| Realistically,
the money raised by a school through school fees will not, in all likelihood,
cover all the requirements for ICT usage at a school. This is because
ICTs are costly. In some schools, fundraising has assisted schools to
reach their ICT goals, despite having started with a small school income
from fees.
This activity will introduce you to the concept of
ICT-related fundraising for the school. You will write a fundraising
plan as a first step towards achieving ICT goals at your school.
Note, however, that income from fundraising can not
be relied on, until it is collected. No matter how effective your planning,
events can be poorly attended or money raised can be less than expected.
Sometimes, the expense of having a fundraising event can be higher than
anticipated. This means that the net income for the school will be lower
in this instance. On the other side of the equation, funders can suffer
from what is called 'donor fatigue'. They might also determine that
all a school needs is a 'kick-start' (ie. a `once off' tranche of funds
to help the school get a particular project underway). This has implications
for the school and how it plans. Will the project be sustainable after
the funding from a particular source dries out? If a school should not
expect funders to ultimately take care of their long term expenses and
running costs, how will the school handle these additional, recurring
costs?
Your school ICT team will have to consider the school's
range of income streams carefully. Setting up and running an ICT centre
at the school may require funding from a number of sources.
Ideally, with focused leadership and management at
the school, the ICT centre can become an income-generating tool for
the school. In this way, the ICT centre will fund some or all of its
own costs and the school will no longer rely on donations from funders.
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