Could someone please tell me why schools have fundraisers?!

[CamColt]

I agree, these fundraisers are getting to be a pain, but I guess they are necessary. Now with 2 nieces in different schools and a son in school...and next year another son in a different school, I feel like Im always buying something.
Have you gone to your PTO meetings? At ours, they go over exact amounts of everything earned, and where exactly it all goes, even grade by grade. They even give out copies of the treasurers report. You may get an answer to your question there.

 

[jcemom]

We try to choose fundraisers with AT LEAST 50% profit, and some offer prizes/incentives for the students. Without fundraisers we would not have been able to build a new pavillion where the teachers can hold class outdoors when the weather is nice. The parents also use it when picking up their children at the end of the day to sit and socialize while the kids use the new playground (built mainly from funds raised). We also give each classroom the field trip of their choice every year (within reason, of course).

Plus, we donate books to the library (from PTO funds, book fair profits, and private donations solicited from local businesses). The school librarian told me that her annual budget for new books is $1 per student! With a total enrollment of 160, that means only 8 books or less!!! I was shocked!!!

Some of our regular fundraisers include: fall catalog sale with gift wrap, candles, and other assorted "junk" (50% profit and prizes); .50 candy bars (50% profit and so easy to sell), coupon books, and Corbi's pizza (lower profit, but also easy to sell).
There are no mandatory fundraisers, purely voluntary.

 

[Disney Doll]

I think schools or teams or groups that do fundraisers should send a letter home to the parents saying "We still need a $10 fee to cover the cost of this trip, but if it had not been for the fundraising, the fee would have been $20" or something to that effect. That way, parents would know that the fundraising money did go toward defraying part of the cost of the trip, even if it didn't defray the whole cost.

 

[disykat]

Definately ask questions! The organization raising money would probably be thrilled just to have someone showing interest. You deserve to know where the money is going - ask for a financial statement and/or budget report. I'm PTA too. All our fundraisers (we only do one "sale" each year)make at least 50%, but clearly state we'll accept your donation instead. Donations are tons easier, but there are many people who won't do that but love the sales. Go figure!

Believe it or not I get tons of questions every year like "when is the fundraiser?" or "why don't we sell this too?" but never get questions about how much we make or where the money goes. We try to put the info out - I'm always surprised that no one acts interested. I think they're afraid if they act interested they'll end up in charge - LOL!

We raise very small amounts of money in other ways (the teacher's annual talent show/skit night is tonight - we'll probably net several hundred dollars) but would never have playground equipment, assemblies, etc. without the fall fundraising sale.

I can never figure out why people don't bother to send in boxtops etc., but love the catalog sales.

 

[BrerMom]

As an advisor, we just had our transportation budget completely cut for field trips because of the state-wide education cuts. Less than 10 days before a field trip that had been planned for a year, I was told that our field trip was canceled "because we can't pay for a bus." If I hadn't had money in the club account to pay for the bus, the kids probably couldn't have gone. (The alternative would have been to ask each student for an extra $30. That wouldn't have been something I would have been comfortable with.) How did we have extra money in the account? Fundraising profits.

I don't mind fundraisers that have a profit of 40-45% if it's a quality product. So many of the over 50% fundraisers are either junk or the items are horribly over-priced.

 

[Kteacher]

at my kids school the proceeds from " all school" fundraisers, such as wrapping paper sales and book fairs, go into the PTO funds. The PTO has always distributed " mini grants" to classroom teachers as there is no more petty cash fund to pay for classroom supplies that aren't included in the budget. It also pays for the students who cannot pay for field trips (otherwise it comes out of the teachers' pockets). With more and more budget cuts I bet we'll all be seeing more of these fundraisers.

 

[Serena]

I'm vp of the pto at my dd's school. We do all kinds of fundraising. And it's for all kinds of reasons.
We have a free movie night every month, for the whole family. All you have to pay for is snacks.
We pay for all parties, we pay for soap, we pay for the referee's at the games, we pay for certificates for honor roll and high honor roll.
We have a good behavior drawing every friday. If the child was extra good sometime during the week, they get a ticket to put in a box. Every friday all the names are drawn and they get to come and pick out something. A small toy, candy, something like that.
We are also trying to raise money for a playground. The one they have is old and needs replaced. With the budget cuts, our playground funds got cut.
We bought and put together small science projects for the library, we've bought anything extra the teachers have needed. We also had the funds to buy some extras for each of the classes. We bought balls for the gym, paid for field trips, had a santa shop for the kids, and a lot of other stuff.
All of the profit goes back into the school in some way. Believe me the fundraisers are not fun, but it's the only way our school would have anything.

But as a parent, they are a pain. lol

 

[Trish Bessette]

I am the PTO president of my daughter's school. As coordinator of our fund raisers I must say they are a tremendous help. Without them we would not have any funds.

I have two fundraisers a year, one in the fall which is a wrapping paper fundraiser and one in the spring, usually t-shirts.

This year alone we funded a star lab, where the Montshire Museum came and set up this dome. Brought each class in (K-8) and taught them a ton about stars.

We also had a teriffic dance artist in our school for two weeks. She worked all day with each class. At the end of the second week there was a dance performance where each class did a specific type of dance.

Last week we did a "Beach Night" for K-4 students. Live DJ's, beach towels, beach balls, palm trees, food and fun for all.

So as you can see, fundraisers are very important. It enables us to give the students some fun and educational events.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

but they are a huge pain,having to convince people to buy whatever useless junk you peddle