Exploring the ways in which your school can fund an additional school minibus with limited funds in the bank

If you have little to no funds in the bank, consider:

  • Asking the PTA for funds – it is likely that the PTA will be more willing to make a contribution than you might think as the parents will know that it is their children who will be benefitting, rather than the children of future years.
  • Securing a sponsorBenchmark can help with this (see below).
  • Raise money through events hosted by the school – Fetes, Plays, Raffles, sell Christmas cards to parents that the children have made, cake sales, coffee mornings……

If you have no capital for upfront costs and no way of raising the money, consider:

  • Leasing a minibus Benchmark can help with this (see below).
  • Buying a minibus on Finance

If you can only raise half of the upfront costs or half of a lease, consider:

  • Sharing a bought minibus with a neighbouring school in the same cluster, trust or council.
  • Sharing a leased minibus with a neighbouring school in the same cluster, trust or council – Benchmark can help with this (see below).

Benchmark can help with this

Securing a sponsor
Since it can be hard to know where to start with securing a sponsor, Benchmark Leasing has created a report which supports schools through the process and provides a draft letter which you can send to local organisations to ask for their support. More information can be found in the following article: How schools are gaining significant additional income by having the school minibus sponsored by a local organisation.

Leasing a minibus
By leasing a minibus with Benchmark Leasing it is possible for schools to fund the minibus through a small payment each month. Furthermore, the cost of the vehicle’s MOTs, servicing and repairs* are included in the lease price. For more information about leasing a minibus with Benchmark Leasing and to see our range of brand new minibuses, you can visit our website, call us on 01753 859944 or send an email to minibus@benchmarkleasing.co.uk

Sharing a leased minibus with a neighbouring school in the same cluster, trust or council
If you are interested in learning more about leasing half a minibus and how it could work for your school, please do call 01753 859944 and we’ll do our best to point you in the right direction. Alternatively, you can email minibus@benchmarkleasing.co.uk. And if you would like to have a look at the type of minibuses that we regularly lease to schools before getting in contact, head over to our website.

 

*Subject to Terms and Conditions