OAK GROVE SCHOOL EDUCATION FOUNDATION AMONG THE FIRST TO PARTNER WITH CREATE EXCITEMENT FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS (CE4PS) TO RAISE FUNDS: CE4PS EXPANDS NATIONWIDE

Oak Grove School Education Foundation (OGSEF) was among the first schools in the nation to pilot a new fundraising program last year.  The program, “Create Excitement for Public Schools,” was launched in October 2011 with three schools in the Chicagoland area and is now available for school participation nationwide. 

“CE4PS generated more than $1,000 for OGSEF in an eight-month period by simply having Oak Grove School parents and community members register for email notifications from CE4PS and shop through the provided links,” said Cynthia Gleason, Vice President and Board Member of OGSEF.  “The email notifications link members to popular internet shopping web sites such as Amazon.com and Groupon.com, as well as several additional merchants.  Using the CE4PS link, members capitalize on local, daily, internet shopping opportunities and special deals designed specifically for parents and children.”

As an affiliate partner to CE4PS, Oak Grove School Education Foundation, is paid a percentage of the sales generated by CE4PS members who are registered in support of Oak Grove School.

The daily CE4PS email that members receive also provides OGSEF a communication vehicle to promote its student and educational initiatives.

According to CE4PS co-founder Jodi Bender Sweeney, on-line shopping retail sales are projected to reach $226 billion, an increase of 12 percent over 2011.

“Create Excitement for Public Schools has found an exclusive way to use on-line shopping to help build a revenue stream directed to local school foundations.  It has taken almost two years to develop our system and beta test it with selected school foundations to make sure it works easily.  We’ve found it’s a simple, easy way for schools to earn recurring revenue by asking those that support them to re-direct what they’re already doing -- shopping on-line.  A percentage of those sales flows directly to the local school foundation,” says Jodi Sweeney.  

“CE4PS allows OGSEF to take advantage of the growing trend in on-line shopping,” says Gleason.  “It’s a simple, easy, seamless way to shop and support your local schools at the same time.”

Kim Moody, President of the Oak Grove School Education Foundation in Illinois, says “This is a wonderful, easy way to fund grants that provide the ‘extras’ in our district.  People throughout our community, local businesses, and Oak Grove alumni all want to work with us on this program.” 

For more information on CE4PS, visit http://www.ce4ps.com or contact Jodi Sweeney at jsweeney@ce4ps.com.