School foundation promises to collaborate

Des Moines school officials pledge public openness in the way money is raised and spent by a districtwide foundation that aims to raise what bake sales, car washes and concession stands do not.

They also say they will collaborate, rather than compete, with high school foundations whose leaders have expressed concern about the broad-reaching foundation.

The number of public school foundations is growing nationwide as districts turn to professionals to help raise money. About 150 districts in Iowa have them, said Jim Collogan of the National School Foundation Association in Des Moines. Collogan will help the Des Moines district form its new fundraising arm.

The foundation will be a success, he said, if it raises $15 to $20 per student, or about $450,000 per year. The most common ways to spend the money are for small grants for teachers, technology and scholarships.

The Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools in Nebraska was born in 1989 to help a district similar to Des Moines. Lincoln schools in 2006 received more than $1.7 million, which paid for things from field trips to scholarships.

Giving USA, an annual yearbook on philanthropy, reported that educational institutions at all levels received an estimated $33.8 billion last year, an increase of 2.7 percent. The gain followed three straight years of declines. The ups and downs appear to closely mirror the rise and fall of the stock market, according to the group's report.

In Iowa, university foundations have been criticized for their lack of openness and the way they protect donor identities and amounts.

A lawsuit against the Iowa State University Foundation in 2002 ended up in the Iowa Supreme Court, which in 2005 ordered the foundation to open its records to the public. The Legislature in 2006 passed an exception to the law that allowed some donor information to remain confidential.

Patti Schroeder, the Des Moines district's chief financial officer, and Collogan said this week that they plan to be open and honest about where the money comes from and where it goes.

Details about how the foundation reports income and expenditures will be ironed out this summer.

Schroeder said the foundation will be governed by an independent board of directors, but "at least on an annual basis" will report to the school board. Collogan said annual reports and audits are just a few things he recommends to "keep foundations out of the doghouse and make reporting clear and transparent."

Collogan said that in most cases donors can remain anonymous if they wish, but only 15 percent to 20 percent ask to.

The school board this week approved a foundation for all grades. The vote was 3-2, with two members absent. Members Connie Boesen and Ginny Strong voted no. They said they prefer a preschool-through-eighth-grade foundation that would not compete with long-standing high school fundraising groups, leaders of which met in December to discuss the issue.

Skip Timmons of Des Moines' Lincoln High School Alumni Foundation - established in 1992, it has given out $170,000 in scholarships - said the high schools currently don't compete because they solicit their own alumni. He said he hopes a districtwide effort will stick to corporations and other sources and won't confuse alums with overlapping requests.

"I agree this is needed for K-8 for elementary schools' basketball programs, music, drama and all the other activities they have," Timmons said. "But if the same alumni are solicited by another foundation districtwide, I'm afraid there's going to be a lot of confusion among alumni about, 'Who do I give to?' "

Foundations operate at every Des Moines high school except Hoover, where the idea is in the works.

Steve Sikkink, president of the Central Campus foundation, said collaboration is key.

"It will be important to coordinate fundraising efforts so we're not frustrating the community with multiple requests," he said. "I'm not sure how we accomplish that. It will require clear communication, and clarifying for everybody what it is that each individual foundation is trying to accomplish, and what areas overlap, so we can sit down and work those out."

Reporter Megan Hawkins can be reached at (515) 284-8169 or mehawkins@dmreg.com

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