Keep these ideas in mind to get parents involved and energized while working on your school project.

1. Clear Goals - When working on a school fundraiser, make sure that parents understand why you are doing this project. Do they know that the band needs new uniforms and funds to attend a special competition? Do they know your school needs new computers? Whatever the need is, make is specific and clear so that parents see a deadline and parents see a specific goal. Giving parents (or anyone), a specific goal makes it feel more achievable. Making your message clear helps them to fully understand the need for the fundraiser.

2. Make It Easy – Some parents may feel confident stepping into a fundraising assignment, but others may not have any experience. If you break down tasks into measurable goals, they may realize that this is something that they can achieve. Sometimes they may also realize that they have done something similar to this at work or for another organization – and this will make them feel more confident going into the task. Breaking down the task also gives them the opportunity to ask questions about what they feel most challenged about.

3. Good Leaders - Every project should have a leader that is concerned with the project, but they should also be concerned with developing future fundraisers for the school. How can they help new parents get involved and do their best for the school? By listening, by being available and by responding to questions. Sometimes simply knowing that someone is there to answer your questions and to listen to you gives you the confidence to go forward with your project.  So choose leaders carefully.

4. Do Less Fundraising - According to the Association of Fund-Raising Distributors & Suppliers doing less fundraising is truly “less is more” in many ways for your fundraising efforts. If you make many fundraising “pleas” during the year, parents will grow weary of the drives and working on them. Those that donate will also grow tired of giving, or will be unable to give as often as you’d like. Having one or two fundraising efforts a year could be far more successful than many, smaller efforts.

5. Keep the Energy Up – Make your project seem exciting and stay positive about it. No one wants to work on something that is a real drag. Make meetings seem inviting by offering refreshments (coffee and cookies are quite inexpensive). Even if there are parts of your project that are challenging, keep a positive attitude about your fundraising project for your school and remind people that making an effort will have an impact.

6. Listen – Sometimes new volunteers come onto a project and they have ideas that could make a difference. They may be ideas that are a little off-the-beaten path, or they are not from the “tried and true” members of the Committee. Change is often necessary to be successful, and a good school fundraising project is open to change. Simply by listening to your volunteers you can be aware if changes need to be made. This will help you raise more funds and will most importantly, help you have strong relationships with your volunteers. This will keep them quite motivated.

7. Say “Thank You” – Thank volunteers early and often. What would you feel like if you gave your time to a project and people did not even say thank you when you completed it? Probably you would think twice about volunteering for them. Saying “Thank You” is a critical step in motivating volunteers each step of the way. At the end of a project it would be nice to send thank you notes, too. Parents who feel appreciated are more likely to volunteer for the next project.

Keeping volunteers motivated for your school fundraising project can take a little time and a little effort. But volunteers are valuable and our schools need terrific volunteers involved and dedicated to their success!

It’s a web-based application called VolunteerSpot.com.

1. First you create a (free!) account.
2. Then you use a “planning wizard” to create files for all the events that require volunteers. You also type in the times and the job descriptions.
3. Next, you invite volunteers with an email or through a link.

Your potential volunteers will instantly receive an attractive email invitation in their inboxes, asking for help on the date you specified. The reader has the option of clicking a “No Thanks/Not This Time” or “Sign Up Now/Learn More” link.

“The Sign Up Now” link takes you to a very graphically pleasing calendar that has the exact times and jobs that are available. The program automatically tracks and edits who signs up for which jobs, and it will tell future volunteers when certain times/jobs are filled!  You, as the volunteer coordinator, just have to check back on the calendar to see which jobs are still open.  It’s amazingly simple.

Ok, so you’ve got to see this for yourself. Click here to go straight to their Try It Now page.  It only takes a second and you’ll quickly see how it can save you hours.

The best part about this is that the service is completely FREE!

Here is a list of features and benefits taken directly from their site:

Simplify recruiting- Invite volunteers to sign up simply and easily in one of three ways:

• enter email addresses in our simple planning wizard
• paste a URL link in your own email message or email group (listserve)
• put a sign up button on your website

VolunteerSpot is clipboard compatible- If you already have a list of assignments on a paper sign up sheet, enter them in VolunteerSpot and schedule automated email reminders.

Sign up volunteers easily and instantly- Allow volunteers to select assignments immediately upon entering VolunteerSpot. No phone-tag, no delays. Get them enrolled and committed while their interest is high.

Get started quickly- A simple organizer wizard allows you to completely customize volunteer activities. Create one-time events or volunteer activities that span multiple days, weeks or months. Enter job descriptions, shifts, and requests for supplies.

Eliminate the clutter- Ditch old-school paper sign-up sheets, index cards, clipboards and endless ‘reply all’ emails. Schedule events using our simple organizer wizard.

Keep organized- Print sign-in sheets and rosters. Quickly see who’s coming, what shifts are covered, what people are bringing.

Keep in touch- Communicate with your group and notify them of needs, changes, etc. Suddenly need 10 more people to help? Simply update your activity page and let VolunteerSpot do the work.

Schedule automated reminders- Stop making reminder calls. VolunteerSpot sends automated messages reminding your volunteers of their commitments.

Having worked at a school myself, I know how difficult it can be to organize a volunteer drive. However, an active and thriving volunteer network is essential if a school is going to raise the money it needs to provide a top-notch education for its students. VolunteerSpot.com looks as though it can be an incredibly useful tool for your volunteer recruitment efforts. Try it out!

I would also guess that you have a pretty good relationship with your child’s teacher. After all, the teacher sees your child for six or seven hours a day for 180 days per year. That’s a lot of influence he or she can have on your offspring. Of course, it’s a good idea to know who that person is.

As a former elementary school principal, I witnessed the spectrum of relationships that parents have with teachers, and I’ve heard the “secret” teacher lounge chatter about those relationships. Therefore, I think I can offer a few suggestions on ways for parents to say thank you that will be truly meaningful to and appreciated by your child’s teacher.

1. Volunteer in the Classroom
Most classrooms are overcrowded. That is to say that the ratio of teachers and aides to students is higher than anyone would want. This isn’t only distressing to the parents, but it is also a source of great concern for the teachers. By and large, teachers really do desire excellence, but many times, the numbers make that an elusive goal.

Therefore, I would find a way to volunteer your time as a part-time classroom aid. I’ve seen a mom volunteer one hour per week to listen to students read. The teacher really appreciated that, because the kids got more individualized instruction.

Maybe it’s something you can only do once per month. However, if you pool your time with three other parents, that’s a once-per-week help the teacher is getting, and that’s significant.

2. Volunteer to Sub
This idea may work more easily in a smaller private school. At the school I worked in, we could only offer our teachers a handful of paid days-off per year. It wasn’t fair, but we didn’t have the budget to pay the teacher and a sub for the same time.

Therefore, on a few occasions, we had parents volunteer to sub for the teacher with no pay. Of course, the parents had to meet our guidelines for substitute teachers, but we didn’t have to take a hit in our budget. The teachers felt like they were playing hooky. It was great for morale. This was easily one of the most popular gifts any teacher received all year.

In a public school setting, I’m not sure if this would work, given teacher union issues or concerns by state regulations. If this interests you however, discuss it with the principal of your child’s school to see if it’s feasible.

3. Volunteer to Grade Papers, Prepare Craft Projects, Etc.
One of the biggest drags on a teacher is the whole paper grading thing. I was always seeing teachers lug around big stacks of papers they had to grade. They graded during staff meetings, they graded during lunch, they graded during dental appointments. (Just kidding.)

I also noticed that for teachers of younger students, craft projects usurped a lot of their time. They always seemed to be cutting out odd shapes from colored construction paper. Some people carry a cell phone on their belt. Kindergarten teachers carry a scissors holster.

Therefore, I would propose that a great way to express your thanks to your child’s teacher would be to volunteer to take some of this burden away from them. Offer to grade a stack of papers or to prepare two dozen art projects. This will be a huge time-saver and will allow the teacher to focus more on teaching and less on the busy work.

4. Gift Card to Wal-Mart
Ok, I know this will sound a little bit cheesy, but I’ve seen a lot of gifts given to teachers and while I don’t want to be a spokesman for Wal-Mart, I would have to say that the most popular token of appreciation given to a teacher was a simple gift card to Wal-Mart.

I think it’s ok to forego the need to get a personalized gift somehow. Teachers have enough mugs. They have enough paperweights. They have their own schedule books. Trust me. A $25 gift card to Wal-Mart is very much appreciated. It’s practical, useful, and flexible. You don’t have to worry about getting the wrong size or wondering if someone else already gave them one of “those”.

5. Make Sure To Send in Snacks
Before I had kids, I read all the parenting books. I was a lit major in college, so I love to read, and I thought I would learn everything I would ever need to know though these guides.

However in all the books I read, there was one item that was consistently omitted, forgotten about, and dismissed. And, here I’m going to give it to you free: The Snack. The second your child becomes part of a group activity involving other children, “The Snack” becomes the central focus of all attention. When my son joined soccer, he was first handed the snack schedule and then the game schedule. I’m not kidding.

Anyway, many teachers ask that parents take turns sending in a healthy snack for the entire class. A lot of parents blow this off and the cupboard is often bare. This puts the teacher in a tough spot of either not giving the kids a snack or else she has to spring for it herself.

So, if you can remember to send in a box of Goldfish crackers once a month or so, you’ll be doing the teacher a great favor she will really appreciate it.

6. Volunteer to Be a Chaperon/Driver for Field Trips
Because so many parents have to work, this is a much harder role to fill. However, classrooms do need volunteers to chaperon field trips or in some cases act as drivers for these outings. Teachers are often put in the tough position to have to find these people. Trust me; this is a thankless job, and not one the teachers were dreaming about when they first decided to enter the teaching profession.

If you are able to be a reliable chaperone/driver, you will make a friend for life in the teacher!

7. Stay in Touch, Be Involved
This may seem like a cop-out when it comes to an expression of thanks, but in all actuality, this one’s very important to teachers. Being a teacher is more than just a job. It’s a calling. Therefore, teachers really pour their hearts and souls into what they do. But, this isn’t a one-way street. If they send home a newsletter, read it. If they ask you to sign a report card, sign it and send it back the next day. So many times, even at a private school, I’d hear the teachers talking about parents who never sent stuff back. Or about those who had no clue what was going on. It really depressed them.

The thing is, I knew these “deadbeat” parents, and they weren’t bad people. Most were just busy. If this description applies to you, please find a way to carve out a few minutes each day to go though your child’s backpack. Most nights, there won’t be anything to worry about. But on those occasions when the teacher does send something home, you’ll be on top of it, and that will be a huge gift to your child’s teacher.

8. Take Lots of Photos
If you are a parent who is able to spend some regular time in the classroom or on field trips, I would suggest that you bring along a digital camera. Take lots of photos of all the kids in the class. Get lots of close-ups and action shots. Make sure you don’t miss anybody.

At the end of the year, organize the best of the pictures and organize them onto a CD or even a scrapbook that you will give to the teacher. This kind of a virtual scrapbook is a wonderful keepsake.

9. A Cuppa Joe
Here’s one that’s pure pleasure. Find out what kind of morning drink your child’s teacher likes and make a point to pick one up for her on occasion. A specialty coffee or tea is really a nice way to let the teachers know how much you appreciate them on a daily basis.

10. Introduce Her to Top School Fundraisers
Finally, if you really love not only your child’s teacher, but all of the teachers and administrators at the school, I would whole-heartedly recommend turning them on to TopSchoolFundriasers.com. You already know what a great resource this is. Plese share the love with anyone who would benefit from our unique brand of educational wit and wisdom!

Conclusion
Even though there is a whole week devoted to Teacher Appreciation, I would suggest that you engage in this practice during the entire school year. Think about all the times your own kids have caused you some stress. Now imagine 25 of them all day long! Have a heart! Love your kids’ teachers!

This article talks about parents who are willing to go to extreme lengths to get their children into the school of their choice in the Chicago area. While some of the schools mentioned as examples are private, just as many are public, which is, of course, very encouraging in the overall scheme of things.

Banchero interviewed several parents who are desperately seeking placement for their children, as well as school officials who are struggling to handle the crush of applications.

I entitled this blog entry “Problems I Wish I Had”. I will let the following excerpts from Banchero’s article speak for themselves as to why I chose that headline.

Statistically, it’s more difficult, for example, to get into Drummond Montessori, a public magnet school in Bucktown, than it is to get into Harvard University. About 995 children applied for the 36 openings at Drummond next school year, a 4 percent acceptance rate. Harvard accepted about 9 percent of its applicants last year.

They [parents] craft slick resumes touting their 4-year-olds’ above-average verbal and play skills. They subtly — and sometimes not so subtly — hint to school officials that they can use their connections to raise funds for the school. They volunteer to run the PTA and persuade powerful friends to send in letters of recommendation.

…Parents send in letters touting their own backgrounds and fundraising abilities. Sometimes, they offer large donations or point out that they know board members.

Magnet-school principals talk about parents volunteering in the school and attending fundraisers, even when their children are still in diapers. Some subtly point out that they know public officials or prominent business executives, principals recount.

Did you read that? Parents volunteering and attending fundraisers for the school, while their own children are still in DIAPERS! Wow, gimme some of what they got.

Now, the most interesting part of this article to me is that some public schools are getting just as much attention as the $18,000 per year private elementary schools. That tells me that public schools can compete with private schools in every sense.

So, why isn’t your child’s school bursting at the seams with volunteers? Why doesn’t your child’s school have a waiting list FOR NEXT YEAR? Why aren’t parents making bribes- sorry, “donations in advance”- to get into your child’s school?

To be fair, none of the above scenarios were happening when I was the principal of a private elementary school and they are not happening at my own children’s current public school. So, please, don’t think I’m picking on anybody.

Of course, the local economy has a lot to do with this “terrible” situation in Chicago, and I’m sure in many major cities in the United States. I live in a rather economically… challenged area at the moment, so I don’t expect a bidding war to break out over any kind of school- public or private.

However, I don’t believe for a second that money is the only reason there’s fierce competition to get into those schools, especially the public ones.

Here are a few of the reasons why I think these schools are doing so well:

• They have a really good principal, who treats his or her faculty very well.
• The teachers are excellent and they work very hard.
• The parents of the students are actively engaged (on a daily basis) in their child’s education.
• Parents communicate regularly with the teachers.
• The schools have very active, well-attended, and extremely productive parent-teacher organizations.
• The schools do a fantastic job of communicating their mission and accomplishments with the community at large.

So, if you are frustrated by the lack of involvement or passion at your child’s school, try to trace it back and find the root cause of the problem. Don’t just chalk it up to living in an economically depressed area. There are a whole host of reasons why the schools mentioned in the Tribune article are doing so well. Try to emulate these, and maybe someday your school will have a two year waiting list for Kindergarten, as well!

Today, I’d like to finish this article by describing two more very important strategies to generally improve your ability to recruit and retain quality volunteers for your school.

Knowing When to Say No
I have discovered that an essential skill for a school leader is to know when to refuse help from a volunteer. I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but on more than one occasion, I found myself relying heavily on people who were entirely over-extended in their personal and/or professional lives. These people had the best of intentions and great hearts. They wanted to help the school succeed so much. So, when no one else stepped forward to volunteer, they did. This is a precarious position if your overtaxed volunteer has a family emergency or gets sick or takes an unexpected vacation or has a husband who goes out of town for business. Suddenly, the school finds itself in a bind. Your volunteer has become incredibly stressed out and probably feels guilty about leaving the school in the lurch.

I know, from experience, that it is very easy to rely on those same people who have reliably helped you in the past. You are busy yourself, and recruiting and training new volunteers further saps your time and energy. I have found myself ignoring warning signs, just because I needed a job handled smoothly and without my close attention. More often than not, this hasn’t worked out so well for me…

Although it is difficult to do so, I urge you to sincerely look at your volunteers’ lives, as much as you are able, outside of the school setting. If you know that they are stretched very thin, don’t put them in a position in which they could snap. You will be saving your volunteers and the school from a potentially very hard situation.

And, after a while, your volunteers will pick up on your concern for them and appreciate it. This kind of a volunteer culture is more conducive to recruiting new help and keeping the folks already on board happy and rested.

Recognition Works
I can’t tell you how many times someone has pulled me aside and told me how offended they were because they did not receive a thank you note or any kind of recognition for their time, effort, and money spent in service of the cause. Sometimes these comments have been made about my organization, while other times the person was just venting about an entirely unrelated situation to me. In either case, the failure to properly thank volunteers is an awful, but incredibly common mistake.

I completely understand that in the rushed pace of our lives, it is easy to work very diligently at something, then it’s over, and we all move on to the next important event. We probably didn’t get thanked ourselves for all of the leadership responsibilities we took on, so it’s understandable that we forget to praise and thank the people who helped us get the job done.

Ok, there’s the understanding part. Now for reality: get over it. There is no excuse for not recognizing your volunteers in numerous ways. In fact, I think that this is so important, I believe you should find one of your most reliable volunteers and put him or her in charge of this duty, so that it does not slip through the cracks. Or, even better, try to make this a responsibility of someone who is paid by the school. This way, there is professional accountability that the “thank you’s” were given.

There is no better way to lose a volunteer and discourage new volunteers from joining your organization than to develop a reputation for not being a thankful and appreciative group.

At the very least, you should be sending out written thank-you letters shortly after each event to every single volunteer (and donor). I would also recommend holding a volunteer banquet once per year, where you honor all the volunteers, especially those who have given in extraordinary fashions. Plaques, trophies, gift cards, school t-shirts, and certificates all make great tokens of appreciation. Of course, you should remember to offer a verbal thank you of some sort anytime you see these folks hard at work for your school. Plan to splurge for a pizza or some frozen Cokes, when the timing is appropriate. These little items will win strong loyalty in the school’s favor.

When I was the principal of an elementary school, I bought a handsome plaque and created a volunteer of the year award and hung it in the front hallway. Each year, we put the recipient’s name on a gold nameplate with the year. So for decades to come, this person would be honored for their work at a specific moment in time.

Conclusion

Volunteers are the lifeblood of any school. In this time when school funding is growing ever more scarce, building principals are forced to rely on volunteers to accomplish what was once done by paid staff. In your position as a volunteer leader of the school, I urge you to honor this incredibly valuable commodity. By investing a little time and a little thought, you can go a long way toward creating a healthy and vibrant experience for all of your amazing volunteers.

Regardless, as a fundraising leader, I’m sure you have seen this play out in your own community. The same few families are responsible for most of the hard work required to pull off a successful fundraising event.

I guess that this problem would not have entered the collective conscious, if it didn’t have somewhat of a universal truth to it. Does it help to get angry at the masses for being lazy, uninvolved, uncaring, and disinterested? I really don’t think so. My experience has shown me that there are all sorts of great volunteers out there, they just don’t know it yet.

So, instead of the 20% doing all the work, (and being a touch resentful because of it), perhaps the 20% should spend a little bit of time trying to get the 80% on board with the school mission.

Here are a few suggestions that I have seen help draw more people into the school volunteer circle.

Recruit
I think that as a leader in the school, one of your primary functions is to recruit others to help you. It is not acceptable to be content with 5 or 10 or even 20 percent parent involvement. You need to actively pursue and invite all people to get involved.

One way to make a start on this is to require each family to fill out volunteer interest form and return it signed to their child’s teacher, which would then be collected and given to you. This volunteer form would list every volunteer position needed for the entire school year, with a brief written description of what the job entails. The family would check each category it was interested in. Make sure this sheet asks the parents to list their evening phone numbers, as well as email address, if available.

You would be able to use this reference list each time you need to find new volunteers. Of course, you are not going to get 100% compliance, and just because someone fills out the volunteer form in September, that doesn’t mean he or she will be available when you need them, possibly months later. However, it does give you a much deeper pool to pull from.

Avoid Cliques
One of the reasons I’ve seen and been told about that discourages potential new volunteerism is the problem of cliques. Even we adults are not immune to playground behavior. When you work with someone closely over an extended period on an important project, relationships and friendships are bound to form. So, it’s natural to want to socialize with these friends whenever you get together for a school function. Striking up conversations with new people is much harder.

However, as fundraising leaders, I believe it’s up to us to create an atmosphere where new people feel welcome into the group. In some cases, this will mean holding a deliberate conversation with the “regulars”, urging them to mingle with folks they do not know. If new people are going to want to join your team, they will need to feel as though they are not outsiders.

Make Productive Use of their Time
Many people today feel that their time and energy are their most valuable commodity. If they are going to invest these precious resources in the school, they want it to be productive and to make a difference. The last thing they want to do is to waste time.

Therefore, your job as leader is to make sure that you have your “ducks in a row” before people show up to a meeting or to an event. Failure to have an actionable plan can cost you credibility with people who don’t know you, and they may not return to volunteer if they sense their time could be spent better elsewhere.

Make the Time You Spend Together Enjoyable
In the previous paragraph, I stressed that you should not waste people’s times. However, it is also imperative that you make sure people are having a good time while they are with you. This means that you, the leader, have to appear relaxed, prepared, and comfortable. People will respond to this, and while they are working, they will have an opportunity to chat, laugh, and get to know one another, thus building friendships (and breaking down cliques).

You must find that very fine line between making sure the group stays on task with not feeling overly pressured.

Communicate Well
This is in keeping with the recommendation not to waste people’s time. One of the best ways to keep people feeling involved and useful is to effectively communicate with your volunteers. If they can expect that you will notify them if there is a change in schedule or to tell you about an important development, they will feel “in the loop”. People who feel this sense of inclusion are much more likely to participate fully in your organization.

Communication doesn’t have to be difficult. A simple phone tree or a quick email are usually enough to get the message across.

Also, attempt to be as deliberate in your communication as possible. Volunteers will start to dread your calls, if you are over-communicating. Too many emails about trivial matters and too frequent update calls can be distracting and only serve to alienate the volunteers from you. Again, it is the leader’s job to find that right balance.

How to Create a Volunteer Culture at Your School, Part 2 of 2