Fundraising Planning Worksheet: Fill & Download for Free

I suspect you know you touched a nerve, so get ready to “get schooled” (see what I did there?). ALRIGHT, LET’S DO THIS!You are woefully misinformed. I’ve been teaching for 25 years (I’m 51). I’ve taught in public and private schools in 2 states. I love my job and wouldn’t want to do anything else, but compared with other professions that have similar requirements regarding education, ongoing training, and certification, it doesn’t pay well. For many, particularly newer teachers in low-paying districts, per hour of actual work, it’s not even minimum wage. Also, most of us spend hundreds of dollars of our own money per year on supplies for our classrooms because the money just isn’t in the school’s budget. We’re also expected to support every fundraiser by buying whatever overpriced crap…er…fine chocolates/popcorn/giftwrap…the kids are selling or donating to the Annual Giving Fund. In addition to the usual supplies, as a public school teacher, I always bought snacks to keep in my room because I had kids who didn’t get enough to eat at home. Most professionals have expense accounts and don’t have to spend out-of-pocket for supplies or food for their clients, customers, patients, etc.Regarding some of your claims:Retirement Age: Of the dozens of colleagues whom I’ve seen retire over the years, none were anywhere near as young as 55 (most were over 70), mainly because they couldn’t afford to retire, especially if they live in a smaller community where there aren’t many other work opportunities. The teacher who currently teaches 3 doors down from me is 77. My mom is a teacher, too. She’s 73 and is planning to continue through the 2017–18 school year. The tennis coach who retired last year was 77. Tough ol’ dude, and so loved by the kids.3 months of vacation? My contract begins the 1st week of August and ends the 1st week in June. I’ve taught summer school every year for extra pay. I also wrote the entire curriculum for several classes over the years, and they have to be updated regularly. Summer is really the only time to do it. I don’t get paid extra for that. We’re also required to earn so many hours of professional development every year as a condition of employment and as a requirement for renewing our state certification. Sometimes, the costs incurred for attending are paid by the teacher, not the school. Even if the school does pay, many of these opportunities are in the summer or on weekends, a.k.a., my personal and/or “vacation” time.The time I have off in the summer doesn’t make up for the hours and hours worth of work I put in every week on my own time during the school year. I know there are teachers who just copy the worksheets that come with the textbook, and that’s the extent of their planning and output, but many of us don’t. In addition to the many hours per week I spend grading assignments, entering grades, writing reports, and contacting parents and students, I literally spend hours per week planning meaningful, multi-sensory lessons, crafting ppts, creating or revising assignments, projects, and tests that are relevant and challenging, creating notes, simulations, review games, study guides, and grading rubrics, updating my teacher web pages and my online assignment calendars. I also read books and scour the internet regularly for articles relevant to teaching in general and to my subject areas specifically (this year: Sociology, Honors World History, Honors World Geography, Government) so that I can stay up-to-date on the latest info. Many of the subject-area articles are turned into assignments for my students so that they have assignments that are connected to the real world and not just related to the textbook info.Most teachers are required to work or attend school activities on their own time for no extra pay. We chaperone dances and other events, attend or work performances, athletic events, Open House, and ceremonies (graduation, baccalaureate, NHS Induction, Awards programs, etc.); we work fundraisers, carnivals, book fairs, etc. My mom’s school is so broke that the teachers are required to work the annual auction, but they don’t get to attend for free—they have to buy the $75 ticket. Yes, they have to pay to work an event! In some cases, our attendance at these events is required; in others, the expectation is that we’ll make an effort to attend as many as possible (“It means so much to the kids and parents to see you there.”), and our attendance or absence affects our performance evaluations. Most of these activities are enjoyable because I love the kids, my colleagues, and my job, but I’m still giving my personal time to the school. I would attend far fewer if I could.Throughout my career, most of the teachers I’ve known have had second and even third jobs. I do private tutoring after school 5 days per week and teach summer school. One of my colleagues also does private tutoring, as well as waiting tables 3 nights per week—all in addition to her full-time job as a high school science teacher. To earn extra money (usually via a stipend), some teachers take on coaching duties or activity sponsorships that require an enormous amount of time outside of the regular school day.Even my “off time” during my work day is still work: My workday is 8:00–4:30. I get 26 minutes for lunch and a 45-minute preparation (non-teaching) period. Once a week, I have lunch duty, so that precious 26 minutes is spent eating my lunch while walking around monitoring kids in the cafeteria. I don’t know many people who would enjoy spending their meager lunch break watching teenagers eat. It frequently happens that I’m asked to cover a class, attend a meeting, or see an administrator during my prep period. Mostly what I do during my prep period each day is answer emails from parents. That doesn’t leave much time to plan lessons, create or grade assignments, etc.“They always complain about their salary as if they had no idea teachers don’t get high pay.” When you see salary schedules, sometimes, they’re shockingly low, but it’s your career choice (a calling, for many of us), and based on location/circumstance, there may not be many other options. In some districts, the salary seems fine until you start putting in the work (see above), then you realize how little you get paid per hour. Besides, lots of people who make low pay gripe about it—it’s not just a teacher thing.“Incredible benefits”—Not sure what you think teachers get that is above average. When I worked in large, financially-stable public school districts, my benefits were, at best, just average. My best friend works for a pharmaceutical company—SHE gets incredible benefits. Really, really impressive benefits. I currently work in a small-but-affluent private school (approx 250 total employees), so the benefits aren’t up to the level of public school employees. I stay because the smaller class sizes, well-behaved population, and lack of gov’t-mandated standardized testing means the stress level is greatly reduced. Also, I no longer have to pay for supplies out-of-pocket—if I think something will benefit my students, the school pays for it. I have the resources I need to do the best job I can.“Anyway isn't it about helping students succeed in the future?” Sounds critically important, right? Yes, it is. Yet, we don’t expect other college-educated professionals who perform necessary/noble services (doctors, lawyers, accountants, pharmacists, etc.) to work for low pay just because their careers help others.Speaking of lawyers, I often thought it would be interesting if, like lawyers, teachers were to bill for their time in increments. If we could bill the school based on logs of every minute spent grading essays/projects, creating lessons, emailing parents, crafting tests, chaperoning dances, etc., the number of billable hours worked per year would put us in the 6-figure range. Probably wouldn’t hear about underpaid teachers then.And…SCHOOL’S OUT! Thank you, thank you. Enjoy your summer.

My daughter is in kindergarten at Altschool, though even designating her as a kindergartner belies the educational tailoring that Altschool is able to provide. While certain ages are generally grouped together in the classroom, teachers are able to curate lesson plans not just for the class broadly, but also for individuals. Part of what enables the teachers to do this is the class size. Part of what enables them to do this is that they are actually paid a reasonable wage. Part of what enables this is a broad cultural adherence to the "Mindset" philosophy championed by Carol Dweck (a must-read for any parent).As I compare note with parents who are in other private schools or in public schools, I feel like there are a few notable results from her first year in school that Altschool delivered on in a superior fashion:1) Teaching and practicing tools for socialization and coping. Often, when people think about their children developing social skills, they think of it in a trial-by-fire / learning-on-the-job fashion. Put the kids together, let them figure it out. Very early in the school year, Altschool focused on skills like consensus building, and voicing anger/sadness/frustration in a non-confrontational fashion. My daughter was able to bring these skills home and use them with us. Occasionally I felt like I was on Candid Camera or Punk'd because she would address things in a cool and collected fashion when I was at my angriest.2) Fostering a desire to learn. Before kindergarten my daughter didn't really care much for reading on her own and could only identify a few letters of the alphabet, despite my efforts to get her interested in being able to read her own books (instead of just me reading to her). By Thanksgiving, she was reading to me.3) Keeping teachers engaged. From the starting gun to the final flag, each of the teachers at my daughters school were engaged and excited about the kids they were teaching, the things they were teaching them and the ways that they were enabled to teach them. For example, the class produced an interpretation of Hansel and Gretel for a class play. Along the way, they learned about healthy eating, parts of the body (e.g. the digestive system), the importance of exercise, how to sing, and how to read aloud on stage (from actors at A.C.T.). Every bit of this was because a couple of teachers had a vision on how they could teach in a way that had nothing to do with a test.Here are some of the time-honored traditions that I missed out on:1) Homework. Not once did my daughter have worksheets that she had to fill out or projects she had to build over the weekend.2) Fundraising.So what are the "cons"? You have to remember that, as a school, Alt hasn't been around a long time. Like any operation, they are, to some extent, learning as they go. They've put a mountain of time and effort into figuring out the best way to make the experience world class and to create learning programs in line with best practices. But they can't foresee every challenge. That said, as an organization, it is quick to admit mistakes, make changes and be responsive to feedback. Additionally, I can foresee a day when my daughter goes off to high school and is bored out of her skull after 9 years at Alt.

You can do it the easy way, the hard way, or in between:The Easy Way: You don’t need any “paperwork” and don't need to create a company, or any new "entity" at all. You can fundraise on behalf of other charities using a fundraising website like www.CrowdRise.com, www.FirstGiving.com, etc. You set up your own fundraising page on one of these sites, send your donors to the fundraising page. The donation goes directly to the charity (and the donor gets a tax receipt). You can track how much you raised in total, and who has donated/paid). If you are requiring a minimum donation as the “entry fee” for an event (like a chess tournament), you can see who “paid” via a donation.In Between: You can form a non-profit corporation. There are online services that can form this entity for you, including www.LegalZoom.com and www.mycorporation.com. They can do all the paperwork for you, for about $100-300 or you can do it yourself for free. I recommend using one of these services because they can also send you reminders each year when renewals are due and provide other related, helpful services. Either way, there’s another $50-250 in state filing fees. There are also small filing fees every year to renew. Make sure you form a non-profit corporation. This is pretty quick and can be up and running in a few days.Benefits: (1) Pretty easy. (2) You get to have a "title" like "CEO" or "President" of a company.Drawbacks: (1) Cost. (2) Paperwork: Annual renewals and filing fees required. (3) More Paperwork: You will have to file company tax returns each year (assuming your revenues are low enough, this will likely be just a simple online form 990N e-postcard). (4) It’s not a full 501(c)(3), which may be required by some corporate donors (see below). Also, if you are not a 501(c)(3), your profits will not be tax exempt (but that’s not a problem, because you will not have any profits if you plan to donate virtually all the money you raise to a charity).For more info see https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/state-filing-requirements-nonprofitsand https://nonprofithub.org/human-resources/the-cost-of-starting-a-nonprofit-in-every-state/The Hard Way: After you have formed your non-profit corporation (above), if you wish to get 501(c)(3) tax status from the IRS, you have to file an IRS form 1023EZ. (I’m assuming you will qualify for the EZ version of the form – more on this below). This may be important once you start to seek larger corporate donors because some potential corporate donors will only donate if you have 501(c)(3) status and they have seen your certificate to prove it. Legal Zoom will charge you $600 to complete the form for you, but you can fill out the form yourself for free (see link below). If you do it yourself, it takes a bit of work. Either way, there's a $400 filing fee directly with the IRS (for the EZ form; about double that for the regular form 1023). There's a long lag time after you apply before you hear back from the IRS with a decision - it may take several months before you hear back. For very small non-profits, it should be pretty easy to get approved.Benefits: (1) Makes it easier to get donors and sponsors. (2) Donations to you are tax deductible. (2) Gives you tax exempt status (unlikely to be relevant unless and until you have large profits).Drawbacks: (1) Cost. (2) Time lag. (3) Additional annual filings.You can find the relevant IRS forms and instructions here: http://www.irs.gov/uac/Form-1023,-Application-for-Recognition-of-Exemption-Under-Section-501(c)(3)-of-the-Internal-Revenue-CodeAssuming you plan to raise only small amounts (currently less than $50,000 per year), and meet the other qualifications, you can file a streamlined IRS form 1023EZ. To see if you qualify for the EZ version, look at this checklist/worksheet posted by the IRS here (see section titled “who can file this form”): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1023ez.pdfBe sure to save your letter from the IRS granting 501c3 status. Scan it into your computer. You’ll need to show this to many potential donors and sponsors.After you have been granted 501c3 status, be sure to register your charity as a 501c3 on https://www.charitynavigator.orgHomepages:Whichever level you chose, you may want to have a web presence, such as your own website, and/or social media home pages such as on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. Some website builders that are easy to use include Weebly, WordPress, Wix, SquareSpace, GoDaddy, SiteBuilder, etc. We don’t recommend any one of them over the other – this is more a matter of personal preference. Many are easy to use even for novices. They have drag and drop tools and no coding knowledge is required. See https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/website-builders-comparison-chart/To see some examples, here are Chess 4 Charity’s pages:Website: http://www.chess4charity.orgFacebook page: https://www.facebook.com/chess4charity/Twitter: @Chess4Charity https://twitter.com/Chess4CharityLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/chess-4-charity-inc-/