I subscribe to “Google Alerts” for the topic of school fundraising. Anytime Google picks up on a new blog article, news item, or website update that involves school fundraising, I get a link sent to me in my email. It’s an excellent and easy way to stay up on everything that’s going on in the world of school fundraising.

These articles actually come in from all over the world, so after reading these news items, or at least scanning them, on a daily basis, I’ve believe that I have gained a bird’s eye perspective on this topic. I can see what’s going on across state lines and across international boundaries, as reported by the local media. I can watch trends develop and opinions change. It’s kind of like flying over a traffic jam in a helicopter. I can see where the crash is up ahead, while the drivers stuck behind a half-a-mile of cars on the highway can’t.

With this perspective, I can report that there’s something that has been going on for a long time that really drives me crazy and that I feel hurts schools in their fundraising efforts. I’ve written about it before, but nobody seems to be picking up on this besides me. I don’t hear anyone else complaining about it, although I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why not.

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Here, I just grabbed a handful of headlines found in the School Fundraising Google Alert emails I get each day. I didn’t have to scour the Internet for them. I could have easily added dozens more to this list, just like them. They just popped into my inbox- over and over again. See if you can find a common theme to these stories.

Slidell Relay for Life supporters dogged about fundraising

Fundraiser Tonight For Narberth Woman Fighting Cancer

High School Insider: Knoxville does its part for ‘Coaches vs. Cancer’

Student fundraisers bettering third-world schools

Empty Bowls fundraiser at Saline High School Thursday will benefit Food Gatherers

Gelinas Junior High Raises Thousands for Children’s Hospital

1-800-GET-THIN Proudly Supports JDRF Kids Walk to Cure Diabetes

“Pennies for Patients” going on at Robertsdale Elementary School

Ok, did you spot the trend? continue reading

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At the end of each month, in addition to links to the articles I have written on the other FastTrack Fundraising blogs, I will also provide a few links to interesting articles I’ve read during the month on the general topic of fundraising. Here are just five outstanding posts that I think you will enjoy!

Here’s an article about a school in Florida that seems to have a great sense of humor and creativity. Maybe this can be an example to your school!

Here’s a report of a school that’s jumping on a trend I’ve been witnessing lately. It seems that the television reality show, “A Minute to Win It” is really catching on as a fundraiser. Could this be something for your school to try?

Have you ever checked out DonorsChoose.org? If you haven’t, you’ve got to read this article. An art teacher didn’t have the funding she needed for a project, so she turned to DonorsChoose, and got the money. This could happen to you!

Here’s a scary thought- would you be willing to cut your middle school sports program completely, just so you didn’t have to rely on fundraising? One school is thinking about doing just that. Check it out.

Speaking of cutting programs, here’s a story about the Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) Catholic Schools and their decision to cut “casino nights” as an acceptable fundraising method. Tens of thousands of dollars have been raised by holding casino-type activities, but all that is screeching to a halt. Is this a wise plan of action?

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At the end of each month, I will be posting a complete list of article links to blog posts that I have written that month on the three different sites I manage for FastTrack Fundraising: Step by Step Fundraising, Top School Fundraisers, and of course, FundraisingIdeas.org.

Checking out these links is a great way to introduce yourself to our family of websites.  A lot of the information is suitable for readers of the three different blogs.  If you normally read StepbyStepFundraising, you will certainly gain a lot of useful information at FundraisingIdeas.org, for instance.

Anyway, I invite to you take a few minutes and check out the links below.  Enjoy and see you in February!

- Jim Berigan

FundraisingIdeas.org

1. 10 Things You Can Do to Make Your Non-profit the Best in Your Community
2. How to Make More Money at Your Next Spaghetti Dinner
3. Don’t Let This Fundraising Scam Strike Your Non-profit
4. And the Winner Is… (Your Non-profit)!
5. 5 Ways to Show You Are a Non-profit Winner
6. 5 Reasons to Hire a Volunteer Coordinator at Your Non-profit
7. Is This Really the Best Way to Say Thank You?
8. What is Your Dream Volunteer? Wake up! Get Real!
9. How to Fake It Until You Make it- Part I
10. How to Fake It Until You Make It- Part II
11. How to Fake It Until You Make It- Part III
12. How to Fake It Until You Make It- Part IV
13. Online giving is on the rise. What is your non-profit doing to cash in on this trend?
14. The Great Debate: Pancake Breakfast vs. Spaghetti Dinner

StepByStepFundraising.com

1. Guest Post: Twitter for Nonprofits and Fundraising, by Marc Pitman
2. Fundraising Job Opportunity: Do You Have What it Takes?
3. Guest Post: Call Foundations First: Win More Grants! By Amy Eisenstein
4. What to Do When You Fail to Meet Your Fundraising Goal
5. Guest Post: Your Donor is Not a Tomato Plant by John Haydon
6. 8 Reasons to Host a Non-profit Summit in Your Community- Part I
7. 8 Reasons to Host a Non-profit Summit in Your Community- Part II
8. 8 Reasons to Host a Non-profit Summit in Your Community- Part III
9. A Team Building Horror Story- Can You Spot the Problem?
10. 10 Ways a Team-Building Retreat Can Benefit Your Non-profit Staff- Part 1
11. 10 Ways a Team-Building Retreat Can Benefit Your Non-profit Staff- Part II

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In my research for this blog, I come across some really interesting newspaper articles, websites, and blog posts about the subject of school fundraising. While I do my best to comment on these stories as much as possible, I simply can’t get to everything that catches my eye. Therefore, every so often, I will post a list of my favorite clippings that didn’t make it onto the pages of Top School Fundraisers.

I hope you enjoy this list as much as I have!

December 2010 Articles to Check out!

If you ever had the desire to zoom across a “slip-n-slide” full of green slime and raise money while doing it, this is the article for you. From the Center Daily Times in State College, Pennsylvania.

If green slime is not your thing, maybe this will do the trick: a school fundraiser that combines taking a Polar Bear plunge into a frozen lake with placing a decorated toilet in people’s front yards, a twist on the famous Flamingo Fundraiser. Confused? Read what this very creative group is doing. From the Lake News Online in Missouri.

Sometimes funds for schools come from the most unusual places. For instance, a group of schools in Dane County, Wisconsin, has recently been the benefactor of money raised by local prison inmates. You gotta read this one to believe it!

Recently, I became aware of a really smart fundraising professional named Amy Eisenstein. She has a website that’s full of terrific information that can help you in your quest to raise more money. I highly recommend you check it out. Here is a link to a typically helpful article about ways your board members can you raise the dollars. But, do yourself a favor and while you are there, take a few minutes and explore what she has to offer!

Here’s an interesting suggestion for a school fundraiser that I hadn’t heard of before: Christmas Tree Recycling. This article doesn’t actually spell out how to do it, but I’ve done some further research and found out that some non-profits charge $5 to haul away your tree and get it chipped up. That could really add up!  Check out the article for a little more background. From the Vancouver Courier.

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It’s been a little while since I’ve brought you all an edition of the Resource Round Up. There are so many great ideas about school fundraising out there right now. I thought these six articles were some of the best I’ve seen recently. I hope you enjoy!

ARTICLES

Here is an article from the site Kamloops.com called “Healthy options to raise cash”. It offers some quick suggestions for alternative fundraisers that are actually good for us.

Ok, ok, we all know that bake sales aren’t diet-friendly. When was the last time you ever heard of a school having a vegetable sale, though? But does that mean that bake sales should be outlawed? Here’s an article from the San Francisco Chronicle talking about this very issue. It’s called, “School bake sales victims of nutrition rules”. (For my own take on how to make money at a bake sale, check out my post “9 Ways to rake in the dough at your next bake sale“.)

How many times have you heard people complaining about school fundraisers? My guess would be a lot. But the next time you hear someone whining about schools being out of line by trying to raise extra money, I want you to tell them about this article from the Craig Daily Press (Colorado). The article is “Fundraisers target school technology, equipment”.

Here is another reflective piece on the values of getting involved in our children’s schools. It might be a little on the political side for some readers, but the point about being involved is a good one. It’s called “Volunteering, income taxes work together” from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp.

When you’ve exhausted the cookie dough, the raffle, the golf outing and the auction, it might be time to turn to a private foundation for a grant. Here is one school’s experience in a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article entitled “Cash-strapped schools turn to foundations”.

Written by “The Monk” at the Home and Family blog, this post touches on something I’ve been thinking a lot about recently. So many people suddenly find themselves thrown into a fundraising situation with virtually no experience or training and are expected to “save the school”. That’s not fair and not smart. I think I’ll have some things to say about this myself in the coming months. But for now, read this post as a good introduction to the topic. It’s called “Key Elements for Planning Successful School Fundraising Events”.

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