The School Woodland Montessori School in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
The Project Kids' Community Guide: Cool Things to Do With Kids in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. The school publishes and gives away this 50-page family guidebook, raising money through ad sales.
The Payoff $8,000 for playground equipment last year alone.

"It's so absolutely tremendous," says Eileen Frueh, chair of Kids' Community Guide, the annual publication that she jokingly calls her third child. "It serves three purposes: raising funds for the school, generating free PR for the school, and providing an essential resource for the community."

The idea for the guide came to Eileen when she first moved to the area and, with two young children, often found herself wondering what to do. Where were the swimming pools? Where did you go roller-skating? With her background in publications development, she decided to share the answers she got, and raise money for her kids' school in the process. An unpaid college intern interviewed parents for the guide's content (in exchange for job experience and a great reference), Eileen edited entries for uniformity, and a committee sold more than 80 ads. The guide was then laid out by a professional graphic designer, and 5,000 copies were printed and distributed to local businesses, among other outlets.

Now families in Harrisonburg know where to turn for advice about local arts, sports, hiking, camping, and more. And a local school has a new playground. "It's a fantastic fund-raiser," Eileen says, "especially since it taps into a different money pool than the school parents."

Eileen's tip Visit local businesses to sell ads face-to-face.