Far too often we hear that school districts don't allow the distribution of materials from for-profits who offer beneficial programs in the community. The reason typically being that it's a board policy to only allow non-profits to distribute, and approval guidelines must abide by these rules.
But more and more it seems that this is an outdated policy, set forth in some cases to limit the number of paper flyers going home to parents (approval and distribution of those paper flyers is time-consuming!). But for districts using Peachjar, that limitation need not apply because approving and distributing digital flyers takes only minutes. Therefore, some districts who use Peachjar have revised their policy to be inclusive of all student-centric programs - non-profit or not!
Joe Richter of Francis-Howell School District in Missouri says, "Ultimately, it's about giving our students as much opportunity as possible. We allow the distribution of materials from for-profits, if they meet our criteria, because we want our students to have access to all the academically and physically enriching programs in our community, not just from the non-profits. Outside organizations also pay a fee to Peachjar, allowing us to use this system at little to no cost to the District."
Reasons to allow distribution of materials from for-profits:
- Awesome, worthwhile programs are not limited to just non-profit organizations!
- Provides families with more opportunities to decide what's best for their child
- If you've switched from paper to digital flyers, approval and distribution is a breeze
While it's true that some non-profits offer resources free of charge, both non-profits and for-profits alike often do charge a fee for their programs. And while both offer worthwhile programs for students, far too often the for-profit is denied access to distribute materials to students about their program. So today we say, give for profits a chance! Your parents and students will thank you :)