And Say Thank You
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And Say Thank You
By Lisa Brandes
Lisa Brandes is president of Education Funding Alternatives, a consulting firm in El Cerrito, Calif..
Knowing the hidden costs of seemingly free technology products
needn't discourage you from seeking alternative sources of
funds to help you meet your school's technology needs. The
following tips will help you make the most of donations and
other "free" equipment:
- Have an overall technology plan and stick to it. Make sure
every piece of new equipment--including donations--fits into
your overall plan. Otherwise, it might cost more to make all
the donated technology work together than it would to buy the
right pieces to begin with.
- Keep an active technology "boilerplate" file. Include all the
written material you'll need for possible grant proposals: the
objectives of your technology plan, key personnel involved,
budgets, school demographics, and so on. Once you have this
information on file, you'll be able to respond quickly to grant
opportunities as they arise without investing additional staff
hours recreating proposals.
- Invest in outside professional advice for large-scale funding
activities. Spend a little money up front to have a fund-raising professional help structure your campaign. This person
can provide advice on how feasible your project is and save a
great deal of time in outlining what needs to be done and how.
Search for consultants who will help you learn to mount a
successful fund-raising campaign yourself, rather than those
who will do it for you but need to be hired again next time as
well.
- Include procedures for evaluating gifts and seeking grants in
staff development activities. Give staff members opportunities
to develop their talents in fund-raising. Bring in
professionals to provide training in grant development or gift
acquisition. The more your staff knows about how to make the
most of possible contributions, the further your technology
budget will go.
Reproduced with permission from the February 1995 issue of Electronic School.
Copyright 1995, National School Boards Association. This article may be saved
to disk, downloaded, or printed for individual use, but may not be otherwise transmitted
or reproduced without the consent of the Publisher. Send inquiries to electronic-school@nsba.org.
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