Private School Fundraising

Some private school fundraising efforts may be quite elaborate, thanks to the kind of constituency that the school caters. Other private schools are working on a thin budget margin and have a lower income strata and may dream of charity golf tournaments and black tie galas but may only be able to sell cookies and candy to try and keep the budget above water. Private schools have a two edged sword when it comes to fundraising: some private schools are very free to use almost any legal fundraiser because of the absence of religious constrictions and the embrace of a more tolerant or humanistic approach while other schools are very restricted in their attempts to raise money by religious or social considerations. But the actual private school fundraising principles may be no different than many public schools or charities use to bolster sagging or aggressive budgets. From cookie dough sales to cow pie raffles and country club galas, the push is always on when non government funded schools try and make it financially through another year.

If you have come to this website as the chairperson of your private school fundraising committee, it is highly desirable that you have a committee of people who are passionate about the school and who are ready to ask anyone anywhere to donate to the cause. In the fundraising arena, there is one axiomatic principle: committee members must be tigers for their cause and must be fearless in going after the money. And if your committee is not loaded with those kinds of people, then sorry, the chairperson is going to have erase the fears and instill the dream in his or her fellow committee persons. The chairperson of a fundraising committee in any effort must be passionate about the project and be able to articulate the story of the need. The story must be people focused and must be expressed in human terms.

So the request has been made from the school principal that a special project be funded by raising funds from the efforts of parents and you're the chairperson. So the first question becomes one of who your target is going to be. Another question is the history of former private school fundraising efforts and whether or not your efforts are helped or hindered by past practices. Some great publicity or stinky pub is often generated when organizations are out trying to drum up non-budgeted money. Former deliveries not made on time, faulty products, deliverers with attitudes and pushy money collectors can certainly hamper present day efforts as well as a well trained army of helpers that recognize the importance of integrity can enhance private school fundraising efforts.

Let's start with the usual list of suspects. Car washes, auctions, frozen cookie dough sales. Whoa, let's stop a minute and talk about that deal. This has always been a good idea and one that can raise a lot of money, but just remember, if three thousand tubs of this sugary goop is sold and it is all dropped off early on a Saturday from that semi, the army better be ready that day to make the delivery or the chairperson will be looking for forty empty freezers for storage. One of the hottest trends in private school fundraising or any fundraiser for that matter is the scratch off cards that are NOT lottery tickets. The committee will have to have an army of truly committed people for this effort which will unfold by students and parents approaching neighbors and friends and explaining the project being funded. Once the explanation is made, the potential donor will scratch off two of one hundred dots on the card revealing no more than six dollars total for the donation.

In return for this donation which will be as little as two dollars or as much as six, the donor will receive a booklet of coupon good for products and services from local merchants. This kind of private school fundraiser brings up two important points: first, this kind of fundraiser will reveal what kind of committee members one has for the event will reveal their own willingness to approach friends and family. It will certainly show whether Secondly, it is a direct approach for funds, which may be used in tandem with another type of fundraiser. One of the clear principles of private school fundraising or any kind of raising of funds is to diversify the type of efforts to reach varying sectors of the population. No matter the need, Christians have a promise that is out of this world: "My God shall supply all your needs according to His reaches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)

There are so many fundraising ideas on the Internet that a person might be staring at a computer monitor for many hours taking notes. If you want to go big, stage a celebrity golf tournament or bring in a well known celebrity for a concert or a speech and charge admission. Have a gala at the country club and stage an auction of high priced items donated by believers in your school. Private school fundraising, just like public school fundraisers, will want to have some events that are family friendly and that gather people together to laugh and have fun. If you want to stage something like that, look up a cow pie raffle on the Internet. We'll have big fun on the Bayou with that one!