Palomares Parent Teacher Club

Fund Raising Committee

Coordinator: Kathy Cronwall

This important group is responsible for the fund raising activities of the Palomares Parent Teacher Club. The PPTC provides funds for requirements like the Fine Arts Program, Disaster kits and Library and for fun events like the Harvest Festival, The Bat Lady and Annual Campout.

The committee will decide what fundraisers to do, such as the Hawk-a-thon, eScrip, Pyzano's and Rigatoni's nights and work with the PPTC Board closely in the budget process. They may also explore grants as a way to bring needed funds to the school.

The Coordinator Guide can be downloaded in MS Word format or viewed online below. All of the guides share a common Forward.

Fundraising Committee Description

The Fundraising Committee is responsible for generating funds used by the Palomares Parent Teacher Club to pay for all the classroom supplies, activities, events, and other programs for the students and the school.

The Fundraising Committee works in general cooperation with other PPTC committees in that the efforts on this committee directly fund all the other PPTC committees.

Structure

The Fundraising Committee has, in the past, consisted mainly of a Coordinator (or two Co-Coordinators) and parents who are called on to participate in whatever activity works for their schedules. As this committee moves forward, it is suggested that the Fundraising Coordinator (a.k.a., Chairperson) appoint parents to be in charge of the separate activities during the year; e.g., Hawk-a-thon, Cookie Dough, eScrip promotion and any other fundraising activities sponsored by this committee. These coordinators recruit parents to assist them with these individual projects based on the timing of the activity.

The above said, the Fundraising Committee is a committee that can basically start from scratch each year. There are activities that have been done on an annual basis for several years. However there is nothing written in stone that says these activities must be done each year. The Committee can determine if programs should be repeated or if there are other more profitable, fun and exciting activities to pursue.

Time Commitment

This committee is great for parents who have special skills or interest in individual fundraising activities. Most fundraising events have a specific timeline, with an initial introduction of the activity, the activity done by the families/students, etc. and then the wrap up of the fundraiser. The only exception to this rule is the eScrip program. The parent who coordinates this very important activity would work during the year to promote the program, sign up new participants and monitor the activity during the year. Someone who can only help out a few hours over the year can work on specific fundraising activities without being committed to something all year long.

Parents who are more generous with their time can be involved with several different activities during the year, at which point their time commitment is driven by their enjoyment and their desire to contribute.

With lots of members, the time commitment for any one member is proportionally lower.

Duties

The duties of the Fundraising Committee encompass but are not limited to the following activities:

Organize and run the traditional Hawk-a-thon walk-a-thon event
Organize and run the annual Cookie Dough fundraiser activity
Promote and monitor the eScrip fundraising program for the school
Determine what other fundraising activities are appropriate and needed for Palomares
Pursue grants, sponsorships, and other alternative funding sources beyond fundraisers.
Participate in the budget process.

Operation

It is up to the discretion of the Coordinator as to how to run this committee, based on the number of members, their interests and skills, and their time commitment levels.

In May of 2004, Palomares held an event at the Chouinard Winery that included live music, food and an auction. This auction brought in nearly $11,000 for the school. However, this was a very labor intensive activity that took a lot of manhours and many months to coordinate, etc. In the school year 2004/2005, the parents determined this activity was too involved to repeat two years in a row. However, if there are interested parents who love this type of event, it was definitely a successful and profitable activity if done in the right way in the future.

Schedule

The specific fundraising schedule will vary from year to year. The Fundraising Committee determines the schedule of fundraising activities with input and approval from the PPTC Board and the Principal.

Resources

There are many fundraising companies out there who have made it a practice to contact the Fundraising Coordinator at Palomares each year. These organizations help organize fundraising activities for schools. Because of the size and culture of Palomares, up until now PPTC Fundraising Coordinators have opted not to use the services of these groups and instead have preferred to keep fundraising programs within the community of the school. The one exception to this is the Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough fundraiser done at Palomares the past 3 years.

Judy Wirdzek (current parent at Palomares) has been very involved with Fundraising activities over the past several years. She would be an excellent resource in terms of providing historical references and other information.

There are also files of information in the PPTC file cabinet in the school office with additional background information from past fundraising activities.