Schools Grow Increasingly Dependent on Fundraising
Source: National Association of Elementary School Principals

Principals were asked how and why they hold fundraisers, and almost all (94%) said they rely on fundraisers to supplement monies received from district, state, and federal sources. The fundraising revenue is used to pay for classroom equipment and supplies, field trips, and playground equipment, among other items.

“For many principals, school fundraising provides a means to an end,” says NAESP’s executive director, Vincent L. Ferrandino. “The revenue that’s generated from fundraisers provides them with sorely needed resources for their students and teachers.”

The most common yearlong fundraising methods are: collecting food box tops and labels (63%), retail store affiliations (42%), supermarket receipts (25%), and sales from the school store (21%).

Eighty-five percent of the principals responded that they have seen an increased need for schoolwide fundraisers within the last decade; 56 percent have concerns about this increase; and 64 percent would stop fundraising if they could. Many believe fundraisers have become too much of a distraction to the school’s instructional day. A common theme in many of the principals’ comments is that fundraisers place too much pressure on young children to sell products and can also be burdensome to teachers, parents, and community members.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 1st, 2007 at 7:26 pm and is filed under Education, Financial issues, K-12. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.