Dear St. Paul’s Parents,

Now that the school year is underway, we would like to share with you some information about fundraising for the preschool.  Every year we sponsor several fundraisers in order to meet the gaps in our school budget that are not covered by tuition.  Given everyone’s busy schedules, and the challenging economy, we would like to describe our tentative plans for fundraising this year.  Your suggestions are welcome and we also encourage you to contact us if you have any questions. 

Based on our budget, we will need to raise $12,000 this school year.  This money will be used for the operation of the preschool and includes teacher salaries, school and classroom materials, and field trips.  Although this may seem like a large amount, we have several fundraising events and opportunities planned throughout the year.  With everyone’s participation and support, this is an attainable goal!

As we have in the past, we are planning fundraising events that bring us together as a school community, such as our annual bake sale (December), auction (March), and rummage sale (May).  Please see the attached sheet for the dates of our scheduled events.  Some of the dates have yet to be determined, but you will be informed as soon as they are set in order that you can mark your calendars. 

We are also planning fundraising events this year that are community-focused, where we partner with local businesses to support our school.  Please see the attached sheet with this letter with the restaurants and merchants who have set days on which a percentage of the profits generated by St. Paul’s parents will be donated to St. Paul’s.  These types of events benefit St. Paul’s and area businesses, plus give families an opportunity to spend time together—with no advanced preparation required!

One other way you can help support our school is by using our website.  Before you do any online shopping with retailers such as Amazon, please go to St. Paul’s website first.  Click on the link to “fundraising” and you will find links to online retailers—who will then donate a percentage of their profits from your purchases to our school. 

As you will see, we have taken a slightly different approach from years past in the number of opportunities we are providing.  The intention with this is not to overwhelm our families with too many fundraisers, but rather to allow each family the opportunity to choose the best ways for them to support the school.  We have been presented with a lot of new fundraising options this year that seemed appealing.  We greatly look forward to everyone’s feedback on this list to help us focus efforts for next year as well, and we thank you for your help in supporting St. Paul’s during challenging financial times.

We look forward to these events and to spending time together in support of our wonderful school!

Sincerely,

Ursula Rossman                              Libby Steiner