District Policies

F225 FUNDRAISING & CROWDFUNDING

Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation recognizes that staff and student organizations may need to raise funds to support various educational and other instructional-based initiatives. The Corporation also acknowledges the utility and convenience of online fundraising or crowdfunding/crowdsourcing sites such as DonorsChoose and GoFundMe. When considering what methods to employ when fundraising, students and staff must consider:

Only using crowdfunding sites/services that have at least a three-star rating on Charity Navigator and provide reliable contribution reports; and
Whether the proposed fundraising or crowdfunding site takes a portion of the raised funds or requires fundraising goals be met prior to releasing funds.

Crowdsource fundraising is limited to a maximum of $50,000 or the equivalent per solicitation. All other fundraiser procedures must be followed.

Fundraising and use of online fundraiser/crowdsourcing sites are subject to all Corporation policies and procedures on fundraising generally, as well as the specific requirements for online fundraising below:

All fundraising campaigns must support educational or instructional-based initiatives.
All crowdfunding campaigns must comply with other board policies and applicable laws, including student privacy and anti-harassment laws. Postings may not include a student’s personally identifiable information without parental consent.
No Corporation staff may receive any cash payments for fundraising campaigns (except for reimbursement to teachers for verified reasonable project costs).
Corporation staff must keep and submit, upon request, records of all funds and items obtained to the Superintendent or his or her designee.
Funds and/or property received through fundraising (online or otherwise) becomes property of the Corporation, will be inventoried in the same manner as other Corporation materials and equipment, and will remain in the classroom.
Any item purchased with the funds received is Corporation property and must fit/be compatible with Corporation technology.
If a teacher has obtained educational resources through fundraising and then moves to another school building within the Corporation, the teacher and building principal will work to mutually agree if the materials should follow the teacher to the new building or remain with the original building. The teacher and principal should take into consideration the best interests, curriculum, and grade level of the students at each building.
If the teacher moves to another school corporation, the materials remain in the school building.

Employees who launch fundraising campaigns in violation of this policy do so at their own risk and may not act on behalf of, or hold themselves out as acting on behalf of, their school or the Corporation. Such employees are subject to discipline, up to and including termination/cancellation of employment contract.

The Superintendent or his or her designee may develop administrative guidelines to implement the above policy.