Purpose:

The purpose of this document is to provide a philosophy and approach to fund raising for the Old Orchard Service League to facilitate decisions about fund raising activities and set criteria for engagement in specific activities.

Background:

The Old Orchard Service League (OOSL) was established as a non-profit group whose membership is restricted to parents of children attending Old Orchard School; the League was formed to accept contributions and promote other fund raising opportunities consistent with non-profit organizations. To distinguish the non-profit Service League from the Old Orchard School, which is a "for-profit" business, the OOSL has by-laws and a mission statement to describe how funds that are raised will be used. In short, funds raised through the OOSL are to be used to enrich the educational experience of the children above and beyond what the school is required and can afford to provide.

The Old Orchard School has traditionally avoided active fund raising activities and putting pressure on parents and children to become involved in these activities. Some small programs, which were intentionally low key and optional, were occurring (most notably the Hot Lunch program) and funds raised were used for enhancement and enrichment purposes. Some new fund raising activities, such as the Silent Auction, had become quite successful and more money was available to allow the OOSL to make more significant contributions to the enrichment of the children.

Philosophy:

It is the intent of the current membership of the OOSL to maintain the school's philosophy and approach to fund raising while advocating a few fund raisers which have value to the parents and enhance the OOSL's ability to continue to fund enrichment programs. The board will decide which fund raising activities are consistent with the school and the OOSL's philosophy; these activities will provide services or goods that the Board believes parents will appreciate, and they will balance profit with effort. Children will not be used as salespeople for the success of these fund raising activities. All fund raising activities would bring money into the general OOSL budget, to be distributed as the Board decides throughout the school year.

Proposed Activities for the School Year:

1. Gift wrap and other items offered in the early Fall for holiday season
2. Book Fair in time for Winter holiday gift giving
3. Dinner and Auction in the Spring
4. Ongoing Programs - Hot lunch; E-scrip; Jamba Juice etc.

Implementation:

Each year the OOSL Board of Directors will agree to a set of fund raising activities and a schedule for the following school year. Again, the purpose is to avoid burdening the parents with too many fundraisers while offering products and services that parents value. By maintaining control of the activities, the Board can prevent fund raising activities that compete with one another, are not worth the effort (value to parents, profitability), or are occurring too frequently. It is not the intent to discourage new fund raising ideas, but rather to set some guidelines. The OOSL Board should review the fund raising activities at the end of each school year and decide which to continue and what new ideas to explore.