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HBCC-AP: Advertising & Fundraising

PURPOSE

The purpose of the Advertising and Fundraising Policy is to encourage community partnerships that strengthen and enhance school programs and create a climate of participation and cooperation between community organizations, private citizens, and the district’s schools through:

  1. Sharing resources that benefit students and improve educational programs.
  2. Involving the schools and the private sector in cooperative efforts that enhance the quality of education for students at all levels.
  3. Protecting students, parents, teachers, and school administrators from over- commercialization and fundraising efforts that are exploitative, coercive, disruptive to the education process, threatening to the health and welfare of students, or lacking in educational merit.
  4. Implementing a smooth and orderly procedure that provides financial transparency and accountability whereby schools and communities can cooperate and share resources.

PRINCIPLES

The principles that shall guide the District in reviewing requests for advertising and/or fundraising are the following:

  1. Advertising and fundraising are permitted within the District to allow individual schools and programs to raise additional funds to augment academic and co- curricular programs and to engage private citizens, business and community organizations in elevating the education and opportunities of the district’s students.  While not prohibited, proposals from/for individual staff members will be held to a higher level of scrutiny to ensure an equitable educational experience remains intact.
  2. All advertising and fundraising activities must be consistent with the mission, policies, and ethical principles of the District.
  3. All forms of fundraising, including those conducted via a social media platform or crowdfunding site, are subject to all regulations outlined in this policy.
  4. The District recognizes that donations and fundraising efforts and results may vary between schools.  The District is, however, committed to appropriate distribution of unrestricted funds and the management of fundraising/donations to assure that the educational opportunities of all its students are reasonably similar and in compliance with applicable legal standards.  In addition, once a school receives a monetary donation, the funds are deemed public money and may not be used in a manner that results in the disproportionate provision of athletic opportunities to one gender through the guise of outside funding.
  5. The District will provide a healthy environment for appropriate fundraising by promoting student safety, reducing the pressure placed on students and decreasing the prospect of excessive or duplicative solicitation of funds.
  6. Products and services that are advertised or sold must be age appropriate.  In no instance shall the District permit advertising or advertising images for alcohol, tobacco, drugs, drug paraphernalia, weapons, pornographic, or illegal materials.
  7. Advertising on district property for educational-related activities, for recognition of partnerships, and/or for commercial reasons must not disrupt the learning environment and, therefore, must be non-intrusive and limited.  Where such advertising is at a school, the principal or designee is responsible for approving all advertising, fundraising, sponsorships and partnerships.
  8. The inclusion of advertising in district publications, facilities or on district property does not constitute approval and/or endorsement of any product, service, organization or activity.  Approved advertisements will not imply or declare such approval or endorsement.

GUIDELINES FOR ADVERTISING

School publications, including publications such as programs and calendars, may accept and publish advertising provided they receive advanced approval from the building principal or program directors.

  1. Advertisements may be rejected by the principal or program director or designee if determined to be inconsistent with this policy, the educational objectivities of the District, or inappropriate for inclusion in the publication.
  2. The faculty advisor or designated staff person is responsible for screening all such advertising for appropriateness, including compliance with District policy, and submitting proposed advertisement copy to the principal or program director for approval.
  3. Advertisements shall be deemed inappropriate if they meet any of the following criteria:
    1. Attack ethnicity, race, religion, or other class protected by law;
    2. Contain demeaning or disparaging language
    3. Promote violence, terrorism, or other illegal activities, including, but not limited to, tobacco, drug, and/or alcohol use by minors;
    4. Are obscene or pornographic as defined by community standards;
    5. May substantially disrupt the educational environment;
    6. Pose a direct threat to the safety of students;
    7. Infringe on the rights of students including, but not limited to, material that is potentially libelous or invades privacy; or
    8. Have a political purpose defined as any activity undertaken in support of or in opposition to a statewide initiated or referred measure, a constitutional amendment or measure, a political subdivision ballot measure, or the election or nomination of a candidate to public office.

The Superintendent or designee may approve advertising in district facilities or on District property.

  1. The approval will state precisely where such advertising may be placed and the length of time it may be displayed.  Advertising will not be allowed outside the specific areas designated by the Superintendent.
  2. The specific advertisement, content, format, measurements, placement and display duration, if applicable, must be approved in final written form by the Superintendent or designee.  The Superintendent or designee shall reject any advertisement deemed inappropriate in accordance with the criteria above.

The following shall apply to all advertising:

  1. The advertising rate shall be established by the District and shall be agreed to in writing prior to placement of advertising.
  2. Donations that include or carry advertisements must be approved by the building principal or superintendent or designee.
  3. The District may acknowledge a donation that it has received from an organization by displaying a “donated by” or “sponsored in part by” or a similar by-line with the organization’s name and/or symbol on the item.
  4. Any advertising contract for a term longer than one school year requires the approval of the Board and must contain a provision allowing for contract termination in future years.

GUIDELINES FOR FUNDRAISING

Schools, or students with approval, may engage in fundraising efforts to enhance:

  1. Academic programs
  2. Travel incidental to academic study, athletic, or performance competition
  3. Sports and other related physical education and recreation programs
  4. Occupational development of students
  5. Performance opportunities
  6. Improvement of facilities and equipment that will enhance student opportunities and programs
  7. Student initiated community/humanitarian projects

The following shall apply to all fundraising activities:

  1. All proposed fundraising projects must be submitted in writing to the principal before any fundraising activity begins.  The principal is responsible for evaluating the proposal against this policy to determine whether or not the project is allowable under District guidelines.
    1. All fundraising projects with a goal of purchasing technology must also receive written approval from the Director of Technology.  All fundraising projects with a goal of purchasing furniture or fixtures must receive written approval from the Director of Buildings and Grounds in addition to the principal.
  2. Approved projects should be scheduled throughout the school year to avoid conflict, confusion and excessive fundraising pressure.
  3. Participation in non-approved fundraising activities shall be considered a violation of District policy.  At the discretion of the principal, any funds raised may be required to be returned to donors.
  4. General supervision will be under the direction of the principal with specific supervision by a member of the faculty appointed by the principal for such purpose.
  5. Faculty and student participation in fundraising shall be strictly voluntary.
  6. Participation in fundraising may not impact a student’s grade.
  7. Students shall not be required to participate in fundraising activities as a condition for belonging to a team, club or group, nor shall a student’s fundraising effort affect his/her participation time or standing on any such team, club or group or other activity the fund raising supports.
  8. Building principals must approve the awarding of rewards or prizes to groups, classes or students participating in any fundraising activity.  Competitive enticements for participation are, however, discouraged.
  9. Schools may not impose sales quotas (or the like) as a part of fundraising efforts and students shall not be required to pay for any unsold items that are returned to the school.
  10. Door-to-door sales are prohibited for all students in elementary and middle schools in the District. High school students are exempted from this prohibition, but suitable procedures must be used by the schools, administrators and supervising faculty to safeguard students who are going door-to-door.
  11. Schools shall account to the District, parents, students and donors for all fundraising efforts, providing accurate reporting on participation levels and financial outcomes. The District may audit the records of all fundraising activities.
  12. Non-school sponsored groups are those entities whose membership is other than students and staff participating in curricular, co-curricular, or extracurricular activities.  Non-school sponsored groups include, but are not limited to, booster groups, the PTO/PTA, and other parent groups.  These groups are required to obtain their own tax identification number and manage and account for all monies raised.  No employee of the district is authorized to sign checks on behalf of non-school sponsored groups.  The District disclaims any liability for non-school sponsored group fundraising activities.  Materials that advertise non-school sponsored group fundraising activities may be placed in the school office or other locations identified by the principal or designee.
  13. Student-initiated community/humanitarian service projects are acceptable forms of fundraising under this policy but must receive the prior approval of the principal or Superintendent.

ACCOUNTING

Advertising and fundraising revenues must be accounted for and the building principal, program director or faculty advisor shall be responsible for complying with all requirements and timelines set forth by the district business office in accordance with NDCC 15.1-06-15.

Adopted: 07/29/16

Reviewed:

Revised: