Why do we fundraise at TCGIS?

Together, the collective generosity of the TCGIS community helps our public charter school achieve its mission of innovative education of the whole child through German immersion, even while operating with 30 percent less revenue than tradtional public schools in Minnesota.

Like traditional public schools, TCGIS receives state and federal funding to operate. However, charter schools do not benefit from local property taxes or levies. This results in a roughly $6,000 per pupil difference at TCGIS compared to local traditional public schools like St Paul Public Schools. 

This basic public funding covers our school’s operating costs.  However, as a language immersion school, TCGIS has additional  expenses that other English language instruction schools do not. For instance: we host native-German-speaking interns each semester; our students use German-language curricular and library materials we order from Germany; we hire native-speaking teachers from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland which involves financing Visas; we encourage professional development for teachers specifically around language-immersion education. For all of these reasons, TCGIS’ annual fundraising goal is a line item in the school’s annual budget. 

The majority of TCGIS’s annual fundraising comes from charitable donations made by individual families, many of whom leverage their employer’s matching funds programs or elect to make a recurring monthly donation.

​Families are invited to participate in fundraising efforts by two groups: the TCGIS School Board and the TCGIS Parent Teacher Organization (PTO).  Click here for the 2021/22 Fundraising Calendar.

TCGIS School Board Fundraising

TCGIS PTO Fundraising
Led by the TCGIS School Board's Fundraising Committee, these fundraising initiatives support our school’s Annual Fund, which is part of our school’s comprehensive budget. It supports: 
  • school operations and capital improvements
  • our intern program and international hiring  
  • curriculum enhancement and intercultural engagement opportunities 
  • professional development and diversity initiatives for staff

The Fall Campaign—held in conjunction with Give to the Max Day—and Spring Campaign are the primary ways the TCGIS Annual Fund is supported. Recurring individual donations, corporate match donations and payroll contributions are also convenient and effective ways to support the Annual Fund.
Led by families and friends of TCGIS, the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) is focused on enriching our community and supporting teachers and staff. Things that the PTO supports for teachers and staff include:
  • funding professional training/conferences 
  • snacks, meals and team-building opportunities for teachers and staff 
  • classroom-based projects and field trips 
  • community-building events for the whole school ​
The PTO raises funds primarily through sales (plants/strudel/soup, etc.) and events (Oktoberfest 5K, the Fall Auction and Great Gatherings, Maskenball, etc.). 

Help us reach our goal!