File: GBEBD

ONLINE FUNDRAISING AND SOLICITATIONS - CROWDFUNDING

Georgetown Public Schools employees shall comply with all of the following provisions relating to online fundraising activities and solicitations, including the use of crowdfunding services, for school-related purposes as well as with all other applicable laws, regulations and district policies. No online fundraising may occur except as provided below.

Crowdfunding services are defined as any online service used for the solicitation of goods, services, or money from a large number of people via the internet or other electronic network. The only online crowdfunding sites approved by the District for use by its employees are those that take monetary donations and distribute goods only, not cash, to the District, like DonorsChoose (www.donorschoose.org ).

The Superintendent shall have final authority to approve any online fundraising activities by Georgetown Public Schools employees and shall determine and communicate to Building Principals the circumstances under which online fundraising proposals shall require Superintendent or School Committee approval in accordance with law and school district policy.

No employee shall post any fundraising solicitation or submit any proposal to a crowdfunding service except with prior written approval from the employee's Building Principal and the Superintendent. If an employee's proposal is subsequently submitted and approved by the crowdfunding service, the employee agrees to use the donated materials solely as stated in the employee's proposal.

Solicitations under this policy shall be for educational purposes only (field trips, supplies, supplemental materials, books, etc.). The solicitation of personal items (coats, nutritional snacks, etc.) shall only be to benefit students directly. To the extent an employee solicits any technology or software, the employee shall secure the prior written approval of the Director of Technology or designee prior to any such solicitation.

Any employee seeking to display or post a photograph of a student in conjunction with a solicitation must first secure the written consent of the student's parent or guardian and approval from the Building Principal or, for central office employees, the Superintendent. All posting must comply with applicable federal and state student privacy laws, including the FERPA, IDEA, and applicable laws and regulations.

Employees shall not use a crowdfunding service, or set up a solicitation in such a way, that they are asking for donations directly from people over whom they have authority, or with whom they have official dealings, including but not limited to parents of students in a teacher's classroom. For example, a teacher's solicitation may say "Classroom X needs tissues and crayons," but it should not be directed to parents who have shared email addresses with the teacher for purposes of communicating about their child.

Crowdfunding for any personal cause may not take place using any equipment owned by the district or during the workday. Information obtained by an employee as a result of his/her employment with the District, may not be used for personal crowdfunding.

Employees using crowdfunding services shall periodically disclose in writing to the Superintendent the names of all individuals whom the employee has directly solicited in any manner, including but not limited to oral, written, or electronic solicitation. The Superintendent shall maintain these disclosures as public records available for public review.

Employees may only use crowdfunding services that send the items or funds solicited by the employee directly to the employee's school or to the school district. Employees must verify that the crowdfunding service's terms and conditions meet the Georgetown Public Schools' requirements for such solicitations.

Items or proceeds sent directly to employees are considered gifts to the employee and may result in violation of state ethics laws.

If a solicitation is not fully funded within the time period required by the crowdfunding service or the solicitation cannot be concluded for any reason, the employee responsible for such solicitation shall use all reasonable means to attempt to return donations to the donors. Donations unable to be returned shall only be used as account credits for future solicitations.

Unless otherwise approved by the Superintendent in writing, all items and/or funds solicited and received through any solicitation shall become the property of the School Committee, and not of the individual employee who solicited the items or funds. The employee is prohibited from taking any such items or funds to another school or location without the Superintendent's written approval.

The District reserves the right to terminate any pre-approved crowdfunding campaign or withhold approval for any crowdfunding campaign for any reason.

Crowdfunding campaigns MAY NOT:

• 1. Include identifying information of any District student on the crowdfunding site;

  2. Be used for personal gain of any individual other than the District-related benefits associate with the campaign’s purpose;

  3. Result in the items being provided delivered directly to the District employee sponsoring the approved campaign;

  4. Solicit funds for items or projects that are religious or political in nature or that have a religious or political purpose;

  5. Violate any applicable state or federal law;

  6. Be contingent on additional District spending or “matching” funds from the District or another organization;

  7. Request food items;

  8. Contain language that suggests or states that an item or items for which the donations are being sought are required for or otherwise integral to a student’s individual education plan (IEP), necessary for a student to achieve his/her IEP goals, or necessary to ensure participation of a student or students with disabilities in school or a program offered by The District.

  9. Disparage the District or any of its buildings, programs, students or employees or paint the District or any of its employees, students or programs in a negative light.

LEGAL REFS: EC-COI-12-1 CROSS REFS:

MGL 44:53A; 71:37A; 268A:3; 268A:23; Ethics Commission Advisory Opinion

GBEA, Staff Ethics/Conflict of Interest; GBEBC, Gifts To and Solicitations by Staff; KCD, Public Gifts to Schools

SOURCE: MASC February 2018