Five in Five:

Our BIG Goal Needs BIG Money

1. Annual Spring Appeal Studies have shown that the most successful public school foundations in the United States are the ones that conduct an annual appeal asking parents for contributions. The idea is based on a simple business model, appeal to those who benefit most directly from excellent schools, in this case - families.

The drives will take place in the spring and raise funds for the following school year. With approximately 4,000 students and 2,700 households in the district, if half of the households were to contribute the requested "Family Pledge" of $400 per year, approximately $560,000 would be raised. That would allow us to: create a city-wide tutoring and after-school enrichment program; add positions such as a Program Leader, librarian, and full-time grant writer to raise outside funding; re-establish a world language program in the middle school, and fund PTO and other school initiatives.

A secondary benefit of making a strong showing of parental and community support will be to encourage families making school choice decisions to keep their children in Gloucester's schools, helping to retain significant public dollars that have been leaving in recent years.

2. Community Leaders The Foundation has begun reaching out to individuals in the community who see the value of excellent public schools and who have the financial means to make larger donations. For example, one family has contributed $10,000 to help the Foundation get started, and we are confident others will step forward.

3. Business Partners Support is being sought from businesses on the Cape both large and small. For example, both the Rockport National Bank and Cape Ann Savings Bank recently made contributions of $10,000 each. Other businesses are supporting the Foundation by giving discounts on certain products or services to those who contribute.

4. Outside Grants All across the country there are large foundations seeking to fund inventive education programs for improving public schools. For this reason, one of the Foundation's first investments will be to hire a grant writer to help bring in grant money for innovative programs.

5. School Store One activity to generate revenue and create a real world learning experience for students is to create a Gloucester School Store. Staffed by volunteers and students, the store will be a "thrift shop" and sell high quality goods donated by the public. Chapel Hill, North Carolina's school store was started in the 1950s and raises over $500k each year. Arlington, MA's school store raises $60k each year while being open two half days per week and one weekend a month for part of the year - that's one full-time teaching position!

Send your tax-deductible donations to:
Gloucester Education Foundation,
183 Main Street, Gloucester, MA 01930