We are thrilled to announce that Angela from Mommy Bytes has won first prize in the Top School Fundraisers Blog Contest on the subject of “My Favorite Teacher”.

Ana and Veronica placed second and third respectfully, and each has won a prize.

Please see the poll results below for exact vote totals.

I personally want to thank all three ladies for the time and effort they put into this contest with thoughtful, entertaining, and meaningful essays.

If you haven’t had a chance to read these entries, I highly recommend you take a few minutes to do so. I have included links at the bottom of this post for your convenience.

I also want to thank all those who took the time to vote. We at Top School Fundraisers greatly appreciate your readership of our blog, and we look forward to continuing our relationship. Please keep reading, and we’ll be holding another blog contest in the coming months.

Once again, congratulations to all our writers!

Jim Berigan

Links to our top three entires:

First Place:   My Favorite Teachers by Angela at Mommy Bytes

Second Place:   Six months later, or Time goes by so fast by Ana at My adventures through life

Third Place:   My Favourite Teachers by Veronica at Sleepless Nights

Before diving into this subject too deeply, I do want to mention that I believe it is wise to first look at what you can contribute yourself through hard work and sacrifice. That gives you “sweat equity” into the process. Once you have done everything you possibly can on your own, then it is reasonable to turn to those who are closet to you for help. It is always easier to ask those who love you and are invested in you already. If you are still short on funds after all of this, but your desire is still burning, then you should look into the more competitive world of scholarships.

Below, I have listed a few options that you can research more thoroughly yourself. I have included links to where I found this information. Not all of the data I found applied to strictly educational experiences. Some of the options involved more service work.

Rotary Scholarships

First, I found some terrific information from Rotary International. There seem to be two programs that offer high school students opportunities to study abroad. These are not free programs, but assistance is available. Also, if you are accepted into one of these programs, it might help with some of your other fundraising attempts in that you will have the endorsement of an internationally known and respected group. This might convince your great aunt Sally that you’re not just going on some kind of wild adventure.

Below, I have taken the description of these programs directly from the website. Click on the links to learn more. There is much more to read at the Rotary International website.

Ambassadorial Scholarships
The Rotary Foundation’s oldest and best-known program, was founded in 1947. Since then, nearly 38,000 men and women from about 100 nations have studied abroad under its auspices. Today it is the world’s largest privately funded international scholarships program. Nearly 800 scholarships were awarded for study in 2005-06. Through grants totaling approximately US$500 million, recipients from about 70 countries studied in more than 70 nations.

Rotary Youth Exchange
As a Rotary Youth Exchange student, you’ll spend up to a year living with a few host families and attending school in a different country.

Whether you participate in Rotary’s long-term or short-term Youth Exchange programs, you’ll learn a new way of living, a great deal about yourself, and maybe even a new language. You’ll also be an ambassador, teaching people you meet about your country, culture, and ideas. You can help bring the world closer – and make some good friends in the process.

More than 8,000 young people each year have experiences like these through Rotary Youth Exchange. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime.

Additionally, you may want to consult other local service organizations, such as the Lions, the Elks, and the Boys’ & Girls’ Clubs, to see if they also have funds available to assist with your plans..

Community Funds
Another good place to look for grants or scholarships is your local community foundation. If you haven’t heard of these organizations, they are set up all over the United States by local geographical region. The purpose of a community foundation is to be a clearing house for local foundation gifts. Many of the awards are education-based.

While I can not promise that there will be a suitable scholarship in your hometown, there is a Community Foundation locator map you can check out here. If you don’t find the information you are looking for on their website, call the local contact number to speak to the director. He or she will be able to give you a good idea of what may be available for study abroad programs for high-schoolers.

Habitat for Humanity

While Habitat for Humanity is not an academic-based program, it would definitely be an experience of a life time. Habitat has programs set up all over the world. A quick trip to their website will provide an overview of what’s available for different age groups.

They also provide several links to philanthropic foundations that have a history of making awards for high schoolers looking for a foreign adventure.

Here’s a blurb from their site:

Make a Difference Globally- The Global Village Youth Program
Get ready for the adventure of a lifetime. Get ready to make a difference and be changed in the process. The world is waiting for you and your group! The Global Village Youth Program (GVYP) gives groups of youth ages 14 to 25 opportunities to build throughout the world with Habitat for Humanity. Team members work alongside homeowners and local volunteers helping families achieve their dream of a simple, decent place to live.

For more information regarding the Youth Program click here.

For scholarship information, click here.

AIFS Study Abroad Scholarships

The American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS) is one of the largest organizers of study abroad programs for high schoolers and college students in the United States. I spoke to Kelly Quigley, who is the assistant director of admissions for the Summer Advantage high school program, and she told me about the ways some students go about getting money for the program.

First of all, AIFS offers their own in-house scholarships. The awards are $750 each, but only ten are awarded per year. Roughly 50 to 60 people apply for these ten awards, so it is a competitive situation. The price for a month long summer study abroad trip can reach upwards of $7,000, so even with the grant, there is still a long way to go.

Kelly did tell me about a website they recommend that students investigate when seeking more financial aid: Fast Web.  Students must first create a personal profile and account, but then it will provide the applicant with specifically tailored information about which foundations would be a good match.

Again, please note that scholarships are competitive. It’s terrific to go after these, and I encourage the practice. However, if a student has a true desire to study abroad, I would suggest planning at least two years ahead, so that he or she can earn and save as much as possible. Again, it is better to cover the majority of the cost without having to rely on scholarships, which aren’t guaranteed.

Next installment: Parting Thoughts

So, please make sure to squeeze in all the votes you can for your favorite entry. Remember, the writer that gets the most votes will win a $50 prize, while the two runner ups will each get $25.

Each one of these links below will open in a new window to make for easy reading:

Six months later, or Time goes by so fast by Ana at My adventures through life

My Favorite Teachers by Angela at Mommy Bytes

My Favourite Teachers by Veronica at Sleepless Nights

The prizes will be awarded on Friday.

This poll has ended.

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!

Today, I am going to focus on asking others to help finance your experience. The first part of this process involves your local community. The second part involves looking for scholarships that support such trips, and I will tackle this in a subsequent entry.

Local

Appealing to Your Friends and Family for Cash
A study abroad experience falls squarely into the category of “personal development”. In some programs, you may be doing a portion of service work, as well, which is great. However, it is likely that you will have your best shot of raising money for your trip from the people who love and care for you already. These are the people who will be most likely to make a contribution to your journey.

If you do decide to try this route, I would recommend being extremely honest and polite in your approach. Clearly define what your plan is for the trip and what you expect to get out of it. Be armed with information, facts, and testimonials from past participants in the program. The more answers you have prepared ahead of time, the better your chances for a gift.

A personal meeting works better than a phone call, and a phone call works better than a letter when making your appeal. Be sincerely grateful for any amount you receive. Remember, it all adds up. Also, be sure to make it known to your relatives that if they can’t help out, you totally understand and are fine with that. You don’t want to alienate anyone by your query.

Get the Media Involved
If you are really bold, and you think you have something pretty special planned, it can’t hurt to take your case to the local media. Radio, newspaper, or television coverage of your cause could be quite beneficial.

First, I would recommend drafting a press release about your planned adventure. Try to come up with some sort of hook, something that separates your trip from every other kid who wants to travel the globe. Perhaps you’ll be studying something groundbreaking that will help you in your future studies and career, or maybe you’ll being serving a poverty-stricken group of children. After all, if you’re planning such an experience during your high school years, you really should make it something amazing. If your high school study abroad trip doesn’t have something hook-worthy, I would reconsider your plan at a fundamental level.

Practice your pitch to the local news outlets before contacting them. I would also suggest setting up an informative website that gives information about you, your plans, and a promise to keep in touch with your donors, perhaps through a blog on your website, while you’re on the trip.  You can even set up a “Donate Now” button on your website and run it through PayPal. The website will serve as a great contact point for media, as well as for donors who don’t know you personally. As an added feature to your site, I would recommend asking a few of you teachers, your church pastor, or a school principal to write testimonial letters about you and post them on the site, as well. Of course, let these folks know you will be publicly displaying their letters. The more positive arguments you have, the better your chances of success.

Tapping Your Church Community
When deciding what kind of an adventure overseas you would like to embark upon, there are many opportunities within churches. Many denominations have foreign mission programs already in place. If you belong to a smaller church, inquire with your pastor about opportunities he or she knows within the denomination at large.

Many times, these larger churches will have separate funds set up to help people defray the cost of travel and lodging while serving on a missionary trip. I’ve seen churches hold fundraising events like spaghetti dinners to raise money for overseas trips. This is a great help. Oftentimes, however, churches will ask you to make a report to the congregation when you return. These can include your personal testimony, a slide presentation, and any other interesting experiences you had.

Tomorrow: Finding Scholarships

Transitions Abroad is both a print magazine, as well as an online portal that provides in-depth information on issues related to studying, living, and working abroad. In their surveys of American foreign exchange students, the following traits have been reported in significant percentages:

• Increased self-confidence
• Increased maturity
• Lasting impact on world view
• Enhanced interest in academic study
• Influenced subsequent educational experiences
• Reinforced commitment to foreign language study
• Helped foster a better understand cultural values and biases
• Influenced a desire to seek out a greater diversity of friends
• Continues to influence interactions with people from different cultures
• Acquired skill sets that influenced career path
• Ignited an interest in a career direction pursued after the experience 

With these kind of life-changing properties, it is no wonder that so many young people want to spend time studying in a foreign country. However, such an experience can be very costly, and financial aid can be difficult to find. This presents a problem for many would-be adventurers.

Is It Really In You?

Before venturing down this path too far, however, the student needs to be sure he or she is ready to totally commit to this process. A two to three week program overseas can cost up to $6,000 itself, so the student needs to realize this is serious business. It is going to take hard work and great sacrifice to make this opportunity possible.

It is also important for a student to decide what kind of program will best serve his or her interests. While study programs have great value, perhaps a volunteer work program is a better fit. Or, maybe a church-oriented mission program would be appealing. Not everything has to be academically based. In fact, if you pick a non-academic type of program, you might find alternate means of funding. So, please do thorough research not only on where you want to go, but also what you want to accomplish. It could help you focus your efforts.

Step 1- Personal Commitment or “Digging in your Own Pockets”

I think that there are some preliminary steps that should be accomplished early in this process that will reveal just how serious the student is about making sacrifices for this adventure. If any of these suggestions turn the student off, I would question the decision to move forward.

Control Spending Habits
The first thing a student must do is look at his or her own spending habits. If a weekly movie, music downloads, clothes shopping, and other incidentals are a higher priority than the study abroad trip, saving thousands of dollars is going to be difficult. Therefore, the student will have to create a strict budget and slash those expenditures that will keep him or her from reaching the goal.

Sell Your Stuff
Secondly, it would be wise for a student to assess what items he or she could sell to earn money for the experience. EBay and other online auction houses are a great way to unload un-used or unnecessary items and earn pretty good cash for them.

A garage sale, held at the right time of year, can also be lucrative. You might even get your parents to “donate” all the proceeds to your study abroad fund. Perhaps friends and relatives would also be willing to give you their belongings to sell and keep the money.

Trade Your Stuff Up
Next, I know this may sound like an unusual suggestion, but in this age of email and cell phones, it might actually prove very profitable. I think the student should embark on a “Red Paperclip” project. I wrote a blog post about this here. In essence, the student would choose an inexpensive item of his or her own and attempt to trade it to friends, families, co-workers, fellow students, or anyone willing to trade something of slightly higher value for it. Once the first trade is made, the student will immediately try to trade the second item for something of yet a higher value still. And so on. Eventually, once the student has traded for a significantly valuable item, he or she can sell it for cash and put that toward the trip.

I lead a class of adults once that undertook this experiment, and one woman ended up making a trade for an old car that had the original chrome on it. She took the chrome off, polished it, and sold it on eBay for $1,300! All this money-making opportunity takes is a cheap item to start with and the courage to ask people to trade. Who knows how far you could take this?

Blog Your Way to Riches
Another way to generate some revenue is to learn how to blog for money. There are a number of websites that will instruct you how to “monetize” your blog. You may not get rich from doing this, but incomes of $50 to $60 per month are pretty easy to set up and don’t require a lot of hard work. Just a little creativity and attention should get the job done. I would suggest looking at the websites called Problogger or Shoemoney for ideas.

Get a J-O-B
Ok, this is a boring one: find a job. Committing to a part-time job, if you haven’t done this before, can be a major step. It can intrude upon your studies and your personal life. But, if you want this overseas experience badly enough, you might be willing to work a few hours per week. If you make $7 per hour and work 15 hours per week for 36 weeks (an average school year) you could earn $3,780.

In the summer, you could even earn more. If you plan far enough ahead, you could really take a chunk out of the total bill this way. You won’t be doing anything glamorous for $7 per hour, but remember your goal. Of course, you can’t spend any of this income. Put it right in the ol’ savings account.

Coming Monday: Step 2: Asking Others to Give You Their Hard Earned Dough

Today I would like to take a shot at the blog contest we’re running here at Top School Fundraisers. I won’t officially be entering the contest, as I am an “employee”, but the topic itself is just too good to pass up. So, here is my “un-official” post on “My Favorite Teacher”.

I had heard about Mike Smith long before I was ever old enough sit in his class. Sophomores and juniors and seniors at Saline High School in Saline, Michigan, talked proudly about hanging out with him, about the projects they completed for him, and how cool he was as a teacher.

Whenever I would pass him in the hallway between classes, there was always a group of kids following along behind him. He was the only male teacher who had long hair, and in our school, which was fairly conservative, that gave him a real cache.

Sometimes, if I had the occasion to walk past his classroom door while he was teaching, I’d peek inside and see him sitting on a desktop, leading class, engaged like I always thought a college professor would be. He’d urge on his students toward academic greatness. This was back in the mid-1980s when the movie Dead Poets Society was still fresh in our minds, and I imagined him as our very own “O, Captain my Captain.”

Because he was, in addition to teaching American literature, English composition, and Advanced Placement History, the cross country running coach, he walked with a bounce in his step. It was almost as if he were going to break into a jog right there in the hallway. He taught that way, as well. You never knew when he was going to break into something unexpected, something even a bit wild.

I ended up having Mr. Smith for each of the three classes he taught during my high school career. The moment that sticks out like it happened only yesterday came in my 11th grade American Literature class. We were doing a unit on poetry, and after studying the classics of the genre for a couple of weeks, he brought in a brand new recording by an artist named Bruce Springsteen. The song was called “Born in the U.S.A.”, and he passed out copies of the written lyrics for all of us.

Mr. Smith treated this rock anthem with as much respect as he gave Walt Whitman. He showed us how literary greatness didn’t just inhabit the 19th century. By throwing Springsteen, a rock star, in with the greatest American poets, he said that modern day artistic expressions had value and worth. Up until that point, no adult had ever validated modern culture in that way to me. It was a breakthrough moment in my intellectual development.

In my senior year, I took AP History, which was a real challenge. At this level, Mr. Smith demanded great work from us. Since AP classes can result in college credit, he taught the class with colligate level expectations. Our understanding of the topics covered had to be deeper, our writing had to be shaper, and our interpretations had to be more precise. At the beginning of this class, I was nervous and had doubts about my ability to succeed in this class. By the end, I was so proud to have passed the final exam and received the college credit I was after. I owe that accomplishment and the personal growth that accompanied it to Mr. Smith.

I mentioned that Mr. Smith was also the high school cross country coach. While I was never on the team, I did develop a real passion for running, albeit at a much more plodding pace than he was used to in his runners. Nonetheless, he encouraged me, gave me pointers, and treated me with as much respect as he gave the best runners on his squad. I would stop by his desk after class and share with him that I just ran five miles for the first time or that I broke a personal speed record, and he’d be genuinely happy for me. Just those few minutes of affirmation that he shared meant the world to me and kept me going.

The best teachers are the ones who make you raise your game. They demand more out of you and, as a result, you become a better, more evolved individual. On both an academic and a personal level, Mr. Mike Smith made me a better person, not only for the time I was in his class, but for all the years that have followed. Thank you, Mr. Smith.

Sincerely,

Jim Berigan

In essence, the overall health of the organization is very poor and the prognosis isn’t very good.

At these times, if the board of directors wishes to save the school, drastic measures must be taken to both “stop the bleeding” and set a new course to the future.

Below, I have suggested ten ways for schools to regain the trust and confidence once shown to it by parents, alumni, and donors.

1. New Leadership
The quality of leadership is vital to the overall success of any organization, especially a school. If your school is in dire straits, I would look at the person in charge of the day to day operations, whether he or she is called the principal, administrator, or superintendent. What has this leader done to either help or harm the community? What has he or she done to foster alumni development and what is the current status of donor relations? Has enrollment increased or decreased? All these factors are important when judging the leader. These questions can be summed up, however, when gauging the predominant “mood” of the school. If the teachers and students aren’t energized and happy to be in the school everyday, I would submit that the leader is not doing a good job.

If this is the case, either something has to be done for the leader to improve dramatically in short order or a change must be made. Without the absolute commitment of the administrator, the school will continue its downward decent.

2. Apologize Without Excuses
Once new leadership (or at least a new leadership attitude) is in place, the repair work must begin. The incoming leader must quickly acclimate him or herself and find out who has been or who feels wronged by the organization. Then, the leader must reach out and do whatever it takes to bring these people back into the fold.

The leader must make this apology, even though he or she had nothing to do with the perceived injustice. The best way to do this is with a sympathetic ear and understanding words. Phrases like, “I can totally understand that would make you feel hurt,” or “It makes sense that you felt we weren’t being good stewards of the money” are honest and sincere expressions that will resonate with the people, without damaging the personal standing of the new leader.

Make sure not to get bogged down in excuses or details from the past. Accept that the person feels wronged and your job is to make him feel better. That’s it.

Once you’ve got a few people back on board, word will spread, and your job of mending fences will become a little easier with momentum.

3. Make Easy Physical Changes within the Organization
I wrote an entire blog post on this subject not too long ago. Please refer to it for details, but the gist is that I feel easy physical changes should always precede difficult policy shifts. If your school is going to go through serious transformations in staff, procedures, and expectations, that will be difficult for some people to accept.

I have always found that if I undertake some simple physical projects, like painting, landscaping, re-arranging furniture, changing the purpose of a supply closet or classroom, or anything else that does not affect people’s sense of security, but actually improves the physical appearance of the school, you will start to win them over before the tough stuff comes.

4. Honor History in New Ways
If the leader is new to the school, he or she can earn much respect and loyalty by finding a way to honor the school’s past, but doing it in a way that has never been done before. This way, the leader will be both showing a respect for what came before, but also demonstrating that he or she has an eye on the future.

One example might be to create an annual award based on service to the school. This award could be named after a school founder or an important donor. This covers the “past” part, while the actual honor of the award, along with a new plaque that hangs in a prominent location is the “new” part. I did something very similar to this in the school I worked at and got great results.

5. Listen to Alumni and Donors
Another important task for new leadership in the school is to listen to alumni and donors. The leader should seek these people out and ask them a lot of open-ended questions. Let the alumni and the donors give you their unedited opinions about the school at large. Listen to them as long as they want to speak. Pay close attention and take good notes. Let them know that while you may not be able to make all the changes at once, you really appreciate their insight and will do your best to enact sensible change. This act of just opening yourself up will go a long way toward building trust and loyalty.

6. Study Successful Programs and Emulate Them
While every school has its own special circumstances, there are plenty of commonalities between educational institutions where you can find a success story to model. Do some research and talk to other leaders of similar schools. Share your story with them and find out what they did to pull themselves out of the tailspin they were in. While you may not use every suggestion, I would wager you will still find many pieces of useful advice in their experience.

7. Set Realistic Short Term Goals
Donors want to see verifiable proof of success. This is another reason why making physical changes is beneficial. Even though painting a few walls or cleaning something up won’t make long-lasting improvements in enrollment or fundraising, they will show donors that “stuff is getting done.” And that is good.

The leader must find a handful of areas that he or she can point to for easy success. Perhaps one goal is to improve communications. A regular newsletter, frequent email blasts, an improved website, and frequently updated bulletin boards are all ways to show that the leader is making quality communications more of a priority than it was in the past. Donors like this.

If the leader chooses to set and focus only on more long-term goals, like raising enrollment 10% for example, he will miss all of the building blocs in front of him. After the slow decline into the depths, donors and alumni, as well as parents of currently enrolled students are going to want to see more immediate signs of life. It’s the reverse of the cliché, “Can’t see the forest for the trees”. Just remember that without individual trees, there is no forest.

8. Repair a Key Relationship(s) in the Community at Large
When I worked for the Christian school, I encountered a situation in which the relationship between the school and the local church community was dormant or in some cases, non-existent. I was shocked that there wasn’t an active and dynamic support system between these seemingly cooperative groups.

One of the first things I did was to schedule private meetings with many of the key pastors involved to introduce myself and to invite them to become involved in our mission. Not everyone accepted my invitation, but some did, and we developed some very good friends from this effort.

I would guess that there are many rather obvious “missing links” in schools and non-profits out there. A new leader has the chance to, without any history, right some wrongs. If you find a person or a group that your school should be friendly with, but you aren’t, I urge you to make this happen.

If you are successful in making this important connection, it will be another example to your board and donors that you are out there, changing the culture that existed before.

9. Be Appreciative
Sadly, one of the most common mistake non-profits in general and schools in particular, make is not to be appreciative of the gifts they receive. A gesture as simple as a thank you note is often forgotten.

This omission is often the reason why many donors break off their relationship with a school. I actually heard one donor once say he felt like a horse, ridden hard and then put away.

Even if a gift is many years old, if you are new to the school’s leadership, you have the opportunity to say thank you again. With the “thank you” should also come the admission that you know this was (very) late in coming and you should give them your word that such omissions will not occur again. (And make sure they don’t!)

Conclusion
Taking over a school in trouble is a very difficult task. The issues that put the school in jeopardy can be very serious and almost impossible to reverse. However, there are several ways that can help set your school back on a path to success.

The rules are simple. Just write a post about this topic on your own blog. Paste a link to TopSchoolFundraisers at the end of the article and encourage your readers to vote for your entry. Be sure to send me an email, so I know you wrote it and I’ll check it out!

Winners will receive cash prizes. First place is $50, second and third are $25 each. All prizes are paid through PayPal.

To qualify, you must post your blog entry by Saturday May 3, 2008. The final list of entries will be posted on Monday May 5 and voting will begin. The last day to vote will be Thursday May 8 and we’ll announce the winner the next day on May 9.

Update - Final entries are now in.  Click here to see the list and then vote.

Good luck and keep writing!

Jim Berigan

Gail McCarthy of the Gloucester Daily Times reports on a very creative mix of fundraising and drama at a local school auction that resulted in a tidy profit.

Jason Claffey of Foster’s Daily Democrat posted an article about a school fundraiser that brought back the music and styles of the late, great 1980s. Maybe I’m feeling nostalgic about my 20th High School Reunion coming up this summer, but this sounds really good to me!

Erin over at USA Fundraising helps us remember Earth Day this year with a number of great eco-sensitive fundraising ideas.

Joy Underhill of PTO Today has a terrific article called “Teacher Appreciation Done Right”. Check it out!