March 24, 2009

Press Release
 

Tyler ISD Foundation Breaks Fundraising Record

When the Tyler ISD Foundation was created in 1990, the organizers thought they would exist to help donors in the Tyler area fund various programs for Tyler ISD that are not typically funded by state dollars.

Now, almost twenty years later, the Tyler ISD Foundation’s community-wide fundraising campaign, “We Believe In Tyler ISD,” has set a record with the most amount of dollars collected with a total of $415,000.

The Tyler ISD Foundation Board of Directors consists of 32 members of the community.  The Board is a development board and each director is given a list of prospective donors in the community.

“It’s important that the directors take part in the fundraising efforts,” said Larry Goddard, Executive Director of the Foundation since 2006.  “They have a personal endeavor to assist our teachers and students in Tyler ISD—their message is an easy sell:  Education is the key to the success of Tyler.”  Almost 90% of Tyler youth attend Tyler ISD.

Ross Conner, the Vice President-Development for the past two years says that by the end of the fiscal year, the total amount of funds received should top $500,000. 

“Our community values education and we support one of the largest client bases in this part of Texas:  more than 18,000 students attend Tyler ISD and the District employs 2,700,” said Conner, who has chaired the past two community campaigns.  Last year’s total was $385,000.

“We continue to receive funds for our campaign from generous donors, in fact, we received an additional $10,000 after we ordered the poster,” said Goddard.

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