March 6, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
NEW BOOKS
Fundraising: 50 Proven Strategies for Successful School Fundraisers
by Frank Sennett
Fund raising for education must move past candy sales and spaghetti dinners to fun and creative events that help motivate donors, writes Frank Sennett, who teaches at the University of California at Los Angeles.
“If you treat school fund raising as drudgery, the community will agree with you,” he argues.
His book suggests 50 different events, noting how much money each could potentially raise and what companies or organizations could be interested in becoming sponsors. He also discusses variations on each idea as well as real-world examples from nonprofit groups around the United States.
One section describes “an Antiques Roadshow-style event” that brings in appraisers to look at participants’ antiques; Mr. Sennett says that such a party could raise more than $5,000 from ticket sales, sponsorships, and concession stands. He suggests that planners ask auction companies, estate appraisers, and antiques shops to be sponsors.
Mr. Sennett also offers information about setting up public-school foundations, which raise money for an entire district, rather than for one school. Rich schools, the author says, often raise many times more than poorer neighboring schools, which “can broaden already wide resource disparities.”
Publisher: Corwin Press, 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, Calif. 91320; (800) 233-9936 or (805) 499-9734; fax (800) 417-2466 or (805) 499-5323; http://www.corwinpress.com; 128 pages; $22.95; ISBN 978-1-4129-4982-8.
