Small Scale Online Educational Fundraising

Peace and Education Coalition, Second Chance Campus offers a year-round alternative high school that “services urban at-risk youth, ages sixteen to twenty-one, who have left their traditional neighborhood school for various reasons such as safety, teen parenthood, going into the workforce, [or] relocation.” For the last nine years, Nancy Salas-Herrera has taught literature and art at one of Peace and Education’s two Chicago campuses, where approximately eighty-five at-risk students work toward their Chicago Public Schools diploma on an accelerated track, in a program that acknowledges their unique needs with features such as on-site daycare and classes held later in the day than at traditional high schools.

Salas-Herrera’s love of teaching originated, she believes, in eight grade, when Ms. Rosemary Shedor at the Sacred Heart of Jesus asked her to teach a history lesson. She remembers, “I jumped at the opportunity!” and she “even threw in a pop quiz.” Then, she realized, “I knew I had to—not wanted, had to—get into teaching.” She wanted to “share, interpret, discuss, deconstruct…to inspire others.”

She describes her art classes as “organic and free,” including “touches of the traditional with a flavor of the unpredictable. I like to incorporate functional crafts, like paper lanterns and loom knitting, and multicultural art from around the world.” To imbue her students with a sense of ownership, she requires them to evaluate and critique their own work, with the help of a guiding rubric, and to defend the grade they feel they deserve.

As a literature teacher, she employs a decidedly interdisciplinary technique, bringing “art, food, film” into the lesson and using whatever methods she can think of to illuminate the subject. While teaching The Kite Runner, for instance, she invited an Afghani restaurateur to cater the class and speak about his homeland. The students also made and flew their own kites, researched the history of Afghanistan and, after they finished the book, watched the film. Other innovative lesson plans have included making papier-mâché helmets for Beowulf, hosting a costumed medieval feast for Canterbury Tales, and evaluating their own homemade Rorschach tests when they read “Flowers for Algernon.”

The Chicago Teacher’s Union provides all CPS teachers with a one hundred dollar stipend, Salas-Herrera’s yearly supply budget.

Typically, her principal provides a ballpark figure regarding available funds for art and selects and purchases student text books. Salas-Herrera researches economical novel sets. “Many times,” she explains, “I get free supplemental materials from the web or swap with other teachers in order to save money.” To supplement her funding, she finds free materials on Craigslist; asks friends, family, and students to donate materials; or chooses projects that require “recyclables or natural objects” such as “branches and sand.” But, to do the project she had in mind for this quarter, she needed markers.

Last year’s markers were done for: old, dried up, and unacceptable. Salas-Herrera required $186 for new markers, to complete a large poster project, as well as teach future lessons in which she wants to “introduce Seurat and pointillism, and pigment dispersion.”

The principal of Peace and Education Coalition, Second Chance Campus encouraged teachers to try a website called DonorsChoose to raise additional funds, and Salas-Herrera was further encouraged in this by the endorsement of other teachers, in addition to such personalities as Ophrah Winfrey and her “darling” Stephen Colbert (to whom she adds: “Mr. Colbert, I have another project brewing. Won’t you please, please help me?”). She found the site “easy to use” and its staff “quick to respond to questions.” She adds, “I like that they are honest [about] how and where the funds are being applied to satisfy the request.” To that end, she created her own DonorsChoose project, “Craving for Crayola Markers.”

Her students were encouraged to spread the word, and Salas-Herrera publicized the project on her own Facebook page. In short order, several patrons of the arts donated the money and she soon had her new materials. “It was a wonderful feeling,” she recalls. “People still believe in art education.” She will “definitely” be using DonorsChoose again.

The students at Peace and Education Coalition, Second Chance Campus face challenges that many high schoolers will never know. They may be culturally limited because they are “are afraid or reluctant to venture out of their neighborhoods,” and they often cope with “financial difficulties, run-ins with the law, drug/alcohol abuse, lots of peer pressure, and teen pregnancy.” Some of them are “struggling learners” who require assistance from special education teachers. Often, their emotional issues come to the fore of the classroom, resulting in “disruptions” and student who “shut down” until Salas-Herrera must talk to them individually to “get to the root of the matter, as much as they allow me to know. Sometimes, they just need to cool and calm themselves down before they can approach the daily lesson.”

It’s a challenging atmosphere, and while the work can be difficult, Salas-Herrera says it’s “awesome that I am teaching right by my old neighborhood, the Back of the Yards. I am grateful that I am giving back to the community where I was born and raised.” Alternative schools, she feels, often get a bad rap, but she wants the world to know that, “these kids are not bad. Most them just made some bad choices, but…aren’t we all flawed at some point in time? I commend them for trying to make it right and graduating with a high school diploma. I think it  is an excellent step onto the right path!”

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QR Code Posters for Educational Fundraising and School Events

What do you know about QR codes?

You’ve probably seen these distinctive, randomly-checkered, black and white squares on advertisements in magazines and other print publicity. Anyone with a smart phone can scan them in an instant, and be transported to a sponsor’s web page for more information.

How does that help your raise more money for your school?

What if that QR code sent students, parents, and other potential donors to a website where they could instantly purchase tickets to an upcoming dance, theatrical performance, fundraising event. What if that site allowed them to make an instant online donation? What if you could do it all at an affordable price?

By combining the power of QR codes with the convenience of our TicketRiver online box office, we’ve created a reliable tool for your school. TicketRiver helps you collect money, whether you’re selling tickets or just asking for charitable donations to support the arts, athletics, the building fund, or any other program that requires cash.

It’s Elementary

We know you’re busy, and that’s why we’ve made the process as streamlined as possible. You can start with a call to our friendly customer support staff at 888.771.0809 and tell them you’d like some QR Code Posters. While you’re setting up your page on TicketRiver (totally free, really easy), they’ll help get your Posters started. You can send our designers any image you’d like to use, have a custom design created just for you, or even choose a combination, like a custom design that incorporates your school logo.

We won’t print or ship your posters until you’re satisfied with the proof, so there’s no risk. When you receive them, the unique QR code will feature prominently in the image, letting everyone know that they can instantly buy tickets or send money with their smart phones.

Time to Shine

Just hang your Posters around the school or wherever you suspect your supporters may lurk. Wherever you go, whatever you do, those QR codes keep working for you, so you can sell tickets or collect donations literally any time, utilizing zero human resources. No one has to sell tickets, collect money, count change, or answer questions. Your TicketRiver page does it all for you!

If you’re looking for a way to move your fundraising campaign into the twenty-first century, capitalize on your students’ love of technology, or raise more money while committing fewer resources to the cause, QR Code Posters are smart way to achieve your goals!

 

 

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If school fundraising is part of your job description, you’re probably well aware of two things:

1)   Your school’s financial future depends, in some part, on distributing tickets to your upcoming fund raising event.

2)   You’ve got plenty of other things to do in the front office besides distributing tickets.

Do you put the burden of selling Event Tickets on parents and teachers and then deal with the hassle of tracking sales from multiple sources, collecting and verifying money, hounding an unwilling sales team to work harder? Do you depend on the kids to start selling, and deal with the same problems on a grand scale?

How about an option that requires five minutes of commitment on your part, and does all the rest of the work for you?

If you’ve got tickets to sell, we’ve got an app for that.

It’s called Ticket River, and it’s literally the easiest, most reliable, and least expensive way to sell tickets to any school event. Even if you’re not selling tickets, it’s a great way to encourage people to check in to events they plan on attending, so you can get a head count in advance. It even lets you collect donations for your non-profit school!

All you’ve got to do is log on and create a page for your event. It takes about five minutes, and there’s help to help you get started if computers aren’t your thing. You’ll just enter the event information into a template: what kind of event you’re holding, how much tickets cost. You can upload some photographs to liven up the page, and choose a background, as well. And that’s it!

Once you’ve created a page with all your details, all you need to do is direct your students, their parents, and other guests to the URL where they can buy tickets. Ticket River will process credit card or PayPal payments, generate virtual tickets that can be printed out at home, and even track your sales for you. If you’d rather issue your own paper tickets, you can order them from Ticket River’s sister company, TicketPrinting.com, and hold them for attendees as they arrive at the event. The service is completely free: there’s only a small surcharge for each ticket sold (3%—the lowest in the industry), which you can pay yourself, pass on to your customers, or split between the two.

Now, doesn’t that sound a lot easier than waiting for kids to count out their pennies as a line forms around your desk and the phone rings off the hook?

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Education Fund Raising and Making Money for Public Schools

Arizona has long lagged in educational funding: typically, the state ranks forty-eighth among American states, with property taxes paying an unusually small percentage of the total, and a greater emphasis on sales and income taxes. An aging and often conservative population does not prioritize school funding and often votes down ballot initiatives designed to bail out financially struggling systems. Parents who care about their children’s education soon learn that it’s up to them to make their local schools great.

Lupe Leon is one such parent. Three years ago, she joined the PTA at Lineweaver Elementary, home of the Lineweaver Lions, understanding the importance of being involved in her child’s school and committed to helping out and volunteering whenever possible. With “a passion for helping others,” Leon felt that PTA involvement “would be a great way to support not only the school my children attend but their teachers and administrators as well.”

Today, her support is a huge element in Lineweaver’s success. Not only was she elected PTA president by her fellow parents, she was hired to serve as the school’s Community Representative and also works as Cafeteria Monitor, as well as with the before and after school program, affectionately known as Cub Club.

Responsible for nearly all the fundraising activities that go on at Lineweaver, Leon has her work cut out for her, to the tune of $50,000. That’s the amount she’s committed to raising for the 2010-11 school year. How bad is the shortfall? For the last two years, the PTA has committed to purchasing the school’s paper, pencils, and toilet paper. The school relies on extensive fundraising efforts to fund full-day kindergarten and its spectacular arts program (OMA). The PTA even had to raise the funds for the Cub Club’s license.

Tax Credit Donations and direct donations provide important support. Traditionally, students and parents look forward to seven annual fundraising activities (multiple skate nights, cookie dough fundraiser, original artwork fundraiser, walk-a-thon, spell-a-thon, carnival, and Scholastic book fair) with a new activity, TGIF family dinner night, added this year. Leon divides them into two categories. For corporate activities, such as the skate nights at a local rink, she uses a different metric to measure success. “The thing with corporate fundraisers,” she explains, “is that we only get a certain percentage of the earnings.” Skate nights, for instance, “only raise money if we get more than 60 people.” Rather than worry about money, she sees them as “community building fundraisers. We don’t expect to make a whole lot of money, what we want is for families to come together outside of school and build friendships.”

Homegrown fundraisers, like the walk-a-thon and spell-a-thon, cost very little to stage, and allow the school to keep one hundred percent of the profits. Other activities, such as selling pizza and soda at evening events, usually break even, but don’t add additional revenue to the school’s coffers. Leon explains, “We do those just so families can come out and enjoy an evening with family and not have to worry about dinner.”

She defines success a little bit differently than some fundraisers. The dollar amount is unimportant: “Like I tell my kids, $20 is $20 more than we would have had.” In her role as Community Representative, she’s equally interested in ensuring that the kids have fun, that families come together, and that the products, such as the extremely popular cookie dough sold each year, are enjoyable. The book fair helps get kids excited about reading, and helps “raise money for our library, which is always in need of upgrading books, or just getting books that kids like, or replacing ones that have been worn out.”

An extensive virtual network “plays a big role” in keeping the lines of communication open. Gone are the days when notices for parents disappeared in the black hole of a messy backpack. Everything is available “via email and our Lineweaver Parent Facebook page,” and, since “Most of our PTA board is on Facebook…we update things constantly.” The PTA also maintains its own email address “where families and friends…email questions and get information.” They’re even “in the process of developing a PTA website.” Communication is key is keeping families and supporters aware of the school’s needs and upcoming activities.

Once you start working as an educational fundraiser, one thing you’ll never lack, it seems, is motivation. Much depends on the success of Leon’s work and she’s well aware of how much rides on raising enough cash to provide students with the basics. “If PTA falls short on fundraising, it affects the whole school,” she says. “It means we cannot help with major things like technology or supplies. Which are two major necessities at our school.”

 

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TicketPrinting Event Series: The High School Prom

We have used TicketPrinting.com for every major event our school has had for the past three years.  I always get compliments on the posters hanging in the hallway advertising the event, and the tickets we receive always look so nice and make keeping track of our tickets sales easy.

~Kristen Kelly, Event Coordinator

Senior Prom is a special time for high school students. It’s a rite of passage that marks an important part of a young person’s life, a time of celebration and fun. Like any event involving a large number of attendees, a Senior Prom needs to be planned and coordinated carefully to ensure everything go es off without an problem and everyone has a good time.

I recently had the opportunity to discuss, Cleveland Heights High School 2011 Senior Prom with its coordinator, Kristen Kelly. Commonly called just “Heights,” the high school was founded in 1901. With an enrollment of approximately 1,800 students, the high school is built around a mod el of smaller schools within the main one, which allows faculty to offer a unique learning experience to its students.

The Senior Prom was held on June 3, 2011. Kristen tells me, ” The Prom went off without a hitch.  The students all looked lovely, the dinner was wonderful and they had a great time dancing.  Some of them wore masks that they had made at home.  The students seemed to think the best part was the dancing.  They really like the DJ this year.  They also enjoyed the crowning of the prom king and queen.”

In an academic environment, the primary focus is making sure students are spending their time learning. Faculty and staff have to maintain a fine balance when preparing for events like prom. Of course, they want to make sure students get excited about the event and have a great time, but they also need to make sure they are paying attention to their lessons. I asked Kristen how they managed ticket sales this year?

“We sold tickets after school 3 days a week for a month, which worked well for our Seniors.  It gave them plenty of time to arrange to purchase their tickets, and didn’t interrupt the school day.” Kristen told me. Students had plenty of opportunity to buy their prom tickets outside of class hours.

For someone planning a similar event, Kristen offers this advice: “Make sure to stay organized, publicize, and have plenty of chaperones.  Having a company that specialized in event planning take care of the event ensures that it runs smoothly.”

Whether you’re planning a  themed Senior Prom or a Fundraiser for your school, you will find plenty of customizable tickets and collateral to match your needs in the TicketPrinting.com design gallery.

Thanks again, Kristen and Cleveland Heights High School for sharing your experience and advice with TicketPrinting.com. Best wishes and congratulations to your 2011 Graduating Class.

 

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At our core we are a technology company.  Technology drives everything we do, from the website experience to our enormous template inventory to customer support to our order management system and finally to the actual digital press printing.  Given this, it’s critical for us to grow and nurture technology education, specifically, computer science.  To this end, we announced today the creation of two new scholarships at Montana State University:

• TicketPrinting.com Computer Science Scholarship
• TicketRiver.com Computer Science Scholarship

These scholarships are focused on undergraduate computer science students from rural Montana, specifically towns with 5,000 or less in population.  As we grow, we hope to expand the scholarship program to several universities around the globe again with a focus, or preference for students from rural areas.

Why the focus on rural? Great question. We believe that rural America is a phenomenal place from which to serve our customers not only across North America but the world.  Many of our team members were raised on nearby ranches.   A ranch is a family business.  Growing up on a ranch, caring for animals, and pulling together as a family forms the values that run our business everyday:  teamwork, customer-focused, quality, intensity, growth (individual and company), innovation, and ownership — every full-time employee in our company is a part-owner.

Why just computer science? Although we have many disciplines in our company — graphic design, customer service, online marketing, business strategy, software development, and more — we have focused these scholarships on computer science. Ecommerce software and hardware are the engines that run TicketPrinting.com and TicketRiver.com every day.  These engines run on the internet, the most empowering technology and network the world has ever seen. Combining the two into a compelling and competitive business model empowers a small company like us to compete globally.  We have ‘exported’ our engines and business model to the UK and Australia with plans to do more expansion in the future.

At the elemental core of all of this is computer science, and that’s why we are so excited to announce these scholarships with Montana State University.

 

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Using Quality Wristbands for End-of-School-Year Fun Days

Some schools host an annual Field Day, full of outdoor activities and competition, but when I was in elementary school, our last day of school was called Fun Day. It was a day of games and fun in the schoolyard, and we played Tug-of-War and other classic games. Sometimes classes or grades were pitted against one another, other times we played boys versus girls, or chose our own teams, but most administrators today understand how that can get out of hand. If you want to keep any event organized, the addition of Event Wristbands can be a great boon. You can make your school’s Field Day or Fun Day an organized and successful day of excitement for all involved, with customized, colored wristbands, which provide teachers and kids alike with a visual way of remaining with their given teams.

* Designing the Wristbands: Use the opportunity of using customized, colored wristbands to add some flair to the day! In advance of the big day, you can allow teams to create their own designs, hold an all-school contest to choose everyone’s favorite logo, or use an image you already have on file, such as your school’s icon or mascot. Then, you can print your wristbands online, creating wristbands that define your teams, provide your school with some extra advertising, and serve as souvenirs of the best day ever.

* Getting Students Involved in the Design: Teachers may desire to have their students choose a team name and design their own logo. These can easily be added to the wristband. Just get your kids into their teams and ask them to work together to decide on a name, a color, and a design or logo for their team. Provide them with stickers, stencils, and pictures for inspiration. Animal pictures can really inspire some creative mascots. This activity can set the tone for the whole day of games and fun, fostering a sense of teamwork and creative thinking even before the kids get outside. Remember, durable, waterproof DuPont Tyvek wristbands will really withstand the wear and tear of your active students.

* Activities for Colored Wristbands: In addition to Tug-of-War, other games can also utilize the color-coded wristbands that will keep your teams organized on this fun, yet chaotic, day in the schoolyard. Classic games like tag and a safe, less physical version of Red Rover all will work well with the colored team wristbands, which also make it easy to join smaller groups together to create bigger teams. Try other games like kickball and even fun trivia games that use knowledge learned throughout the school year, and be sure to ask the students for their input. Their ideas may surprise you! Whatever you choose, being able to identify and organize your students based on easily visible wristbands will make transitions fast and simple.

* Turning the Wristbands into Keepsakes: After coming in from the outdoors, teachers may plan arts and crafts activities that use the wristbands from the day. Many parents keep scrapbooks of their children’s activities, so a keepsake will be very much appreciated by the parents. Something as simple as mounting the wristbands on colored construction paper that the kids may decorate would work, or something as complex as turning it into a craft object like a pencil holder can also create a keepsake for students and parents.

Durable quality colored wristbands that are waterproof will stand the test of activity in the schoolyard, as well as the test of time as a keepsake. Keeping large, active school events organized and fun is very important to keeping the day safe, efficient, and fair for all. Colored wristbands are a great way to achieve a successful school event like Fun Day!

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All across the country, parents who value education have stepped up for their children. Where funding is cut, PTAs and other concerned groups have begun organizing their own fundraising efforts and selling event tickets to carnivals, dances, fairs, athletic events, and any other gathering for which they see a high level of interest among the student body and a potential for ticket sales.

Yes, it’s sad that federal, state, and local governments can no longer afford the full cost of public schooling for every child in the nation, but empowered parents aren’t dwelling on those deficits. They’re hitting the streets and selling tickets to make up the difference.

Elementary

The youngest children clamor for all kinds of extracurricular activities and don’t need much advance notice to get excited for a fair or carnival. Some organization may have the cash to hire a professional carnival with a midway and rides, but others will find they get the same results with a home-grown event. Ask older kids and teens to work the games and sell treats. You can sell event tickets in advance or at the door, and you can offer different levels of event tickets, offering a certain number of games or snacks with each level of contribution.

Other kid-friendly party events are skating nights (your local rink will work with you to create the perfect fundraiser), book fairs (ask a local author to speak), sports days (organize childrens’ games or work with a local minor league to create a fundraising night), art parties, bicycle races, walk-a-thons, or musical events. Event Tickets for these events will go fast if you advertise properly. Getting popular teachers and parents to act as chaperons is another draw.

Middle School

Older kids, tweens, and younger teens like to do things for themselves, and events for this middle-aged group should be tailored to their new skills. You’ll sell more event tickets if you can organize something that allows them to feel like they’re taking charge of the party. Talent shows are an especially good choice for this age group, as it allows them to showcase their skills in music, acting, and other interests they may be gaining mastery over. Those who don’t wish to perform may be flattered to serve as stage managers or backstage coordinators. Kids will help you create programs, set up the venue, and sell event tickets if they or their friends are performing.

This is also a good age group for day trips. Factor in the cost of transportation, food, and other expenses and calculate how much money you would need to earn to make the trip worth your while as an organizer. A weekend trip to the beach is inexpensive, but generates high interest. Many museums offer free days or student discounts. If you live near a big city, a simple sightseeing bus tour is a huge draw for kids who crave their independence but still need adult supervision. You can sell event tickets to these events well in advance: get a few kids interested and everyone will want a ticket.

High School

As children approach adulthood, they’ll be interested in more grown-up activities. The formal or semi-formal dance is a big deal for teenagers. Especially armed with the knowledge that the profit from every event ticket they buy will go back into their education, most teenagers anticipate such events and plan for them eagerly. Even an informal dance with a DJ or live band will help you sell event tickets and earn more money.

If there is a lot of musical talent in your school, a Battle of the Bands event is another great way to generate interest and sell event tickets. However, most teens aren’t too old for many children’s events. Try to run your own haunted house around Halloween, or hold a field day in the spring with silly events like a sack race or an egg roll. Your best bet is to ask students what kind of events they would prefer.

Teenagers can also take enough interest in their school finances to plan, organize, and execute their own fundraisers: washing cars or selling candy bars to pay for trips and other educational extras. The truly ambitious can learn about business while they earn more money. Some teens will go that extra mile and make baked goods or crafts that they can sell on their own, or in conjunction with other fundraising events.

Ready, Set, Print

Every age group can help you meet your fundraising goals. All you need to do it gauge your students. What event will inspire them to show up? How much can they afford to pay for an event ticket? Once you’ve figured out what, when, where, and how much, you can fill out a free ticket template, print out inexpensive event tickets with colorful designs, and start selling out your educational fundraising event.

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When local governments are falling far short of their desired budgets and school districts across the country are cutting once essential programs just to stay open, parents, students and affected communities are starting to get creative. Instead of waiting for new revenue to come in through tax hikes or ballot proposals, many groups are taking a proactive approach to fill the budget gaps.

While some communities are standing by traditional fundraising techniques, such as car washes and bake sales, other communities are going for the gold, participating in high stakes fundraising in hopes of high stakes returns.

One such group based in Orange County, California Irvine Public Schools Foundation, currently raffling a house worth $700,000!

While a traditional raffle might offer small value tickets to a large number of individuals for a mid-level prize, a high value raffle involves selling a limited number of high value tickets for a very coveted grand prize such as a house or large cash payoff. The tickets for the Irvine Public Schools Foundation raffle are $150 each.

While the tickets may be out of some buyer's budgets, the foundation has provided other opportunities so everyone in the community can contribute. In addition to the raffle, a fundraisng concert is also being held. Tickets to the event are between $12 – $15, and raffle ticket holders get in for free. The whole community gets to participate.

Other communities are also getting creative. In Cupertino, California  parents got together and raised $2 million dollars for their local school district in less than two months. Some of this was done through traditional fundraisers like garage sales and silent auctions. The parents also asked each member of the school community to donate a specific amount of money. Again, in this fundraiser, no one was left out. If one family couldn't donate, a family with more means stepped in and contributed on their behalf.

The money will go to save over 100 teachers jobs.

While times are especially tough on education, glimmers of hope can be found when teachers, parents and communities get creative with their fundraising efforts.

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Kids and Stickers. They go together like sparkles and glue, like gift-wrap and tape, like paste and construction paper. Kids love Stickers. Educators know that kids love Stickers. Marketing professionals know that kids love Stickers. Isn’t it time you used a resource your school has in abundance—kids—and one that you can obtain easily—Stickers—to promote your school, motivate your students, and create something unique to represent your values?

Adherence: Marketing 101

The best way to sell something is to get your customers to sell it for you. If you’ve ever invited corporate sponsors into your school, or participated in any large, multi-school program, you’ve most likely noticed that free Stickers are offered to your kids. Some of them may end up in the trash, the laundry, or the bottoms of your students’ sneakers, but it only takes one Sticker, stuck in the right place, to create free advertising.

Some adults may be wary of sticking ads on their personal property. Not so with kids! Those who love Stickers the most will be happy to stick any corporate logo on their notebook. Why not take advantage of this trend to market your school? If a child will happily display the name of a company that has offered him or her a free water bottle, how much more will they be willing to spread the word about the school they love?

Follow Instructions

All you need to do is print your school’s name on a stack of Vinyl, Economy, or Bumper Stickers. But don’t stop there. You’ve got a website, right? Prominent inclusion of the URL makes it easier for potential parents to find you online. What about a logo? If you haven’t got a logo, hold a contest and get the kids to draw one for you. Now you’ve got a beautiful, child-centric design to attract the people you want.

Other options include adding an image of your school, your mascot, prominent alumni, or anything else that appeals to your students. This is a creative medium! Stretch your mind: find the images that work for you, and add your names and website to create the perfect marketing tool.

The Old Math

You may already be using Stickers to spread the word. Many schools offer Bumper Stickers to parents of honors children, and more recently, these Stickers have been customized for parents of children in the band, on sports teams, with perfect attendance, or even those who simply show up on a semi-regular basis. “Proud Parent of an XYZ School Student” may be enough.

If you’re not already offering Bumper Stickers along these lines to your parents, either as rewards for their children’s performance or as part of your fundraising efforts, this is one situation when you want to be on the bandwagon.

The New Math

Bumper Stickers are, as they say, Old School. They certainly get around, but there’s more to the story. Why aren’t you offering your kids custom Stickers with their school’s name on them?

If you begin with an assortment, you can use them as incentives and rewards for different activities. You can create Stickers for each athletic team, each after-school activity, each instrument in the band. You can create Stickers that celebrate grades, attendance, or community service.

You can create a range of collectible Stickers to motivate young children to complete a series of tasks so they can collect them all. You can create customized rewards that will be highly coveted. Just find an inexpensive source for items that children need or want anyway, then slap a Sticker in the center:

• Notebooks
• Pencil cases
• Water bottles
• Kleenex packets
• Binders
• ID cards or badges
• Folders

Better yet, ask your students what kind of prizes they’d like to earn!

The more items available, the more stealth marketing you can do. Wherever your kids take their Stickers, they’re offering your school free publicity.

Final Exam

Small and portable, the possibilities are pretty much limited by how many Stickers you’re willing to buy and your creativity in finding ways to use and distribute them. Once they’re in the kids’ hands, those Stickers will announce to the world you’re your school is on the map. Whether you choose to sell them or give them away, offer them as prizes or incentives, Stickers in schools create a winning situation all around.

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