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School fundraisers a la eBay

Booster groups are turning to online auctions, with the potential to rake in more than ever before and to avoid too-blatant competition among neighbors.

Jon Skillings Editorial director
Jon Skillings is an editorial director at CNET, where he's worked since 2000. A born browser of dictionaries, he honed his language skills as a US Army linguist (Polish and German) before diving into editing for tech publications -- including at PC Week and the IDG News Service -- back when the web was just getting under way, and even a little before. For CNET, he's written on topics from GPS, AI and 5G to James Bond, aircraft, astronauts, brass instruments and music streaming services.
Expertise AI, tech, language, grammar, writing, editing Credentials
  • 30 years experience at tech and consumer publications, print and online. Five years in the US Army as a translator (German and Polish).
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Jon Skillings

It's as much a part of the school experience as homework, cliques, and senioritis: the fund-raiser. In the Internet era, however, things aren't what they used to be: the quest for funds to supplement the never-quite-enough out of state and city coffers is no longer limited to car washes and bake sales. Nowadays, booster groups and administrators are turning to online auctions--$275 for a private pole-dancing lesson, anyone?--with the potential to rake in more than ever before and to avoid too-blatant competition among neighbors.

Read more at The Boston Globe: "Boosters turning to online auctions"