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"You cannot fill your belly by painting pictures of bread."
�"Chinese proverb

THE FRUITLESS FUNDRAISER

An insight from Exchange's popular text, The Art of Leadership:  Managing Early Childhood Organizations on money management pitfalls:

"A center pours considerable time and energy into a fundraising project which generates only limited funds.  For example. a local nursery school sponsors a fair every year.  One year the school netted $725 after expenses.  To earn this amount, parents and staff donated over $100 in cash and 500 hours in labor.  If, instead, each parent had donated only $7, the center would have raised as much money with no effort.  

"Before engaging in any fundraising project, a center should perform a cost-benefit analysis. First, estimate the maximum amount of money the project could yield after expenses.  Then, estimate the number of staff and volunteer hours required to carry out the project.  Finally, divide the dollars by the hours.  If the result is less than $10 per hour, the project is probably not worth the effort.  From $10-25 per hour, it is of marginal value. Above $25 per hour, it is clearly worthwhile.  Really successful fundraisers have been known to yield over $100 per hour."

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