Satori Charter School featured Fundraising Group

fundraising groups|www.funpastafundraising.com

Kathy Dickert and her class.

One of our favorite things at Fun Pasta Fundraising is helping groups to achieve their fundraising goals. We’ve learned with every group, there is a story behind the fundraiser. It’s the story and the people that we love most. It keeps us using our noodles to continuously raise the Fundraising bar to improve our fundraising products and the process. The Satori Charter School was one of our sweepstakes winners last season and we thought it would be fun to share their story with you. For this month’s featured fundraising group, we interviewed group leader and Satori Charter School teacher, Kathy Dickert.

Tell us about your group? How many kids? How long have you been together?

I teach a 3rd-4th combination class at a small charter school. Satori Charter School is 2nd -8th grade with 180 students in all.

What are their goals for the year?   How long have you worked with FPF?

We have been trying to raise funds to improve our playgrounds. One of my friends had used fun pasta as a fundraiser before and shared it with me. I thought it was novel and something new so I requested some information. This was our first time using Fun Pasta Fundraising.

New playground equipment purchased with proceeds from Fun Pasta fundraiser.

How did you advertise and market your fundraiser?

We used the school website and posted pictures and used the Fun Pasta Fundraising link and website via email to all the parents in the school. We put it on the school Facebook page which the parents then shared on their personal Facebook pages. Our online sales almost equaled our catalog sales. It was great.

Can you share some advice that you’ve received as a leader that helped you?

Use the parent letters, the order forms, and all of the great suggestions from your fundraising company’s website. I hadn’t done this before but your website made it really easy. Use all the tools that are provided, ask questions when you have them. The answers are there.

What was the greatest challenge you faced as a leader? How did you overcome it?

We only had 35% participation in the school. Those who participated and sold the pasta sold a lot. The middle schoolers weren’t quite as much into it as the younger children. 80% of the sales for this fundraiser came from my class. I had a lot of parents thank me for doing this unique fundraiser. Parents were so tired of gift wrap and the same old fundraising products. This product is something everybody uses and it makes a great gift. My hairdresser loved receiving the pasta as a gift.

The way we had the kickoff for the fundraiser was really fun. My student’s wrote commercials for fun pasta and then they put on their “commercials” to the other classes in the school. We gave the kids mustaches as prizes. We also gave gift certificates to some local Italian restaurants. Anybody who sold got to put their name in a “pasta pot” for a drawing to win. It wasn’t just top sellers who had a chance of winning but even if they sold one bag, they had a chance to win. We also used the Wal-Mart and ITunes gift cards from Fun Pasta Fundraising as prizes to our top sellers.

Is there something our readers would be surprised to know about your group?

It is a very diverse population. The school was founded as a gifted school and then it became a charter school. We cater to out of the box thinkers who are very bright but may have social issues. We address the whole child. With all the focus on the common core these days, Satori Charter School is still very much committed to keeping it all balanced. We want to make sure that we are raising healthy individuals and addressing the whole child.

Tell us why you are such a passionate supporter of you group?

I love teaching kids and I am committed to providing them with all the tools that they need to grow and learn.

How does one interview for a fundraising leader position?

It was kind of funny. I sent the card in and requested some additional information. Then I showed it to my Principal. I said, “Check this out. Doesn’t it look great?” The response, “Yes it does, would you like to run it?”

We are a small school. [Laughing] Don’t have a good idea unless you’re ready to run with it.

Special thanks to Kathy for the interview and to the Satori Charter School for the images.  For more information about your next Fundraiser, click here.