Reviewed by Randy B. Lichtman for Readers' Favorite

Have you ever been a parent volunteer or member of a non-profit organization looking to raise money? If you ever do, Cathy McGough’s 103 Fundraising Ideas for Parent Volunteers with Schools and Teams is an excellent starter book. Even though the greater part of the book consists of laying out different ways to raise money through events and important logistics that need to be considered, the first part of the book is especially valuable for those who have not been involved in fundraising activities before. Part 1 discusses important organizational considerations including a budget, permissions, building a team, planning, finding volunteers, leadership, publicity, websites, serving alcohol, timing, agendas, surveying customers and much more. It addresses important elements of forming that team and organization, sometimes the hardest part of planning an event. If you have the right team of volunteers and plan it well, there is a greater possibility of success with your activity.

Part II presents the 103 ideas, some involving more logistics than others. For a school or non-profit wanting to plan and implement a fundraiser, the book offers a wide variety of ideas which can be considered. Sometimes the chapters are very brief and highlight only main logistics, some are in greater detail. In the first idea, Trivia Night, it goes into much detail with information on people, a sample letter, developing a list of corporate/institutional donors, asking for donations, and other areas which can be applied to many of the ideas throughout the book. The usual suspects such as Bake Sales, Halloween Parties, Book Sales, Casino Nights, and Karaoke Parties are there. But there are many more unique ideas in this book that most schools and non-profit organizations would not think of when looking for a fundraiser, and so it provides a resource of great ideas and ways to implement them.

I was very impressed with this book and the amount of information covered. This is a wonderful source of information on planning events and deciding on the right event for the organization. So next time you are looking to raise money for your school or organization, don’t go with the usual—take a look in Cathy McGough’s book and consider new ideas that will excite the community.