As most of you know, my passion is education... begging people for money, not so much my thing... and yet as we launched into this annual drive campaign this year, I have to say that I took it on as a new challenge.  The economy is struggling and many of our families are feeling the pinch - keeping up with tuition alone seems like a major accomplishment.  It may seem paradoxical, but this reality is the very thing that got me inspired to step back and give this fundraising business the attention it deserves.  Our families are hurting and yet we cannot stop the progress we need to make in terms of increasing teacher and employee salaries.  We cannot put progress on hold while we wait for all to recover and get better.  Our students need for us to continue challenging ourselves as educators and we desperately do want to continue improving the campuses and bringing more technology into the classroom.  Without raising tuition, how are we to meet the needs of our LILA community?  The annual drive represents one way of doing this and a successful campaign helps us now by giving us the funds we need to install overhead projectors in all classrooms, and continue improvements on campus. More importantly, when we can get as close to 100% participation from all our families, we also start to build the track record we need to start approaching companies and foundations. Showing that our families support us increases our chances of getting them to do the same! This is turn could increase our fundraising sources, thereby decreasing our need to approach parents as often. 

If you have not already given... please... take a few minutes and donate.  If times are particularly tough, just give a symbolic amount so that we can count you in our participation statistics and don't be fooled, if all families gave even just a little, those funds would add up and get us that much closer to our goals!

We can all be very proud of what we have accomplished with this drive so far.   As of Tuesday the 26th of January,  the Annual Drive has raised $ 59,674.50 (chart and details below). If you were one of the donors who made this happen - THANK YOU!

However, as impressive as that figure is, that only represents 19% of our parent population and we need to get participation rates up!

Please click the link below... don't put it off!

https://payments.auctionpay.com/ver3/?id=w021242

If you prefer, you can also just add it to your Agreement at the time of enrollment next month and it would help us now and it could be tax-deductible for 2010.

Remember, every penny you give goes directly to YOUR campus!!!!

Please give what you can...  Your kids deserve it!

Le Jazz Hot! If these three words conjure up images of musicians grooving in a smoky 1920s Parisian nightclub, with dancing flappers, and maybe a banana skirt here and there, you’ve got the right idea.

On Saturday, May 22^nd, the Los Feliz, Pasadena, and West Valley campuses will host the 2^nd annual LILA tri-campus Gala, Le Jazz Hot! at the La Cañada Flintridge Country Club, and we look forward to seeing you there!

2009 marked the launch of our first ever multi-campus collaborative fundraiser, and while admittedly this new structure may not have been the most lucrative, it turned out to be the most cost-effective. With one year’s experience under our belts, we are now set to improve our results. 

Proceeds from this year’s Gala will be based on a set model: revenue from auction items will be split evenly between the donating campus and the bidding campus. Guests will have the option of pre-selecting the campuses toward which they wish all their donations to go. For guests whose loyalties lie with more than one campus, the option will be available to list multiple campuses. Therefore, an auction item’s proceeds will be split with 50% going to the donor’s choice of campus, and 50% going to the winning bidder’s favorite campus. After the costs of putting on the event are covered, ticket sales revenue will be shared equally between the three campuses: Los Feliz, Pasadena, and West Valley.

Le Jazz Hot! will feature an open cocktail bar, auctions, a sit-down dinner, live entertainment, and dancing. In order to ensure the success of the event, we are seeking volunteers from all three campuses. Your contribution of your time and talents, however big or small, will be greatly appreciated: you can make a difference and help toward improving your campus!

Next year we plan on hosting the Gala more toward the Valley-side of Los Angeles.  For those of you who have attended events at great venues in that area, we would love your suggestions so we can visit now while choice dates are still available.

To send us your tips, volunteer, and/or find out more information about this year’s Gala, please contact: jazz@lilaschool.com.

After many meetings, dedicated parents on the Events Committee and LILA staff members alike agreed that finding an equitable solution for sharing the proceeds would be key to the success of our first tri- campus fundraising event, “Soirée noir et blanc”, to be held May 17^th. There are five components involved: ticket sales, silent auctions, the live auction, the paddle sessions, and revenue from other sources, such as advertising and donations (both in-kind and cash) to consider.

Many solutions were discussed by the experienced group and we believe that, although maybe not perfect, the following is the fairest and easiest to implement given our resources; it is also the one that will advance our common vision of having a permanent home for our 6^th to 12^th grade secondary students as soon as possible, while giving all northern campus communities an opportunity to fund individual projects on their current campuses.

Ticket Sales and other sources:

The income derived from the ticket sales, as well as any cash or in-kind donations, will defray the overall cost of putting on the event. We are hoping that members of the LILA community will once again generously step forward and donate their services to put on this year’s event. To get the ball rolling, Boulevard 3 (venue) and Petrol Advertising (publicity), both owned by Los Feliz families, were the first to get onboard.  A few years back a group of talented parents from Los Feliz donated the entire delicious menu for their campus fundraiser which was held at Union Station. Wouldn’t it be grand if parents from the Pasadena and West Valley campuses also wanted to join them this year to showcase their own regional talents – for a more diverse audience? Interested culinary masters – please see your campus event coordinator or campus director!

Silent Auctions:

All silent auction proceeds will go to the posting campus’ development fund, no matter with which campus community the winning bidder may be associated.  Due to the amount of space they would require and the drain on other event resources, this year the Silent Auctions will be held mainly online prior to the Soirée. This was done quite successfully on our Orange County campus a few months ago. We have enlisted the services of Giftberry to host four individual websites linked to the www.lilaschool.com site. The main site will be for general information, ticket sales, and for donating the large ticket items necessary for the live auction. Each campus will have their own silent auction site to receive, post, and offer donated items for purchase. Of course, parents and other supporters may visit any of the sites to find those special items they have been looking for.

Live Auction:

During the course of the Soirée, the fabulous Live Auction items will be announced and the enthusiastic bidding will begin! All proceeds from the live auction will go toward our main goal – the purchasing of LILA’s first site, a secondary campus for 6^th to 12^th graders.   This is a common project as students from all three campuses matriculate into the secondary program.  As well, it is important to remember that with each property LILA owns rather than leases, the stronger the entire organization will be, and the sooner all students may also have a permanent home in which to pursue their dream of becoming fully bilingual and bicultural.

Paddle Sessions:

Also at the fundraiser, attendees will have the opportunity to raise their paddle, and raise it proudly, in support of specific projects on their own campus or any of the other campuses. The 100% tax-deductible proceeds from each Paddle Session will be used for “specific immediate needs” on each of the current campuses. When you are on campus this month, keep that in mind! If you would like to suggest a project, contact your campus director. A final shortlist will be compiled and the project(s) that can be accomplished with the anticipated donations will be chosen to be showcased before and during the event. With energetic bidding, the need will be addressed before the start of the 2009-10 school year! Instant gratification, like magic!!!