Evaluation of the 2017 fun run fundraiser

Sawyer Elementary

DATE SUBMITTED: DECEMBER 7, 2017Submitted to: Pat Manucci, Sawyer Elementary Principal & Dr. John Thompson, Boise state University Submitted By: Tara

SElls

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Summary

Sawyer Elementary is a Title One school in rural Idaho. Sawyer Elementary relies on funds from an annual fundraiser to provide opportunities that would otherwise not be possible to the students. The school has held several different fundraisers in the past with varying success rates. For the last ten years, the elementary has relied on the funds raised by the annual Fun Run fundraiser. Within those ten years, there has never been a formal evaluation performed.

The 2017 goal for the Fun Run was to raise $11,000.00. There are financial reports that have provided data which has shown the funds raised over the years, but there has never been data collected from the stakeholders regarding their thoughts and perspectives of the Fun Run. The main purpose for this evaluation was to see if the fundraising goal was met. Beyond that, data was collected from the stakeholders through the use of surveys. The surveys were used to collect data to show the different perspectives of the students, staff, and parents.

The quantitative data collected and reviewed has shown that the current 2017 Fun Run fundraiser did meet the objective and was successful in raising funds for the school to use. The surveys used to collect data from the stakeholders showed that the staff and parents alike felt that the fundraiser was well organized, valuable, and worthwhile. The students enjoyed participating in the Fun Run, raising money, and having the opportunity to earn prizes. The prize the entire school earned by meeting the goal of the Fun Run was watching their P.E. teacher slide into a pile of whip cream. This was a majority of the students’ favorite part of the Fun Run. The school met and exceeded the $11,000.00 goal and raised $18,407.88. The staff and students directly benefited, and will continue to benefit, from the funds earned.

Purpose/Goal

The main goal of the fundraiser was to raise money to use for things like technology, field trips, class projects, and supplies for all grade levels, Kindergarten through 4th Grade. More specifically, this year, the school is saving up for an electronic reader board. The goal was to raise $11,000.00. In order to meet that goal, each individual class was encouraged to raise $300.00 per classroom.

Description of the Program Evaluated

Sawyer Elementary is a Title One school located in a small, rural town in Idaho with a population around 2,000. There is one elementary, one middle school, and one high

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school. The elementary consists of Kindergarten through 4th Grade and the enrollment is currently at 400.

Sawyer Elementary has held several different fundraisers in the past, but this was the tenth consecutive year that the Fun Run took place. The Fun Run fundraiser is the only fundraiser that Sawyer Elementary currently uses. It is held once a year and all the money earned goes directly to the elementary school.

To introduce the Fun Run fundraiser, a few teachers performed a skit in front of the entire elementary and explained everything to the students. Every student was then given a “Fun Run” packet and asked to get donations. There were several different ways for the students to earn prizes. There were prizes for the top grade-level earner, for the top two overall classrooms that earned the most money, for finishing in the top three in the actual run, for every student who raised $75.00, for every classroom that reached the goal of $300.00, and a whole school prize for meeting the goal of raising a total of $11,000.00.

There was a parent committee that met and organized the entire fundraiser. The committee chair met with the principal, Pat Manucci. There were six face-to-face planning meetings that lasted anywhere from one hour to four hours. The planning was cyclical, it happened year-round. The committee spent time and decided on individual student prizes as well as class prizes. The parent committee included parents of students at the elementary. Committee personnel changes occur often so there were trainings that took place for the new parents. The committee sent letters to businesses over the summer before school started. This was necessary due to the fact that some donors had specific windows when they accepted applications for soliciting donations.

Program Components

On the day of the “Fun Run”, the students were asked to wear school colors. Kindergarten students ran a quarter of a mile. 1st and 2nd Grade students ran a half of a mile. 3rd and 4th Grade students ran one mile. There were several parent volunteers who helped block off roads for the duration of the run. Students were encouraged to go at their own pace. There were students who were competitive and wanted to finish first and there were also students who walked the entire way. Teachers ran and walked with the students while several carried a First Aid kit for any injuries sustained along the way. The students began their run at the elementary and the run ended at the track/football field at the High School. At the completion of the race, each student received a plastic water bottle with the school logo on it as well as a snack. The awards ceremony took place directly following the run. All grade levels were seated in the bleachers of the

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football field while prizes were announced and given to every winner of the race and the winners of the different fundraiser prizes.

Program Objectives

The objective of this fundraiser was to raise money to support projects/functions that both the teachers and school want to provide to students that there is no budget for otherwise. Based on the stated objective, the goals for the 2017-2018 school year are:

1. The fundraiser will raise $11,000.00 to support projects/functions and an electronic reader board.

Evaluation Method

The main objective of the Fun Run was to raise $11,000.00. This evaluation followed a goal-based model due to the fact that the model is based on the goals and objectives of the project. It was simple to see if the money goal was met, but both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to measure the different variables of the fundraiser. Quantitative data was collected using the financial ledger. Qualitative data was collected through surveys given to the stakeholders. The results of the qualitative data were used to discover areas of the fundraiser that can be improved and also areas that are successful.

Participants

All students, Kindergarten through 4th Grade participated in the Fun Run. However, the surveys were only sent out to 2nd Grade through 4th Grade students. The survey was completed by 141 students. Parents were integral participants in the fundraiser with roles that varied from helping their child(ren) find sponsors and raise money, to coming and supporting them on the day of the race. The parent survey was completed by 50 parents. Staff members helped by performing the skit, they encouraged and reminded students daily about raising money, and they ran/walked with the students on the day of the run. There were 25 staff members that completed the survey.

Procedures

A meeting was held with the committee chair to go over the financial results of the Fun Run. Surveys, created using Google Forms, were sent out to staff members, parents, and students. Staff members were emailed a link to take the survey electronically. The parent survey was emailed out to every parent who had signed up to receive emails directly from the school for communication purposes. The student survey was originally

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sent out with hopes that the Librarian would administer the survey to all 2nd Grade through 4th Grade students. The school’s computer lab is accessed by the students only during Library, so it seemed to be the most efficient way. Due to unforeseen circumstances, that did not happen due to the Librarian administering other testing at the time. Therefore, the Librarian did not have the time to administer the surveys. Instead, some teachers administered the survey by using their student computers in their classrooms and having the students take it one at a time throughout the period of a few days. Other teachers decided to give it with pencil and paper and then input the data electronically. The entire process of collecting data through the use of surveys took a little over a week and a half.

Data Sources

A financial ledger was kept where all incoming funds were recorded. Spreadsheets were made to record data of the total funds raised by each classroom as well as individual student totals.

All qualitative data collected was done so through surveys. The surveys were a little different for each stakeholder. All surveys focused on how each stakeholder felt about the Fun Run from their perspective. Questions were included in the appropriate surveys to address the students’, staff, and parents’ perspectives on their overall thoughts about the Fun Run.

Access to those surveys can be found using the following links Student Survey, Staff Survey, and Parent Survey. All surveys are also included in Appendix A, B, and C respectively. Results

The results of all the quantitative data was taken from the financial ledger after the completion of the Fun Run. Access to the Financial Ledger can be found here and in Appendix D.

Financial Ledger Results:

The results found in the financial ledger showed that each class met the $300.00 goal with the earnings ranging from $364.00 to $2,239.05 per class. The total earnings that the students brought in was $15,082.88. The entire school was able to watch the P.E. teacher slide into whip cream because they met the $11,000.00 goal. The top two classes brought in $2,239.05 and $1,530.00 and earned the bubble soccer prize. There were 84 students who raised at least $75.00 and earned a milkshake. There were also

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individual winners from each grade level. The individual winner from Kindergarten brought in $296.00, the 1st Grade winner brought in $410.00, the 2nd Grade winner brought in $260.00, the 3rd Grade winner brought in $215.00, and the 4th Grade winner brought in $1,000.00. Those five students earned a day at CircusTrix, which is a place that has trampolines and climbing activities. They also went out to lunch with the P.E. teacher and the principal. Corporate sponsors donated a total of $3,325.00. The final total earned was $18,407.88.

Survey Results: Quantitative data was collected through the use of surveys. Surveys were given to students, staff, and parents. Data was collected after the Fun Run was completed. The complete results of the surveys can be found in Appendix E (Student Survey Results), F (Parent Survey Results), and G (Staff Survey Results).

The results of the student survey showed that 98.5% of students participated in the Fun Run in some capacity. There were 89.4% of students who ran in the Fun Run, 29.8% sold raffle tickets, 31.2% walked, and 1.4%, or 2 students, did not participate at all. Students were instructed to include all that apply.

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A high percentage, 45.6%, of students’ favorite part of the Fun Run was watching their P.E. teacher, Mrs. Windle, slide into whip cream while 21.3% of students’ favorite part was running/walking in the Fun Run. Earning a chance to play bubble soccer was 17.6% of students’ favorite part. Only four students, or 1.9%, chose selling raffle tickets as their favorite part.

There were 87 students, or 62.9%, who strongly agreed that they liked the prizes that were offered this year. Only 5 students, or 3.6%, strongly disagreed. When asked if there was anything that would prevent the students from selling raffle tickets or getting sponsors for the Fun Run, 72.7% of students responded with no and 23.3% said yes. The students were asked if they would change anything about the Fun Run, 74.5% of students responded by saying they would not change anything about the Fun Run while 25.5% said they would.

The first question parents were asked was if they help their child(ren) with the Fun Run in some way. The responses showed that 78.7% of parents do help and 21.3% do not. The parents were asked to rate the overall organization of the Fun Run on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being well organized. 60.4% of parents felt that it was very well organized and zero parents felt that it was unorganized. The staff also felt that the Fun Run was

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worthwhile with 84% of staff members rated it a 5 out of 5. There were also zero staff members that felt it was unorganized.

Parents: Staff:

Both parents and staff members were asked if they knew what the funds were used for or if their classroom had directly benefited from the Fun Run. 62.5% of parents said they knew what the funds are used for while 20.8% said they did not and 16.7% were unsure. Staff members also had a mixed response. 72% of staff members know that the funds have directly benefited them, only 8% responded with no, and 20% were unsure.

Parents: Staff:

Parents and Staff members were asked to rate how worthwhile the Fun Run was on a scale from 1 to 5. 74.5% of parents rated it a 5, 19.1% rated it a 4, and 6.4% of parents rated it a 3. 92% of staff members rated it a 5 and 8% rated it a 4.

Parents: Staff:

Discussion

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The purpose of this evaluation was to see how successful the yearly fundraiser is. The school relies on the funds raised for several projects and programs that would not be possible without these funds. The school had also relied on the fundraiser to help support the cost of an electronic reader board. The school currently uses a board that requires the use of a ladder and manually putting words on the board, letter by letter. It is outdated and not efficient. The Fun Run raised a total of $18,407.88 which was a combination of what students brought in as well as corporate sponsor donations. The proposed projects and programs will be supported by the funds raised. An electronic reader board will also be able to be purchased by the school due to the fact that the school exceeded the monetary goal.

Beyond the monetary goal, surveys were given to the stakeholders involved in the Fun Run. The surveys were used to collect data to show the different perspectives of the students, staff, and parents. The evaluator made the decision to survey only 2nd Grade students through 4th Grade students. This decision was made to try to get accurate results without having to account for Kindergarten and 1st Grade students not understanding questions or the process.

Almost all students participated in the Fun Run in some way or another. Out of the students surveyed, there were only two students who did not participate. A majority of students chose watching the P.E. teacher slide through whip cream as their favorite part of the Fun Run. Earning a chance to play bubble soccer was the second favorite and just running/walking in the Fun Run was third. This shows that the prizes chosen were motivating to the students. It also shows that the students seem to enjoy the running/walking part of the Fun Run, too. Many students said that there was nothing that would prevent them from selling raffle tickets. However, some students said there was a reason. The reasoning included, but wasn’t limited to, their parents wouldn’t let them, they didn’t have time, or they lost their packet. Finally, the students were asked if they would change anything about the Fun Run. A majority said no, but there were several reasons/suggestions from the students as to why they would want the Fun Run to change. Some included wanting more kids to earn prizes, so instead of one top grade-level earning, there would be two and instead of just the top two classes getting to play bubble soccer, there would be four. The overall results of the student survey showed that the students enjoy the Fun Run and a majority enjoy all aspects of it.

Parents played a major role in the outcome of the Fun Run. A majority of parents helped their child(ren) in some way or another by giving money, helping sell raffle tickets, and/or supporting their child(ren) in the race. There were mixed results from parents’ understanding of where the money went to, but many of the parents that didn’t know did not seem to care to know either. Parents felt like the Fun Run was well

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organized and felt like it was valuable and worthwhile. With 50 parents completing the survey, there are several more parents that could have changed the outcome of the survey. However, the results show that the parents feel good about the fundraiser.

The results of the Staff survey were similar to the parent survey. The staff members also play a vital role in the success of the Fun Run. Their daily encouragement and reminders help increase student participation in selling the raffle tickets. Most staff members felt like the Fun Run was well organized. Similar to the parents, there was a mixed review on understanding if they have directly benefited from the funds raised. This is partially due to new staff members not knowing what the funds are used for. All staff members felt like the Fun Run is valuable and worthwhile. The staff survey results were very positive.

At the completion of this evaluation, the data clearly shows that this fundraiser was successful. It was successful on several different levels. First, it met and exceeded the $11,000.00 goal. This money was, and continues to be, vital to the students and staff members at Sawyer Elementary. These funds will directly benefit projects and programs and will allow the school to purchase an electronic reader board. Not only was the program successful, but importantly, students enjoyed it and were very successful in raising money. Also, of equal importance, staff members and parents both felt like it was well organized, valuable, and worthwhile. The Fun Run was well organized and successful, and the results of this evaluation support a recommendation that Sawyer Elementary continues to use this fundraiser to raise money for their school and for their students.

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Appendix A

Student Survey

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Appendix B

Staff Survey

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Appendix C

Parent Survey

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Appendix D

Financial Ledger

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Appendix E

Student Survey Results

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Appendix E continued

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Appendix E continued

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Appendix E continued

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Appendix F

Parent Survey Results

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Appendix G

Staff Survey Results

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Appendix G continued