If August is known as the month to prepare for school, September must be the time to get ready for fundraising.  Already there have been several that have come my way this month.

My favorite is one that I have always participated in, whether it be when my kids were in school or not. This project is the discount cards. St. Paul Lutheran and the Smith Cotton Band are two cards that I currently have.  Area businesses will give discounts and the card gets sold for like $5 or $10. These cards instantly pay for themselves if you ask me.  For example, I enjoy going to McDonald's, and you get 10% off purchases over $5 at the stores. You can easily save $5 in one visit, depending on what you order, and it's well worth it. Some cards, such as the Sedalia School Foundation, have punch cards where you can only use it once at a store. None the less these cards are great to use.

Then there are businesses that dedicate a day to schools. Papa John's did that on September 12 for Skyline Elementary, and they will donate up to 25% of their daily proceeds to select schools. McDonald's has McTeachers night where area schools get a specific day to help at the restaurant, and a percentage of the profits go back to the school. There have been millions of dollars donated to schools nationwide for this project.  Pizza Hut not only has the Book It Program where kids get pan pizzas for reading, but they also donate back to schools too. Last year my daughter's class won a pizza party twice from Pizza Hut for raising the most money.

My kids just wrapped up some programs. They sold such things as magazines, holiday items, unique gifts and cookie dough. For every item they sold, they received a penquin that would give the kids special priviledges such as getting candy, a pizza party or even going into a Zorb.

There is also the Box Top Program, where you cut out the coupons on top of box goods and certain companies have these coupons. These coupons are taken to schools and then sent out for funding. Last year according to the Box Tops for Education website, the Sedalia Middle School earned $1,865 and Skyline Elementary earned $2,585.  A simple cut of a coupon can add up real fast.

Since I was a student in the Knob Noster School system and Vogelweh Elementary in Germany, I never had to worry about many fundraisers, until I was in high school, since those schools received a lot of federal funding next to Air Force bases. Now that I'm a parent and see that school funding continues to drop, I applaud schools and non-profits that come up with unique fundraising ideas.

I do try and participate whenever I can in fundraisers, but I wanted to take the time and extend this free offer. If you are a school or non-profit organization, tell us about your fundraiser and we'll be sure to put it on our community calendar. Behka Cramer is our Community Calendar Coordinator.  She does a great job, and best of all, it's free!   Just click on this link.

Now we do have special plans for non-profits should you want to pursue additional advertising, but you need to contact us. To businesses out there, I encourage you to continue supporting our schools and non-profits. Ttell us about what you're doing and you not only will reap the reward of helping the community, but you'll also get your name out too.

I love seeing groups and organizations being supported.  One of the reasons I got into radio was to help spread the word. We know there are a lot of negative things in this world right now, so let's brighten things up and spread some good!

Thanks for your time, and I approve this message.

Doug

More From KIX 105.7