Redirecting School Directories

There's money to be raised in lists of student names
ROB VARNON rvarnon@ctpost.com

Like ancient beggars calling out for alms, the kids for area schools, clubs and teams stake out the entrances of area grocery stores on many weekends trying to raise money for trips and equipment.

It's becoming more prevalent, said Bridgeport resident Gene Haba Jr., as school districts cut funding for more activities. But it's creating some backlash as students and parents go out into the community more often to raise money, Haba said.

The problem has spread across the country and even garnered a catchy name, "fundraising fatigue."

But Haba thinks he found a partial solution to the problem about four years ago. He created a Yellow Pages-like directory for St. Ann Elementary School in Bridgeport. Now he's running a business to do it for schools nationwide, called MySchoolDirectory.org.

About four years ago, Haba was sitting in another fundraising meeting with other parents of St. Ann when the discussion turned to the school directory.

Haba said, "I think I can help here. I'm a Yellow Pages consultant."

For 18 years, Haba has been counseling business owners how to buy and place Yellow Page advertisements and coordinate their area ad campaigns. Now an idea hit him. A school directory that serves a target audience

Private schools have been creating the directories to help parents arrange transportation. They usually list the names, numbers and addresses of parents and can contain a calendar of events.

But Haba also thought a public school directory could contain advertisements, just like the business pages of phone books. And he was right.

St. Ann's first book raised $3,200. While the idea of selling ads for a directory or a school program is not new, Haba's organization of the directory just might be. He applied the same rules of organization to St. Ann's directory as those used in phone books, with headings that make it easier to find businesses like pizza places.

"It's a unique idea," said Marty McCarthy, owner of Marty's Pizza in Bridgeport. McCarthy is one of the advertisers in the directory. He said he likes to support area schools and organizations because the people that make them up are his patrons.

Haba said that's the point of the directory. Businesses like to support schools, but sometimes it doesn't pay to do that. The owner gives money but people forget he or she is there. The directory is a chance for businesses to get their names out there and possibly drum up more business.

But Haba's directory doesn't take just anyone. A parent at the school must recommend the business and drop a flier off to the owner to see if her or she wants to advertise. This way it limits the number of entries, he said, making it worthwhile for the business. A listing can cost between $35 and $60, he said, while bigger ads can cost about $250 or more.

Since creating St. Ann's directory, Haba has been contacted by a school in Ohio and one in Georgia. He charges the school a fee to use the software to generate the documents used to create the directories. Haba spent the last several years creating a Web site where the schools can post information for businesses and parents to use. Eventually, he said, the schools should be able to do everything electronically, even have the businesses enter the information themselves to update ads.

Businesses are not given copies of the directories, he said, in order to protect the identities of students.

One of the problems Haba had in the beginning was convincing St. Ann's to give the directories to each parent for free. He said the school wanted to charge parents, but in order for the ads to be worth something to the businesses, the directories have to get into the hands of the parents.

St. Ann's Principal Theresa Tillinger said the directory has helped the school in a lot of ways.

"Our parents love it," she said. "It's a very helpful book."

Not only did it raise money to help pay for an electrical upgrade at the school, but parents like it because it's convenient and easy to use, she said. You can find businesses quickly.

Haba said one problem with candy sales, besides the questionable nutritional value, is that the profit margin isn't as high as you would expect, because the candy companies have to be paid. In effect, parents and kids have been for years providing free labor to Hershey and other companies, he said.

There are other problems with the way schools raise money, he said, partly because the schools don't have professionals doing it. Besides his 18 years in the business, Haba has a degree in marketing.

Haba pointed to a calendar a school from Ohio makes each year as a fundraiser and said, "It's all wrong."

The ads get lost in the jumble and advertisers only get 30 days, less in February, to make an impression.

In a way, Haba said it was like he has been preparing his whole life to create this venture.