How Does Your School Stack up in Fundraising with Other Schools in Your District?
Posted by Jim Berigan on 28 Aug 2011 in: Best Practices, Fundraising Ideas, PTA/PTO
One thing I’ve come to suspect, even in the relatively small town I live in, is that many schools, even in the same district, don’t communicate with each other.
Quick, can you name the principal at an elementary school your kids don’t attend? Ok, how about the name of their PTO or PTA chair?
Perhaps you are an amazing social creature and could identify these people, but I’m guessing the chances of that are pretty slim. Even in small towns, we tend to focus only on what is right in front of us. This generally makes sense, as we only have so much time to give, we have to prioritize and take care of the items most immediately important. An elementary school just six blocks away might as well be as far away as the moon.
However, as you prepare for this upcoming school year, I want to suggest that you change your way of thinking about this situation.
Here are eight questions I think you should ask about the other schools in your district. The answers you find could very well add new life and bring greater success to your own efforts in your kids’ school.
- Who are the people involved on the other schools’ fundraising teams?
- How long have these fundraising leaders been involved with raising money for their school?
- Do the other schools have many parents involved or do they struggle to find volunteers for their fundraising events? If they are successful, what are they doing that you might not be to attract busy families?
- What is each school’s biggest (most successful) fundraising event or sale?
- If another school has the same kind of fundraising event or sale as your school does, are they more or less successful? Why or why not?
- Do the other schools stick with one or two annual events for years or are they always looking to implement new approaches and novel ideas?
- How diverse is their fundraising schedule? (How well do they mix up large events with small events, sales vs. events, passive vs. active strategies, etc?)
- What is the key piece of advice another school could share with you that explains their success in fundraising?






