Using Signature Events to Fund Special Projects and Close Tuition Gaps
By: Don Carmichael and John Corfield

Has your school ever been constrained by a lack of resources? Have you ever agonized over how in the world you’re going to cover payroll or meet your budget by year-end? If so, welcome to one of the most common challenges facing Christian schools – inadequate finances.

Most Christian schools operate with a planned budget deficit. In order to keep tuition low enough to be affordable by the greatest number of families, tuition revenue rarely covers the full cost of running a school. The difference between tuition revenue and a school’s total operating cost is the tuition gap. To fund this gap, money has to be raised from other sources.

Adding to the inherent pressure of funding a tuition gap, many school budgets do not include budgeted funding for special projects and capital purchases. Playgrounds, computers, facility improvements, athletic equipment –– these are often off-budget items that require even more money. Funding the tuition gap and special projects is a big problem for many schools. Is it a problem for yours? Do you have a solution?

There are really only two answers to funding these needs: either raise tuition or raise funds. 

Raising tuition, as ideal as it sounds, can actually be detrimental. As tuition increases, fewer and fewer families can afford it, which often leads to a smaller enrollment. In addition, increasing tuition to cover the operational budget can also contribute to a decrease in parent involvement and a culture of declining generosity and selflessness.  After all, if parents are paying big bucks in tuition, many feel that they have already done their part and do not want to be asked to volunteer or give more money.

If raising tuition isn’t feasible or appropriate in your school, the only other option to funding your tuition gap and special projects is fundraising.

Fundraising is often seen as a curse, but it’s really a blessing. When done according to biblical principles, proper fundraising has many benefits. Families become unified in the understanding that God is Jehovah Jireh –– the source of all your provision. Donors are blessed when they give. And when done correctly, biblical-based fundraising helps stimulate a school family culture centered on such virtues as servanthood, generosity and sacrifice for others. The long-term benefits of such a culture are significant.
 
Of course, there are practical benefits to fundraising as well. Effective fundraising allows schools to operate at lower tuitions, thereby allowing them to appeal to a broader base of families. Being accessible to this broader base alone often boosts enrollment and, ultimately, enrollment revenue. In addition, as you build a donor base, you are enhancing your monthly financial stability and increasing your ability to raise significant funds for capital items and other major needs in the future.

Conducting an Annual Fund Campaign
So, practically speaking, what are the best fundraising methods to raise larger amounts of money that can cover your tuition gap or fund special projects?

First, your school should always conduct an Annual Fund Campaign. This consistent, ongoing approach to annual fund development is a must. In your annual campaign, your objective is to generate ongoing donations from every constituency that touches your school –– parents, grandparents, major donors, local businesses, vendors, churches, etc. 

Annual fund campaigns can consistently raise $100,000 to $500,000 a year for your school. There are proven strategies and methods for developing each of the above groups that can greatly enhance the success of your campaign. To maximize your success, it is highly recommended that you acquire professional fundraising expertise.

In an annual fund campaign, you should approach your constituents through combinations of a parent banquet, direct visitations, local media, four direct-mail appeals throughout the year, and at least one signature fundraising event. (Be careful to not engage in numerous small fundraisers to fund your gap or major projects, as these can wear out parents. The place for smaller fundraisers is at the small level of funding classroom projects, individual clubs and sport team needs.) You should have specific strategies for each of the constituency groups mentioned above and establish at least a three-year Master Funding Plan. 

Using Signature Events to Fund the Gap and Special Projects
Conducting a signature fundraising event –– one that creates excitement to your families and generates high visibility in your community –– should be a cornerstone component of your annual fund program. A properly conducted signature event will energize your families and bring you a significant windfall of cash and new donors.

In fact, a single signature fundraising event often raises more money than a school’s entire annual volume of small fundraisers. Done correctly, a signature event will raise anywhere from $35,000 to $200,000, depending on the size of the school, and generate anywhere from 300 to 3,000 new donors to your list.

Could your school use a cash infusion of $35,000 to $200,000? Have you ever thought about how you would actually spend an extra $50,000 or $75,000 right now?

Though there are a number of special events you could choose to conduct as your signature event, I believe several types of events are most strategic. The following recommended event types are based on my experience in helping conduct more than 2,000 sponsor-driven events throughout the U.S. and Canada, which have involved helping literally hundreds of Christian schools of all sizes and shapes.

Each of the following events raises money through the personal sponsors of students and, in some cases, parents. The success foundation of these events is not the event type, but the letter fundraising process, which occurs four weeks prior. In each event below, parents and students send donation appeal letters to people with whom they have personal relationships. Donors give money based on the personal relationships they have with the person asking. This principle is referred to as “People Giving to People,” and many fundraising professionals believe it is the most important foundational principle in fundraising.

1.  Golf & Walk Events
Golf & Walk Events are currently the most successful fundraising events in the country. In these events, you are mobilizing two groups of people: adult golfers and students/families. Your school would take over a golf course for the morning. Golfers begin playing at 8 a.m. Your students and families would arrive at the course shortly afterward and would ultimately conduct a nine-hole prayer walkathon on the paved golf cart paths. The golf course setting is a beautiful and unique venue for a walkathon.

Walkers and golfers are kept separate for safety. Each of the walkers’ nine holes can showcase a different facet of the ministry of your school, and students enjoy activities and games as they walk from hole to hole. As much as possible, we like to position your older spiritually mature students on certain holes to give short devotions to the younger students and to pray for them. Walkers and golfers conclude together with a Picnic & Praise awards celebration on the grounds. Alternate walk locations can include area parks or your own campus.

2.  Servathons
Servathons are perhaps the best events to outwardly demonstrate the core values of Christian schools –– servanthood, outreach, kindness, etc. Servathons involve taking teams of your students into the community to serve others. Typical service projects include singing in nursing homes, delivering home-baked cookies to fire stations, performing fix-up or cleanup projects for underprivileged youth homes or fellow Christian schools, and ministering to shut-ins. Servathons offer tremendous media opportunities and can showcase your school in a very positive manner to the community.  Servathons are also very attractive causes for donors to support. Ultimately, however, the greatest benefit from servathons is probably the touched hearts of your own students as they experience the blessing of sacrificial service in action.

3.  Prayer Walks and Hike & Bike Events
These events are especially popular for schools where golf may not be a relevant option.  The key to success in these events is making sure the main focus remains on the ministry mission of your school.  Prayer Walks can be conducted on campus, at parks and even among the neighborhoods surrounding your school. With Hike & Bike events, make sure the event location provides protection from traffic. Public parks with pavilions, playgrounds and paved paths usually offer the best venues.

4.  Indoor Mall Walks
A variation on the walkathon theme above, mall walks are ideal for winter events, as they are completely protected from weather. In mall walks, students arrive early at an indoor mall for a walkathon prior to the opening of mall shops. Break and activity stations can be set up along the way, and fun activities such as scavenger hunts can be conducted.  Probably the most fun element of a mall walk for students is finishing the walk at the food court.

5.  Bowlathons
Bowlathons have been very popular and also offer an indoor-event option for winter events. A bowling alley would be rented for the morning. Students can compete by class. Crazy bowl contests and rules make the entire experience even more fun.

6.  Fishing Frenzy Events
Fishing Frenzy events are outstanding family-focused events. In this event, anglers meet at a central marina restaurant on a Friday night. Anglers enjoy a Captain’s Dinner, where gifts of tackle boxes with sunscreen, measuring tape, etc. are handed out. Anglers, who are typically parents and children, are free to fish in any public waterway. The event is a catch-and-release event, where the goal is to catch the most inches of fish during a 24-hour period.

Most anglers will fish until 10:30 p.m. then go home for sleep. On Saturday, most anglers hit the lakes around 6 a.m. and fish until the tournament conclusion that evening. At this time, everyone returns to the marina restaurant for awards for such achievements as most fish caught, ugliest fish, best fish story, best sunburn, etc. The event consists of lots of fun as well as quality interaction between parents and children. We recommend providing written spiritual discussion topic ideas that parents can use during the event as they spend time with their children.

In conclusion, as you explore ways to fund your tuition gap and special projects, focus on building an annual funding plan that will bring financial stability to your school. Your top priority should focus on developing donors –– both recruiting new donors through a signature event as well as cultivating existing donors to be faithful over the long term. 

We hope the ideas in this article are a blessing to you and your school and wish you great success in all your fundraising.

Don Carmichael is president of Champion Events Group, www.champevents.com, which helps hundreds of Christian schools conduct high-income signature events throughout the U.S. and Canada. John Corfield is president of Corfield Consulting Services, www.corfieldconsulting.com, which has been assisting Christian schools since 1980 in designing successful capital and annual fund campaigns. 

Sidebar
Recycling for School Fundraising
By Erin Halferty

If all the empty cartridges that are thrown away each year were stacked end to end, they would circle the globe. What if there was a way schools could re-source that trash and turn it into cash to fund their programs? Well, there is. A few innovative companies are using environmentally positive principals of recycling and turning it into an easy, profitable option for schools to use as fundraisers. They offer a funding option that recycles inkjet/toner cartridges and cell phones, and pays schools and organizations a full profit for what they turn in.

What’s amazing about this type of program is its ease of induction. Because there is no product that is sold, no one has to shell out money for initial product purchased or the residual cost parents and sympathetic neighbors end up paying. Students no longer have to go door to door asking residents to buy consumer goods. Teachers are no longer burdened with accounting for the products and cash floating around in hundreds of students’ hands. The program can also be continued as a consistent form of funding that can be used for many different programs throughout the year.

Many participating schools have also used this funding program as an educational tool.  Students can learn about ecology and economics and can focus on the environmental benefits of recycling items most businesses and households throw away.

The typical consumer cycles through a new cell phone every nine to 12 months due to increasing technology.  hat same cell phone could earn a school up to $40 to $60 and keep toxic waste out of our landfills. Local businesses, organizations, faculty and parents can all become involved in a recycling funding program. It is a great way to reach out to the community and get everybody engaged in a program that is so rewarding.

A recycling program is a great alternative to the typical buy-and-sell fundraising options that are available. Many schools have already found success with the program due to its ease of initiation and fantastic educational opportunities it provides.

It’s simply taking trash and turning it into cash.

Erin Halferty is the marketing director for Global Re-Source Funding, which is a fundraising program based on recycling for schools, organizations and non-profits.

Product Roundup

Our Book Fair by Thomas Nelson
Our Book Fair helps build stronger communities while helping organizations raise much-needed funding. The program is offered by Thomas Nelson Publishers, a company publishing books and media from a Christian perspective since 1789. With more than 400 trusted products to choose from, a school can be proud of the long-term, positive, life-changing results this program produces. Our Book Fair is more than a book sale or fundraiser. It is a community raiser.  Participating schools can earn books and cash.
www.OurBookFair.com 


Educational FUNdraising by Educational Outfitters
Educational Outfitters, a school uniform apparel provider, is offering schools a simple way to attain much-needed funding, while providing a product that benefits the school in many ways. Logo’d apparel is a great way to “brand” the school, and the products are popular with students, parents, siblings and others. Through this easy-to-implement fundraising program, a school can earn 40 percent of gross sales. The program can be implemented twice a year, in the fall and spring, and can be conducted in conjunction with other fundraising ventures.
www.educationaloutfitters.com 

Christmas Ornaments from Creative Services of New England
Schools can begin holiday fundraising now with this shatterproof Christmas ornament from Creative Services of New England. These beautiful, round Christmas ornaments are printed with a school’s logo, graphics or holiday message. Each ornament is individually packaged in an attractive gift box. Because the ornaments are becoming highly collectible, schools and organizations across America have been using the program year after year as a successful holiday fundraiser. Creative Services of New England has been in business for 24 years.
www.cs-ne.com 


Profit Quests Fundraising
For some schools, giving has steadily seen a decline, and it’s becoming harder than ever to raise needed funds. One alternative to traditional fundraising is to develop a planned giving program. By getting alumni, the associated church congregation, and the community involved, a school can benefit through wills and other planned gifts. Large schools, ministries and churches have been using this technique to dramatically increase long-range giving strategy for years. Now, all schools can become effective stewards of God’s resources, while helping those in the community leave a lifetime legacy.
www.profitquests.com 


Dickerson & Associates
Dickerson & Associates comes alongside growing Christian schools, teaching biblical stewardship principles, partnering through hands-on implementation, and providing guidance through the challenges of the development process that growth often brings. Founded in 1984 by Dr. Clark Dickerson, the company serves a nationwide clientele with full-time consultants in several states. Services include capital campaigns, feasibility studies, development audits, annual fund master plans, annual fund consultation, board and staff training and related development topics. The firm can help a school achieve its ultimate vision, conducting a program that will bring honor to the Lord and respect to the ministry. 
www.dickersonandassociates.com 

Rada Cutlery
Rada Cutlery offers its recipe for success: great products, happy customers, and an easy and profitable fundraising program. Those who have used the Rada program say the cutlery sells itself. Supporters will appreciate receiving manufacturer-direct pricing on items they enjoy using. Rada has been helping organizations in fundraising programs since 1948. 
www.RadaFundRaising.com 


Wreathfundrasier.com
Fundraising with Wreathfundrasier.com is a proven way to raise almost any amount of money your group needs. Wreathfundrasier.com, a subsidiary of Dinihanian Floral Products, Inc., is a fourth-generation family owned and operated company with more than 115 years’ experience in the floral and greens industry. All products are made with fresh Pacific Northwest evergreens, including high-elevation Noble fir that is cut daily, providing products with their much-sought after lush blue-green color, aromatic evergreen fragrance, and maximum lifespan. The most popular fundraising items are Mixed Wreaths, Door Swags and Northwest Holiday Basket Centerpieces.
www.wreathfundraiser.com 

Magnetdog.com
Put the fun back in FUNdraising with Magnetdog.com. Most any of their magnets can be personalized with anything from education and sports to cause and support. Their pricing is some of the best you will find out there—and wait until you see the pricing on quantities higher than 500. You truly can raise money for your event or cause with Magnetdog.com magnets. And don’t forget that Magnetdog.com magnets offer staying power. Fundraising magnets offer lasting value to your target market.
www.magnetdog.com 


Gold Medal Products
Gold Medal Products Co. has announced the launch of its Karamel Baby Complete Set-up Cart. This cart includes the popper, cooker mixer, and cooling tray. The Karamel Baby Complete Set-up Cart is perfect for any venue. In May 2006, Gold Medal launched their newest Web site, www.caramel-popcorn.com. At the site, there is a wealth of information on how to be successful in the Caramel Corn business. Because good caramel corn starts with good popcorn, the complete cart set-up is a must have for any one in the business. 
www.gmpopcorn.com 

LogoMagnets
Car magnets are one of the hottest items for fundraising and displaying school spirit. LogoMagnets are 100 percent American made, with strong attention to design and quality. They are durable, versatile and vibrant. They also come with a five-year guarantee against fading. LogoMagnets are a fast, easy and affordable fundraiser.  LogoMagnets are easy to sell, since everyone wants to display school spirit. 
www.LogoMagnet.com