As someone with an education background and not a business or public administration background, fundraising does NOT come naturally to me. I feel pretty out of my element and in over my head. Especially daunting is our 2015-16 fundraising goal of $300,000: the highest fundraising target in Cloverleaf history by five times. This year we have to cover our usual operations deficit, plus an extensive unexpected renovation project on our new space.
It seems there's a common misconception out there that private schools are rolling in money since they collect tuition. I am here to testify that that is not the case for all private schools! Money is tight, and we have to scrape by. Tuition does not cover the full cost of operating, so fundraising has to make up the rest. We also want to lower tuition so that a high-quality special education can be available to even more students with disabilities, regardless of financial circumstances.
As I've been visiting other schools on a weekly basis this year and meeting with other school leaders, I received the helpful advice to "use my resources." The school leader told me I don't have to know everything or be good at everything, because I can reach out to others in my circles that can help with the things I lack. Fundraising is one of those things, so I was lucky enough to find out that one of our Cloverleaf parents has pretty extensive fundraising experience, so she agreed to chair our Annual Fund Committee. A friend of a friend of our business coordinator is a professional fundraising specialist, so she volunteered 2 hours of her time to give us direction at our campaign kick-off meeting. Thank goodness for the variety of skills in our extended community! Wish us luck-- we have 2 months to raise $50,000 of our $300,000 goal-- it's going to be one whirlwind of an annual fund campaign!
Jen-Do you use social media as a way to tell your story to help with fundraising? I would think that tugging at people's hearts is one good way to also get to their wallets! Schools often don't do a great job sharing our success stories. Even when they try to, they use ineffective delivery methods. When you say fund raising, I think "marketing"!
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Hi Jen,
ReplyDeleteI heard you are in my neighborhood and I would love to visit your school! I am in Brookhaven at a public charter middle school that often uses fundraising to supplement budget.
Like Dr. Sauers said, I would recommend developing a story board or video that shares the heart of your school with potential donors. People want to know who you are and what you're about and the students always pull at heart strings! Best wishes.
Hi Patrice! We would love to have you, and I would love to visit your school too! I'll send you an email so we can connect!
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