Our primary objectives are to help your school develop a sustainable approach to fundraising and to maximize your fundraising potential. We accomplish this through our special event fundraising program and related services. In our special event fundraising program your families, staff, and board members are invited to participate in a fundraising campaign by sending out pledge letters to people they know and asking for a donation on behalf of your school. This method of fundraising is EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL as it is based on the very simple and effective concept that 'people give to people based on a relationship.' In addition to the actual act of raising money, schools will also incorporate a special event into the fundraising campaign. Our most popular event is our 'Serve-a-Thon' program where everyone associated with your school goes out into the local community and undertakes a variety of service projects on a selected day. Other events include walk-a-thons, 'golf & walk' events, jog-a-thons, and bowl-a-thons.

Candidly, maybe you don't need to hire Cornerstone. Perhaps your school is already maximizing your fundraising efforts and we would not be able to bring any added value to the table. On the other hand, we have worked with many Christian schools that have experienced a 200% to 400% increase in the amount of money raised just by working with us and going through our program. For example, we recently partnered with a small Christian school of approximately 65 students in southern California: for many years they had conducted their own "Race for Fitness" and typically raised about $4,000 to $5,000. In their first event with Cornerstone they raised in excess of $23,000…over a 400% increase! In addition, Cornerstone can also provide guidance on topics such as matching gifts, state registration requirements, and donor development software…topics that all Christian schools should be familiar with.

One of the big advantages of partnering with Cornerstone is that you do not have to reinvent the wheel. Through many events and years worth of experience, we have put together a program that will help you maximize your fundraising potential and reach your fundraising goals.

Our services include:
Planning Team and Leadership Team Campaign Kickoff Meeting – Your Cornerstone consultant will be on-site to lead a motivating 90-minute 'Kickoff' meeting for your Planning Team and your Leadership Team. This meeting will set the vision and goals for your event.

Event Advisor Support – Throughout the planning of your fundraising campaign, your Cornerstone Event Advisor will train, guide, motivate, pray with, and encourage your Planning Team so that your school can reach its fundraising goal.

Campaign Kickoff Dinner Meeting – Your Cornerstone consultant will return to your school to lead another motivational meeting designed to get your constituents excited about raising money for your school and to explain the actual fundraising program!

Teacher's Meeting – Provided it can be scheduled on the same day as the Planning Team Kickoff Meeting, your Cornerstone consultant will give a brief, 30-minute presentation to your teachers and staff on the critical and exciting role that fundraising plays in the life of a Christian school.

3-Week Event Advisor Evaluation – A written summary from your Cornerstone Event Advisor on where things stand and how things are progressing as you enter the last 3 weeks of your fundraising campaign. This is an invaluable tool to that will give your school an honest appraisal of your fundraising efforts and a list of 'action items' so that you can finish strong.

Golf Events – For schools conducting a golf fundraising event, Cornerstone will negotiate all details necessary to secure a golf course. We will coordinate contest holes (i.e. longest drive, closest-to-the-pin) with the golf course, and will donate hole-in-one prizes for up to four par-3s as well as prizes for the contest holes.

...and more

Cornerstone will provide the following materials for your event:
Event Handbooks – Full of ideas and suggestions, the Event Handbooks will help your Planning Team follow the Cornerstone program and maximize your school's fundraising potential.

Master Timeline – A week-by-week timeline designed to keep your Planning Team on track to make sure key tasks are completed on time.

Prayer Timeline – A timeline suggesting specific things to pray for during the course of your fundraising campaign.

Event Materials – Cornerstone will provide all event support materials, including our pledge letter template, in Microsoft Word format. If you choose, we can assist you in editing these materials or you can edit them yourself. The materials will be printed by the school either in-house or at a local printer.

Donor Tracking Spreadsheet – Cornerstone will provide a donor tracking spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel format that you can use to track all donations received by the school during the course of your fundraising campaign. Reports from the spreadsheet can be easily generated to report on: amount raised by student, amount raised by family, amount raised by grade, amount raised by teacher, etc.

...and more

Yes! We refer to these as the 'intangibles.' In partnering with Cornerstone, you will also benefit from the following:

Accountability – The fact is the major task of a Christian school is to teach. Fundraising, while necessary, often ends up taking a 'back seat' to the things that need to be accomplished each day in a school. By hiring Cornerstone, you are conveying to your parents and staff that you are placing a high value on the success of your fundraising campaign. This will lend an immeasurable degree of importance and accountability to the program, which will translate directly into more funds raised for your school!

Experience – Cornerstone's President, Herb Rawling, has been directly and personally involved in more special event fundraising campaigns with Christian schools over the past 7 years than anyone else in the country. Furthermore, Cornerstone has a proven track record of success that shows that most Christian schools will raise 200% to 400% more money by partnering with Cornerstone as opposed to doing an event on their own. And for those schools that have never done a major 'special event' fundraising campaign our value is undeniable as evidenced by our track record of success.

Here's an analogy: most people would not try to build a house on their own. They could if they wanted to. They could go to one of those big box stores, buy and read lots of books, and then start building. And, through trial and error, eventually put up a house. Or they could hire a professional builder. And, in a much shorter period of time, the house will be built with much less effort. Cornerstone serves the same purpose for your fundraising campaign as a builder does for a home.

Your overall net profit will typically range from about 68% to 74%. This includes Cornerstone's fee and all other expenses related to your event (your results may be slightly lower or higher due to a number of factors beyond our control and the type of event conducted). If your school has ever sold candy bars or cookie dough, you know that 68% to 74% is an excellent return as product sales typically have a net profit of only 50% (at best). Here's the important point: In our experience we have found there are two types of people: "consumers" who are primarily concerned about the price and successful business people who instead look at two things. First, can I afford the initial up-front cost and second, what is my ROI…or return-on-investment. To help you make an informed decision, we would be more than happy to discuss our fee structure with any Christian school that is interested in evaluating how Cornerstone can be of benefit to their school.

You can. The question is how successful do you want to be? The reality for most Christian schools is that our experience in the field of fundraising/development will translate directly into more dollars raised for your school even after all of your expenses. Some people will only look at how much we take versus how much they make. Let's go back for a second to the school in southern California mentioned earlier: On their own they raised $4,000 to $5,000. Let's be generous and say they raised $5,000 and had no expenses; in other words their net profit was 100% or $5,000. When they partnered with Cornerstone they raised over $23,000 and had a net profit of approximately 74% or about $17,000 (the 26% in expenses included all fees: Cornerstone's fee, printing, prizes, incentives, food, t-shirts, travel, etc.). So, using the above school as an example, the question becomes: "Would you rather have 100% of $5,000 or 74% of $23,000?"

We agree! As Christians, it is very important that we run our business with integrity, back up our claims, and do what we say we are going to do. That said, one thing we will guarantee is this: If you follow our program you will not lose money. In fact, we are so confident that you will be successful when you partner with Cornerstone that we offer a 100% money-back guarantee on any fees paid to Cornerstone if your school raises less than a certain threshold amount to which we mutually agree (the threshold amount is determined on a school by school basis and is typically based on enrollment and previous results in similar fundraising campaigns).

Interestingly, not true! The Christian schools that Cornerstone worked with last year had an excellent "per student" average in terms of dollars raised. In fact, compared to the "good" economy of five or six years ago, the average amount raised, on a per student average, went up last year! Do you know that "fundraising," broadly speaking, is mentioned as far back in the Bible as Exodus? Exodus 12:35-36 says, "The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The LORD made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for…" The bottom line is that we just have to be faithful in asking and we can leave the rest up to God to move in the hearts of those that will be asked to donate. Giving does not automatically go down in a bad economy. Rather, giving can actually go up if we believe in our cause and are bold in asking.