- 1). Begin planning your school's fundraising activity based on what is appropriate for your school. In order to do this, you need to assess what your school needs the money for, whether it be student field trips, supplies, teachers, renovations, etc. Take into consideration the school district's rules for fundraising. San Diego does not allow fundraising to be conducted during hours of instruction. For example, readathons cannot be conducted in lieu of a literacy lesson.
- 2). Choose the fundraiser that is right for your school by going to the San Diego Unified School District's website. There you will find a list of school district-approved opportunities (such as DonorsChoose and Adopt a Classroom) complete with application details and requirements (see Resource). Read through these, and if you wish, take a poll of other staff members before making a final decision.
- 3). Contact the appropriate fundraisers and develop a calendar that shows the time frame you will be participating in each event. Make sure you do not have any overlaps with other departments in your school (or town civic groups, depending on the size of the event). This will allow teachers to prepare students and gives parents time to assess the situation.
- 4). Inform teachers of your final decision and of the calendar and ask them to prepare students as each event approaches. This can be in the form of morning or end of day announcements, for example.
- 5). Notify parents of the fundraisers in which you participate. Include the calendar with your communication so that each family may prepare for any contribution by the student or as a whole. The communication should also include the details of each event, the reasons or goal of the event and instructions for parents on how they may choose to opt out of their child's participation. In San Diego, you cannot require that a child participate in a fundraiser.
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