Cromwell College hopes a new partnership with the business community will yield the funds the school needs to upgrade its computer facilities.
The chairman of the board of trustees, David Beaumont, said a meeting between the board, its maximising resource committee and representatives of about 150 Cromwell businesses will take place next Thursday, to outline sponsorship options.
"Our goal is to raise $100,000 a year for the next three years, to get all the computer hardware in place that we need," Dr Beaumont said.
The school was fortunate to be given a Central Lakes Trust grant of $127,500, which was three-quarters of the cost of the school's information technology infrastructure.
Dr Beaumont said the school had to fund the remaining quarter of the cost and also fund the hardware.
It had raised $3500 in October by giving people a chance to play a round of golf at The Hills.
It would repeat that venture later this year.
It had also been considering other fundraising options.
"Commercial sponsorship is what we've come up with.
"Basically, businesses will get the chance to be associated with the school and the college will help raise their profile.
"The businesses will have naming rights to some rooms at the college and maybe to sports teams," Dr Beaumont said.
There would be four levels of sponsorship, including platinum, gold and silver three-year deals, with benefit packages tailored to the investment made by the businesses.
A further "bronze package" was available for parents and friends of the college, or ex-pupils.
Dr Beaumont said an upgrade of the college's information technology was vital. and a recent Education Review Office report on the school challenged it to increase locally raised funding to provide much needed facilities, he said.
The feedback from businesses already approached about sponsorship had been positive.
"One said although they didn't have any children at the college, they would love to be associated with it, as of course, their customers were mostly parents of children at the school."
