You might think that since I once served as a elementary school principal, I would be protective of my comrades in arms. You might assume that I would do nothing to put these fine men and women in harm’s way. And you might guess that I would only write about ways to glorify this esteemed position.

If you were thinking any of these things, you would be wrong.

Hah! Today I am going to lay out a five point plan to raise money for your school at the expense and peril of your school principal.

These fundraisers are not complicated. In fact, they fall just this side of a ransom note. Bring in the money or the principal gets it! Let’s see what we’ve got:

Shave Him.
Pick a cause. Set a financial goal. Give the incentive- if the school exceeds the goal, the principal will shave his head at a school assembly. Rake in the dough.

Dunk Him.
Pick a cause. Rent a dunk tank. Put the principal up on the dunk platform. Sell three throws for five dollars.  Rake in the dough.

Jail Him.
Pick a cause. Set a financial goal for him to raise. Lock him in his office until he meets the goal. He can use the phone, email, or letters home to request “bail” from school families and community supporters. (Be kind, allow food, water, and bathroom breaks.) Rake in the dough.

Grade Him.
Pick a cause. Set a financial goal for each classroom. The winning classroom gets to have the principal spend a day as a “student” in that class. He has to do the same homework, tests, pop quizzes, and projects as everyone else. Of course, I’m sure the class would LOVE to gang up on him, maybe just a little.

Be Him.
Great as a school action item. “Principal for the Day” The winning bidder (usually the child of the winning adult) gets to “work” as the principal for one day. The new principal can change rules (four recesses), talk on the PA, get out of any homework, visit any classroom, greet parents at the beginning and end of the day, and get two desserts at lunch. Sounds like a typical day in the life of a principal!

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Maybe my thumbs are too slow. Or too big. But, for the life of me, I have never been able to become proficient at text-messaging on a cell phone. It takes me a half an hour just to enter in a new contact.

I realize that this makes me incredibly lame, but even though I’m pretty awful at this activity, it’s not that I don’t appreciate it. Because I do. I’m quite impressed by the folks who excel at this. Back in April of 2007, a 13 year-old girl named Morgan Pozgar became the first-ever National Texting Champion and won $25,000 for being able to send a 151 character message in 42 seconds. Amazing. After winning the prize, Morgan reported that she sends over 4,000 text messages per month! That works out to over eight messages every waking hour of the month.

Anyway, the point is, texting has arrived.

So, I was understandably intrigued when I recently learned about an upcoming fundraiser to be held in New Jersey that was using cell phone text messaging as the main hook for raising $100,000. The one-day event is scheduled for February 28, 2008. (There is a great article on the plan here.) The beneficiary for this event is a brain trauma center, not a school, but I think the steps could easily be transferred to a school setting. continue reading

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Check out Jim Berigan’s year-long FREE school fundraising e-Course!

Tuesdays are the day that I highlight a particular fundraising event, sale, or process. Today, I am thrilled to bring you “Flamingo Flocking”! I have to admit, this is a variety of fundraiser that I was completely unaware of just a couple of days ago.

But, in my pursuit to bring you creative options, I was struck by the audacity and simplicity of this idea and had to share.

We are all familiar with the pink flamingo yard ornament. One of the prime examples of American cultural kitsch, this plastic bird with metal legs has for years marked its owners as well… interesting. I think there are probably two types of people in the world: those who take the flamingos seriously as quality yard art and those who wouldn’t be caught dead with even one adorning their lawn.

For the purposes of this fundraiser, we are banking on the hopes that there are more of those in the latter category.

The fundraiser begins with the formation of a team of people who love to have a good time and make a little harmless mischief. These folks all need to be available to convene and operate under the cover of darkness.

continue reading

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If you are looking for a fundraiser that will teach children about the important people and times of the Old West of the U.S.A., Buckboard Provisioning Co. has group of unique fundraising products. Each of the company’s products has an actual person, place or incident that took place during Old West history. Their coffee is called Stagecoach Mary’s Strong Black Coffee, named for a freed slave who was one of the first women to drive a U.S. mail wagon. Buckboard Provisioning Co. is located in Sisters, Oregon.

“We loved the way the fundraiser was an educational opportunity,” notes Jan Silberman, principal at Sisters Elementary of Sisters, Oregon which just concluded a fund drive with the company. “The product labels, the old-time newspaper Buckboard provided to each child and the website offered stories and puzzles the kids could relate to. Our teachers can use the resources on the web page to extend learning on their Lewis & Clark and Oregon Trail units if they wish. The fourth grade teaching team has even served the buffalo jerky and smoked salmon at our annual pow-wow.”

One Sisters Elementary student is being rewarded with a ride in a vintage carriage pulled by horses for his stellar fundraising efforts. The third-grader Andrew Stevens raised almost $200 for playground equipment. He will get to ride in the carriage from the Buckboard Provisioning Co. office located on Hood Avenue and help deliver Buckboard Provisioning Co. products to the school. The carriage ride is donated by Thunder Mountain Ranch.

Source: Pr Urgent

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Approximately 2,400 attendees came out to support St. Joseph’s School in Salem, Massachusetts for a Polar Express-themed fundraiser. They rode the MBTA train that leaves from the Salem station. Passengers drank hot chocolate and sang Christmas carols. They were greeted by Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus. The fundraiser raised thousands of dollars for the school.

The fundraiser is based on the popular children’s story about a young boy’s evening train ride to the North Pole. Tickets for the St. Joseph event cost $22 and three of their four trips were completely sold out.

St. Joseph’s heard about the Polar Express themed fundraiser from other schools and decided to try it. Their director of development Mona Nadeau applied for dates with the MBTA and won them. The school paid the MBTA $10,000 for train services and staff for the day.

Source: The Salem News

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