New Hampshire Alliance for Arts Education,
NHAAE Projects Coordinator
Using the Arts to Fund Raise for the Arts

Some "tried and true" ways to use the arts to fund arts education programs:

1. Establish an Annual Arts Fund, perhaps to be administered by a group of arts-smart teachers, volunteer parents, and students: brainstorm lists of teachers, parents, businesspeople, community leaders - anyone who might be interested in supporting the arts. Write a letter inviting them to donate to this fund in return for mention in the printed program given out at school functions and performances for that school year (Gilford Middle High School does something similar for donations and paid advertisements). Hint: create specific categories and levels of donations so that patrons know your funding level needs: a Contributor might be at the $25.00 level; a Donor at $50.00; a Special Sponsor at $75.00, and an Arts Patron at $100.00). You could also divide the list among many students and make phone calls to those people on it. Personal visits by older students to community homes and businesses, to leave a donation form followed by a follow-up call or letter, is also effective. Add your successes to an Annual Arts Fund list of patrons. Build up this donor list using the names of Arts Fund donors to solicit more names for your list annually. Be sure to write thank you notes!
   
   
2. Hold a school/community Arts Auction. This requires long-range, advance planning, but is a great fund raiser as well as great fun ( hint: for best results, solicit new items, sought after services, and things of artistic value; avoid used and flea-market quality merchandise). An auction before the winter holidays has great potential for drawing holiday shoppers. Ask well-known teachers, administrators, or businesspeople to share the auctioneer's job. Have a viewing of items and a list of services to be auctioned off well in advance. Advertise, advertise, advertise!
   
   
3. Hey, how about a Talent Show? This can be a massive undertaking and requires many volunteer hours, but don't underestimate the audience appeal of a well-planned talent or variety show. Include performances by community members from schools, businesses, and government for best results. Hold a matinee in addition to the main performance. Hint: sell home-baked refreshments at the intermission, and give a price break to Seniors and children under 12. Make this an annual event!
   
   
4. Theme dinners are a popular way of raising funds: have an Italian "Spaghetti Stuffer" one month, a Thai meal the next; decorate the cafeteria to look like a French bistro and invite the French Club to moonlight as singing waitstaff. Hold a multi-cultural evening with courses and costumes from around a whole continent (hint: sell tickets in advance to facilitate food and supply shopping and estimate cooking quantities)! Add a world traveler as key-note speaker, a floor show or fashion show. This could also be done with just desserts and coffees from one country or around the world. Celebrate the diversity of world cuisine!
   
   
5. Have an Elizabethan Renaissance Faire. Include stations where special foods are sold, period art forms are demonstrated, displayed or sold, and performances are staged at timed intervals: perhaps a series of mini-concerts, dancing lessons, juggling, fencing, poetry readings and comical sketches (in Shakespearean English, of course). Dressing up in period costume, face painting, and arts and crafts sales/exhibits add to the revelry (a principal in a dunking booth could be a big draw: three throws for a dollar!). Especially meaningful at the winter solstice or in the early spring: stretch the fun over two days for maximum effect.

Contact:
NH Alliance for Arts Education
PO Box 3012
Northfield , NH 03276

Click here for examples of successful fund raisers