Fundraising at Ridgway

We have been very lucky to have had an enthusiastic and committed Fundraising Group at Ridgway. Events organised by this group include a fabulous Fashion Show in 2009, two wildly successful school galas, fantatasic food fiestas, a delightful violin and piano recital, as well as enjoyable quiz nights and movie nights from time to time.

From Left: Tina Sturland, Paula Ash, Jude Kaveney, Shelley Stevenson.
Email fundraisers@ridgway.school.nz

Finally, the 2012 Gala signals the last event the current fundraising group will organise together.  After 4 fun filled years of fundraising for Ridgway, they are ready to hand over the baton. Please consider being involved in fundraising, as the school depends on these extra funds raised by the community. Fundraising can be lots of fun and enormously rewarding.  Tina, Paula, Shelley and Jude thank everyone who has supported us in our efforts, especially Raelene Sloper, who is pure gold and must be treasured!

Fundraising can be FUN!  Join Us!

If you would like to help with the fundraising team, or have a fabulous idea for a fundraising event, please get in contact with us:

fundraisers@ridgway.school.nz or contribute to our discussion forums in the secure area.

Why fundraise?

As a state primary school, the majority of our funding comes from the Ministry of Education. However, as we are a Decile 9 school, there is an annual shortfall in funding which must be made up from other sources or we would not be able to operate effectively or meet our annual objectives. The main sources of external funding are the Voluntary Donation (see entry in A-Z directory), the activity fee which covers the costs of educational activities and trips outside the school, and school fundraising, which takes place through two main channels – projects and community grants.

The school has recently developed a Fundraising Policy, in recognition of the fact that parents are generally more comfortable donating to specified projects rather than to a general pool.

Fundraising policy

Rationale

The Board of Trustees acknowledges the significant contribution that is made by parents and caregivers to the augmenting of revenue available to Ridgway School. It is also cognisant of the fact that parents are more comfortable donating to specified projects rather than to a general pool. Fundraising takes place through two main channels – projects and community grants. Projects include activities such as galas, quiz nights, sale of entertainment books and so forth. Community grants are usually tagged to a specific project or activity.

A member of the Board of Trustees is deputed to convene a fundraising committee.

Purposes

The money raised by the parent community and through grants enhances and enriches the offering that is able to be given to the students at the school.

Guidelines/Procedures:

To aid planning the following programme operates:

• Teaching staff submit a priority list (May)
• Parents/caregivers are invited to make suggestions for projects on which they would like money to be spent. They are also to be asked to suggest suitable and innovative fundraising schemes. (June)
• The fundraising committee draws up a short list of the most popular suggestions with approximate costs. (June)
• This list is then circulated to all parents/caregivers for them to rank in order of preference. (July)
• The fundraising committee draws up a list of priorities for the following year. (July)
• The fundraising committee will then decide what projects can be financed through community grants and which will require fundraising projects. (July)
• This information will be forwarded to the personnel drawing up the budget for the following year. By incorporating this information in the budget, some money will be freed up to be spent on the curriculum and other operating costs. This is felt to be preferable to an untagged donation to operating costs. (August)
• The budget for the following year is prepared. (September)
• The fundraising committee and parents/caregivers to be kept well informed throughout.