There is obviously a need for school fundraising. There is no doubt about that. School budgets are being slashed more quickly than I ever remember.

Some towns and school districts have really identified that growing need for outside fundraising sources and are acting on those needs. I found this recent news article from the Milford Daily News:

“...“It’s not OK to use your language as an excuse. Show up. We’re going to have people here to support you,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m going to hold those parents accountable.” Tremblay also said he wants to build off his Milford experience by forging new relationships between Framingham schools and local businesses and colleges.

He raised the idea of creating a fundraising board, for instance, to find funding opportunities in the area. He said one of his first moves in the district would be to get staff at all of the schools on the same page. “The one thing I’ve taken away (from yesterday’s visit) is the need to have everybody connecting across grade levels, vertically and horizontally,” he said. Tremblay would also get staff and residents’ ideas on budget priorities, he said. Asked about what he would do with Framingham’s School Choice program, Tremblay said he would look at the program before making a call and that, in general, he should avoid making hasty decisions on longstanding traditions in the district…”

It will be interesting as time passes and the need for school fundraisers becomes more and more pronouced how other towns and school districts will deal with those needs. Whether these initiatives are driven by politicians, school boards, school staff or parents, the one thing that is certain is towns and cities that aggressively meet their needs head on with strong plans of actions will be much better off than those that do not.

Planned Parenthood found out recently that fundraising can be difficult and unpredictable.

Just recently the Susan G Komen Foundation announced it was ending its partnership with Planned Parenthood. Komen ended the relationship because Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of abortions in the country and the new director had a difficult time reconciling their organization with that practice.

But as it turned out the publicity Planned Parenthood received from the breakup has encouraged lots of pro choice people to step up and try to make up the different. Planned Parenthood reported on Wednesday raising $400,000 in the 24 hours following its announcement that Komen was ending its partnership with the group.

So why bring that up here in our fundraising blog?

When we stopped and thought about what was going on we realized that the most important lesson from this was that you want to keep your organization and its needs in front of the public in general and your supporters specifically. That means sharing both the good and the bad news.

In this case the organization found itself in a difficult position and the cause of the problem was a political time bomb. But by having their situation made public they raised a lot of money that they would not have otherwise raised. It just goes to show you that remaining in the public eye is usually a good thing.

It remains to be seen what the long term affect will be on either organization but for now there are lessons to be learned.

Last night, I tuned in to watch the second Presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain. Before the event got underway, the Newschannel I was watching cut away to a live shot of the White House.

It was late enough where the sun had gone down, and the executive mansion was all lit up. However, it wasn’t the usual bright white light that we normally see. Rather, from 7:00pm to 11:00pm, the White House was bathed in a stunningly vibrant pink.

Before the reporter had a chance to explain, I immediately thought it was a red state-blue state kind of trick. (I think I’ve been watching too much CNN.) But then the reporter explained that the White House allowed itself to be turned pink for the evening in support of Breast Cancer awareness.

My mood instantly changed from political suspicion to professional admiration. I’ll admit, my own fundraising efforts have always been on a much smaller scale than national breast cancer research, but I still gotta think that getting the White House staff to agree to let one of the most famous buildings in the world be turned pink for an entire evening was no small accomplishment.

I don’t know if that kind of a thing has ever been done before, but I am very impressed by the vision and the gumption of the breast cancer fundraising /marketing team. (I also think their “Save the Tatas” campaign is brilliant) I can just imagine a group of people sitting around a table, brainstorming ways to get their message out there. I’m sure the person who came up with turning the White House into the “Pink House” was stared at curiously for a few minutes. But now, I’m sure this man or woman is hailed as a hero in the movement.

The grandeur of this move got me wondering. Are we, at the local fundraising level, thinking too small? Are we so trapped in the school carnival to cookie dough to golf outing to auction treadmill that we have stopped looking over the horizon for something really big and impactful? Granted, I don’t think we’d be successful in changing the White House into our school colors, but maybe there’s a local landmark we could put our stamp on. Who knows what it is? The goal is just to think about the unbelievable, the impossible and go for it.

I challenge you to take a few minutes and start day dreaming. Let your mind really go. Have fun in how crazy your ideas can get.

In your local community, what would really make a huge impact? What would make people stop on the street and say “Wow, I never would have thought that would be possible.” What would get the local televsion crews out in full force to capture the moment of awe?

If you are able to do something on that scale, your organization will definitely reap the benefits.
So, go and think up something pink!