Bake Sales Go Strictly Black Tie

How much would you ante up for a private poetry reading by the stars of the television hit “Desperate Housewives,” a walk-on role in a Will Ferrell movie or tickets to the “American Idol” finale, offered by Idol judge Randy Jackson?

These were some of the items up for auction recently at fundraisers held by a few of Los Angeles’ most elite private schools, where one-of-a-kind gifts elicit furious bidding wars among parents already paying sky-high tuition.

Spring is the high season for these fundraisers. They provide a unique window into a Los Angeles culture where alumni and parent connections translate into fabulous balls and galas that can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to budgets, academic programs and financial aid.

Many Southern California schools have lifted the traditional rummage sale to high art. Their goal is to acquire auction items that are rarely accessible to the general public, such as private lessons from professional athletes or musicians, walk-on speaking roles in television shows and movies, lunch with celebrities (usually including several friends), VIP invitations for the Academy and Grammy awards and even U.S. Senate gallery seats for special events.

Such fundraising is in sharp contrast to the more modest efforts of most public and many private schools, which, lacking celebrity connections and high-end bidders, are often much smaller in scale.

A recent dinner and auction at St. Joseph High School in Lakewood raised about $50,000 and featured Dodger tickets, passes for miniature-golf games and gift baskets. The big-ticket items included a weekend in Palm Springs and a beach cruiser bicycle, said Assistant Principal Debi Connell. Also popular each year are personal student parking spots, which can fetch from $200 to $1,000.

At St. John Bosco, a boys school in Bellflower, a raffle and golf tournament were expected to raise about $60,000 to support financial aid and teacher salaries. Raffle items included a Hawaii trip and two cars, said Paul Kaminski, the director of advancement.

Meanwhile, the more well-heeled schools are employing ever more ambitious methods to coax open the checkbooks of wealthy parents.

Santa Ana’s Mater Dei High School is offering the chance for a $1-million, three-bedroom, 3 1/2 -bath home in Costa Mesa for the price of a $200 raffle ticket as part of an assertive fundraising appeal for the school’s financial aid programs. In the same raffle, parents could win a $10,000 shopping spree at South Coast Plaza. The drawing closes June 15.

“We thought it was a very creative and new idea to raise money,” said Mater Dei President Patrick Murphy. “Our goal is to sell 20,000 tickets If we reach 10,000 we’ll be very happy, and if we reach 20,000 it will be phenomenal.”

The school has so far sold about 6,000.

If the Mater Die initiative is bold, it is by no means unique.

Harvard-Westlake School, with more than 1,500 students on campuses in North Hollywood and West Los Angeles, has an overall fundraising goal of $5.5 million this year, said Headmaster Thomas Hudnut. He expects that 85% to 95% of parents will make a contribution.

The theme at its recent dinner was a Venetian masquerade, and nearly 700 people attended the event at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Actor and singer Peter Gallagher, a new Harvard-Westlake parent, volunteered to perform songs from his new CD.

In addition to a romantic Italian getaway and a U.S. Open tennis tournament package, the live auction featured a jersey signed by Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and a meal prepared in the top bidder’s home by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. There was also an at-home poetry reading for up to 50 people performed by Harvard-Westlake mom Alfre Woodard with fellow “Desperate Housewives” Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross and Eva Longoria.

The final auction tally is still being calculated, but an estimated $200,000 was raised.

“I have always contended that annual giving is a referendum on how a school is doing: If you like what you see, you’re going to support it,” said Hudnut, who served as auctioneer and who was also featured in several prizes, including a literary evening with school parent and author Frank McCourt. “People in general are becoming more generous than they were 10 or 15 years ago, and the average gift is trending up.”

The items on display at many Southern California events frequently display Hollywood flash -- often enhanced by the celebrity cachet of parents. The Harvard-Westlake auction included a basketball clinic with Clipper coach and school dad Mike Dunleavy and two tickets to the New York world premiere of the movie “Inside Man” starring fellow school dad Denzel Washington, courtesy of co-star Jodie Foster.

NBA stars Jason and Jarron Collins, 1997 Harvard-Westlake alums, offered one-hour basketball clinics.

Other items included VIP seating for a “Dr. Phil” taping, a behind-the-scenes visit to the set of “Judge Judy” with lunch, a visit to the clubhouse of the Milwaukee Brewers before a game at Dodger Stadium to meet the players and the manager and watch batting practice courtesy of Brewer owner and parent Mark Attanasio and the chance for a student to work as an assistant for the Hollywood Bowl production of “The Sound of Music.”

Many private schools use the contributions to supplement financial aid budgets that allow less well-off students to attend. Funds are also used to support such programs as performing arts or athletics, for new technology and equipment and to bolster faculty salaries and training.

At the Archer School for Girls in Brentwood, 30% to 40% of the 479 students receive financial aid, said Head of School Arlene Hogan.

“That is why fundraising is so important,” Hogan said during a break in her school’s 10th Anniversary Gala. The event, held at the Casa Del Mar Hotel in Santa Monica, raised more than $250,000, enough to aid up to 15 girls who otherwise could not afford to attend. “It gives us the chance to offer middle-class families, struggling families a chance.”

The Archer auction featured USC season football tickets with a parking pass, a four-night Waikiki trip with airfare and tickets to the live taping of the “American Idol” finale show.

But it was the walk-on role in a new Will Ferrell movie that piqued the interest of parent Jacqueline Kosofsky, whose 12-year-old daughter, Isadora, is a fan of the comedian. With a starting bid of $500, Kosofsky nabbed the part (a walk-on or skate-on in the new DreamWorks comedy “Blades of Glory”) for $2,500.

“My daughter loves Will Ferrell, and he makes her laugh a lot, so I couldn’t possibly take that away from her,” said Kosofsky after the event.

The key ingredient for a successful auction is having something for everyone, said the event’s co-chair, Bettina O’Mara.

“Vacation, jewelry, sporting events, entertainment and teacher outings are some of the biggest sellers,” said O’Mara, whose daughter, Morissa, is a seventh-grader at the school.

Dinner tickets for the event were $150 per person, and guests bid on auction items separately. Most schools send invitations to parents and alumni, and the events are typically invitation-only.

Middle-class parents can be hard-pressed when it comes to fundraising.

Beth Orduna, a jewelry designer whose daughter, Emma, is a seventh-grader at Archer, donated a gold, silk and pearl necklace for the silent auction but did not plan to bid on anything. It is hard to give extra, she said, while also paying tuition, which this year is almost $24,000 and expected to increase next year.

“I struggle to pay,” said Orduna. “It’s very hard to keep up, and I don’t have the money to make other donations.”

Reeca Towler, past president of the Archer Parents Assn., echoed Orduna’s concerns. The school understands, Towler said, if some parents can’t give as much as others.

“When my daughter started Archer I was a little more flush than I am now, so it is difficult,” said Towler. “But I’ve never been pressured to give more than I could give. There are probably parents who could come in and buy everything in here.”

Tuition, which rose about 6% this year at Los Angeles-area schools, covers only about 85% of the costs to educate a student at a day school, according to the National Assn. of Independent Schools.

Nationally, private schools raised about $766,184 on average in 2004-05. On the West Coast the average was $809,393, compared with about $983,837 for schools in New England.

Schools in the West tend to be newer than their East Coast counterparts, with younger alumni who have not reached their peak earning years or have not developed a culture of philanthropy, said association spokeswoman Myra McGovern.

One of the oldest prep schools in the country, Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., for example, is set to raise $7 million this year and has the deep-pockets alumni to achieve that goal.

Still, the most elite Southern California schools don’t do so badly.

Most schools still send out simple letter appeals for money. But many independent schools now have development offices with staff trained in fundraising. And public school districts in increasing numbers are forming private foundations to help raise outside funds.

The Beverly Hills Education Foundation this year hopes to raise more than $700,000 for the district, which includes Beverly Hills High School and four elementary schools.

A centerpiece of fundraising this year was the 13th annual Classics for Charity car show, at which attendees drooled over Maseratis and Ferraris.

Beverly Hills Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard said his district does not compete with private schools for funds.

“Typically, funds raised by private schools come from the parents of children attending those schools, whereas our funding base is Beverly Hills parents and the wider public, which I think philosophically is very supportive of public education,” Hubbard said.

The district recently announced a private donation of $400,000 from local philanthropists Jon and Lili Bosse.

At the Archer school, a core group of about 25 parents began preparing for the gala nearly a year in advance -- a necessity because many schools compete for the same locations and dates.

As crystal-laden tables glowed under candlelight and waiters served champagne and hors d’oeuvres, the Archer attendees surveyed tables filled with items for the silent auction, including a ride for four in the Ameriquest blimp, a lunch date for four (photos and autographs welcomed) with Pete Rose and a commissioned portrait of a student and her favorite horse or pet.

But the highlight was Archer dad Randy Jackson, whose daughter, Taylor, is a sophomore. Jackson auctioned off four “American Idol” finale tickets with a value listed as “priceless” in the catalog.

Bidding commenced at $3,000, and with Jackson’s cajoling, quickly rose to $7,000. He implored the crowd for more, remarking, “I pay tuition here, so I know you guys have it.”

The winning bid was $20,000, after one parent matched a $10,000 offer from another.

“My daughter has grown immensely while she’s been at Archer, and I think it’s important for parents to give something back,” Jackson said. “I just thank God we’re in a position to do so.”