How Does It Work?
Power for Schools is an innovative alternative to the traditional school fundraising method that asks students to sell products to parents and people in the community. Putting children on the streets to sell products is not safe. And, most parents and school supporters will tell you that they would welcome an end to the annual sales of candy, candles, wrapping paper, magazines, cookie dough and other products they neither want nor need. For many parents, these fundraisers are a financial burden. Power For Schools eliminates the negative aspects of selling products, yet still meets the fundraising goals of schools...
Changing the Face of School Fundraising
Retail Electric Provider Information
In 2009, the Houston Independent School District launched POWER FOR SCHOOLS as a new school fundraising program in our SIGN Up (School Income Generation Network) initiative. The goal of SIGN Up is to provide schools and school organizations with programs that raise money for their activity funds without requiring students to ask parents and school supporters to buy products they neither want nor need.
POWER FOR SCHOOLS allows school supporters to receive excellent electricity rates and support their favorite schools at no additional cost to them or the selected school. The program provides participating electric retail providers with the opportunity to increase their market share and receive recognition for their support of schools.
This is how POWER FOR SCHOOLS works:
- Participating retail electric providers agree to offer their best available rates to school supporters participating in the POWER FOR SCHOOLS program and contribute a defined monthly contribution to the school or school organization designated by the supporter. Names of the electric providers and links to their Websites are provided on the POWER FOR SCHOOLS Website.
- Schools or school organizations that wish to participate in the POWER FOR SCHOOLS program register through the POWER FOR SCHOOLS Website. Each school or organization has an identification number that allows electric providers to track new customers and correctly disperse monthly contributions. Schools promote the program within their communities and direct supporters to the POWER FOR SCHOOLS Website.
- School supporters visit the POWER FOR SCHOOLS Website, www.powerforschools.org, to find information about the program and the participating retail electric providers. After they have selected the electricity program that best fits their needs, they can sign up with the new provider and designate which school will receive the monthly contribution from the provider.
- Each month, the retail electric provider sends one check for the total combined contributions and a spreadsheet detailing the amount each school has earned to the POWER FOR SCHOOLS administrator.
- The POWER FOR SCHOOLS administrator distributes the earned contributions to each participating school according to the information provided by the retail electric providers.
In 2008, the Department of Marketing and Business Development issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) and selected five retail electric providers to participate in the POWER FOR SCHOOLS program. In recognition of the selected providers’ commitment to making the program successful and their willingness to be the “pioneers” in a unique school fundraising program, they received our commitment to grant them program exclusivity for one year. We encourage retail electric providers that are interested in learning more about the program and future participation to contact us.
Contact information: Department of Marketing and Business Development Houston Independent School District 4400 West 18th Street Houston, Texas 77092 800 319-0704 marketing@houstonisd.org
