Policy

Policy 4910 - School/Student Fundraising

1. SCOPE

1.1.	This policy applies to all fundraising for curricular and extra-curricular activities conducted through schools or in the name of schools whether or not students are involved.
1.2.	This policy does NOT apply to fundraising conducted by a Parents’ Advisory Council in its own name; unless students are involved (see 3.1).
1.3.	This policy does NOT apply to fundraising for external agencies. Fundraising for external agencies is governed by Policy #10810 – School Fundraising By/For External Agencies.

2. PHILOSOPHY

2.1.	The Surrey Board of Education believes that school/student fundraising can contribute to the advancement of education in the school district.
2.2.	The board believes all local funds generated by school/student fundraising are public funds entrusted to the board through school principals and must be administered as a public trust.
2.3.	The board believes the types of fundraising undertaken, the conduct of the activity, and the management of funds realized and financial accountability should be ethical, in harmony with the goals of public education and utilizing sound financial and business management practices. Accordingly, the board has enunciated principles of fundraising which it believes satisfy this intent.

3. AUTHORITY

3.1.	The board assigns each school principal primary responsibility for and authority to conduct school/student fundraising done in the name of the school. Any fundraising utilizing students must be approved by the school principal.
3.2.	The secretary-treasurer shall, primarily through internal audits, ensure local funds realized form school / student fundraising are accounted for in accordance with Policies #4900 – Management of Site Based Funds and #4910 – School/Student Fundraising and their regulations.

4. PRINCIPLES OF FUNDRAISING

4.1.

Purpose
Fundraising may be conducted only for the purposes of the general welfare, education or morale of the students in the school. The purpose for which funds are raised must be clear and, in addition, should preferably be for enhancements of curricular and extra-curricular activities.

4.2.

Communication of Purpose
The specific purpose of a fundraising project must be known to all of the organizers, workers and persons from whom support is sought.

4.3.

Volunteers
Fundraising is to be accomplished by voluntary not-for-profit efforts unless the board approves otherwise.

4.4.

Activities
Fundraising activities and their conduct must be consistent with the goals of public education, in good taste and comply with the law. Incentives which encourage student competition in fundraising should be discouraged.

4.5.

Commercially-Oriented Activities
Fundraisers, before proceeding should evaluate vendors, products, service and commercial terms. Potential purchasers must be informed that:

a)	The school district does not warrant or guarantee products, services or vendor performance.
b)	The product or service is not endorsed to parents as a part of their child’s education program.
c)	The sale is being solicited to realize benefits and indicate how the benefit will be utilized.

4.6.

Location
For elementary school students, the raising of money is generally to be limited to functions at the school or those sponsored by the school at other locations. House-to-house canvassing and solicitation at business establishments and shopping centres is strongly discouraged for student safety reasons.

4.7.

Instructional Resources
The use of instructional time and resources for fundraising is to be avoided.

4.8.

Project Administration
Projects shall be administered in conformity with good business practice, including sound accounting procedures. Required taxes must be collected and remitted on such sales.

4.9.

Expenditures
Funds raised are to be expended for the purpose for which they were raised.

4.10.

Accountability
Each fundraising activity or set of common activities shall be separately accounted for pursuant to district standards. Those involved in fundraising are to be informed how funds were expended.

4.11.

Funds Accumulation
Funds raised are to be directed to the benefit of students and are not to be accumulated other than for specific projects.

4.12.

Refund of Parent Contribution
Where a combination of fundraising and parent contributions exceeds the financial requirement of a function, surplus funds may be:

a)	Retained by the school for application to other student activities or,
b)	Refunds provided to parents to the maximum of their cash contributions.

4.13.

Refund of Public Contribution
Where public fundraising exceeds the financial requirements of a particular project, the balance of funds remaining are to be utilized for a similar project or for a similar group of students. Contributions are not refundable unless an escrow arrangement was established at the time of receipt of funds.

Revised:	2014-01-17 2001-06-28 2000-10-12 1999-07-08 1995-05-25
Adopted:	1990-08-30
X-Ref:	Policy #4900 Policy #10303 Policy #10805 Policy #10810