Today is such a day, when we pull out our microscopes and peer deeply into our organization’s image. Let’s talk about voice mail and answering machines. We’ve all got ‘em, but are we getting the most out of them that we can?

This may seem like a very basic point, but I do believe it is worth covering, since I’ve heard many, many dreadful messages that have spoken very poorly of the people who recorded them.

10 Cardinal Rules of Recording Answering Machine Messages

1. Keep it up to date.
It’s embarrassing when you have a message that talks about an event or a date that is two weeks old. If you ever change your outgoing message for a time-sensitive purpose or event, make sure to change it immediately afterwards.

2. Make sure you actually have an outgoing message.
Some schools, who don’t have a fancy voice mail system, still use an old-fashioned answering machine, and these can lose their memory if there is a power outage. Don’t have a client or a school family member have to tell you you don’t have a message on the machine. This is the equivalent to being told your zipper is undone.

3. Don’t be dull.
“You’ve reached Eisenhower Elementary School. Please leave a message.” Come on! That’s terrible, but believe me, such messages are out there. Use a welcoming tone of voice, provide key information about your hours of operation, or at least give your web address to point them toward more details. If your enrollment period is coming up or is ongoing, make a point of that. Once your caller hangs up the phone, he or she should have a warm, fuzzy feeling about your school.

4. Leave an emergency or after-hours number.
A lot of school business occurs after regular office hours. It’s easy to say, wait until morning or wait until Monday, but really, you can’t afford to do that. If you have an auction or a golf outing coming up, leave a secondary contact number of a committee member. What if the caller was a business that wanted to donate an item for your auction, but they didn’t feel like leaving a message and they weren’t able to call back? That kind of thing happens and happens often.

5. Use the voice of authority.
The person who leaves the message should be the person who is in charge of the organization. I know that many people like to have a secretary with a pretty voice record the message, but personally, I like to know and hear that the head honcho is involved with what’s going on in the office. Unless the leader has the voice of Elmer Fudd, he or she should put a personal stamp on the outgoing phone message. And I think it’s poor when somebody else records another person’s voice mail message on a personal mailbox. Unless there is some sort of top-secret reason, that’s just the height of self-importance.

6. Use a script when recoding the message.
It sounds really cheesy if you are just “winging it” when you record your outgoing message. You shouldn’t have any “umms” or “ahhs” or awkward pauses when you can’t remember what you wanted to say next. Take a few minutes and write down what you are going to say. Then practice it a couple of times to get a flow to it, then record it. It will sound much more professional if you come across as if you know what you’re doing.

7. Pretend you are talking to a real person.
When thinking about the right tone of voice to use in your message, give the impression that you are actually having a conversation with one of your school families. That’s a mixture of politeness, interest, confidence, and just a little bit of salesmanship. You want to make sure the caller gets the impression you really are talking to him or her.

8. Enunciate.
If you have the habit of speaking quickly and sometimes slurring your words, slow down in your message. Don’t be nervous when recording. You don’t have to rush- there is plenty of tape. The last thing you want is people wondering what it is you just said.

9. Don’t say too much.
On the other hand, you don’t want to prattle on forever, either. There is a limit to people’s patience, so be very judicious in picking what you are going to say. Think about how long you would want to listen to a recorded message and don’t go any longer than that.

10. Repeat key information.
It always kills me, when a message does something good like leave a secondary number to call, but says it really fast and doesn’t repeat it. So, I have to call the machine back to catch it again. Do it right the first time. If you are leaving information that the caller will have to write down, repeat it twice and go a beat slower when speaking. I actually had a grandparent of a student compliment my phone message once because I did that, so I realized that many people appreciate that sort of attention.

Why is all this important for school fundraising?

Someone may read the above suggestions and really get the notion that I am crazy. Wound way too tight. Why on Earth could the answering machine be so important? Everybody has voice mail, everyone knows what to do, why waste valuable breath on leaving a fancy message?

The answer is simple. You, as a school, are serving customers. You, as a school, want those customers to donate money, whether it’s enrollment tuition, tickets to an auction, or cookie dough dollars. And by and large, people won’t give money to organizations that are sloppy. That is why you have a dress code for the staff at your school. That is why you want a well-designed website. That is why you want to have an inviting entrance to your school. You are trying to make an impression on your customers.

Don’t go to all the hard work of creating a positive image and then blow it by having a terrible answering machine message. I know it sounds unbelievable, but there are plenty examples of this out there in the non-profit and school world. Remember- be polite. Be fun. Be inviting. Give lots of important information. And be thankful they called you and not someone else.

Photo By: Alexander O’Neill

Of course, as a dad, I was feeling like a big spender ($7.99) and enjoyed basking in the adoration of my off-spring. Therefore, I wasn’t really paying attention to the lady at the cash register. We exchanged a brief hello, but I quickly went back to talking to my boy.

As he was showing me how cool this Lego set was, the check-out lady interrupted and asked me for my phone number. I looked up at her quizzically. Her long, red fingernails hovered expectantly over the number pad, waiting to key in my digits. I really didn’t like that question, so I told her that I didn’t have a phone. That wasn’t exactly the truth, but why should I volunteer my personal information at Toys R Us?  What business of theirs is my phone number?  In this day and age of identity theft and robocalls, that’s really crossing the line.

She looked at me with unmistakeable indignation and quickly pressed a button that must have been labeled “difficult customer”. She then asked me for my zip code. I understood what she was doing, but I just didn’t want to play along. So, again, I refused to answer, and she once more pressed the difficult customer button.  Twice for emphisis. 

I thought that would be the end of the pop quiz. But it wasn’t.  Ignoring my previous two answers, she then asked if I would like to join the Toys R Us Rewards program. However, I knew that if I did, she’d need my phone number and zip code, so I passed.  She wasn’t going to outfox me!

After I declined, she then had the nerve to ask me if I would like to apply for a Toys R Us credit card. Was she kidding me!? Here we are, in an absolute credit crisis meltdown in this country, and she’s asking me if I want to pay 22% interest per month on TOYS?

I suddenly felt some pity for her. She was just doing her job. She was probably in no better position to get a Toys R Us credit card than I was. But her job depended on her faithfully asking me these questions, so I decided to cut her some slack and take a more humanistic view of her. Besides, there was nothing else, I thought, that should could ask me.

I looked back down at my son and tussled his hair.  He smiled up at me, it was truely a priceless Master Card moment.

And then: “So, do you need any extra batteries today?”

Arrrrrrrrrrgh!   I gave up. All I could do was just smile. “No thank you. I’m all set.”

She finished running my DEBIT card and put the Lego set in a bag that was way too big. I finally said to her, “Wow, they certainly have you asking customers a lot of questions.”

She sighed and said to me, “I just want to make sure you have all the information you need.”

That last statement of hers really hit me.

“I just want to make sure you have all the information you need.”

Since my mind is abnormally and freakishly tuned into to non-profit fundraising, I immediately wondered how such a process of “up-selling” (as the check-out lady was doing) would work in schools.

As many of my readers know, I was once an elementary school principal. Here’s how I imagine an “up-selling” conversation would go in the school office.

“Ok, thank you Mrs. Van der Parent, very much for your tuition payment. May I ask if you’d had a chance yet to sign up for the bake sale next weekend?  I’ve heard you bake a mean chocolate chip cookie! We could sure use your help.”

“Um, I don’t know. I think we’re going to be out of town, but I could try. Write me down for three dozen.”

“Great. Thank you so much. Hey, speaking of signing up, were you aware that we are still in need of volunteers for our golf outing in May?

“Yes, I did see that in the newsletter. Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to help on that one. It comes at a really bad time for us.”

“Ok, no problem. I totally understand. While you are here though, can I ask if you’ve been receiving our emails? I just want to make sure we’ve got the right address for you and your husband.”

“Oh yes, we’ve been getting them each week. We appreciate that type of communication. It really keeps us up to date.”

“That’s great. We’ve been getting a lot of very positive feedback on our email newsletter this year. Hey, last question, and I’ll let you get out of here. What was your opinion of our last cookie dough sale? Did we present it well, was the product high-quality enough, were the prices reasonable?”

“Oh, I thought it was fine. We love the cookie dough, especially the triple fudge. The prices seem fine… we sold a couple hundred dollars worth, I think. Overall, I’m happy with it.”

“Great. Thank you so much for your time. If there’s ever anything I can do for you or your family, please let me know.”

There, that wasn’t so hard, was it? During the course of a school day, I had so many opportunities to interact with parents. My office staff had even more. Whether it was in person or on a phone call, we had dozens of personal conversations with moms and dads each day.

If you are able to train yourself and your staff to take the lead from the retail sector and always remember to “up-sell” the parents of your students, you could potentially raise volunteerism, increase donations, solve problems, and provide a much higher level of customer service.

I recommend that you take a few minutes to come up with a script for you and your office staff. Figure out what kind of feedback you would like, what fundraisers need promoting, and which volunteer opportunities are most pressing. Walk your staff through what an “up-selling” conversation would sound like, both in person and on the phone.  Of course, this script will change from week to week, so you’ll have to always keep up with it.  Your staff should make this up-selling a habit.

You may encounter a little resistance at first to this blatant form of marketing, but remind everyone that fundraising is just another form of sales. It is our job to convince parents to donate their money to us. We have to make our case any way we can at every opportunity we can.

Oh, and don’t forget to ask them if they need any extra batteries.

You probably arrived or will arrive at this point when you realize that you just can’t, in good conscience, ask parents to partake in another product sale or purchase tickets to another fundraising event, but your budget is still short and so you have no choice.

Why not just put it all out there in a well-written letter and ask parents to pony up to cover the shortfall? I mean, the logic is sound- all parents have to do is write a check- no twisting arms of co-workers or relatives, no volunteering on a Saturday morning for bake sale duty, no decorating the church gym for an auction. Just a few strokes of the pen and the problem is solved. Right?

The real challenge in this strategy is crafting the right kind of letter. This is a very tall order, and if not handled properly, you won’t be receiving very many checks.

Just recently, I came across a blog post that offered a sample of such a letter. The folks who run this blog have offered the letter up for any school to copy and customize as needed. I think that there are some very good parts in this letter; however, I do believe that it significantly misses the mark in convincing parents to take the action step of sending a check.

Because they offered this letter up to the public, I’m going to re-print it here and point out a few of the areas where I believe it goes astray. Please feel free to link to the original, as there is much helpful information at their website.

My comments will appear in the shaded boxes.

Dear Parent,
First of all, let me say: Thank you. Thank you for your tireless support of your child in OurSchool. Through fundraisers, exams, parent-teacher meetings, discipline notices, school sports, after-school activities, and everything else that happens in the course of a school year, you have shown your commitment to giving your child the best possible education. As we partner with you here at OurSchool for the education of your child, I want you to know, it does not go unnoticed. It certainly does not go unappreciated.

It is partly because of the busy lives we all lead that I am writing. As you know, OurSchool customarily has a fundraiser in the first part of the school year to pay for things that are not fully covered by the school budget: art and music classes, field trips, science fairs, and so on. This year the school board met and discussed a variety of options for our annual fundraiser, but no consensus on what we should do was reached.

First of all, I wouldn’t write that the leadership board of the school met and couldn’t decide on a course of action. This makes the board look ineffectual and indecisive. As a parent, I would lose confidence in the school board if they couldn’t come up with a plan for securing the funds needed to operate the school for that year. And, if I lost confidence in such a manner, I wouldn’t feel motivated to give my money.

Instead, if you really wanted to mention the board, I would write something to the effect that the board was concerned for the time burden placed on parents and to help reduce this burden, the school has decided to offer parents an opt-out option. This puts the board in a compassionate and visionary light.

Finally, one person proposed that we simply write to the parents in the school, let them know the amount of the budget shortfall, and ask if they can each contribute a little bit towards that amount, so that we can continue to offer the wonderful programs and extracurricular activities that OurSchool the highly respected school that it is.

To be fair, I do think that being honest with parents about the school budget is a great idea. However, once you open this door, you should be ready to discuss your projected income and expenses in an open forum, like a public board meeting. This kind of a process can be very healthy for an organization, but it can also become awkward if not handled properly.

And that brings me to you.

I wish I could tell you that we are raising money for something terribly exciting, like a class trip to Europe; but the reality is that we are raising money just to continue the programs we have been able to offer in the past.

Again, I think that the honesty in this section is commendable, but I wouldn’t set up necessary school programs as a “boring” alternative to a trip to Europe. If something is worth asking parents to donate money to it, you darn well better be able to sell it with genuine enthusiasm. After reading this line, I’m wondering how passionate the folks running this school really are about the place.

And partly out of consideration for you, one of our esteemed parents, and your valuable time, we have decided to ask if each parent could contribute $60 over the course of the next 3 months to help make up for where the state budget has fallen short.

I do like that they named a figure; however, I might suggest writing “three monthly payments of $20 each” instead of a flat $60. Maybe that would be easier to digest for some folks.

Like I said, we’ve considered many options. Candy sales, magazine subscriptions, walk-a-thons, and many other ideas were put forth. But in the end, we felt that the parents at OurSchool have all given so much of their time already, the easiest and most convenient way to raise the needed money would be to just lay it at the parents’ feet and ask if we can all work together to share this burden.

“Many hands make light work,” so the saying goes. If each of the parents in the school can give an extra $60, we will have enough for all programs and extracurricular activities to carry on through the year. If not, well…hopefully we won’t have to consider that option.

Maybe it’s just a personal preference on this point, but I would not include an open, hanging threat. Instead, I would have laid out a detailed list of the programs that were on the chopping block, in order. That kind of detailed glimpse of reality would, I think, encourage people to act more than some nebulous fear that has not been named.

I want to end this letter by thanking you again. Thank you for taking the time to read it, and whether you are able to give or not, know we deeply appreciate your dedication to your child and our school.

Sincerely,
Your Principal
Principal at OurSchool

P.S. Don’t forget, whatever you give towards the school is fully tax-deductible! Thanks again!

Overall, I would approach a fundraising solicitation letter with much more specificity. I think it is wise to put a face on budgetary needs, so that people can identify with them. For instance, I know that I, as a parent, would be much more likely to give even if I was told the money would be going to pay for something as mundane as “carpet cleaning” if that weren’t covered in the school budget. I know that I wouldn’t want my kids crawling around on carpets that haven’t been cleaned in three years (gross!). Now I have a specific reason to give.

I do think that this letter does a great job of being thankful to the parents, and that is definitely a must when trying to solicit donations.

Writing effective fundraising letters is a very difficult task.  So much psychology and so much social awareness is necessary in order to strike the right tone, not offend anybody, and send a signal of consistency and strength.

If you are finding your organization in a position where you may be sending such a letter in the near future, I would recommend asking many people from a diverse background to review it for you.  The more input you receive on a letter like this, the greater the chance of success you will have.

For further reading on this topic, I highly recommend a book entitled the 7 Essential Steps to Raising Money by Mail by Sandra Sims and Sandy Rees. It features 29 sample letters, including one for schools.

In part one and part two of this series, I have been examining Chris Matthews’ book “Life’s a Campaign”. Specifically, I’ve been looking at the chapter called “Ask!” in which Chris gives examples of how politicians raise millions of dollars for their campaigns. I have been suggesting that many of these strategies are applicable to the life of a school fundraiser, just like you!

With this post, I’d like to share with you the practical advice Matthews shares about how to approach any kind of fundraising campaign. While this advice centers on collecting votes for an election, it is very easy to see how it parallels with fundraising.

“Imagine that you’re running in an election for president of your class or social group. To win, designate a number for each person in the group. Give a 1 to all your friends, a 2 to all the people you regularly say hi to, but don’t consider that close, a 3 to people you feel are probably truly undecided about you, and a 4 to those you figure are strongly against you or loyal to another candidate.

“Here’s your campaign: approach those you’ve give them number 1 to and say that you know you’re friends, but you’re asking them to vote for you. This should nail down your base. Then approach each of those you’ve tagged with a number 2, and make your basic campaign pitch. Tell them what your plans are if elected and how you believe you can really do the job. Ask them for their vote. The important thing with this group is to treat them as people you have to convince. They will appreciate your direct, positive, respectful approach. Finally, go tot the people you’ve marked with a 3 and give them an aggressive, extensive case for your election. They are the persuadables—so persuade them! Do not approach the people you have categorized with number 4. It will only get them aroused. If you bump into them, just be friendly, non-confrontational, and dull. Any active campaigning will simply provoke them. You want them to go to sleep.

“The most vital category of voters for you are the 1s. When my boss Tip O’Neill ran for the Cambridge City Council back in the 1930s, the woman living across the street complained later that O’Neill, still at Boston College, hadn’t bothered to ask for her vote. “People like to be asked,” she said. Tip O’Neill lost that race, but never another.”

I know that this sounds pretty obvious, pretty basic. But, I have been involved in enough capital campaigns and fundraising efforts to know that this advice is often forgotten in the hours and hours spent planning, organizing, and strategizing.

At the end of the day, it’s all about human contact. Get out and make your case. Be brave. Ask!

Link to Part One in this Chris Matthews’ Series

Link to Part Two in this Chris Matthews’ Series

In the first part of this series on Chris Matthews’ book “Life’s a Campaign”, I wrote about how President Kennedy was masterful at developing an army of volunteers who helped in very small, but useful ways.

With this post, I am still in the chapter called “Ask!”, which gives insights into how large-scale campaigns raise so much money. This time however, I want to focus on Matthews’ story about how Republican fundraiser Ed Gillespie goes about this task.

“I always try to get people to buy into the vision, how what we’re doing with the money is important to the country”. He then gives his potential donor the inside perspective. “We need another two million to get up with television in Ohio. I’d like you to help there,“ he’ll say. Revealing such a shortfall or weak spot is a bonding tactic.

“You’ve got to give them something tangible, show them that you’re not going to piss it away somewhere,” he said. “Sometimes, I’ll lay out a program for direct mail and say how it will get turnout up two percent – but we’ve got to pay for it! A lot of people have the money to give. They’re successful people. But they want to see results.”

We’ve all had that one big donor who is very special to us. He or she is the one who has not only given us the most money, but has also mentored us. At least in my case, that relationship became very important to me in a personal way.

Once, during a capital campaign for our private elementary school, I had an experience that instantly came to mind when I read the above passage from Matthews’ book.

This capital campaign also had a significant matching component to it. The deadline for the match was 5:00pm. Of course, our office was humming. The phone was ringing with pledges, people were stopping by our office to drop off checks, I was doing radio interviews, the works. The mood was very upbeat and electric.

Right in the middle of the day, this particular donor stopped by. He had an open invitation to spend time at our school and hang out in my office. He taught me more than anyone else about fundraising, so I was thrilled to have him on hand.

But on this day, this donor wasn’t there to teach me something or somehow officiate the process. Rather, he was there to just enjoy. He knew that we’d be having an exciting last day of the campaign. He wanted to see the faces of the people who dropped off checks. He wanted to hear me take phone calls from people making pledges. He wanted to see the teachers poke their heads in the office to get a status update.

Even though this man had been a part of literally hundreds of such fundraising campaigns, he still loved being part of the action. He got juiced on the spirit of giving. The amount of the gift was never important to him. Instead, he just wanted people to get involved.

But, I would have never developed this kind of close relationship with this donor if I hadn’t sincerely and genuinely opened myself up to him early on. With his experience, he knew the challenges our school was facing. I didn’t have to spell them out for him, but I did. I gave him an honest assessment of our situation, from my perspective, and I shared my entire plan with him. We talked about how he could specifically play a part in our growth, and because of this openness, we bonded in a real kind of way, just like Gillespie talks about above.

This donor had the financial resources to help our school, but he wanted to see results. He wanted to know that I, as the school’s leader, wasn’t going to waste the money we raised. Once he was convinced this was the case, he felt comfortable to help us and to help me.

If you are in a position where you have significant donors at your school, but you haven’t yet developed a real and personal relationship with them, I suggest you do so. The rewards you will reap will not only benefit the school, but could also be life-changing for you.

Link to Part One in this Chris Matthews’ Series

Link to Part Three in this Chris Matthews’ Series

Recently, I have been reading a book called “Life’s a Campaign” by Chris Matthews, who is the host of MSNBC’s program Hardball. The subtitle of this book is “What Politics has Taught Me about Friendship, Rivalry, Reputation, and Success”.

In this book, Matthews shares the lessons he’s learned from working with and covering successful politicians.

I was particularly struck by a chapter he wrote that was called “Ask!” In this chapter, he gives many examples of how successful politicians raise the millions of dollars needed to run a congressional or presidential campaign.

Many of the lessons he draws upon can easily be applied to raising money for your school. Over the next few posts here at Top School Fundraisers, I will share with you some of these ideas that I have found to be particularly interesting.

One of the thoughts that made a lot sense to me involved enlisting the help of small donors and thus creating a large army of people dedicated to your cause.

Matthews uses President John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign as a prime example. Since this book was published early in the current election cycle, he does not mention the immense grassroots campaign that Senator Barack Obama has built.

About Kennedy, Matthews wrote:

“…the idea was to sign up every volunteer you could. It didn’t matter if a person was just stopping by the headquarters; they might be recruited if only to write personal thank-you notes on behalf of the Kennedy family to others who had stopped by.

“The trick was to get them doing something, anything, that turned them into “Kennedy volunteers”. Once these new foot soldiers started sharing their enthusiasm, their neighbors would want to come on board too. In this way, it soon became a communal experience that motivated people and cemented loyalties.”

In a school setting, it is very easy to focus only on the small percentage of people who actually volunteer their time and money. You have sent home countless fliers and posted dozens of meeting notices on bulletin boards to get new people engaged in the process. Still, only a fraction of the parents respond to your call. This can be very frustrating.

I think what the Kennedy campaign did very well is find what I call “micro-commitments” for people to start out with. Writing a few thank-you notes is such a “micro-commitment”. These kinds of tasks can be handled by someone who just wants to test the waters of being involved. I think that many parents who shy away from your organizational meetings are afraid of getting sucked in and asked to do too much.

If you can find a way to break down larger tasks into much smaller ones, you might have a better chance of bringing folks on board and not “freaking them out”.

Of course, this is going to mean that you engage in an aggressive (yet pleasantly respectful) networking campaign of your own. Many parents are in hiding. You might need to loiter in the parking lots, make personal phone calls after the dinner hour, or use friends of friends as intermediaries to plant the seed of “micro-commitments”.

The exciting reward is the possibility of developing these new “micro-recruits” into dependable and highly-motivated volunteers. Once people get an opportunity to make a real difference in their kids’ school, even in a “micro” sort of way, the easier it is to ask them to give just a little bit more. And then, just a little more, again.

After reading this particular section of Matthew’s book, I take away the message that I don’t always have to try to hit a home run. Often, a lot of singles will actually add up to a much higher run total.

Link to Part Two in this Chris Matthews’ Series

Link to Part Three in this Chris Matthews’ Series

Whether it be for school, gymnastics, dance, Little League, or junior underwater basket weaving, there will come a day, if it hasn’t come already, when you will be asked to become a salesperson for any or all of the following items:

• Cookie dough
• Popcorn
• Candles
• Wrapping paper
• Chocolate bars
• Christmas wreaths
• Frozen pizza
• Coupon books
• Magazine subscriptions

It doesn’t matter if you are a professor of astrophysics at M.I.T., a Supreme Court Justice, or a professional underwater basket weaver, raising money for your kids is the great American equalizer.

Fundraising done wrong, however, can make everybody unhappy. So, I want to share a few strategies that make this maligned rite of passage a little more tolerable for all involved.

Step One: Don’t Surprise Them

If you really want to tick some parents off, go ahead and spring random fundraisers on them. One day, completely unannounced, send home a letter and order form telling them they have to sell cookie dough. And the money’s due in ten days. I promise, you’ll make a lot of friends.

No seriously, this is not a good idea. It is much wiser to actually set a fundraising plan before you kick off your year or season. Know exactly which fundraisers you will be running and set the dates in stone. Write this information down and give it to all the parents involved.

This becomes your bible. Do not stray from it. If mom and dad know that there is going to be a frozen pizza sale in February, they can cope with it. They have time to plan or perhaps time to flee the country.

Step Two: Be Very Clear on the Goal

Sometimes it seems that we fundraise just to pay for all the fundraising we do. Honestly, I have been involved in groups where I’ve been asked to sell something or other, and I’ve had absolutely no idea what my money was going to buy. I would seek out other parents to ask them if they knew, but they just had this glassy look in their eyes and chanted: “Must sell the donuts… Must sell the donuts…”

This is the wrong way to go about having a fundraiser. Along with letting everyone know well in advance what’s being sold and when, you really must give parents an exact picture of what’s at stake. If the money will be used to purchase new equipment or help pay for a really great trip, that gives parents a solid hook for their sales pitch at the office.

If the money you collect is going to fund the general operating budget, just pick something attractive that you were going to buy anyway and say that fundraiser is for that. I don’t believe that this is dishonest, as long as your organization is truly going to purchase that thing during this year. The money all goes to the same place, but you are giving a face to your campaign, and that’s important when trying to raise money.

Step Three: Don’t Sell Junk

Now, I need to be a little careful here, because I don’t want to offend anyone, so I’ll speak in general terms, but honestly folks, some of the stuff that we, as parents, are asked to sell is useless, overpriced schlock. Really, some of the things that get passed off as a “fundraiser”, I wouldn’t give to my worst enemy.

I pay close attention to this sort of thing, and I’ve noticed that there are some businesses these days that get into the fundraising racket, just to increase their bottom lines. No matter that they sell radioactive Popsicle sticks, they put out a brochure that proclaims “It’s a Fundraiser, and you get 10% of the profit!” While this may be a slight exaggeration, it’s not far from the truth.

If you want to make parents happy and have a profitable fundraising sale, you really need to make sure the item you’re selling has a broad appeal, is reasonably priced and is of high quality. If your item doesn’t hit it on all three of these markers, don’t sell it. If you have any doubts, ask a handful of parents before committing. Call some other schools or groups to get their take on the subject. Your parents and their customers will thank you for it.

Step Four: Let Parents Opt-Out

Ah, the opt-out option. This is like a grown-up version of the “Get Out of Jail Free” card in Monopoly. Many schools and groups are moving toward this option, and if we’re lucky, perhaps one day all fundraisers will be opt-out-able.

Basically, an opt-out option, if you are unfamiliar with it, is a plan under which, parents can pay a certain amount to NOT participate. Beauty, eh? Some groups even go so far as to make the entire year of fundraising optional, as long as you’re willing to write a big, fat check.

What’s great about this option is that it appeals to a segment of your population that perhaps didn’t participate in your fundraisers before, because they were simply too busy. Giving money wasn’t a problem for them; it was just a time-thing. Now, with the “official” opt-out option, they have a way that they can still give to a cause they believe in, but don’t have to go through all the machinations to do it. Talk about a win-win!

Conclusion

Fundraising is a necessary part of life. We, as parents all want the best for our children, and that often means that we have to pay for it. Product sales, auctions, golf outings, and walk-a-thons have become common tools in helping us achieve our financial goals. Unfortunately, the entire process has become a little unpleasant. However, with a few key strategies, you will be able to keep the parents happy, while you’re still sticking them with the cookie dough.

Basically, for those of you unfamiliar with this concept, a mandatory parent participation fee would be levied on every enrolled family in the school. Let’s say the amount was $1,000. This fee would have been over and above the regular tuition price. Even families on financial aid would be included.

The fee would not be charged until the end of the school year, however. And the fee could be lowered if the family participated in certain school sponsored events. For instance, if a parent served as a chaperon for a field trip, the amount would be lowered by $150. Then if that same parent attended a board meeting, he/she could take off another $100. Furthermore, if this parent volunteered to work the school auction as a committee chair, $500 could be deducted from the bill.

Eventually, with enough time invested, a family could completely eliminate their $1,000 participation fee. If, however, a family decided not to participate at all or only on a couple of items, they would be compelled to pay either the entire amount or whatever amount they didn’t work off.

OK. That’s the general idea behind the concept. What follows is the chief argument we heard on either side of the issue.

Those supporting the fee said that no matter what, the school won. If a family paid off the entire amount through service, the school received significant volunteer help that it didn’t have to outsource. More got done for less money. If the family didn’t do the work, the school got a nice financial boon. Really, it was a win-win for the school, they said.

The reason this group put forward the proposal in the first place was to combat declining volunteer rates. With costs running so high, the school was forced to rely on more and more volunteer help. When those volunteers weren’t signing up for what the school needed, they came up with this idea.

The group that opposed this fee claimed that such a fee was insulting to the tuition paying families of the school. By mandating participation, the school was taking away from the true spirit of volunteerism, where people gave because they were moved to give. Under such a system, they argued, people would feel like indentured servants, and the joy of volunteering would be lost.

They also said that the system didn’t allow for families with special circumstances. For some families, finding the time and the ability to volunteer was next to impossible, due to job or family situations. Therefore, these people would be penalized at the end of the school year for working the second shift or having multiple children where babysitting was a real concern.

This was a pretty passionate subject, but one we did not act on during my time at the school.

I would be interested in hearing if any of you readers have experience with such a system and what your school decided. There are many more arguments both for and against, but the main positions, at least at my school, are listed above.

I look forward to hearing your stories.

In essence, the overall health of the organization is very poor and the prognosis isn’t very good.

At these times, if the board of directors wishes to save the school, drastic measures must be taken to both “stop the bleeding” and set a new course to the future.

Below, I have suggested ten ways for schools to regain the trust and confidence once shown to it by parents, alumni, and donors.

1. New Leadership
The quality of leadership is vital to the overall success of any organization, especially a school. If your school is in dire straits, I would look at the person in charge of the day to day operations, whether he or she is called the principal, administrator, or superintendent. What has this leader done to either help or harm the community? What has he or she done to foster alumni development and what is the current status of donor relations? Has enrollment increased or decreased? All these factors are important when judging the leader. These questions can be summed up, however, when gauging the predominant “mood” of the school. If the teachers and students aren’t energized and happy to be in the school everyday, I would submit that the leader is not doing a good job.

If this is the case, either something has to be done for the leader to improve dramatically in short order or a change must be made. Without the absolute commitment of the administrator, the school will continue its downward decent.

2. Apologize Without Excuses
Once new leadership (or at least a new leadership attitude) is in place, the repair work must begin. The incoming leader must quickly acclimate him or herself and find out who has been or who feels wronged by the organization. Then, the leader must reach out and do whatever it takes to bring these people back into the fold.

The leader must make this apology, even though he or she had nothing to do with the perceived injustice. The best way to do this is with a sympathetic ear and understanding words. Phrases like, “I can totally understand that would make you feel hurt,” or “It makes sense that you felt we weren’t being good stewards of the money” are honest and sincere expressions that will resonate with the people, without damaging the personal standing of the new leader.

Make sure not to get bogged down in excuses or details from the past. Accept that the person feels wronged and your job is to make him feel better. That’s it.

Once you’ve got a few people back on board, word will spread, and your job of mending fences will become a little easier with momentum.

3. Make Easy Physical Changes within the Organization
I wrote an entire blog post on this subject not too long ago. Please refer to it for details, but the gist is that I feel easy physical changes should always precede difficult policy shifts. If your school is going to go through serious transformations in staff, procedures, and expectations, that will be difficult for some people to accept.

I have always found that if I undertake some simple physical projects, like painting, landscaping, re-arranging furniture, changing the purpose of a supply closet or classroom, or anything else that does not affect people’s sense of security, but actually improves the physical appearance of the school, you will start to win them over before the tough stuff comes.

4. Honor History in New Ways
If the leader is new to the school, he or she can earn much respect and loyalty by finding a way to honor the school’s past, but doing it in a way that has never been done before. This way, the leader will be both showing a respect for what came before, but also demonstrating that he or she has an eye on the future.

One example might be to create an annual award based on service to the school. This award could be named after a school founder or an important donor. This covers the “past” part, while the actual honor of the award, along with a new plaque that hangs in a prominent location is the “new” part. I did something very similar to this in the school I worked at and got great results.

5. Listen to Alumni and Donors
Another important task for new leadership in the school is to listen to alumni and donors. The leader should seek these people out and ask them a lot of open-ended questions. Let the alumni and the donors give you their unedited opinions about the school at large. Listen to them as long as they want to speak. Pay close attention and take good notes. Let them know that while you may not be able to make all the changes at once, you really appreciate their insight and will do your best to enact sensible change. This act of just opening yourself up will go a long way toward building trust and loyalty.

6. Study Successful Programs and Emulate Them
While every school has its own special circumstances, there are plenty of commonalities between educational institutions where you can find a success story to model. Do some research and talk to other leaders of similar schools. Share your story with them and find out what they did to pull themselves out of the tailspin they were in. While you may not use every suggestion, I would wager you will still find many pieces of useful advice in their experience.

7. Set Realistic Short Term Goals
Donors want to see verifiable proof of success. This is another reason why making physical changes is beneficial. Even though painting a few walls or cleaning something up won’t make long-lasting improvements in enrollment or fundraising, they will show donors that “stuff is getting done.” And that is good.

The leader must find a handful of areas that he or she can point to for easy success. Perhaps one goal is to improve communications. A regular newsletter, frequent email blasts, an improved website, and frequently updated bulletin boards are all ways to show that the leader is making quality communications more of a priority than it was in the past. Donors like this.

If the leader chooses to set and focus only on more long-term goals, like raising enrollment 10% for example, he will miss all of the building blocs in front of him. After the slow decline into the depths, donors and alumni, as well as parents of currently enrolled students are going to want to see more immediate signs of life. It’s the reverse of the cliché, “Can’t see the forest for the trees”. Just remember that without individual trees, there is no forest.

8. Repair a Key Relationship(s) in the Community at Large
When I worked for the Christian school, I encountered a situation in which the relationship between the school and the local church community was dormant or in some cases, non-existent. I was shocked that there wasn’t an active and dynamic support system between these seemingly cooperative groups.

One of the first things I did was to schedule private meetings with many of the key pastors involved to introduce myself and to invite them to become involved in our mission. Not everyone accepted my invitation, but some did, and we developed some very good friends from this effort.

I would guess that there are many rather obvious “missing links” in schools and non-profits out there. A new leader has the chance to, without any history, right some wrongs. If you find a person or a group that your school should be friendly with, but you aren’t, I urge you to make this happen.

If you are successful in making this important connection, it will be another example to your board and donors that you are out there, changing the culture that existed before.

9. Be Appreciative
Sadly, one of the most common mistake non-profits in general and schools in particular, make is not to be appreciative of the gifts they receive. A gesture as simple as a thank you note is often forgotten.

This omission is often the reason why many donors break off their relationship with a school. I actually heard one donor once say he felt like a horse, ridden hard and then put away.

Even if a gift is many years old, if you are new to the school’s leadership, you have the opportunity to say thank you again. With the “thank you” should also come the admission that you know this was (very) late in coming and you should give them your word that such omissions will not occur again. (And make sure they don’t!)

Conclusion
Taking over a school in trouble is a very difficult task. The issues that put the school in jeopardy can be very serious and almost impossible to reverse. However, there are several ways that can help set your school back on a path to success.

Does that mean, however, that elementary schools shouldn’t consider developing a proud alumni tradition within their own community? Of course not! For all of the reasons that alumni are important to high schools and colleges, they can be a vital part of fundraising, student recruitment, and organizational leadership at lower level schools, as well. I would argue that an elementary school that is not out actively recruiting alumni help is missing a fantastic opportunity.

Here is a list of 15 strategies to get more former students involved at your elementary school.

1. Maintain Updated Address Lists
In order to keep in touch with people as they grow older and move on from your elementary school, it is important to maintain accurate and current mailing addresses and email addresses, as well. If this has not been done at your school, start now to develop a database for your current students. It may be a big undertaking, but it would also be wise to go back through past student records and match them with current high school students. This way, you have a jump on those kids who will be the next generation to go out into the “real world”.

2. Create an Alumni Page on Your School Website
Since the Internet has become such a regular part of people’s lives, a website is the perfect medium to communicate with far-flung alumni. If you do not already have at least one page on your site devoted to alumni news and relations, you should create one right away. You can scan and post old pictures and maybe even do a “Can you name this person?” contest. Use this site to announce upcoming events or important school news items, such as a community service project or excellent school test scores. This keeps alumni, even if they live in another part of the country in the loop, so to speak.

3. Send Out an Annual Alumni Newsletter
A printed newsletter shares the same objective as a page on your school website, but it is perhaps a little more formal and is for folks who do not visit you on the web. With the printed newsletter, you can also insert a returnable donation envelope. I would suggest coming up with an established name for your alumni news publication (more than just “The Alumni Newsletter”). By branding your website and newsletter, you are becoming more memorable to your potential alumni audience.

4. Don’t Push too Heavy on the Fundraising Angle
As with any fundraising effort, you need to pick the right place and time. It is wise to remember that an elementary school is probably going to fall lower on a person’s giving priority list than their university or church. The best approach with alumni is to appeal to their sense of nostalgia, the future promise for their children at the same school, and then simply present the need. Just lay it out there for them. If you push too much, you will possibly sever any sense of connection they had. If you play it right, however, you’ll get their brains and their hearts going at the same time, and they find a way to help the school.

5. Form an Official Alumni Group
In any important effort, it is smart to develop a group of people that is committed to leading it and growing it. As a school fundraising leader or administrator, you may be called upon to get this group going, but you should not be responsible for the long-term health of the group. Once you have a few solid members on the alumni committee, discuss the group’s mission and strategy and then get out of their way. Let them take the ownership.

6. Keep School Athletic Records Posted for Years
If your school has any sort of intramural team or even something as simple as track and field day, I suggest that you keep accurate records and post them. Alumni love to come back and see if their records are still standing. Nothing does more for someone’s ego than learning nobody has been able to beat their record in twenty years!

7. Keep School Yearbooks on Hand
Elementary school yearbooks can easily be lost over the years. Make sure you keep a few copies in your library from each year, going as far back as you can. Let the alumni who visit your school know that you have them on file to look at if they wish. Flipping through those pages could really spark a trip down memory lane and that could get them to make a donation. You never know…

8. Create an Annual Student Award
If you don’t do this already, consider creating an annual student award based on citizenship or school spirit or both. Give the winners a trophy, but also engrave their names on a perpetual plaque that will be displayed in your main hallway for years. An award like this gives your school an instant tradition and something to proudly show off to a child of a former student. “Hey son, look at this. I won this award way back in 2008!”

9. Honor Various Groups of Alumni at School Functions
If your school has an annual auction or other large gathering, consider using the opportunity to honor a group of alumni or a class from 20 years ago. You could make a photo slideshow and display it during dinner time, for instance. Anyway that you can throw a spotlight on former students, the greater the message you send to current students: We Remember You!

10. Celebrate Long-Employed Teachers
Nothing draws a student back to an elementary school like a favorite old teacher. I know I can still name every single teacher I had from pre-school until 6 grade- and I’m almost 40! If there is a teacher at your school who is retiring after many years of service, consider throwing a huge community-wide blow-out party and inviting any person whoever sat in her class to attend. Tell them to be ready to share stories!

This kind of event could really draw alumni out, who might never have otherwise gotten involved. Advertise this event well ahead of time in the local paper and on local television and radio. Put up fliers everywhere. And, make sure to ask the media to cover the event as a “feel-good piece”. All this exposure is only going to help your school in the long run to get more alumni involved.

11. Recruit Their Children
Another great way to get alumni involved is to recruit their children. If you have alumni living in your geographical area, be sure to make a strong advertising pitch for their young children. Mention how well the students are prepared academically at your school. Tell them about outstanding test scores and individual success stories. Let them know that the school in their dusty memories hasn’t stopped growing and striving for success. Show them computer labs and any other technological advances the school has made. Lastly, really sell them on the value of family tradition. This can be a strong pull in young parents. Remember, their kids have to go to school somewhere- you have a built in advantage with alumni kids!

12. Put Up Their Pictures
Remember the theme song to the television show “Cheers”. The chorus was, “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came”. This is a strong pull for human beings- a sense of belonging. If you want to grow your alumni presence at your school, make it a place where they are welcome and remembered. Find old photographs, school newspapers, any kind of memorabilia imaginable and put them on prominent display. If an alumnus walks into your school for the first time in 30 years, and he finds a picture of himself up on a hallway wall, he will feel connected and rooted there. You are much more likely to gain a strong friend this way than by making a verbal or written appeal for money to him.

13. Offer Cool Adult Sized Merchandise
This may be a small item, but it is wise to have a selection of school merchandise available in adult sizes, not only for the parents of current students, but also for alumni. It might even be beneficial to have a few sweatshirts or hats made up with the word “alumni” on it. Have them on display in the school office or at any public event you have. You can also put them up for sale on your school website. It is proven that people use these kinds of items to express their passion and loyalty. You should jump on that bandwagon!

14. Sell Naming Rights
Not too long ago, a Catholic school near my home completed a new addition. As a fundraiser, they widely advertised that they would be selling the naming rights for each classroom. My wife’s parents and all her aunts and uncles attended that school when they were children. About ten of them or so went in together and bought the right to name a classroom after their mother. It was a beautiful tribute. This can be done even without the expense of doing a major addition to the school. Your school can open up the naming rights to just about anything you want to!

15. Establish an Alumni Scholarship Fund
This applies only to private schools with tuition, but a great way to get alumni to donate is to create and then advertise an alumni scholarship drive. For just a few dollars, alumni can make sure that any child who wants to attend the school, regardless of economic status, will have the chance. Gifts can be made in the name of a family member, a corporation, or anonymously. Regardless of how the gift is presented, it does give the alumnus a sense of true inclusion in the on-going development of the school.

Conclusion
When trying to raise money for a school, you need to look at every single avenue of support. Far too often, the alumni option is overlooked by elementary schools, because it has been so long since they attended it. However, for the many reasons stated above, I strongly argue that every school should be actively pursuing each and every person who ever passed through their doors. I know this is a big project, but definitely one that will pay great rewards.