Most school districts that start a foundation hire a consultant to get it off the ground. Amounts paid for this service have ranged anywhere from $8,000 to $26,000, some paid for by the foundations, some by the school districts.
They all say they have recouped this seed money several times over.
“The consultant’s fee was well worth it,” said Penny Catour, director of community relations for Indian Prairie Unit District 204 and liaison to the Indian Prairie Education Foundation. “There are a lot of pitfalls. The consultant guided us through these and was helpful in fundraising approaches.”
Wheaton’s The New 200 Foundation did not use a consultant.
“Money was tight, and we would rather spend the money on the kids than on a consultant,” said Sherry Bowne, board member of the foundation. “We thought we could do it as volunteers and it would start us off on a better foot credibility-wise in the community.”
Batavia School District Foundation, the oldest in the area, also did not use a consultant. But one of its original founders, Rosalie Jones, has gone on to launch her own business as an educational foundation consultant.
Of those that used a consultant in Du Page, the name Glen Gerard is most frequently mentioned. Gerard spent 26 years working in public education as a teacher, principal and superintendent as well as several years in the business sector before joining Educational Foundation Consultants, which was founded in 1982. The company is headquartered in Williamston, Mich., but has clients in 20 states, including Alaska.
Gerard said one of the things he does for his clients is help them to tap into all the resources for support within their community.
“Not just business and industry, but service organizations, colleges and universities, social agencies, organizations that may work well with their foundation,” he said. “These may not be the same in every district. Lots of different kinds of groups exist in a community, such as volunteer groups, charitable groups, that you can begin to partner with.”
Also, Gerard encourages the school districts to use the foundations as a tool for showing the community what kinds of good things are going on in the schools.
Plus, getting people from the business community involved in the school district makes them aware of the complexities of running the educational system, he said.
