Tapping Into a Variety of Fundraising Resources

School principals are going to have to put another skill to work. They are going to have to become skilled in fundraising and grant writing. More and more their skills at generating money to cover the budgetary shortfalls are going to be needed.

Public schools are increasingly under budgeted. The United States government is trying to steer more money their way. In the meantime until the schools get this money they are going to have to generate it from a variety of sources.

Principals Are Off Attending Fundraising Workshops

The new skill set that principals are learning is more like divining than institutional. Instead of taking their rod in search of water it's more about looking for funding where the money used to flow. Using fundraising techniques taught in workshops all over the country the school principals are updating their techniques for a leaner economy.

In conjunction with chocolate bars sales and car washes contacting the government, foundations and corporations is where they have to go to find money.

Government Funds

Many government grants are targeted to minority students or to the largest population centers. Students who are Non English speaking or limited English speaking, as well as those schools with students eligible for free or reduced free lunch programs get government funding.

The trick with government funding is finding out what department offers it and timelines for applications. There are many branches that offer funding besides the U.S. Department of Education and local state departments of education. Check with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, as well as the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Big Time Individual Contributors Are Still Out There

Close to 85% of the money raised for non profit organizations, churches, public and private schools and universities comes from individual donors. The majority of the people shoulder the majority of the debt. There are campaigns that are designed to get their attention yearly so once you have theses donors interested in your cause you can hopefully keep them interested for years to come.

Annual Campaigns

These are the entry level fundraising events. Every organization has their yearly campaigns that sell goods like chocolate bars, cookie dough, and other food items. Also it's special events fundraising like dance a thons, auctions, diner meetings and concerts. It will cover donations from your website and just about any other way of soliciting money, one on one from a donor.

Continue along to the other series of articles about the variety of fundraising resources available. As we go up the list from Annual Campaigns the campaigns get more streamlined with bigger donations.

Jolian Grant is owner and operator of http://www.justfundraising.com.He has over 16 years experience helping schools,churches and youth groups acheive their fundraising goals. To date Jolian has helped raise over 45 million dollars for charitable causes.