How Much Does it Cost to Run for School Board?

There is no specific dollar amount to run for school board. The cost of any school election varies depending on the size of the district, the number of candidates running for the position, and amount of overall money raised and spent by the candidates.

In general, a school board candidate needs:

  • A strong campaign team who will work with the candidate on fundraising, voter outreach, and other areas of campaigning.
  • A campaign budget that includes: advertising, printing, staff salaries, office supplies, and other expenses.

The cost of running can vary wildly. In 2011, a survey of elected school board members found that 87 percent of them spent $5,000 or less on their most recent campaign. Even in larger districts with more than 15,000 students, just 10 percent spent more than $25,000, according to the National School Boards Association.

One way to find out how much your election might cost is to check how much was spent on previous elections. This will give you a rough idea of how much you may need to raise and spend.

It’s better to overestimate your costs than you may want to budget. Indeed, the cost of some school board races run into the millions of dollars.

In the final days of a campaign, there is a lot of pressure on candidates to make sure they don’t run out of money. If you run out of money, especially near Election Day, it is a sure way to lose momentum with voters. It makes sense to budget carefully and have some financial reserves in place.