Wall Street Journal asks if Fundraising has Gone Too Far
May 9th, 2008 by tsullivanUsually it’s the local papers where a guest columnist comes up with the annual screed against fundraising. Today, though, a guest colunist for the esteemed Wall Street Journal chimes in with a severely one-sided look at school fundraising.
Couple of thoughts:
1. You’d think a column in the use-your-bootstraps WSJ, of all places, would at least spend a bit of time recognizing that most often the folks behind a particular fundraiser are passionately trying to do good work/provide great things on their own. The Journal is not exactly known for a let’s raise taxes to pay for everything bent.
2. This is a good time to re-link to an old column of mine called The Fundraising Myth. Think it captures this column prety well.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
All this recent talk about fundraising fatigue is just emerging in national media. The question is what new solutions can reverse this trend.
The key is to get the families involved in ways that build value within the school community. And build lasting relationships with all that can and do support local schools.
Parents value their time more than ever and want programs that can produce long term recurring benefits. Actually building an asset for their childrens school.
More focus should also be directed at showing the kids how their efforts trully help fund their educational experience.