­
Review: The Fundraising Handbook by Lindsey Marsh — ICT & Computing in Education
  • Front Page
  • Search
    • Digital Education
    • Terry Freedman's Books Bulletin
  • RSS
    • Welcome
    • The "About" Page
    • Testimonials
    • CV/Resumé
    • My Writing
    • Published articles
  • Corrections Policy
Menu

ICT & Computing in Education

Articles on education technology and related topics
  • Front Page
  • Search
  • Newsletters
    • Digital Education
    • Terry Freedman's Books Bulletin
  • RSS
  • Info
    • Welcome
    • The "About" Page
    • Testimonials
    • CV/Resumé
    • My Writing
    • Published articles
  • Corrections Policy

Click to see this book on Amazon (affiliate link)

Review: The Fundraising Handbook by Lindsey Marsh

December 2, 2022

Terry Freedman discovers a book with a wealth of useful information that’s sadly hard to navigate

One of the chief banes of my life as a head of computing in a comprehensive school was acquiring enough money to develop the subject and to improve the experience of using education technology for everyone across the school. My experience is not unique, of course. The same lament is heard from teachers and subject leaders across the land, and the ever-present budget constraints have only made the situation more challenging.

That’s where this book comes in. I only wish it had been available when I needed it most.

Lindsey Marsh’s book has much to like. It is fantastically comprehensive, and sometimes imaginative, with a wealth of ideas and suggestions for topping up the coffers. For those who still hold on to the idea of fundraising as holding a raffle, running a tombola and selling cakes at the summer fete, The School Fundraising Handbook will soon have you rethinking how to generate cash. Indeed, there’s enough in these pages to challenge even the more creative fundraiser to raise their game.

The book follows a logical structure, most chapters containing ideas for activities, followed by suggestions about how to pay for them or make money from them.

Some of it is about rethinking those events that might at first glance appear to be a loss, such as author visits. A visiting writer deserves to be paid, but if you can get together with other schools and charge parents a small amount towards the cost, you could make a small profit. Running a breakfast club is obviously going to cost money, but the price you charge to attend should cost parents less than the services of a childminder, and could be an attractive proposition for all involved.

Unfortunately, the book is far from perfect

But there’s plenty of other practical advice too, such as how to complete grant applications and what to consider when planning a school trip or residential visit. In addition, there are lots of useful websites cited, and the preponderance of bullet points will gladden the busy teacher or school leader. Although the book is quite long, at over 200 pages, it is very accessible. There are even a few pages for notes at the end of the book.

Unfortunately, the book is far from perfect. There are plenty of problems, but none that a second edition couldn’t easily fix.

First, as an ICT and computing specialist, I’m pleased with the amount of space devoted to various aspects of ed tech. However, other subject specialists may feel they have been given short shrift, and over-reliance on technology to save money has its problems too. Without proper consideration, it can be symptomatic of short-termism which can turn out to be costly in its own right, long after the cost of implementation is considered.

Second, there is no index. Many of the chapters are devoted to one particular aspect of school life, and organisations and their websites are provided in the most appropriate locations in the book. However, some of these could easily be useful across a number of contexts, and such a huge amount of information needs as many tools as possible to help readers find their way around the book.

Third, it’s wonderful that so many websites are included, but copying a long URL from page to browser address bar is never pleasant. A URL shortener, or clever use of QR codes, could have made for a much easier user experience.

Fourth, and at the risk of sounding pernickety, I was surprised to find that the section on author visits makes no mention of the Society of Authors, which maintains an online directory of authors who are willing to visit schools, along with advice on running author visits. It’s a strange omission that begs the question of gaps in research in other areas.

Overall then, this a fantastic resource – a superb repository of suggestions, resources and practical tips – that could have been made much stronger with some astute editing, and more thought given to the user’s navigation.

This review first appeared in Schools Week.

In Bookshelf, Reviews Tags Review, fundraising
← Review: YEAR ONE: Lighting the path on your first year in teachingFake news? →
Recent book reviews
Review: Social Media for Academics
Review: Social Media for Academics

This book is very readable, and if I sound surprised that is because it’s not always true of academics!

Read More →
Quick looks: VIBE Coding by Example
Quick looks: VIBE Coding by Example

For the time being, this book is free in Kindle format.

Read More →
Review: The Game Changers: How Playing Games Changed the World and Can Change You Too
Review: The Game Changers: How Playing Games Changed the World and Can Change You Too

Despite the relative paucity of immediately obvious National Curriculum links, teachers will find several of sections of this book to be highly engaging.

Read More →
Review: The Dictators: 64 Dictators, 64 Authors, 64 Warnings from History
Review: The Dictators: 64 Dictators, 64 Authors, 64 Warnings from History

In some respects one could view this book as a single warning repeated 64 times.

Read More →
Review: The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker: A History of the High Street 
Review: The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker: A History of the High Street 

Taking readers from the Middle Ages to (more or less) the present day, Gray charts how the places where we do our shopping and what we buy have changed over the centuries.

Read More →
Review: Extraordinary Learning For All
Review: Extraordinary Learning For All

As a source of potential ideas and inspiration, the book could be very useful indeed.

Read More →
Review: Bad Education: Why Our Universities Are Broken and How We Can Fix Them
Review: Bad Education: Why Our Universities Are Broken and How We Can Fix Them

One has the impression that the main role of the university these days is to maximise profit, while that of the majority of teaching staff is to ensure the ‘correct’ views are passed on to students. All the while, students’ main concern seems to be to seek protection from anything that might make them feel unsafe.

Read More →
Review: Next Practices - An Executive Guide for Education Decision Makers
Review: Next Practices - An Executive Guide for Education Decision Makers

Is a 2014 book on managing the computing provision in a school still worth buying?

Read More →
Still relevant (sadly): How to lie with statistics, by Darrell Huff
Still relevant (sadly): How to lie with statistics, by Darrell Huff

Although this book is over 60 years old, it is remarkably apposite for our times -- and especially in the fields of educational research and assessing pupils' understanding and progress.

Read More →
Quick looks: Bad Education: Why Our Universities Are Broken and How We Can Fix Them
Quick looks: Bad Education: Why Our Universities Are Broken and How We Can Fix Them

It was a great source of pride to me, getting hundreds of students through their A levels and encouraging them to go to university. But for some time I have asked myself a question: would I recommend this route now?

Read More →
Dig+Ed+Banner.jpg

Contact us

Privacy

Cookies

Terms and conditions

This website is powered by Squarespace

(c) Terry Freedman All Rights Reserved