Rocky River High School front concourse

The School Fundraiser Program

    Want to raise $10,000 to $50,000 for your school?

     

    The School Fundraising Dilemma

    If you work at a school, serve on the PTA board or are involved with a school foundation, you know funding often can’t cover expenses for the district’s needs. Available funds often aren’t enough to cover new building enhancements, recreational activities and school supplies for students.

    By the numbers:

    • The average public school building is 45 years old, and in need of significant repairs.
    • It is estimated that school facilities are being underspent by $46 billion, or by 32%.
    • On average, most teachers spend more than $500 per year of their own money to cover school supplies.

    The need is great, but many fundraising efforts fall flat. Why? Often it’s because not all students—as well as the community, alumni and parents—will directly see the difference their contribution makes.

    For a fundraiser to be successful, it needs:

    • A clearly defined goal.
    • Creative ideas that solve fundraising challenges.
    • Collaborative involvement from the students and community.

    We have a personalized program designed to create excitement, collaboration and a common goal for your next fundraiser.

    What if the school, its students and the community had an exciting, unique goal to rally their efforts around?

    Exceed your next fundraising goal with help from Milano Monuments. We create personalized pieces of art that embody the spirit of a school and its community. These projects can take on many forms, and that’s the best part. Together, let’s create something entirely unique and personal that excites the community and its desire to support the school.

     

    Click here to see how we worked with Rocky River High School during a recent campus renovation. The renovation stands as one of the largest known publicly funded school projects in the state.

     

    How Does It Work?

    1. Determine Your Goals

    Every important decision starts with why. In this case, what do your students, faculty or staff need? If there is a $10,000 to $50,000 fundraiser the school needs, it could benefit from more school spirit, greater community involvement or a notable person, event or achievement to rally around.

    Once you know what is needed—and often this is what has been needed for years—ballpark how much you need to fund that project.

    From there, we can help your school see it through.

     

    2. Choose What You Want to Use to Build Excitement

    To get started on this journey to raising $10,000 to $50,000+, decide what will get people excited and also fit the scope of your project. Milano Monuments has three recommended impressive pieces of art that will be personalized to your school’s audience, goals and interests.

    Some ideas to support your brainstorming:

    • Are there any alumni that deserve special recognition, such as a veteran, government leader or person with a notable achievement?
    • Has a student group or organization had a significant accomplishment, such as a state championship, charitable feat or music performance?
    • Has a student, alumnus or community member recently passed who the school would like to honor for their accomplishments and dedication to the community?

    To further help your brainstorming process, Milano Monuments offers the following pieces of art, each of which will be personalized according to the school and situation. Costs can vary, but generally plaques are the least expensive, followed by benches and then statues or sculptures.

     

    Plaques

    Tailor your fundraiser to the school and community with a personalized plaque.

    Honor, commemorate or celebrate the life or achievements of a student, administrator, teacher, team or other group with a granite, aluminum or bronze plaque.

    Ideas for plaques:

    • Engrave names of the highest donors.
    • Commemorate an alumnus’ or important staff member’s life after they’ve passed away.
    • Honor past school presidents, staff or notable alumni while they’re living.
    • Celebrate the achievements of a school team or music ensemble.

    Talk with our team of experienced and creative designers to see how we can personalize a plaque with special lettering, inscriptions or images.

     

    St.Ignatius-Coach-Bronze-Plaque-and-men-for-others

     

    Bench

    Add a lasting tribute to your fundraiser with an attractive and functional addition to the landscape.

    A staple of any school building or campus, benches can be personalized to honor, celebrate or commemorate in a similar way to a plaque.

     

    Celebrate 2000 - Memorial Bench.jpg

     

    Benches can be created with or without a seatback, and come in a variety of granite colors, sizes and finishes. Work with our designers to personalize the work with beautifully etched and engraved elements to make your memorial bench a one-of-a-kind tribute to something so important to your community.

     

    School-Fundraising-Benches

     

    Statue or Sculpture

    An impressive and fun way to attract community interest is with a unique, personalized statue that embodies the spirit of a school and community.

     

    Rocky River High School 10a-1

     

    We can create a statue or sculpture of:

    • Your school’s mascot.
    • A school or team logo.
    • A person you want to recognize or commemorate.

    For other schools, these statues have become a staple of the community. The community embraces its unveiling, the students take pictures with it and younger kids love seeing it.

    We’ve designed and crafted statues since 1969. The statues and sculptures we’ve created cover a vast range—from pirates to football players. We embrace the opportunity to work with you to create something entirely unique for your school.

     

    Statue and sculpture

    St.Josephs-Academy-Rawlings-Field-Sign

     

    3. Work With Us

    Our past plaques, benches and statues may have planted an idea in your head, but you don’t have to have all the answers. We’re experienced professionals who excel at collaborating with individuals and groups to design the art that fits their situation.

    Questions to consider:

    • Who are you trying to engage with your fundraiser?
    • Does that impact what you want to have created?
    • What will incentivize them to donate? Consider a:
      • Recognition plaque.
      • Miniature replica of the statue upon completion.
      • Public acknowledgement when the project is announced.

    Seeing is believing and by working with us, you’ll get to see a sketch or detailed digital drawing of the final product you want created. Use a mockup of the piece to build up excitement during the fundraiser.

    Our collaborative process will involve conversations around your goals, potential creative pieces and information related to cost.

     

    4. Engage and Raise

    With the end goal in mind, you’re now armed with an exciting tool to generate buzz among the community, students, parents and other potential donors! The plaque, bench or statue you envisioned with the help of a creative Milano Monuments professional should invoke a unique aspect of the school or community.

    Consider the following tools to begin your fundraising:

    • Engage in peer-to-peer fundraising.
      • Engage the individuals, groups and businesses relevant to the piece of art that’s designed to honor the person, place or event relevant to them.
      • Connect with those in your network.
    • Collaborate with students.
      • Overview the goal of the fundraiser and explain how it impacts them.
      • Spread previews of the piece being designed to build excitement.
      • Empower them to fundraise with activities, events and other ideas.
      • Create a visual (in the school and/or online) that tracks progress towards the goal.
    • Other fundraising tactics:
      • Create smart online giving forms.
      • Promote matching gifts to the community.
      • Fundraise on site at school events.
      • Sell school merchandise to raise money.

    No matter the tactics employed, each fundraising activity can connect back to the unified goal and capitalize on the excitement the unique piece of art brings the students, parents and community.

     

    5. Experience the Excitement

    Once you’ve met or exceeded your goal, our team of experienced craftspeople will bring your idea to life. See regular updates on the piece’s progress until it is delivered to its spot on your campus. Hold an event unveiling the piece at a football game or other community event, bringing everyone together to celebrate the culmination of a successful, important endeavor.

     

    Set the Course for Your Fundraiser Today

    Contact Milano Monuments for a no-risk consultation, where a member of our team will personally work with you to design something amazing and unique. The opportunities are endless. Reach out today.

     

    Milano Monuments Contact Us Today Alecia

    Milano Monuments Contact Us Today Alecia

    Work With an Expert

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