by Barbara Barron | Posted January 8th, 2025 | Subscribe to this newsletter
When I was the DoD at my first school gig, I was asked to help move the school away from a pay-to-play system where students paid $2 to get to wear jeans (those were still dress code days there).
The money raised went to a selected charity. The process of choosing the charity was a bit muddy. In fact, the whole endeavor felt off – even back then – as it was painfully easy to tell which students didn’t participate, because those $2 were outside of the family budget.
The solution came from our Head of School. He had the innovative idea to establish a student foundation, a club that I advised. It was tasked with overseeing the numerous requests for student-led fundraisers and a way to resolve the $2 jean days conundrum.
The Student Foundation evolved to organize the annual Thanksgiving food drive (which continues 23 years later, I’m delighted to report), as well as other school-wide projects including raising $5000 for Heifer International. I’m proud to have been a part of that moment and to have the opportunity to work with outstanding students who chose to join. A bowl of Hershey kisses on my desk was undoubtedly a draw but so, I believe, was the value of the work.
I read inquiries every few months from other schools’ development leaders on this topic: how does your school handle all the requests for fundraisers that are outside of the school run Annual Fund and auctions or galas or golf tournaments?
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Pecked to death by ducks
My answer may feel like a killjoy, but I believe that fundraisers ought to be limited. And carefully timed.
Why?
So they do not conflict with the three central purposes of the development office:
- To build a culture of giving to the school that is meaningful and joyful.
- To raise the funds needed to advance the mission of the school.
- To build long-lasting relationships with families that endure beyond the time their children are enrolled.
Dozens of bake sales or car washes do not help those goals. Why? They hit up the same people (the parents!) who we are asking to make the school program a philanthropic priority. When parents feel they are being “pecked to death by ducks” with myriad requests for $5, $10, $25, the cumulative effect is they feel annoyed and, justifiably, that they are already supporting the school.
This is especially perilous if all those “special” events occur before the school has launched its thoughtful, personalized annual giving program. And if uniforms or trips or other reasons for the fundraisers are essential, why aren’t they covered by tuition, parents may ask? Good question.
The difference in message and meaning
Ok, Barbara. Harsh, but makes sense.
But what about the argument that when students organize and run fundraisers, they gain important life skills. Maybe.
But when the proceeds of those sales or drives benefit the very students running them, that starts to feel self-serving. There’s a substantial difference in message and meaning between raising money so your team can buy cool new uniforms vs. identifying a local organization doing work that you respect and want to support. The process and the skills honed may be similar, yes, but the greater impact and deeper learning are entirely different.
While this may be outside the lane you occupy as a school leader, trustee, or advancement officer, it all spills into the same pool from which our cultures exist and grow. If we want our schools to thrive so they can deliver more fully on our mission, serve the students we seek to serve today and into the next generation, we must set and keep clear priorities.
That’s for the adults to do.
Good policy can alleviate disappointments
Now, I know it’s hard to say “no” to eager students who have a great idea and a desire to do good. Policy helps here. Schools with them usually have fewer of those disappointments.
If your school doesn’t have one or hasn’t reviewed it in a while, I suggest you take a page from my first experience when my Head urged us to “put the students at the center” to create a solution.
A solution that quickly surpassed the original “problem” and engaged those student members, and the whole school by extension, in something better.
It all contributes or distracts.
Thank you for everything you’re doing!
Barbara Barron
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BARBARA BARRON is one of the most respected and highly sought-after independent advancement professionals in the country, having worked with dozens of schools in every corner of the United States.
She has raised over $20 million for schools where she served as the Director of Development. Barbara is a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, and presenter who currently advises dozens of schools in various capacities. She is considered a thought leader in the world of advancement, with her writing widely shared by professionals in development offices worldwide.
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