The Fund for Public Schools is a nonprofit organization affiliated with the New York City Department of Education. We work to increase resources for system-wide educational initiatives identified by the Chancellor. However, we know that schools often express a need for more resources in their efforts to improve student achievement. The Fund has written this tool kit primarily for principals but also for teachers, parent coordinators and parents to help schools raise money for their individual needs.
The fastest and most effective way to raise money for your school is to determine specific needs, identify resources and get to work! Whether you’re raising $500 or $5,000, the talent needed to raise these funds is in your school community. This tool kit will give suggestions and guidelines for your fundraising efforts including
- Events
- Description: organized fundraising event such as pledge drive, bake sale, art or talent show
- Product Sales
- Description: parents or students sell candy, gift wrap, etc and a percentage of proceeds goes to school
- Corporate Proceeds and Equipment Donations
- Description: ask local business to donate supplies, equipment or a percentage of profits for select period of time
- Grants
- Description: write a grant proposal to secure a government or foundation grant for a specific project or program
- Business Partnerships
- Description: enter into a broad relationship with a business partner
Step One: Decide specifically for what you are fundraising
Evaluate your school and determine what the area of greatest need is - whether it’s supplies, a program, a trip, a project, a sports team or something else. As a principal, you must play a lead role in the decision to determine appropriate needs and provide approval to any fundraising initiative. If you do not have a specific project in mind, use your school’s Comprehensive Educational Plan (CEP) to see what the School Leadership Team is planning for the upcoming school year.
Step Two: Think about the personnel to involve and how to communicate with them
As you are planning your school’s fundraising efforts, you should work to gain the support of the school community. Different fundraisers require the involvement of different people.
- Sales and events require volunteers, such as students, parents, teachers, and community members
- Grant writing requires buy-in from the principal and then a person who is motivated and good at writing, with support from the school to gather information and do research
- Business partnerships need principal support and someone to be the main contact for the business to help make the partnership work
No matter what type of fundraising you are doing, you still want the school community to be aware and supportive of your efforts. A strong method of communication within the school is important – a school newsletter that goes home to the parents or promotion through the parent association are great ways to help build a fundraising initiative.
Step Three: Determine who you should target for support and what appeals to that group
Who is your fundraising target?
- Students, Parents, Community: Sales and events are a good way to raise money from the school community and the surrounding community as well as to engage students, parents and staff to be involved in a project to help the school. They can also motivate surrounding community members to volunteer or participate in school events.
- Foundations/Large Corporations: Proposal writing targets foundations and corporations for one specific project or program. The program needs to be of significant scale to be considered by a foundation.
- Community Businesses: The school can target businesses in the community to get them involved and ask for support and donations of products, services and smaller financial requests.
The amount raised from any of these groups can vary from hundreds to thousands of dollars based on method, effort, number of volunteers and students participating, publicity and timing.
Step Four: Read the Fund for Public Schools Tool Kit for ideas and guidelines on fundraising methods, as well as suggestions and additional resources
The tool kit includes sections on:
Please note: the Department of Education has fundraising and reporting regulations that need to be followed by any school or school group engaging in fundraising activities. Please click here for the relevant regulations.
Information on the Fund for Public Schools
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What we do |
What we do not do |
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The Fund for Public Schools works with businesses, foundations and individuals to support NYC public schools by:
- Raising funds for system-wide initiatives
- Facilitating partnerships for schools
- Engaging the support of the community to foster belief in NYC public schools
- Serving as the fiscal agent for school donations or grants
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- The Fund for Public Schools does not commit to raise money for individual schools or programs. We do match donors to schools but we do not have an application process for the schools to apply for money.
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