Connecting Schools With Great Fundraising Ideas.

In part one and part two of this series, I have been examining Chris Matthews’ book “Life’s a Campaign”. Specifically, I’ve been looking at the chapter called “Ask!” in which Chris gives examples of how politicians raise millions of dollars for their campaigns. I have been suggesting that many of these strategies are applicable to the life of a school fundraiser, just like you!

With this post, I’d like to share with you the practical advice Matthews shares about how to approach any kind of fundraising campaign. While this advice centers on collecting votes for an election, it is very easy to see how it parallels with fundraising.

“Imagine that you’re running in an election for president of your class or social group. To win, designate a number for each person in the group. Give a 1 to all your friends, a 2 to all the people you regularly say hi to, but don’t consider that close, a 3 to people you feel are probably truly undecided about you, and a 4 to those you figure are strongly against you or loyal to another candidate.

“Here’s your campaign: approach those you’ve give them number 1 to and say that you know you’re friends, but you’re asking them to vote for you. This should nail down your base. Then approach each of those you’ve tagged with a number 2, and make your basic campaign pitch. Tell them what your plans are if elected and how you believe you can really do the job. Ask them for their vote. The important thing with this group is to treat them as people you have to convince. They will appreciate your direct, positive, respectful approach. Finally, go tot the people you’ve marked with a 3 and give them an aggressive, extensive case for your election. They are the persuadables—so persuade them! Do not approach the people you have categorized with number 4. It will only get them aroused. If you bump into them, just be friendly, non-confrontational, and dull. Any active campaigning will simply provoke them. You want them to go to sleep.

“The most vital category of voters for you are the 1s. When my boss Tip O’Neill ran for the Cambridge City Council back in the 1930s, the woman living across the street complained later that O’Neill, still at Boston College, hadn’t bothered to ask for her vote. “People like to be asked,” she said. Tip O’Neill lost that race, but never another.”

I know that this sounds pretty obvious, pretty basic. But, I have been involved in enough capital campaigns and fundraising efforts to know that this advice is often forgotten in the hours and hours spent planning, organizing, and strategizing.

At the end of the day, it’s all about human contact. Get out and make your case. Be brave. Ask!

Link to Part One in this Chris Matthews’ Series

Link to Part Two in this Chris Matthews’ Series

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I think it is always wise to learn how the best in the business operate. While we are focused on raising money for our schools, there are folks who are hard at work raising millions of dollars for hospitals, national monuments, political campaigns, and universities.

And while our financial goals may be miles and miles apart, our methods aren’t. Of course, someone charged with raising a million dollars for a hospital probably won’t be selling the World’s Finest Chocolate, but they do, just like us, work on developing relationships with our potential donors.

The way they go about building these relationships is what is so fascinating to me. Below, I have provided links to two very large campaigns now ongoing in the United States: the $16.5 million drive for the Crazy Horse monument in South Dakota and the $1.25 billion capital campaign for the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Enjoy and learn!

Crazy Horse Monument

Crazy Horse Memorial to launch fund-raiser
Billionaire donates $5 million to Crazy Horse Memorial

Cleveland Clinic

Carol L. Moss Appointed Chairman, Institutional Relations and Development
Giving to Cleveland Clinic

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In the first part of this series on Chris Matthews’ book “Life’s a Campaign”, I wrote about how President Kennedy was masterful at developing an army of volunteers who helped in very small, but useful ways.

With this post, I am still in the chapter called “Ask!”, which gives insights into how large-scale campaigns raise so much money. This time however, I want to focus on Matthews’ story about how Republican fundraiser Ed Gillespie goes about this task.

“I always try to get people to buy into the vision, how what we’re doing with the money is important to the country”. He then gives his potential donor the inside perspective. “We need another two million to get up with television in Ohio. I’d like you to help there,“ he’ll say. Revealing such a shortfall or weak spot is a bonding tactic.

“You’ve got to give them something tangible, show them that you’re not going to piss it away somewhere,” he said. “Sometimes, I’ll lay out a program for direct mail and say how it will get turnout up two percent – but we’ve got to pay for it! A lot of people have the money to give. They’re successful people. But they want to see results.”

We’ve all had that one big donor who is very special to us. He or she is the one who has not only given us the most money, but has also mentored us. At least in my case, that relationship became very important to me in a personal way. (more…)

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Recently, I have been reading a book called “Life’s a Campaign” by Chris Matthews, who is the host of MSNBC’s program Hardball. The subtitle of this book is “What Politics has Taught Me about Friendship, Rivalry, Reputation, and Success”.

In this book, Matthews shares the lessons he’s learned from working with and covering successful politicians.

I was particularly struck by a chapter he wrote that was called “Ask!” In this chapter, he gives many examples of how successful politicians raise the millions of dollars needed to run a congressional or presidential campaign.

Many of the lessons he draws upon can easily be applied to raising money for your school. Over the next few posts here at Top School Fundraisers, I will share with you some of these ideas that I have found to be particularly interesting.

One of the thoughts that made a lot sense to me involved enlisting the help of small donors and thus creating a large army of people dedicated to your cause.

Matthews uses President John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign as a prime example. Since this book was published early in the current election cycle, he does not mention the immense grassroots campaign that Senator Barack Obama has built. (more…)

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When you are involved with a non-profit, it seems that every conversation starts and ends with the need to raise money. You’re either discussing how much you need to raise, how much you are currently raising, or how much was raised in the past.

When the board of a non-profit organization sits down at the beginning of the year to create an operating budget, it does its best to balance the needs of the group with the opportunities to generate revenue. Hopefully, much thought and discussion has gone into setting these priorities.

Once the budget it set, the director does his or her best to get the entire community moving in the same direction. In order to achieve real success, a non-profit needs everyone to be pulling in the same direction.

Or, at least that is what I thought was supposed to happen. (more…)

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Over the course of the next week, I will be working on an investigation of golf outings as a fundraising tool. I will be writing from my own experience, as well as interviewing folks from the golf outing industry.

To get the ball rolling, here are three interesting articles I have come across recently about this kind of fundraising event. I hope you enjoy these links, as well as the upcoming installments of this series.

Thanks!

First of all, I discovered a useful article entitled “Great Golf Gift Ideas for This Year’s Golf Tournament” over at the About.com page called “Rob’s Event Planning Blog”.

If you’ve ever participated in a golf outing before, this article might make you laugh. There are a few PG-13 remarks in the text, but it is funny if you’ve been through the experience. The name of the blog is “Grateful Blue” and the title of the post is “Golf Outings for Dummies”.

This last article talks about an alternative to the traditional golf outing called the “Downtown Petoskey/Bay Harbor Shopping Scramble”. While there is no actual golf involved, the rules and the concepts are taken directly from this fundraising approach. Ingenious idea. There are two links to this idea. Check them both out for a complete picture.

From the Petoskey Chamber of Commerce Site

From the Northern Express

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In the fall of this year, I will begin homeschooling my son, who will be going into the first grade. Since I work out of my house and my schedule is very flexible, I’m confident that I can commit the time necessary to provide him the attention he will need.

Through my experience working as the principal of a private elementary school, I learned a great deal about curriculum. I have, however, read over sites like HomeSchoolReviews.com, which is a terrific resource to learn about the very wide world of home school based texts.

I have also joined a local home school support group, which meets weekly during the school year and will provide a great social outlet for the students, as well as an opportunity for me to glean some ideas on how to save/raise money on all the materials I need for my son.

So, this new experience will give me an interesting perspective on the whole idea of how to save and raise money for a home school. I have to admit that right now, I’m a rookie in this particular niche, but I am motivated to learn.

I did write a post back a couple of months ago called, “6 Suggestions to Keep Uncle Sam Happy With Your Home school” that covered some of the taxation issues when raising money to support your at-home educational endeavors. There’s some good advice and links in that article, so if you missed it the first time around, be sure to check it out.

Right now, I’d like to ask for your help. If there are any Top School Fundraises readers out there who do home school, I would love your advice on how to either save money on homeschooling expenses or on how you’ve managed to raise funds to cover these costs. I promise to share this information with all of you.

In the meantime, I will be actively seeking clever ways to underwrite my own personal homeschooling expenses, and I’ll share everything I learn. Thanks!

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