Principals across the country are putting the “fun” into fundraising.
In early October, the teachers, students, and parents of Patrick Springs Primary School in Virginia chipped in over $1,200 to see the school resource officer kiss a goat called Brownie. At Ragsdale High School in Jamestown, N.C., the dance department raised money by creating their own version of the hit reality television show “Dancing with the Stars,” in which groups of students and teachers competed for the titles like “most improved’ or “most creative.”
Terri Daniels, the principal of Folsom Middle School in Folsom, Calif., has a theory on what’s pushing principals to put a creative twist on their fundraising efforts—the economy.
“Our fundraising efforts have gone down. People aren’t spending that much, they aren’t donating as much,” she said.
Daniels herself has hosted all kinds of fundraisers through her four decades as an educator.
She’s tried everything—from more traditional ideas like school dances, dessert auctions, and the Charleston wrap challenge (a promotion by a gift wrap company)—to more unconventional ones like a friendly game of the dice game Bunco in the evenings.
This year, though, Daniels is trying something different to help raise money for an end-of-year trip for her students.
“We’re doing a shoe drive fundraiser. Students will collect gently worn shoes and get 40 to 45 cents a pound [for their efforts],” said Daniels. “I like this one because it’s no money out of [their] pockets.”
The school has linked up with the nonprofit Funds2Org for its inaugural shoe drive. The funds raised will be used to pay for trips awarded to students who’ve exceeded expectations in showing respect to others and taking responsibility throughout the year, Daniels added. The collected shoes are sent to microentrepreneurs in developing countries, who in turn refurbish and “upsell” these shoes to earn a living.
Fundraisers like the shoe drive don’t require parents to chip in—and may be an easier sell.
Fundraisers that raise money and morale
In another strategy, some school leaders are integrating broader school goals to their fundraising objectives.
Jana Clark, the principal of Boyd Elementary School in Wise County, Texas, is pairing her fun run this year with a two-week module on leadership for all grades, hoping to improve school climate and boost student attendance from 94 percent last year to over 96 percent this year.
“I’m more excited about the [leadership] program. If we make money in the process, that’s great,” said Clark, who became the principal this past March.
During the two-week module, representatives from an agency called Apex Leadership Co. will come into school every day to host 3- to 5-minute “leadership talks” with each class on the importance of being a good leader in the future, and pass out cards and bracelets to students with messages about leadership on them.
A fun run in the gym will cap off the two-week program, where parents can donate a dollar for every lap their student takes. Each student can run up to 32 laps. Clark said she hoped the school would raise a few hundred dollars to replace the school’s marquee with a digital signboard.
Steph Hochhalter, an assistant principal in the Lewis and Clark North Plaza school district in North Dakota, will try something similar with her school’s color run this year. Hochhalter ran the mini-leadership course herself, leveraging a free leadership curriculum created by North Dakota State University called Building Tomorrow’s Leaders.
She’ll roll out the eight-module course between January and May next year—the sophomores who are required to take the course will alternate between leadership lessons and planning the color run. The students will plan everything—deciding how much color is needed, designing and ordering t-shirts, and writing letters to local businesses to sponsor tables at the run.
Hochhalter said the funds raised will go toward providing free or reduced-price snacks to students who stay after school for sports, or those who have long commutes home on the bus.
