Connecting Schools With Great Fundraising Ideas.

When most of us approach school fundraising, we do so with a “quid pro quo” mentality. That is, parents of our students give us money in return for a product, a service, or access to an event. It’s a classic “this for that” situation.

We fundraisers do our homework to find out what will resonate best with our target audience. If for some reason, the fundraising method we choose doesn’t click with our “customers”, we’re in trouble.

We have to make sure that another non-profit group didn’t just do a cookie dough sale right before us or hold a car wash on the same day as we are planning one. That would hurt our sales and make us look unprepared.

We strive to be creative in choosing a fundraiser, so people will be intrigued, but we don’t want to stray too far off the known path where people won’t follow us.

We are concerned about profit margin. If we use an outside company and sell their product, we may only get 50% of what we sell, but it’s usually a lot easier than trying to run something complicated like a school carnival, which requires dozens of volunteers.

Click here to enroll in Jim Berigan’s FREE year-long school fundraising e-Course!

No wonder there’s such a high turnover rate in school fundraising leadership!

Well, there is another way. It’s startling. It’s brilliant in its simplicity. It’s so crazy that it might actually work!

You just ask. continue reading

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Recently, I was browsing various news articles about school fundraising and I saw this headline:

“School Resorts To Over The Phone Fundraising”

Now, my immediate reaction to this headline was that something bad had happened. A fundraiser had failed and now the school has to “resort” to raising money by phone.

I even checked the dictionary to make sure the word “resort” had that kind of negative connotation I was imagining. And, indeed, old Merriam-Webster said that the definition of “resort” is “to have recourse”.  Sort of like having a “Plan B”.

The article itself, although very short, didn’t help to lessen the tone of desperation. Here is the text in its entirety.

A recent spending freeze at the Santa Barbara School District is already having an impact in the classroom.

Parents of students at Santa Barbara Jr. High are trying to raise money for programs the district can no longer afford.

Parents and Principal John Becchio will gather Tuesday night to call as many parents as they can. They’ll be asking for money.

PTSA members say budget cuts are starting to impact students in the classroom. So, they stepped up their fundraising efforts to make ends meet.

Only 85 words. And some of these 85 words struck me: “… are trying to raise…”, “Parents and Principal will gather Tuesday night to call as many parents as they can.”

Oh, boy.  This does not sound good. continue reading

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This guide contains many practical tips on how to make your next carnival a success. Jim provides advice based on his own experience and from those of other school volunteers like you. Besides just planning the carnival, the book helps you reach the goal of making the carnival a great school fundraiser.

This book will save you lots of time and add a fresh, creative twist to your event. Check it out: the School Carnival Guide

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School supplies– from pens to paper and curriculum materials–are essential to learning.  With the economy and budget cuts it has been tough for many schools to provide the supplies needed. The Tools for Teaching contest sponsored by Catalogs.com and eNasco.com can help teachers face this challenge. Participants have the opportunity to win up to $2,500 in school supplies for their classrooms.

All you have to do is go to the website www.catalogs.com/teachers and answer the question: “Why does your class deserve to win a gift certificate from eNasco.com and how will you put the school supplies to good use?”

This contest runs through runs through Wednesday, September 30, 2009.  Tell all the teachers you know to sign up for this contest.  They could win some great materials to outfit the class for the school year!

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As we read through the grant applications, it was great to see such a variety of subjects.  There were quite a few applications for fine arts: music, visual arts, and dance.  One that particularly stood out to me, since I was an Art History major in college, was the application from Will Rogers Learning Community in Santa Monica, California.

Art teacher Wanda Boudreaux said:

Students who are involved in the process of thinking critically and creatively are apt to succeed in more subjects. We believe in the “multiple intelligences” approach to learning and understand the importance of curriculum integration and crossover in teaching. Our experience in teaching visual art provides overwhelming evidence in support of these beliefs.

After taking inspiration from a well-known piece of art students acquire new skills and practice techniques. Students engage in projects that challenge them to create an original response. We present a wide variety of activities in order to promote discovery and experimentation with materials and methods. Among that broad range of art making experiences, grade appropriate projects have included photography, shaded drawings, paintings, collages, installation art, printmaking and sculptures.

Our goal is to help students develop a strong relationship with art, which they will carry with them as they grow.  Children’s spirits are an open door through which art is eagerly embraced. Our Art Program provides a necessary opportunity to inspire the creative and critical thinking that, while deepening their individual humanity, also gives students’ greater success in all subjects.

To recognize the importance of fine arts and this presentation in particular, we selected Will Rogers as an Honorable Mention. Congratulations Will Rogers students, parents and teachers.  Keep up the great work!

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