the MySchoolBucks app for quick payments.
Start planning your communication plan for the school year today, to make sure you start the year off strong. With good communication, parents will know the right information to pay online and on time for the school year ahead.
