School Zone: School Fundraising Ideas Podcast

Hello and welcome to the School Zone with Matt Miller! Joining Matt this week to talk about a creative, fun, and engaging learning opportunity for public schools is the dynamic entertainment duo, Taylor Griswold and Daniel Monplaisir of Epic Entertainment.

With social media, video games, and movies that our kids have access to these days, it’s harder than ever to keep them engaged in a classroom. In addition to that, those same social media outlets, videos games, and movies that are shortening this attention span of this generation are often filled with content that is inappropriate for K-12th graders. Epic Entertainment has found a way to engage kids by means of motivational school assemblies to speak with them about hard topics like: bullying, kindness, stress, anxiety, and self-esteem, while encapsulating the positive message with skits and games.

        “We try to find a way to provide the maximum impact by mixing in the fun and putting in the                                         message at very strategic point throughout the show so that it sticks.”                                – Taylor Griswold & Daniel Monplaisir

Although they formally allow each school to choose through their library of 8-10 different skits, they always ask schools what the kids in their school have the biggest need to hear. Then, they try to adjust the skit accordingly to fit those particular needs for the school – it’s all about the kids!

“We don’t do it for the income, we do it for the outcome.”   – Taylor Griswold 

If you, your school, or organization is interested in learning more about Epic Entertainment, you can get more info or email them here:

Website: www.EpicSchoolShows.com

Phone: 512-619-4345.

Thank you for joining Matt Miller in the School Zone this week and unpacking yet another amazing opportunity for your school! We look forward to having you join Matt in the School Zone next time!

Download our FREE guide and simplify your search for the most innovative companies in the school fundraising and school resource space. https://schoolzonepodcast.com/guide/

 

 

 

 

 

Your organization needs to do a fundraiser, again. Do you feel like you’ve worn out your welcome with the local businesses by asking them for more money? Elefundo can take care of that with a fundraiser that benefits both the school and local businesses.

“Smart fundraising. Massive results.” – Elefundo

There are 3 ways to make this happen, through their Shop To Save, Silent Auction, and Donate Now programs which take little effort to set up. As people in the schools or community purchase items they would probably buy anyway, both your organization and the business benefit when Elefundo is involved. There is no start date and no end date so you can be fundraising all year round. Which means, as people come and go through your group within the year, there’s no reason to need to “start over” or “regroup” with another fundraiser. Elefundo just keeps on going!

School Zone Podcast welcomes Trevor Murray to the Zone! Listen with us as we learn how to fundraise benefit the school and community with little effort.

Website: Elefundo.com

Have you heard? School Zone Podcast just released the 2018 Best School Fundraising and Resource Companies Guide. Download this FREE guide and simplify your search for the most innovative companies in the school fundraising and school resource space. Check it out!

 

The School Zone Podcast welcomes Eric “Broadway” Jones and the Harlem Wizards to the School Zone. Eric Jones has been part of the Harlem Wizards for 18 years and feels fortunate to be able to travel the country entertaining people.

In 1962, Howie Davis started the Harlem Wizards. The team is now owned by Todd Davis his son. Five players in the hall of fame were actually Wizards. The Harlem Wizards have played in over 30 countries and do over 460 fundraiser basketball games around the country a year. The season runs October to May and the Wizards have 3 full-time teams that travel all over the world.  The Midwest has been a big territory for the teams. They hope to bring their brand of entertainment basketball to the West Coast.  Teachers and administrators need to know that this is no traditional basketball game.

Booking a game takes cooperation from the community. We like to get a good contingent of teachers from schools in a school district as opposed to just one school so we can draw from the community in general. This helps create a general buzz as the event is advertised and then it’s natural to sell tickets in person and online. Average ticket prices are $12-$15. Concessions, souvenirs, silent auctions and sponsorship’s help increase funds as well. Participants have made up to $40,000. It is a great way to build community and raise funds for your school. When the school makes money and the event goes well, everyone wins.

If schools want to bring the Harlem Wizards to their school, it takes up to 8 months prep time depending on the school. A committee approach to planning and marketing is recommended and it is important to have support from the superintendent and principal to have a truly awesome Harlem Wizards experience. This is more than just a fundraiser. It is a community builder and the Wizards team supports the school throughout the process.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

If schools choose to use FireAde as a fundraiser, they can expect to make up to $7 profit for each can sold. Shipping is free and there are no minimums. Keeping people safe is what FireAde does and a portion of each sale supports families who have children going through burn treatment.

Interested in this new innovative way to earn high profited sales for your organization? Earn money, Save lives and protect our environment. Contact FireAde to learn how selling the Personal Fire Suppression Systems can help your organization raise funds. Visit the FireAde website or call 770-460-7793.

Communication is essential when dealing with any community group whether it’s family, a club, a classroom, a school, or activity. In fact, communication and community go hand in hand. ChalkNation is a free app that your group can use to stay in touch. It’s from parents, for parents, and is intentional about “keeping it simple”.

“Helping working parents get organized and be a part of the school community” – Krishna Chabba

ChalkNation is a social network that helps families in a school classroom, neighborhood, or activity connect, share, and build a more robust and engaged community. It will help you keep up-to-date with community news, events, and information as well as help you create sign-up sheets, invitations, RSVPs, and volunteer sign-ups. To make it even better, ChalkNation is willing to work with your group to build a communications strategy. Download this FREE app today!!!

Website: chalknation.com

Simplify the search for the most innovative companies in the school fundraising and school resource space with the School Zone Podcast’s FREE guide!      https://schoolzonepodcast.com/guide/

Barbara Hodge is the president of Deanan Gourmet Popcorn. She is clearly energetic and excited about what she does and her enthusiasm is contagious. The School Zone Podcast is excited to have her on the show.

We focus on the fundraising aspect of selling popcorn. We offer popcorn to the schools at an extremely reasonable rate, marketing with the idea that we’re giving it to them very inexpensively. “Our fundraiser is always in good taste!”

We are a manufacturer, so we provide the popcorn at a low rate to the schools for a fundraiser. A case of 100 bags costs them $90. If they sell every packet for $2 then they’re profiting $1.10 on every packet, which rolls in a solid 55% profit. The product is so inexpensive to them that it lends itself to a whole bunch of other things, such as concession stands, and PTA meeting goodie bags. This is an extremely low risk fundraiser to try. You’re going to sell popcorn, and you’re going to make a profit!

The Deanan Gourmet Popcorn Story:

I am told by my sister and other siblings that we are quite technologically advanced for such a small company. We are conservative with our money, growing with little to no debt, selling 5 times the popcorn we did in my father’s time. Every year, we plow most of the profits back in to the business, benefiting our employees and our operations to focus on getting better for the next year. That’s the fun part. For everybody. Our employees are intimately involved in helping us get better. This year, our Converse office employees, and our factory employees, re-arranged their work spaces to allow for better efficiency and better customer service. Our Wylie factory employees, replaced a fence destroyed in the Wylie hail storm, themselves. Their work is very professional and it looks beautiful. They’ve asked if, next year, maybe we could get some covered parking. I don’t know what that costs, but if we have another good year, that’ll be a great facility improvement that would protect them from the hot Texas sun. Employees help us come up with recipes to make our classic flavors the BEST!

In the past year, we added health care benefits for our employees. Two years ago, we introduced a retirement plan. These are small things or a given for larger companies, but a first for ours. We cover the premium for our employees 100% on 2 of the plans we offer, and 95% on the 3rd option.

We’ve got one employee who plugs in her electric car to charge during the day.

As well, we have an autistic employee who is now 19. For a couple of years now, she’s helped us out part time, placing labels on some of our hand-packaged items, building our sample and literature kits, sorting orders in preparation for digitization, and precisely folding invoices to mail to customers. We are constantly finding small jobs that it turns out she’s uniquely qualified to perform.

And, oh yeah, we make popcorn! A LOT of popcorn! Still, our equipment is cleaned thoroughly every day. We have equipment in operation that was purchased in the early 1990s. And, it looks good! Shiny and clean, and almost new. We use steam on much of the equipment to sanitize without chemicals.

When we decided to grow again about 5 years ago, we were looking for larger equipment. We wound up partnering with an existing supplier of ours to create a new piece of equipment, one that works for mid-size companies. Prior to that, the available equipment was either small or huge. Huge required an infrastructure I was not prepared for. So, together, we came up with a solution that allowed us to scale up.

Today, one member of our 3rd generation works in the business.

Are you looking for a healthy fundraising alternative? Something from the farm? Something fresh? Farm Fresh Fundraising has exactly that! Fresh fruit from their 1,200 acre farm in Reedley, California delivered to your school or organization. They serve all 50 states!

Does the thought of fresh oranges, grapefruit, or lemons get your mouth watering? How about kiwis, persimmons, pomegranates, peaches, nectarines, grapes, or pears? Go ahead and grab a napkin and wipe your mouth, we won’t judge. Then go to their website and see how your group can enjoy these fruits with no upfront cost to you.

“Profit from healthy farm goods.” – Sarah Bailey

Sarah and her husband have been a part of the food industry for decades. Let them help you with a healthy fundraiser that’s good for your family.

Valley grown, valley sold. Fresh. Farm. Easy fundraising.

School Zone welcomes Sarah Bailey to the Zone. Listen with us as she sets our appetite for something healthy.

Website: farmfreshfundraising.com

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 1-559-280-1292

Have you heard? School Zone Podcast just released the 2018 Best School Fundraising and Resource Companies Guide. Download this FREE guide and simplify your search for the most innovative companies in the school fundraising and school resource space. Check it out!

Today, School Zone Podcast welcomes Kammie Bilardello from Get Active Fundraising formerly My School Color Run.

Our CEO, Brian Duncanson started the company. He has been involved in obstacle races and even runs marathons himself. So he has always had a background in the running industry. After attending a Color Run himself, he realized that it would be a great and fun way to fundraise for schools. It is a simple, entertaining, enjoyable way to make funds for schools in a way that the kids love to participate in.

Brian took the initiative to test run a Color Run himself with several other employees, and the results went over very well. From there he grew the company from just 7 events to now over 500.

What is unique about our program is that we work with any clubs or organizations who want to host an event; they can customize it however they want. My School Color Run is a fundraising program that helps schools or organizations set up a Color Run at their location. We provide all the tools you need to host the event yourself. This includes a full program guide that helps explain what you need to know about hosting an event from start to finish. We put together an online registration site for schools to use, and provide guidance on how to successfully execute the fundraiser. It is a twelve week process during which there will be promotions, schools seek business sponsors, and students can raise money as well.

One hundred percent of the fundraising will go to back to the school. It costs twelve dollars per person, including the t-shirts, color packets, race bibs, and flyers. Anything the school decides to charge that costs above the twelve dollars will go directly back to them. Most schools charge around twenty five dollars and up. In addition, on the day of the event some schools set up music and food sales for more funds.

My School Color Run especially prides ourselves in our customer service. We have a full time personal support staff who contacts the schools via text, phone call, or email any time they need help with their program.

There are two ways for schools to choose from to get people to sign up for the event. There is the paper registration form that we customize for their event. The other version is the online component that is very user-friendly and sets up the funds that go directly back to the schools.

Anyone with questions or inquiries in partnering with us is welcome to contact us through Get Active Fundraising. There is an option to sign up to which will provide them with a brochure to download, or a phone contact as well.

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Contact Information

Website: https://www.getactivefundraising.com/

Phone: 772-207-1005

Email: [email protected]

Welcome to School Zone Podcast with Matt Miller. This week  School Zone Podcast is happy to welcome Mike Carran with Charity Valet.

After being in the tech space specifically doing online registration and aggregate registration for tee times and then coaching for 10 years. Mike wanted to use technology to make fundraising easier for teams and schools. Charity Valet.

Understanding that fundraising is typically a hassle, Charity Valet makes it quick and easy to register for charity golf events, online raffles and registration for other events like galas, banquets and casino nights.

Using a leader board, the healthy competition helps maintain momentum in the program. The software tracks and makes sure that students, parents and administration are kept in the loop as far as making sure students have reached their minimums.

If there is a silent auction, Auction Valet is an e-bay type process through mobile phone app that can be used to bid, outbid and set maximum bids from anywhere instead of the traditional way of doing it on site.

For online raffles, Charity Valet also offers virtual games for the organization to use when drawing for a raffle prize winner: Helicopter ball drops where the golf ball closest to the hole wins a prize, or dice where the combination of 4 dice rolled will be the winning raffle ticket number.

Although the technology doesn’t interface directly with social media, all students and parents are given “best practices” email with templates and examples that have been proven effective so they can maximize their fundraising efforts.

Charity Valet sets up the website within an hour, gives training for the fundraising, is ready to begin raising money within hours, and gives administrators access for customization. School keeps 90 percent of fees raised and Charity Valet absorbs the credit card fees.

If you are interested in having Charity Valet do the hard work for you, you can contact them here:

Website: Charityvalet.com

Phone: 844-864-9506

Thank you for joining Matt this week in the School Zone. It’s been a pleasure.

Download our FREE guide and simplify your search for the most innovative companies in the school fundraising and school resource space. https://schoolzonepodcast.com/guide/