You Don't Get It Because You Don't Get It

     Sounds like a Yogi Berra-ism, doesn't it?

     This is probably one of the harshest titles on this site, but it's a phrase that I've heard repeatedly in the last two months.  School administrators need funds more than ever today, yet do not put structures into place that make "advancement" happen.  They "don't get" the funds they need because they still rely on parents to not only pay tuition, but to support the fundraisers the school sponsors, volunteer at the events that take place there, and be able to particpate in the ones they're not volunteering for.  They "don't get" the fact that if a school has declining enrollment, there is a declining number of parents that are not only paying more tuition, but expected to give more of their time to help the school meet its obligations.

     A recent article in the Pittsburgh Business Times states that "Black tie can mean red ink."  Schools that rely on events for some of their largest fundraising dollars are finding it harder and harder to have a successively larger income from year to year.  Schools "don't get" the fact that fund-raising events are as much about "friend-raising" as they are about "fund-raising."

     For instance, a popular fundraiser for some schools is the car raffle.  Sometimes the raffle is for a car, and sometimes it's for the use of a car (a three year lease, perhaps).  Many seasoned "ticket sellers" know the people that they sell to, so they simply ask them to fill out the ticket stub with their name and phone number.

     That practice is incorrect.

     Worse, after the raffle is over, the non-winning tickets are thrown away.

     That practice is also incorrect.

     Ticket stubs should be filled out completely, with name, address, phone number and email.  After the raffle is held and the prize awarded, all those non-winning stubs are taken to a computer where the information contained on them is entered into a database.  These folks now become part of the annual appeal for the school.

     Where did this idea come from?  A group of six sisters who teach at an inner-city school in Pennsylvania.  While the parish tries to figure out how to get out of debt, the school has been operating in the black, with NO subsidy from the parish.

     Indeed, they "get it."

© Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2007

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