MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2008
Schools boost fund-raising with e-auctions
Fund-raisers play a big role in school clubs and sports. Some schools have found success using the Web. What's the trend for fund-raisers at your school and nearby schools? Check out the auction sites listed below and do a story about interesting auction items and how much money they raised. (Consider an alternate story form -- a charticle or infographic.) Call local PTAs and booster clubs and try to find someone who has tried an online auction. Where did the money go from recent fund-raisers at your school?
Rather
than asking the same tired parents for money month after month, the
schools use online auctions to sell valuable stuff for big bucks. The Globe says:
Facing budget shortfalls that are squeezing education basics, more
Massachusetts public schools are turning to online auctions this spring
to raise money for supplies, field trips, library books, playground
equipment, and computers. And they're raking in from $6,000 to $20,000
in the process -- more money than live or silent auctions generate at
traditional fund-raisers.
The reason: Not only can far-flung
grandparents bid on donated items ranging from restaurant gift
certificates to hot-air balloon rides, but civic-minded strangers with
no connection to the schools can pick up hard-to-come-by items, such as
sports tickets, at a premium price.
"There's only so much money
you can get from the same people, and we've been asking and asking and
asking," said Sarah Windman, chairwoman of the auction at Heights
Elementary School in Sharon. "When we held our auction online, we had
people from all over the country helping us."
BiddingForGood.com and
cMarket, Inc.
run the online auctions. The company charges $595 plus 9 percent of
whatever an auction earns. The company has overseen more than 700
school
auctions and helped schools nationwide raise nearly $10 million, said
Jon Carson, chief executive officer. The site says it has transacted
more than $38 million dollars worth of goods and services and lists
nearly 19,000 items for sale.
Posted at 7:00:00 AM
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