Back in March of this year, I wrote a blog post here that talked about the dangers of including alcohol for adults at a school fundraiser. I wrote that alcohol can add an unpredictable element to your event, which could possibly spoil what you and your team worked so hard to create.

It’s not that I’m against alcohol in any way personally, it’s just that some people get carried away with drinking, and these few individuals can ruin the event for the rest of the audience. That can negatively impact your school’s reputation as a fundraising entity and make your job much harder.

As evidence, I included in my blog an excerpt from a news article that reported on a school auction that included alcohol sales, and some parents got drunk and started to swear loudly at each other, and they came to blows.

Today, however, I came across an article in the Times & Transcript online paper from New Brunswick, Canada, that highlights a local elementary school that has decided to hold an Oktoberfest Beer Garden fundraiser just for parents. No children would be allowed to attend.

According to the article, the planners of this event have done everything by the book. For example,

…the (Home & School) association has moved very cautiously to plan a positive, adults-only event. The fire inspector has been in to certify appropriate maximum numbers for such an event, the event is being limited to four hours, the special event liquor license limits the number of drinks that can be served, taxicabs and volunteer designated drivers will be available, and the event is scheduled to start more than six hours after the last student group, a basketball team, leaves the school that Saturday.

There has been some resistance to this idea, however. One parent thinks that the event should have been scheduled at an area tavern, instead of in the school building itself.

The organizers of the event did look into that possibility, but there would have been a financial price to pay for renting the facility, as well as other costs that would be avoided by holding it at the school. One organizer was quoted as saying, “that they looked at hosting it off-site, but the use of the gymnasium instead of a rented space will allow the event to pay for itself and be a fundraiser.” continue reading

No Comments »

Recently, Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki teamed up to write a book on the subject of entrepreneurship called “The Midas Touch”.

In this book, they list five attributes that separate successful entrepreneurs from unsuccessful ones. These characteristics are:

1. Character
2. Focus
3. Brand
4. Relationships
5. The Little Things

No matter what you think of Donald Trump, he has had a long and storied career as an entrepreneur, so it’s worth at least considering what he has to say on this matter.

I’ve stated many times before that I believe that school fundraising is a total sales job. You are trying to convince people to spend their money to buy a better product, namely a better school experience for their children. It doesn’t matter if you’re running an auction for your school, or a carnival, or a walk-a-thon. It could also be a product sale or a direct mail appeal. Whatever form your fundraiser takes, you are engaged in the art of sales.

Therefore, I think it’s appropriate to consider yourself an entrepreneur of a sort. You have to be creative, bold, and fearless when it comes to figuring out the best ways to earn the most money for your school.

So, if you are an entrepreneur, then, let’s look at the five markers of success that Trump and Kiyosaki highlight in their book.

1. Character. School fundraising is notoriously filled with “no’s”. You hear them all the time. It would be very easy to get discouraged and walk away from the effort of raising money in a school environment. I think it is especially frustrating because the cause itself is so important- their children’s education. It is going to take the strength of your convictions and your character to stick with this noble but frustrating calling.

2. Focus. This is a tough characteristic to maintain over the long haul. There are so many other important activities and responsibilities pulling at you that your volunteer time sometimes takes a back seat to other pressing matters. It is unrealistic to expect one person to maintain a laser-like focus on school fundraising during the entire school calendar, so I think the better strategy would be to get several people to share in a part of that necessary focus. Make sure you have a good team to work with on the task of raising money. Going it alone is a sure-fire plan to get burned out.

3. Brand. I know this sounds very “marketing-speak” but it does have a significant importance in your school fundraising campaigns. Just like you are attracted to certain marketing campaigns out in the world, you should think about the ways you present your fundraising materials for public consumption. How is your audience going to react to your fliers? Your website or Facebook page? How will they respond to your ideas for fundraising events? Do you keep them interested with new uses of technology? If you are sending out black and white, clip-art type of announcements, no one is even going to read them. There goes your participation and there goes your revenue. continue reading

No Comments »

When a school needs to raise money to cover expenses that aren’t paid for in the their annual operating budget, a PTO group or a school administrator, has to get creative.

Of course, there are the traditional ways of raising money, such as product sales, car washes, walk-a-thons, golf-outings, school carnivals, and box top drives. However, sometimes these choices can get old and tired and they fail to inspire the school families to act in a big way.

It’s at these times, the school leadership needs to pull the proverbial rabbit out of their hat and wow the crowd with something they haven’t done before.

I just came across a perfect example of that with a school in Victoria, British Columbia. According to a report in the bclocalnews.com, Sangster Elementary is in the process of holding a scrap metal drive.

Here’s an excerpt from the article.  Click on the link to read the full report.

Sangster Kids Seek Scrap Metal

By Charla Huber – Goldstream News Gazette

Published: September 22, 2011 10:00 AM

Sangster elementary school wants your metal, any metal.

The parent advisory committee is hosting a fundraiser for the school and it’s collecting any and all scrap metal, including old household appliances.

The school plans to sell the metal to Steel Pacific Recycling for a rate greater than market value for the materials.

“We will take anything a magnet will stick to,” said Sean Kay, marketing representative from Steel Pacific Recycling.

The items donated can be anything from old dishwashers, car rims, bicycles and even Christmas light strings, without the bulbs.

Sue Fehr, PAC fundraiser, said even donations of nuts and bolts can really add up in weight. The PAC will be paid per metric tonne.

“Other places you have to pay to get rid of this stuff, but here it’s free,” Fehr said. “People could even donate an old car.”

The PAC will use the money to help fund school field trips, library books and sports gear.

“People should donate so we can get money for library books and field trips,” said student Maggie Fehr, 8, who enjoys going on field trips to the pool.

On Oct. 1 and 2 a large bin will be at the school at 3325 Metchosin Rd., where people can drop of metal appliances. Items can also be arranged for pick up throughout the West Shore.

What a fantastic idea! Not only do parents not have to pay any money themselves for the fundraiser, but they also get the motivation to clean out their home, garage, or yard of unwanted hunks of metal junk!

Your scrap metal fundraiser is actually doing families a favor, while the school gets paid!

If you are scratching your head, trying to think what kind of fundraiser will resonated with your community, give some serious thought to this kind of low-pressure, low-cost, high-return event. It will liven up your fundraising attitude, and I bet it will yield some great results!

Photo by: Lara604

No Comments »

On many occasions, I have sung the praises of the PTO Today website, in particular the PTO Today message boards. Here, you will find incredible information from people, just like you, trying to raise money for their children’s schools.

Today, I’d like to share some ideas that I came across, which would be of interest to schools who have a large population of low-income families. There are thousands of schools in this situation, and they need to raise money, just like every other school out there.

So, the question is: How can you raise money in a low-income school?

Here are just a few of the great answers on the site:

Bring the outside community in. A mom at our school is a Zumba instructor. (Zumba is a fun latin dance that anyone can enjoy, young,old, any race….you could probably find one very easily in your area). They do fundraisers all the time. Here’s how it worked: she used her classes to promote to event, so MOST of the people who came were not even people from our school, they were community members! We did it in our gym, served water in big jug coolers, and it was huge! We raised almost $4,000 with little at all coming from our students!

Also, we found the food usually works. We found a local deli who gave us a deal for selling their sandwiches…they were cheap at $4 a sub and we made $1.50 off each one…that made us another $1500

continue reading

No Comments »

One of my favorite websites in the educational world is PTO Today. There are so many fantastic ideas and conversations going on every day.

You’ll find resources to help you navigate every aspect of school life- from planning fundraisers to how to run PTO meetings, to being able to vent about your frustrations in a friendly forum. PTO Today is a site that everyone involved in school fundraising should be checking out on a regular basis.

The president of PTO Today is Tim Sullivan. Tim has spent his entire career in the education world. He has worked as a teacher and administrator at a NYC high school, then as a senior manager for a New England-based fundraising concern; and now as the founder and leader of PTO Today. He has spoken at hundreds of parent group meetings and to tens of thousands of parent group leaders all across the country. He also maintains a role as a senior writer for PTO Today magazine and is a leading voice on best practices in connecting with parent group leaders.

I spoke to Tim once about the topic of fundraising fatigue. Since he deals with hundreds of schools, he has a verey good perspective on how to ask parents for money without over-burdening him. Here are a few of the things Tim had to say on this topic:

“If you’re feeling the negative effects of fundraising fatigue—perhaps your latest sale didn’t go as well as last year’s or you’re having trouble finding volunteers to help out with the counting—then the problem is likely with your group’s fundraising habits. Nine times out of 10, fundraising struggles are self-inflicted.”

To combat the symptoms of fundraising fatigue, Tim suggests two strategies.

“First, we have to run fewer fundraisers, but run those few more effectively. (Dump a couple—you’ll live!) Two weeks of really hard work and focused fundraising attention is often way better than 12 weeks where some combination of smaller fundraisers are taking place.

“Second, we need to keep in mind the very reason we are engaged in fundraising efforts at all. “The reality is that fundraising provides essential funds for the extras that turn schools from piles of bricks with teachers inside into magical places of discovery and learning and community. Playgrounds. Field trips. A child’s first exposure to the theater or music. The family event that cements friendships that last a lifetime. These are the essentials of fundraising.”

Here is a short video Tim recently posted on PTO Today that covers this topic above, as well as how to grow parent involvement at your school. Thanks to Tim and his staff for doing so much great work that helps us raise money at our schools!

No Comments »