There is a great post over at the Wall Street Journal blog “The Juggle” that tackles an issue that many schools might be facing in the not-so-distant future: that is the need to generate revenue from advertising sales.

Back in December of 2008, I wrote a blog post here called “This Final Exam is Brought to You by The Double Whopper”. It was about a teacher, Tom Farber, at Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego, California. Due to budget cuts at his school, his allowance for making photocopies shrunk from over $500 per year to only $316.

Since teachers already spent significant amounts of their own money to buy school supplies that are unfunded by their districts, he sought to find a more creative solution.

He decided to sell advertising space to local merchants on his homework and test papers- $10 for a quiz, $20 for a chapter test, $30 for a semester final. At the time, he was managing to sell the ads, but most of the sponsors were parents of the students, wishing them luck on the tests. So, it was a very personal thing.

However, the post in the Wall Street Journal flashes forward to 2011. Things aren’t nearly as quaint as they were back in the good old days of 2008. continue reading

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I recently came across a newspaper article from the SCTimes.com which covers Saint Cloud, Minnesota. The article was titled “Sartell schools tighten fundraising rules”.

I found this very interesting, because it highlighted a school district addressing some of the problems that all school districts face in this era of decreasing revenue and increasing fundraising.

Overall, I think that the steps they are taking are very wise.

First of all, the superintendent, Joe Hill, sets the stage for the tightening oversight. He said, “…we are not trying to limit fundraising, we are trying to understand what we are fundraising for.”

This is a great point. I have witnessed fundraising from both sides, first as a school administrator and then as a parent of four kids. In both roles, I have often seen a lack of clarity from the school as to why the fundraiser is being held in the first place. I will receive a large catalog of items to purchase, and I am told the date by which I must send in my check, but rarely have I received a thorough explanation as to what the money we raise will go toward. continue reading

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This is an article I posted on the site Everybody Hates Fundraising this past fall.  There are some great photos of food that are really, really bad for you.  But, that’s why we love them, right?  (If you want to find out what exactly is in each item, click through to EndlessSimmer.com.)

If you are holding a school carnival this year, and you’d like to jazz up the menu items from plain old hot dogs and cotton candy, get your best volunteer bakers and chefs thinking about re-creating some of these items below.

Would you like to learn more about school carnivals?  Check out Jim Berigan’s “School Carnival Money Making Guide!  It’s 186 pages of advice, suggestions, and ideas that will help your school make the money it needs!

You can charge a premium for these delectable creations, and you know you’ll sell a lot of them.  I actually suggest that you advertise that you’ll be selling such socially unacceptable treats ahead of time.  The very fact that a person could try a slice of corn dog pizza or a deep fried Klondike bar could make all the difference in your attendance!

Here’s the original post:

These are some crazy new ideas for food items you can sell at your school carnival.  Click here for the original article on EndlessSimmer.com, which contains full descriptions of the artery-clogging items below.  Enjoy!

10. Hash Brown Hot Dog  – San Diego County Fair

9. Deep-Fried Cheddar-Bacon Mashed Potatoes…On a Stick  – Minnesota State Fair

continue reading

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At the beginning of this month, I happily returned to Top School Fundraisers after a period away. As I wrote in my first post back, this blog he has gained a new sponsor, FastTrack Fundraising. FastTrack is based out of Los Angeles, and they specialize in providing profitable fundraising solutions for non-profits. They have an extensive list of excellent products and services that are very helpful to their clients. I strongly suggest that you take a few minutes to check out their site and read what their very satisfied customers have to say.

In addition to my work here at Top School Fundraisers, I also manage and write for two other blogs, also in the FastTrack Family. They are Step By Step Fundraising and Fundraising Ideas. Both of these sites have a slightly different mission than Top School, but each one has great content written by yours truly, and both are highly applicable to anyone who is in the position of having to raise money.

So, to entice you to visit these blogs, I thought I would create a list of the articles I have written this month on the other sites. I invite you to take a chance and click on a few of the links below. After all, they’re free and you might learn something!

Step By Step Fundraising

A Checklist for Those Worried about the Strength of their Non-Profit
5 Reasons You Should Collaborate with Another Non-profit in 2011- Part I
5 Reasons You Should Collaborate with Another Non-profit in 2011- Part II
7 Ways to Maximize Your Mini-Fundraiser Earnings
What’s a Non-profit to do When a Tsunami Strikes a World Away?
8 Things to Admire about Jimmy Wales’ Appeal Letter for Wikipedia
How Do You Raise Money for a Non-profit that Caters to the Well-to-Do?
15 Things to Do Right After Your Group Gets Some Good Press

Fundraising Ideas

Why the heck do you want to be a Fundraiser?
5 Habits of a Successful Fundraiser- Part I
5 Habits of a Successful Fundraiser- Part II
3 Tips to Avoid this Fundraising Nightmare
How to Pick the Right Fundraiser for Your Group- Part I
How to Pick the Right Fundraiser for your Group- Part II
1 Excellent Way to Add Depth to your Non-profit & Gain More Supporters
Does Your Non-profit Have a Web Presence? Part I
Does Your Non-profit Have a Web Presence? Part II
A Sure-Fire Way to Increase Your Fundraising Haul in 2011
5 Reasons Fundraisers Get a Bad Rap- Part I
5 Reasons Fundraisers Get a Bad Rap- Part II

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There’s a big part of me that feels bad when I have write an article like this one. Here’s what happens: I come across something that a school or a school’s PTO puts out, I read it, and it’s just terrible. I know they didn’t intend it to be terrible, but for whatever reason, it is.

Since Top School Fundraisers is a teaching kind of blog, I think it would be helpful to others if we dissect what went wrong. Obviously, I delete the name of the school and try to make it as anonymous as possible. I’m not looking to be mean to anyone- this is just a learning opportunity for all of us.

Below is the latest example I’ve found of something NOT to do. It is a public thank you letter, published in a newspaper and online, that an elementary school carnival committee wrote to its community supporters. I have copied and pasted the entire article for you to read. Below the letter, I’ve listed a number of items that stand out to me as things you should avoid at all costs.

To the Editor:

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those businesses and individuals that helped with the XXX Elementary School Carnival. It was a wonderful and successful event because of the wonderful community we live in.

We would like to thank Noriyuki & Parker, Mountain Parks Electric, Town of XXX, R & J Liquor, XXX Rotary, XXX Fire Department, Gambles, Paul & Judy Shelter, Safeway, The Consignment Shop, The Candy Lady, Wendy Allison, XXX County Bowling Association, XXX County Auto Parts, Java Lava, XXX County Commissioners, and River Pines Joint Venture for the money they contributed. We would like to also thank the following for candy, children’s books, and pumpkins: Antique Store, Sun Piper, Paul & Judy Shelter, Shadow Mountain Chiropractic, Grand Beginnings, Francie de Vos, XXX Elementary Parents and Staff, Debbie Lorenz, Second Hand Grand, Edward Jones, Canyon Motel, Circle G, Alternative Elevations LLC, XXX Play Days and the Zook Family. We would also like to thank the XXX Medical Center for bags, Car Quest for the helium, Ace Country Hardware for all the stuff, XXX Play Days for running the cake walk and Andrea Verosky for sponsoring the event as XXX Elementary School. We would like to also thank the Fire Department, Greg Kuczkowski and John Weninger for the hands on help with the fire alarm during the event. This truly could not have happened without the help of the volunteers that ran the booths. We are grateful to all of you!

We apologize for the tardiness of this heartfelt tribute. Please remember next year is just around the corner and all we will need is time, money or candy to make the event even better. Let us know which you can do! Troop XXX would also like to take this opportunity to thanks Mountain Parks Electric for buying their Christmas Tree. The girls are planning a trip to Wyoming and they are off to a great start. Again what a wonderful community that would help us pull together such an event in not a quite month! You are awesome.

Ok, so what’s wrong with this letter? Here are three things I spotted right away. Please let me know if you find any more. continue reading

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