This document provides best practices and risk management guidelines for advisors of Mini-THON events. It outlines five areas of focus: communicating with Four Diamonds staff and leadership teams, empowering students to take ownership while providing guidance, involving students, faculty, and the community, transitioning responsibilities from one year to the next, and ensuring safety at fundraisers and the Mini-THON event itself. Specific recommendations are given for each area.

1. ADVISOR BEST PRACTICES
AND
RISK MANAGEMENT

2. Advisor Best Practices
• Communicate
• Empower
• Involve
• Transition
• Safety

3. Communicate
• Four Diamonds Staff
• Each school is assigned with one direct staff
member
• Can answer questions, provide suggestions,
and help through any challenges that you may
have
• Leadership Team
• Hold weekly meetings
• E-mails

4. Empower
• Ownership
• Let your students take the lead on planning and managing
• Act as a resource
• Engagement
• Other students are more likely to be involved if their peers are
running the event rather than a teacher
• Learning about philanthropy is invaluable!
• Classroom Skills
• One of the most beneficial parts of a Mini-THON is how students
can use their classroom skills outside of the classroom
• Have them use knowledge in math, public speaking, marketing,
writing, and management for their Mini-THON

5. Involve
• Students
• Create enough roles and positions for all students to be involved
• Leadership Committee
• Captains and Committee members
• Dancers
• Performers
• Faculty
• Tell other faculty members how much it means to the kids for
teachers to be involved
• Explain how much you have gained from the Mini-THON program
• Community
• Partner with local businesses for community fundraisers
• Ask for support from parents as chaperones and donors

6. Transition
• Documents
• Keep a paper trail of important documents
• Record major decisions made each year
• Have the students keep track of their responsibilities
• This will help their successors understand their role
• Returning Students
• Have students identify what they are interested in doing the
next year
• Allow students to take on more responsibility as they
develop more interest and experience

7. Be Safe
• Approval
• You should be the one to approve and oversee
fundraisers and activities
• Though the students should execute these you or
another teacher should act as adult supervision
• Mini-THON Event
• Require parental permission slips for students to
participate
• Ask for any medical issues that you need to be aware of
• Stay hydrated!

8. Canning Rules
• Four Diamonds does not endorse canning by
our Mini-THON schools
• We do allow for canning on school grounds
• Athletic events, school dances, back to school
nights
• We ask that you tell your Four Diamonds staff
representative when you are planning to can

9. Help Us Help You!
2014-2015 Partnership Agreement completed and
returned to FD office
Subject Line of all emails: Name of School
Advisor is the main contact or the advisor should be
copied on all student emails to the Four Diamonds office.