Whether your school is new to fundraising or simply busy navigating the school year, you may think you are out of time to conduct a year-end campaign. Don’t skip this great opportunity to boost your bottom line! Approximately 30% of all annual giving occurs in December, and around 10% occurs in the last three days. It’s not too late to launch a year-end campaign. Here are five tips to help you maximize your results.

1.   Cast A Wide Net

Your fundraising efforts shouldn’t stop at currently enrolled families. Consider inviting your broader community to support your school – including local businesses, grandparents, alumni, and community leaders. Ask your staff, volunteers, and school leadership to share campaign news with their contacts by emailing your appeal letter, forwarding school newsletters, and liking social media posts – you may be surprised at who steps up with a gift!

2.   Set A Deadline

Gifts to public charter schools are typically tax-deductible as long as no goods or services are exchanged. Year-end fundraising appeals generally set a deadline of December 31 (or sooner!) to maximize donors’ tax deductions during the calendar year. Set a deadline for your campaign, and be sure to let your families know by what date they need to make their gift. It adds some urgency to the campaign, and they’ll respond in a timely way.

3.   Keep It Simple

Busy parents have so many messages coming at them via email, snail mail, and social media. When writing your appeal letter, be sure to keep it streamlined and simple. A one-page mailed or emailed letter should include recent highlights and a clear request for support. Don’t overwhelm your readers with too many statistics or stories – a few well-chosen anecdotes will go a long way in reminding your parents why they love your school and why they should support it with a gift. 

4.   Ask For What You Need

Do you need help finishing your playground? New microscopes for your science classroom? School supplies for families in need? Or simply general support to make your school stand out as an excellent center for learning? Don’t make your families guess what your needs are – clearly outline what their gift will support and the impact that it will make on your students.

5.   Don’t Forget to Say Thank You

Once your campaign ends, reach out to your donors with a personalized letter to say thank you. It’s a great way to let them know they are valued and appreciated members of your school community. Include your school’s IRS tax identification number and the amount and date of their gift to help them at tax-filing time. And don’t forget to report on the outcome of your campaign on school social media and your website. Your donors – and you – should be proud of the results!

Additional Resources

K-12 Fundraising Tips:
https://www.blackbaud.com/industry-insights/resources/k-12-schools/the-k-12-fundraiser-accelerate-your-back-to-school

Easy School Fundraising Ideas:
https://www.weareteachers.com/fundraising-ideas-for-schools/

Fundraising Letter Writing Tips:
https://doublethedonation.com/fundraising-letters/

School Fundraising Event Ideas:
https://www.signupgenius.com/School/school-fundraising-ideas.cfm

Need fundraising help?

Looking for ways to grow your fundraising efforts? Grow Schools partners with our clients to help them meet their contributed revenue goals and plan for the future. Our fundraising team brings a deep knowledge of designing, launching, and growing fundraising campaigns for schools of all sizes. Interested in learning more? Contact us today and see how Grow Schools can help maximize your fundraising efforts!

About the Author

Mara Winke, CFRE, has over 20 years of experience as a professional fundraising consultant for charter, public and international schools. Mara helps her clients maximize their contributed revenue through campaign strategy and analysis, annual and capital campaigns, grant research and writing, and Board and volunteer training. She enjoys running and reading Scandinavian mysteries and is an avid hockey mom.


Interested in starting a charter school in New York? Read on for some of the history of charter schools in New York, the unique challenges you might face, and the step-by-step plan to begin your charter school journey.
History of Charter Schools in New York

New York became the 34th state to welcome charter schools in 1998, after the passing of the New York Charter Schools Act. In 1999, two charter schools in New York City and one in Albany opened their doors to students. When the law was first enacted, there was a limit of 100 charter new schools and no limit on the number of public schools that could convert to charter schools. Since then, the cap at 100 charter schools has increased to 460. In the 2020-2021 school year, New York charter schools served over 150,000 students. In a state where approximately two in ten children live in poverty, public charter schools are believed to be students’ best shot at making a better future for themselves. Still, charter school success doesn’t come without a fair share of challenges.

Challenges for Charter Schools in New York State

If you’re interested in starting a charter school in New York, you’ll want to be prepared to address these common challenges:

  1. Finding school facilities. Securing school buildings is a costly task for charter schools, and in New York City especially, the number of adequate, affordable buildings is slim. Moreover, securing the proper facilities takes time and money—two resources charter schools often lack.
  2. Lengthy application processes. The application process is rigorous and requires ample planning and details that deter some charter school startups from even starting. Applicants are expected to have educational, organizational, and financial plans in order when applying to authorizers. Charter school startups should also have evidence to prove that the founding group can operate the school effectively.
  3. Lack of resources. Although charter schools are publicly funded, they often receive less funding compared to traditional public schools. Running a charter just like any other school requires funding to provide students with an adequate education. Charter schools in New York are left with no choice but to find federal or foundational grants.
Authorizers of Charter Schools in New York

Authorizers are in charge of approving charter school applications, providing oversight of approved schools, evaluating school’s charter renewal applications, and updating the public with each school’s progress, according to SUNY Charter School Institute. Before you begin the process to start a charter school in New York, you’ll want to know which authorizer you’d like to apply through. New York has three authorizers:

  • The State Education Department (NYSED)
  • The State University of New York (SUNY)
  • The NYC Department of Education

Each authorizer has its specific application process and timeline, so it’s essential to decide which one you want to work with early.

Steps for Starting a Charter School in New York

Are you ready to start your own charter school in New York? If the answer is yes, here’s how you can get started:

  1. Decide which authorizer you and your team would like to work with on your school. Remember, there are three different authorizers in New York. Do your research to find the right fit.
  2. Submit a Letter of Intent to the authorizer of your choice. Authorizers will put forth a Request for Proposals (RFP), and you must respond with your letter of intent. Then, if approved, they’ll invite you back to submit a thorough proposal.
  3. Complete the Capacity interview. Capacity interviews allow authorizers to “ask clarifying questions” to the founding group about their application. If you nail that, you’re one step away from getting approval.
  4. Receive approval from a Board of Regents. Once your charter has been issued, you’re free to start implementing your next steps, such as hiring and opening enrollment.
Examples of Successful Charter Schools in New York

Charter schools in New York aim to reach and educate students in innovative ways that ensure academic success, and many of the state’s charter schools are performing off the charts. Learn more about some of the successful charter schools in New York:

  • Success Academy Charter Schools (New York, NY) have certainly lived up to its name. The charter school network operates 45 schools in New York City, and 20 of their schools ranked on a list of 30 highest-performing elementary schools in the state for the 2018-2019 school year.
  • The Charter School of Educational Excellence (Yonkers, NY) has seen continued success. Test scores reveal that CSEE students outperform traditional public school students on ELA and math exams. The charter school is doing so well that it’s in the process of expanding its campus and adding a high school.
  • The Equality High School (Bronx, NY) highly focuses on academic achievement for its students who predominantly enter the school with low math and reading proficiency. Even with those headwinds, ECS brings its students up to proficiency by their senior year, and the school has an overall graduation rate of 85 percent.
Ensuring Long-Term Success for Your Charter School in New York

Operating a successful charter school calls for preparedness. Here are the best practices observed at high-performing charter schools in the country:

  1. Create a mission statement that embodies academic success. The best charter schools have a clear mission statement that emphasizes academic success and personal development for students. Your mission statement should be easy to follow and understand.
  2. Integrate the mission across school programming. Thriving charter schools don’t only have excellent mission statements, but they embody them. To be an effective charter school, the mission must be implemented in the school’s curriculum, its hiring practices, and more.
  3. Encourage a supportive environment at the school. Meet each student where they are and create systems to help get students back on track. Successful charter schools cultivate a community around caring for their students.
  4. Engage parents and caregivers in the students’ education. Partnering with parents to develop education strategies and be involved in their child’s overall school experience has proved to be a best practice for many successful charter schools. Students with involved parents are more likely to have higher grades and test scores, regardless of a student’s income or background.
  5. Invest in enrollment marketing. Launch social media campaigns, email newsletters, and digital ads to reach your future students. Successful charter schools need successful students, so prioritize your enrollment marketing.
Finding a Building for your New York Charter School

You’ve got your mission statement and everything else to start your charter school, but what about your building? Finding facilities for New York charter schools is a complex, costly task, and funding charter schools in New York can be a challenge. However, New York has passed state law to provide some relief for unhoused charter schools.

In New York City, charter schools often share buildings with other non-charter public schools or are given free public buildings to use. But charter schools have to request rental assistance from the Department of Education when facilities aren’t available. Relying on rental aid isn’t the first option for most charter schools, so securing proper funding is essential for charter school startups. Providing facilities financing is one of our areas of expertise.

Do You See Yourself as a New York Charter School Leader?

Starting and operating a charter school in New York can be challenging and can also be extremely rewarding. However, once you make it past the initial startup hurdle, you can create a brighter and more innovative future for thousands of students.

Get the chance to make a difference in students’ lives by starting your charter school in New York.

 

Free Download: The Charter School Growth Guide: Grow Your School at Every Stage

Whether you’re just beginning the process of starting up a charter school, looking to expand, or trying to prioritize your next steps, this guide is for you.

You’ll find advice from experienced charter school leaders who deeply understand the unique terrain of charter school growth—they have been where you are now. You’ll get tips for you and your team on developing a strong charter, building culture and community support, and boosting your financing and practices to support your growth.

COVID relief funds and school growth

California charter schools have experienced two years of funding hardship. Additionally, schools nationwide have adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic, adjusting nearly everything about the teaching container. There’s been massive changes to the way teaching is done, and the way schools interact with students. Schools have had to invest in technology, train teachers, hire additional staff and make all sorts of adjustments to teach their students safely during this health crisis.

Fortunately, the Federal Government has responded to educators’ needs with school funding relief packages, including The CARES Act, which went into law on Friday, Mach 27, 2020. That legislation included over $30 billion in emergency school funding.

Along with The Cares Act funding, we’ve broken down other funding sources for California charter schools and included strategic recommendations on leveraging those funds.

ESSER Funds

The first source for this founding is Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER I Fund)  The ESSER fund includes approximately $13.2 billion of funding for all states and California’s allocation is $1,6+ billion.

GEER Funds

The second source of emergency funding for schools is the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER I Fund).

The GEER I Fund includes approximately $3 billion of funding for all states, and California’s allocation is $355,227,235. This funding will channel through local educational agencies (LEAs). These emergency relief funds aim to help elementary and secondary schools recover from the impact COVID-19 had and continues to have on their budgets.

LLMF Funding

The Learning Loss Mitigation Funding (LLMF) includes $5,3 billion nationwide, stemming from three different funding sources and allocated to local educational agencies (LEAs). The funds are specifically aimed at supporting student academic achievement and mitigate learning loss related to disruptions in education resulting from the COVID-19 crisis.

(You can read about these funding packages here.)

What Should You Do With These Funds?

These funds are a substantial amount. For some schools, they may represent 20%-30% of their annual revenue. Choosing how to spend this money will be a critical strategic decision for most California charter schools.

First of all, these funds are reimbursable. What that means is that you need to spend them in order to receive them. That’s why it’s crucial to have a spending plan in place.

It’s essential to know these funds are fungible, unlike students. For example, if you’ve been contracting for an educational service or product that is not part of your school, and you’ve been paying that through regular State funding or through receivable sales, you can submit that as an ESSER reimbursable expense. You can use your ESSER funding for any number of expenses to serve your students. (Of course, before you assume an expense is allowed by ESSER, check California guidelines to ensure that you’re in full compliance.)

Spending for Growth

These funds give your school some great expansion opportunities.  You can serve more students, or serve existing students with more programs or upgraded facilities.

Special Programs

If you’ve been hoping to bring in a special program, such as a Hebrew-language program, or a STEM program, and you need to hire educators, allocate infrastructure and buy materials for that, this may be the time to move on that.

A word of caution here: I do recommend that any new programs are deployed as a pilot, setting expectations to a finite length (I suggest one or two years). It is important that this one-time school funding package does not lead you into long-term financial commitments which could become a liability down the line.

Bolstering Infrastructure

This might be the time to invest in your school building. This could include building maintenance. The COVID pandemic brought increased awareness of airborne contaminants. Many schools have responded by overhauling their air-purification systems.

Community Involvement

Getting the community involved in how to use these funds provides an excellent opportunity to build local connections. Consider organizing a town hall meeting with parents and other neighborhood stakeholders to discuss discuss which needs the community feels your school could fulfill. What might emerge could be an after-school program, or the need for school transportation, or other initiatives that might not even be in your line of vision. Allowing the community to participate in this process is a wonderful way to build allies and rally the community in support of your school.

Enrollment Marketing

The most direct way to impact school growth is through continuous and intentional enrollment marketing. As we described in a previous blog post, this is a time to look at your waitlist, ensuring that you have a strong pipeline to keep your rosters healthy with incoming pupils.

Enrollment marketing is a combination of initiatives. This may include collateral, pamphlets, word of mouth, and digital marketing –  and ideally it includes what I like to call your ‘Ground Game,’

Your ground game is composed of initiatives like a standing weekly tour of your school, even including tours in the summertime when your school is not in session. It includes a monthly open meeting with the CEO or the Principal. You can tailor these to your unique style and your school’s needs. The idea is to create opportunities for parents and potential new students to interact with the school, to show transparency, and raise parent confidence in your school’s programs.

Your school should also have solid branding. You should have a unique, recognizable logo that communicates your school’s focus and mission. You should have collateral, brochures and leaflets, and other informational material. With these COVID funds, you have an opportunity to bolster what you currently have – or seize the opportunity to launch a new branding initiative.

Most of all, your enrollment marketing should include a solid, strategic digital marketing plan. This involves several digital channels – it includes website design, email marketing, blogging, Facebook ads, Google ads, and social media marketing. If you happen to be well-versed in these disciplines, all the better. In most cases, it’s best to outsource these marketing efforts to a professional marketing team. This allows school leaders to focus their time on what they do best – serving students.

Charter School Capital offers a pay-for-performance enrollment marketing service. Our knowledgeable team of school marketing professionals brings new students to you, and you only pay based on actual growth. 

Why Focus on Growth?

While these funds are substantial, they’re not a steady revenue stream. It’s vital to channel these funds toward long-term sustainability. Consider that a percentage of your operational expenses are student-specific, while a percentage is a fixed cost. There is a ‘sweet spot‘ where a school’s fixed costs become a low enough percentage of the budget and the school moves into long-term financial viability. In my experience, most California schools should aim for 450 students. Depending on your area, this number could be lower or higher. I encourage you to set a goal for this ‘sweet spot’ and grow your school towards it. These COVID relief funds give you a golden opportunity to do so.

For charter school leaders, the news isn’t heartwarming: States are now collectively projecting spending cuts over the next few years in the neighborhood of $500 billion

As Daerel Bernette II from EdWeek put it, “Almost half of the nation’s 13,000 school districts may be forced to make the deepest cuts to education spending in a generation—slashing programs and laying off hundreds of thousands of administrators, teachers and other staff—to fend off financial collapse brought on by the coronavirus.”

Reduced tax revenues across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic will potentially result in deferrals, delays, and reductions in state payments for charter schools. And states more reliant on tax revenues not connected to property taxes may face even starker choices as taxes from other sources—sales tax as people spend less, tourism taxes as people travel less—dry up.

As charter leaders navigate the next few months, one recent guide post came from Nathan Barrett, the Senior Director of Research and Evaluation at National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. In his brief entitled COVID And Education Finance: Acting During the Impending Fiscal Downturn, he noted…

“The uncertainty and impending fiscal challenges will require careful planning and execution. They will also require the ability to make thoughtful but quick course corrections should fiscal realities fail to meet projections. While all schools will be affected, charter schools are of interest because of their unique position in public education, the policies under which they operate, and the fact that they disproportionally serve students who are potentially at greater risk of disruptions because of the pandemic.”

As we’ve done throughout this crisis, Charter School Capital wants to ensure charter school leaders have the best advice possible. And tomorrow, we will continue that work by welcoming Mr. Barrett from National Alliance for an hour-long webinar to help leaders prepare a charter school safety net.

Joining him will be Ricardo Mireles, Executive Director of the Los Angeles-based charter school Academia Avance, who navigated his charter school through the Great Recession. Our VP of Business Services, Tricia Blum, will host Mr. Mireles and Mr. Barrett. 

Watch this recorded webinar now!

WATCH NOW

bridge to bond

The Bridge to Bond: How to Finance Pre-Bond Facility Expenses

Charter School Capital is constantly innovating solutions to support charters at all stages of growth. As such, we have created a bridge to bond solution to cover up to 100% of pre-bond financing costs, without requiring schools to tap into cash reserves.

In addition to pre-bond financing, our bridge financing solution can be used for debt consolidation, land acquisition, tenant improvements, or mortgage down payments. We offer competitive rates and customized and flexible financing terms to get you the financing you need at a cost you can afford.

WHAT IS BRIDGE TO BOND FINANCING?

This type of bridge financing is designed to help schools with short to mid-term pre-development and development investments needed in advance of long term / permanent facilities financing.

WHAT IS BRIDGE FINANCING USED FOR?

Schools can use funds for a variety of purposes:

  • Land acquisition
  • Permitting / Entitlements
  • Design fees
  • Third-party reports
  • Pre-construction
  • Pre-open marketing expenses
  • Zoning
  • Survey work
  • Working capital

BRIDGE TO BOND BENEFITS: FACILITIES BUDGET VS. SCHOOL REVENUES

Bridge financing allows you to control your development/ construction timeline in order to avoid costly delays:

  • Inconsistent construction timelines
  • Paying additional and unnecessary rent on two locations (old site and new site)
  • Attrition of students and staff due to mistrust, damage to school’s reputation, or lack of (or uncertainty around) facility access

WHY CHOOSE CHARTER SCHOOL CAPITAL?

We are 100% dedicated to your charter school’s success.

Working seamlessly with your other lenders, we’ll get you the financing you need at a cost you can afford. We are proud to offer:

  • 100% financing
  • Competitive Rates
  • Customized and flexible financing terms and conditions
  • Our deep experience working with other lenders

We also proud to offer additional services including:

  • Growth capital
  • Enrollment marketing
  • Facilities financing
  • Advisory services to help you stay on track and achieve your goals

*Loans made or arranged pursuant to a California Finance Lenders Law license ##603F028


Charter School Capital logoSince the company’s inception in 2007, Charter School Capital has been committed to the success of charter schools. We help schools access, leverage, and sustain the resources charter schools need to thrive, allowing them to focus on what matters most – educating students. Our depth of experience working with charter school leaders and our knowledge of how to address charter school financial and operational needs have allowed us to provide over $2 billion in support of 600 charter schools that have educated over 1,027,000 students across the country. For more information on how we can support your charter school, contact us. We’d love to work with you!

LEARN MORE

 

Charter School Capital Client Portal Update

At Charter School Capital, we strive to continuously improve our services and support of charter schools. One reflection of that ethos, was the initial release of the Charter School Capital Client Portal to a select few funding project clients in the summer of 2018. We immediately heard feedback from our school administrators and leaders, that tracking funding projects in the Client Portal provided more transparency and made processing simpler.

Charter School Capital Client Portal
First release of the Charter School Capital Client Portal, summer 2018

While we were happy to see a positive reception, we were also very keen to hear from Client Portal users what they felt was missing or was simply not working.

After reviewing survey responses and sitting down with some school officials for walk-throughs of their experiences, we had a clear path on how to move forward with upgrading the Client Portal to even better support our schools.

The following were the key areas for improvement we heard regarding their experience:

  • Fewer clicks to navigate through each Item
  • More obvious and easy to read instructions
  • The ability to work on multiple projects at once
  • Visibility around closing statements
  • The ability to preview uploaded files

After a few months of hard work across multiple teams, Charter School Capital is pleased to announce our second iteration of the Client Portal this summer. We took all the feedback and are proud to have now delivered a streamlined and modern user interface that allows for simple execution of mass actions across multiple opportunities, consolidated automated notifications for all users, access to closing statements, and best of all, fewer clicks!

Charter School Capital Client Portal
First release of the Charter School Capital Client Portal, Summer 2018

By utilizing more of the page, introducing pop-ups, changing our color palette, and eliminating unused features, we have been able to help our schools and back-office providers (big and small) process funding projects  quickly and with ease.

Charter School Capital Client Portal
‘View by Item’ display of taking mass action across multiple funding projects (Summer 2019)

During a demo of the new release, when asked “What do you think of the changes?”, one of our original pilot users who’s been supportive of the Client Portal, yet vocal about what they’d love to see changed, commented, “I’ve got nothing…you’ve built everything I asked for and more.”

This isn’t the end of the line for our tech team though; the next phase of the Client Portal (currently scheduled for 2020) involves adding even more solution offerings (e.g., facilities or energy projects, etc.) and expanding the archive of closing documents to reduce emails to schools.

We are grateful to all the back-office providers and school administrators who took time out of their busy schedules to offer insight into their Client Portal experience, helping make it a better, more seamless experience for everyone.

 

charter school facilities

Charter School Facilities Program Overview

About Charter School Capital

Working exclusively with charter schools, we measure our success by the number of students we serve. Our team works with all sizes – and types – of charter schools to budget and plan for current needs and future growth – whether your school requires operational capital, growth funding, or facilities expansion. We partner with our clients so they can focus on what’s most important – educating students.

Long-Term Lease Financing

Our lease product allows schools to access funding through all stages of growth – from startup to expansion through maturity. Our transparent lease terms mean that there are no artificial incentives to seek refinancing – another great benefit. As a long-term partner, our team carefully evaluates each school’s unique operation to help them determine the revenue that can be committed to supporting facilities.

Benefits of Long-Term Lease Financing

  • Finances 100% of your total project cost
  • Retain control of your facilities
  • Enhancements of existing buildings and ground-up construction
  • Ensures long term affordability
  • Tenant improvements included in the financing
  • Customized to school specifications (blended learning model, traditional, etc.)

Charter School Capital Facilities Program Overview

As part of our ongoing support of charter school growth, our Facilities team assists charter leaders in finding appropriate real estate, providing long-term lease financing as well as managing leases and facilities development. We are building our portfolio specifically with charter school properties in order to service a niche market with niche needs. We currently own 42 school properties in 11 states, more than $350 million in assets.

Financing Approval Criteria

Our experienced team will support you every step of the way and answer any questions you may have.

  • Experienced school leadership
  • Proven and consistent track record of operational success
  • History of good academic performance
  • Stable or increasing enrollment
  • Strong community demand (student waitlists, expanding grades)
  • Sound financial performance
  • Lease payment target that’s less than 20% of total revenue
  • A healthy relationship with the school’s authorizer
  • Solid and engaged Board of Directors

Download the PDF of this content here.

DOWNLOAD


The Ultimate Guide to Charter School Facility Financing:
Thinking about a new facility for your charter school or enhancing your current one? This guide shares straightforward and actionable advice on facilities planning, financing options, getting approved, choosing a partner, and much more! Download it here.

GET THE RESOURCE

 

Charter School Finances

Charter School Finances: Budget Best Practices

Since the opening of Charter School Capital 10 years ago, we’ve reviewed thousands of charter school budgets. Year after year, we see common mistakes many charter schools make when budgeting for their academic year. So, we’re sharing some budgeting best practices to help you have a financially successful academic year—whether your school is growing student enrollment, expanding facilities, or implementing new educational programs. Don’t just survive – thrive!

 Start Up School

  1. Start with a petition budget
  2. Pay close attention to your budget and then map out your priorities for the year
  3. Have a plan and show all costs (in each stakeholder’s area) frame the proposed budget
  4. Build a budget that includes everything on your wishlist, then prioritize (with all stakeholders)
  5. Plan for surprises by having a budget surplus to cover unexpected costs
  6. Lay the foundation for your annual budget, but plan for regular updates

Growth / Mature School

    1. Start with a baseline budget, based on previous year
    2. Pay attention to how enrollment projections directly affect revenue
    3. Actively manage your cashflow: financing, receivables, payables, etc.
    4. Understand your accounts payable and vendor relationships
    5. Strategically partner with external service providers and keep them in the loop

Tip: Creating a wholistic and realistic view on what’s affordable (and what’s not) helps all stakeholders get on the same page, building a solid frame of reference for future budgets.


Cash Flow Planning

  • Which attendance metric drives your revenue?
  • What revenue is monthly, quarterly, or more variable?
  • What happened in prior years with regards to timing of payments?
  • Which costs are fixed monthly and which vary?
  • Communicate with your vendors to plan your accounts payable according to your budget ebbs and flows
  • Financing: Note timing of inflow from your financer and outflow timing for payments (balloon payments, etc.)
  • Receivables: Map out timing of state payments and how that timing affects your cashflow

Revenue Factors to Consider

  1. Free and reduced price lunch:  Correlate to your fundraising needs
  2. Track and understand your fundraising families and need for per-student fundraising goals
  3. Restricted grants: How were they intended to be spent and what programs are reliant on them?
  4. Have a plan for the sustainability of institutional fundraising and the programs it supports

Spending Trends to Be Mindful of

  1. Salary scale changes: Your area’s unemployment rate, demand for teachers, increasing salaries
  2. Retirement benefits: Compare offering a defined contribution plan to a defined benefit plan
  3. Textbooks and technology: Do you need to renew or change your school’s to stay current?
  4. Be mindful of facility cost increases (interest rates, exemption laws, etc.) Plan how to fund updates

Budget Safeguards

  • Review salary scale changes with the future in mind
  • Consider non-financial perks for your employees: recognition, flexibility, career paths and professional opportunities, etc.
  • Have an equipment/technology plan to budget for upgrading or replacing your technology infrastructure
  • Plan new any construction needs, identify your maximum enrollment, and set a facilities reserve fund
  • Set target fund balance and target cash balance
  • Have an annual Board of Directors discussion on your school’s long-term initiatives, with a focus on your mission

Click here to download this resource in PDF format.


Over the past decade, we’ve reviewed thousands of charter school budgets and helped guide countless schools through their charter school financing processes. Year after year, we see many charter schools make the same mistakes when budgeting for the academic year. To help you achieve your goals, we’ve put together this informative and thorough guide to share best practices and call out common pitfalls to avoid.
It covers:
• Planning for long-term financial health
• Implementing best practices for achieving buy-in and setting internal controls
• Understanding key financial metrics to watch
• Utilizing tips on cashflow planning and more!
Download it now and get the tools to be more strategic about your budgeting practices!


GET THE RESOURCE

 

charter school due diligenceCharter School Due Diligence: The Added Value of Partnering with Charter School Capital

At Charter School Capital, our mission is to help charter leaders access, leverage, and sustain the resources their schools need to thrive, allowing them to focus on what matters most – educating students. In addition to the extensive toolbox of solutions we provide to help charter schools thrive, another key benefit of partnering with us is the value added by our in-depth due diligence process. We hope that our thorough process can be utilized as just another set of eyes in support of the important work that Authorizers, back office providers, and financial managers are already doing to support charter school success.

Due Diligence

Many of the items we are reviewing in the due-diligence process (to make sure that schools are in compliance with our funding requirements) actually may overlap with the compliance that they have to maintain with the State, their Authorizer, financial manager, or back office provider. This comprehensive due diligence process is just an added benefit that our school partners (and back office providers, authorizers, financial managers) are receiving for free, as partners of Charter School Capital.
That’s not to say that we are focused on highlighting what schools are doing wrong, but rather we’re always solution oriented. Our goal is to help them figure out ways to bring them back into compliance if for some reason an issue has gone unattended.
Another important service that we provide our school partners—at no additional cost— is financial guidance.

Finances

School leaders are experts at educating students but may not always also possess that same expertise around budgets, finances or working with cashflows. But because it’s one of our requirements, we’ll work together with them at no additional cost, to build that out. Once developed, this helps schools foster an understanding of the consistent cash flow they’re striving for because they can now actually see it month by month. This process helps school leaders become more strategic about budgeting and avoid the short-term mistakes that can lead to unintended long-term consequences.

Corporate Governance

We can also provide guidance in various corporate governance areas. For instance, when a school schedules a board meeting to approve various matters or Charter School Capital documentation, the school must meet all open meeting requirements such as notices, quorums and voting requirements. These requirements can be imposed by the Authorizer or by the school itself via its bylaws. As part of our diligence, Charter School Capital reviews all of the conditions and ensures that the requirements are fully and timely met. We can also brief the school on any open meeting requirements that may be governed by State law.
Our team also tracks the school’s charter holder’s corporate status, including State good standings, annual reports, and lapsed entity formation filings. While we cannot file corporate documentation on behalf of the school or charter holder, we can provide reminders when a filing is due or has lapsed.
Ensuring that the school’s charter holder remains in good standing is one of our most important underwriting objectives.
Finally, as part of our standard due diligence, we run various searches that might reveal new or old liens or judgments that the school may not be aware of or have not been timely satisfied. In most cases, these liens collect interest until paid. We can guide the school in how to get the liens or judgments removed, or, in some cases, satisfy them out of the funding proceeds.
These in-depth due diligence processes we have in place for our school partners can also be seen as a value add for Authorizers, back office providers, and financial managers. Providing these additional services to our charter partners is 100% in service to our mission of providing charter leaders with the critical resources they require to spur growth and build more sustainable futures for their schools.


Charter School Capital logoSince the company’s inception in 2007, Charter School Capital has been committed to the success of charter schools. We help schools access, leverage, and sustain the resources charter schools need to thrive, allowing them to focus on what matters most – educating students. Our depth of experience working with charter school leaders and our knowledge of how to address charter school financial and operational needs have allowed us to provide over $1.8 billion in support of 600 charter schools that have educated over 1,000,000 students across the country. For more information on how we can support your charter school, contact us. We’d love to work with you!

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charter school facilities financing
 

Your Ultimate Guide to Charter School Facilities Financing

If you clicked from somewhere to read this blog post, you probably already feel that finding charter school facility financing finding or locating the perfect facility for your charter school is a huge, complicated undertaking. Not to worry, you’re in good company. We understand that most charter school leaders aren’t financial or real estate experts, and for a good reason—you’re focused 100% on educating children. And, you want the best for them. Planning and financing any facility project is complex, time-consuming, and has the potential to distract your team from its core mission: serving your students.
Across the U.S., accessing charter school facilities is, by far, the greatest challenge faced by charter schools. In addition, planning and financing any facility project is complex,time-consumingg, and has the potential to distract your team from its core mission: serving your students.
We’ve created this manual to share our insights and perspectives on the charter school facilities landscape market and also share advice on planning—and realistically balancing—your team’s facility dreams with budget realities.
In it, we also cover the four primary funding structures that charter schools use to finance facilities: cash, banks, bonds, and long-term leases.
It can indeed be a complicated endeavor and that’s a key reason as to why it’s so important to find the right funding partner to help guide you through the process and help you succeed. Charter School Capital is 100% dedicated to charter schools and has years of experience in navigating the unique needs and challenges they face. We have helped schools achieve their facility goals using each of those methods—and we’ll help you determine which options might be the best fit for your school’s unique situation.
Over the past ten years, we’ve invested almost $2 billion in more than 600 charter schools to help them grow, finance facilities, and achieve academic excellence and operational stability. We view ourselves as a long-term partner of charter schools and a strong advocate of the charter school movement.
Download this free guide to get all of your facilities questions answered!
In it, you’ll get straightforward, actionable advice on:

  • Facilities planning
  • Financing options
  • Getting approved
  • Choosing a partner
GET THE RESOURCE

Charter School Capital logoIf you are trying to meet operational expenses, expand, acquire or renovate your school building, add an athletic department, enhance school safety/security, or even buy new technology, complete the online application below and we’ll contact you to set up a meeting. Our team works with you to determine funding and facilities options based on your school’s unique needs and mission. Contact us, we’d love to get to know you.