Jewish educators are frustrated when they can’t afford to buy new laptops, a projector, carts, and other computer hardware and software for the school. How can they close the digital gap between home and school when they have no money to do so?
Here are three ways to boost your school’s budget so that you can upgrade your technology.
1. Ask an angel.
The most successful fund raisers are those who ask their personal contacts for support. Approach the people with whom you work most closely, who believe in your mission, and who want to see you and your organization succeed. That may be a parent, grandparent, congregation member, or board member.
For example, an educator in Boston got a $50,000 grant from a member of the congregation to build a technology infrastructure (hardware, software, blog, social media). Key to the grant is that the new technology serve as a connection point for families throughout the congregation, especially in the pre-school where parents are eager to be part of their children’s school lives even while at work.
2. Hold fundraisers.
Fundraisers can be lucrative, especially if centered around a holiday. For example, at Passover, buy haggadot at a discount and resell them to families, sell Passover candy, or offer wine or flowers for the seder table. At Purim, ask for donated items to raffle at your Purim carnival; at Hanukkah, sell gift wrap or create a school cookbook and sell it to religious school families or the congregation at large. And don’t forget the dependable bookfair, which not only raises money for the school, but helps families build a Jewish library.
A school in Greenfield, Massachussetts holds ongoing fundraising programs in which members and non-members can help raise funds by buying organic coffee and by bringing in empty ink jet cartridges and old cell phones. (This company runs a recycling fundraising program.) A school in Portland, Maine invites members to the synagogue kitchen to bake honey cakes, then sells the cakes as a Rosh Hashanah fundraiser.
A few other ideas: If your synagogue holds bingo or card games to raise money, have a school-sponsored night, where you invite your parent body and the proceeds go to the school. Hold a raffle with tech prizes such as 1st prize: an iPad, 2nd prize: an iPod, 3rd prize: a good set of computer speakers or headphones. Consider adding a Technology Fund to the other synagogue funds to which members can contribute (like the rabbi’s discretionary fund, the prayer book fund, and the yahrzeit fund).
3. Approach other departments in your synagogue.
Let the school committee, Men’s Club, or Women’s Club know thatyou need to upgrade your technology. Do your homework, then make a presentation to them. Present a plan that includes the hardware and software you want to buy, prices, and how you plan to use technology to further your educational goals. For example, you may want to expand student learning time into the home by using a Hebrew series with a digital companion at each level. Make the case that you need to take the school over to the right side of the digital divide.
As an example, this strategy worked effectively in another programming area in a school in Bergen County, New Jersey. In that case, the educator wanted to build a new K-2 family prayer service. She saw a colorful family prayer book as the key to creating a successful program. She had no money in her budget to make the purchase. So she approached her school committee. Two members wrote out a check on the spot, enabling her to buy 110 copies of the siddur.
The same can happen to you. Just ask.
Contact me if you need help choosing the right computer hardware and software for your school.
We can help you find ways to put technology tools in your school 
