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The Joy of Fundraising Gord Kerr, M. Ed.Another school year and already many schools and school councils are into discussions and debates over fundraising. Many of those discussions will be fruitful and focused, but alas, many of those discussions will turn into heated debates. In some cases, the debates will cause hard feelings between parents and school staff, or between the parents on the school councils or fundraising committees. And unfortunately, some of the arguments that arise will turn off even some of the most committed school volunteers. Bickering over money is a proven method for losing school volunteers. But it doesn’t need to be this way. Fundraising tends to be one of the most emotionally charged types of involvement within the field of study surrounding parent involvement and engagement. Who gets to decide what kind of fundraising will be done? Who gets to decide on how to spend the money? What should we be fundraising for? Shouldn’t somebody else (eg. The Ministry or the Board) be paying for all this? The good news is that education is currently being funded at one of the highest levels in history in Ontario. Taxpayers are funding public education to the tune of roughly $19 Billion dollars. That sounds like an enormous amount of money and surely must pay for virtually everything needed, right? Perhaps it is, but it is also human nature to ask, couldn’t our children do better if we only had this or that or something else? And that’s where the debates begin. The bad news is that those $19 Billion dollars don’t go as far as we would like them to. Over half of those monies pay for the salaries of all the people working within the system, including all of our teachers, principals, non-teaching staff, school board administrators, etc. Then there are the buildings, maintenance and repairs, heat, and hydro. Then there are all the buses, the drivers and all the gas, professional development, core curriculum resources, translations, printing, distribution etc. etc. etc. The point is that by the time the funds are earmarked for all of the elements of the system that have to be paid for every year, there are often not enough ‘discretionary’ funds left available to an individual school principal to fund some of those new resources or ‘extras’ that would make so much sense within in his or her school community. And that’s where the debates become more heated. Does the principal put forward suggestions to the school council? Does he or she hold back and hope that the school council asks for suggestions? Let me share an example of a story that I’ve now heard repeated in several schools. Within a school priority of advancing literacy, staff built plans to advance literacy within the curriculum and the school council built a supplementary plan to advance literacy. Fundraising was focused on the supplementary plan and included such elements as levelled reading resources for primary grades, school visits by authors and storytellers to engage students in literacy activities. In these cases, the items on the ‘fundraising list’ were suggested by staff in response to discussions and inquiries at the council table regarding the kinds of supplementary initiatives that would best support a literacy priority. When a school council is working well, there is a good, collaborative relationship between the council, the principal and members of the school staff. There is a good understanding of the school’s priorities, the key elements included in the school improvement plan, and the school budget is shared information. Working within an atmosphere of openness and trust, toward a common set of priorities, a school community is empowered to work with staff to reach for those goals. The best fundraising plans are built within this environment. It doesn’t matter whether the principal suggests or is asked for a list of items that fundraising might support, or if the school council suggests a fundraising priority. When the whole school community is working to a common set of priorities, people tend to rally around the right priorities, role up their sleeves and get to work. The principal carries a couple of critical responsibilities to create this environment. Aside from providing clarity around the school priorities and how far the budgeted school funding will go, the principal also carries the responsibility to ensure that targeted fundraising efforts are within the policies set out by the Ministry and the local school board. The Ministry, for instance, forbids the use of fundraising dollars to support core learning materials that are covered by the Provincial Funding Formula. This generally refers to in class curriculum resources (such as textbooks), essential classroom equipment such as desks, and staff salaries etc. As the site leader, the principal holds the responsibility to advise those within the school community regarding activities and expenditures that are and are not acceptable. When in doubt, it is best to speak to your principal for clarity. One of the better board fundraising policies that I’ve seen identifies what funds may be raised for, and what funds may not be raised for. However, it is just one policy from among the 72 Boards and Authorities that exist within Ontario. As a result, it does not provide a ‘one size fits all’ set of instructions to all schools and school councils across the Province. It reads as follows: “Funds may be raised for the following purposes:
Funds may not be raised for the following purposes:
A policy like this goes a long way to limiting debate and focusing the effort of staff and volunteers. But does a policy like this eliminate all debates? Absolutely not! For example, within a literacy priority, some would argue that levelled reading resources should be ‘core learning materials’ and be funded through the provincial funding formula (they are not). Ultimately, when these debates occur, the principal holds the responsibility to interpret the various policies in effect and advise members of the school community. Extended debate at the local school level can be frustrating and divisive as policies of this nature are established at the Board and Ministry level. It is simply not a school level decision. Navigating the regulations and best practices involved in fundraising requires patience, flexibility, and the willingness to collaborate within a school community. There are many worthy initiatives out there vying for the dollars raised by a school community. The school plan for continuous improvement is the starting point for making choices and tradeoffs from among the many great ideas. Gains in student achievement can be made through the focused efforts of the whole school community. Building your plans for 2008/2009? Pack your patience and willingness to collaborate. It will serve you well. And one more thing … agree on the spending priorities before raising the money. If you can’t agree on what the extra fundraising money is needed for, perhaps you don’t really need the money. Gord Kerr continues to research practical methods for advancing parent involvement and engagement, now from the perspective of a public school trustee. For more information, please visit www.parentinvolvement.ca © 2008 Parent Involvement Centre. |
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gkerr@schoolcouncils.net with questions or comments about this web site.
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