Albany Elementary Schools
Fundraising Info
What are the fundraising organizations that contribute to Albany Elementary Schools?
- Parent Teacher Associations (PTA’s)
- SchoolCARE
- In-Class Enrichment Campaign
- Albany Education Foundation (AEF)
- Albany Music Fund (AMF)
What do they do and when?
PTAs at all three schools bring together parents, teachers, students and staff to build community as well as fundraise to support educational programs at their schools. The Ocean View PTA’s main fundraiser is the Fall Festival & Walk-a-thon held every October, and other school fundraisers include tickets to sporting events (A’s, Warriors, etc.), and 100-A-thon. www.oceanview-pta.org (Events held throughout the year)
In-Class Enrichment Campaign - funds enrichment programs. These are subjects taught by specialists during the school day and include art, music, chess, poetry, and performing arts. The PTA at each elementary school leads their school’s fundraising campaign, but donations are deposited with the district, not the PTA’s. The school district then divides up the funds according to the number of students at each elementary. Teachers at each school decide on the enrichment programs for their grade levels. The fundraising goal is $70,000 and they ask $75 per student. http://bit.ly/2bk88uG (Campaign is in August - September)
SchoolCARE-- funds specific, salaried teaching positions at all Albany schools. The school district counts on SchoolCare to fund staff each year and decisions about what to fund are made by surveying parents and teachers as well as by working closely with the district. In 2015-16 SchoolCARE pledged $285,500 to the Albany Unified School District. www.albanyschoolcare.org (Donations accepted year-round, online or through OV office; main fundraiser in spring.)
Albany Education Foundation (AEF)--directly supports teachers through a grant-writing program. Teachers submit small grant requests for equipment, field trips, etc. AEF writes checks directly to teachers for the winning proposals. www.albanyeducation.org (Main fundraiser is the Chocolate and Champagne Gala in February.)
Albany Music Fund (AMF)--supports music education primarily in the middle school and high school by providing and maintaining instruments. They have strongly lobbied the district for elementary music education and promote music education throughout the district. www.albanymusic.org (They fundraise at band and choir events and with a letter campaign in the fall.)
Can this system be simplified?
All the fundraising organizations do great work. Most professional fundraising experts agree that the way to maximize donations is to ask often, ask for different purposes, and ask in different ways (auctions, raffles, walk-a-thons, etc.).
Can I just write one check?
Write one check?! Well, no, not at this time. It is probable that if we tried to switch to that system, all these organizations would lose revenue, and consequently, our kids would lose programs and supplies. It is easier on family budgets to write multiple small checks throughout the year. These events fuel our social web and improve our community.