Planning is key in the world of development. To help you best track the Development Committee's calendar through the end of the school year and summer, we've listed major points you should be sure to tend to as the year progresses, starting with the month of February.

People are often reluctant to assume new and unfamiliar tasks, and the resistance often increases when fund raising is involved. Preconceptions about fund raising can thwart your efforts to recruit volunteers. Before you approach them, consider these six common "roadblocks" and the accompanying strategies that are designed to overcome volunteers' reluctance, build confidence and enthusiasm, and encourage them to take on the role of "crusader" for the best possible education for your school's students.

Nonprofit groups—private-independent schools included—have established their presence on social networking sites to reach out to supporters, but few have attracted more than a few thousand supporters to their networks or been able to raise a large amount of money via the sites, according to a survey of 980 nonprofit officials about their organizations' use of online social networking sites.

Walter A. Haas, Jr., former Chairman and President of Levi Strauss & Company, summed it up best when talking about Board members for nonprofit institutions. "Every board member should give. It's just like being on the board of a corporation, you should own a few shares of stock."* One of the key jobs of your Board of Trustees is to financially support your fund-raising campaigns. In many instances, the Board accounts for 30% of the total amount raised. After all, Trustees are shaping the future of your school. But do they know that they are expected to give … and ask other people to give?

Your school's tenth graders do exceptionally well on a video production project. You decide that one of the videos would be perfect on your Web site to capture the essence of student culture at the school. All the footage is original, but the student downloaded the background music from iTunes. Heck, its only a student video. Where's the issue?

It seems like there is always a Monte Carlo, or Casino, Night fundraiser in your area. It's a great way to throw a fun party for supporters while reaping the benefits. In California, Monte Carlo Nights were illegal until 2007, when a new law allowed certain nonprofits—which had to have been in existence for three years or more—to hold them. And there are restrictions. In Tennessee, casino-type charitable gaming is illegal, but raffles are not. Nonprofit organizations must register there, and apply for an annual fundraising event.

Today's instant-access electronic environment provides a range of opportunities for learning, communication, and interaction. But teens can be careless in the way they present themselves online, and those short-term actions can have long-term repercussions.

Low-income students miss out on college for two key reasons: they don't know how much it actually costs, and they're not aware of how to get access to billions of dollars in financial aid, according to a report from Pew's Economic Mobility Project. This matters because postsecondary education is among the most important factors in determining whether a person achieves the American Dream of upward economic mobility, according to the report, titled Promoting Economic Mobility by Increasing Postsecondary Education.

On January 15, House Democrats unveiled an economic stimulus package that proposes billions of dollars in spending on Medicaid and other federal programs that will help nonprofit groups to meet the increasing demand for social services. The "American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009" calls for $825 billion in tax cuts and spending in areas including education, health care, clean energy, and infrastructure development and improvement projects. President Barack Obama endorsed the bill, saying in a statement that they would save or create three million jobs while representing a "significant down payment on our most significant challenges."

Safety continues to be the No. 1 concern as parents evaluate private-independent schools. Yes, they're looking for quality academics and excellent character development programs, but, above all, they want a school that offers both psychological and physical safety for their children.