Darn overpriced school fundraisers!!

[disneysnowflake]

I'm keeping my niece at my house while her mom is having surgery.

I picked up my niece from school. She was so excited. They had an assembly today for a fundraiser.

The fundraiser is $17 boxes of garlic bread (6 pieces per box), $14 frozen pies, and $17 packages of preformed balls of cookie dough.

The school makes $5 per item sold. Wow, the company who sells this crap to the schools are the ones making a fortune. $17 for a package of garlic bread? Heck, I can buy frozen Pepperidge Farms Texas Toast at the grocery store for $1.50 with 8 slices.

Today is Feb 22nd. All orders and money are due on Monday, Feb 26th. You must collect the money when you sell.

Pick up is at the end of March. It's a Friday night for 2 hours. That's it. It's clearly marked if you don't pick up your items in that 2 hour window you don't get your merchandise or your money back.

The school would like each child to sell a minimum of 5 items.

The prizes..

If you sell 5 items you get a pencil with a frog pencil topper and a paper bookmark.

If you sell 10 items you get all the 5 item prizes plus you get to participate in a pizza party (1 slice and 1 cup of juice per child).

Now, if you sell 20 items or more you get your name put in for a drawing to win a limo ride or a $20 WalMart gift card, plus the 5 item prizes and the slice of pizza.

I purchased the $17 cookie dough. It was a toss up between the $17 cookie dough or the $14 frozen pie. lol. I had to buy something from her. My niece was all smiles at the thought of maybe getting that ride in the limo. lol.

 

[L107ANGEL]

Thats when I write a $25 check

 

[kaw1218]

Thats when I write a $25 check

 

[disneysnowflake]

Do you think it would be weird if I just wrote a $25 check and sent it into school?

Her mom won't be out of the hospital until at least Saturday, but she'll still need rest. The money is due on Monday.

My niece will probably feel bad if I did though because she'd be forced to sit in the classroom while the 10 item sellers got to have pizza in the cafeteria.

 

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

Write a check and take her out for pizza after school that day The fundraisers are out of control We usually send in a sizable check at the start of the school year, and I never participate in fundraisers.

 

[agnes!]

It probably depends on who/what is paying for the pizza party. At my DD's school, if a child brings in a check for a certain amount, they can go to their pizza party.

I think you need to contact whoever's in charge of the fundraiser.

agnes!

 

[kaw1218]

Do you think it would be weird if I just wrote a $25 check and sent it into school?

Her mom won't be out of the hospital until at least Saturday, but she'll still need rest. The money is due on Monday.

My niece will probably feel bad if I did though because she'd be forced to sit in the classroom while the 10 item sellers got to have pizza in the cafeteria.

I know its a tough decision...but the first time my kids school did something similar, my DD came home to tell me that less than half the kids made thier quota. I think the kids that did go to watch a movie.
So now, my kids, they would rather we go out to dinner or a movie with the extra money that we would have had to spend on $17 garlic bread. $40 for the movies and $50 to the school still puts us way ahead of 10 boxes of garlic bread.

 

[meeskamouska]

At our school the PTO runs fundraisers and would love a check. That way the money goes directly to the kids!!!!

That is what I do when I don't feel like participating!!! But our PTO does a great job of getting the most bang for the buck where products are concerned!!!

 

[chobie]

I love it when the promise the kids they can get out of class, go to a party, have a bouncy house, just for selling tons 'o' crap. Funny the have to cut recess and field trips and all those things for the standarized tests, but they still have time for the fundraising assemblies.

 

[RayaniFoxmur]

Them being so overpriced is why I stopped participating in fundraisers in high school (Thus my first tag!). We lived in a small town and our band always wanted to do a cheese and sausage sale. 180 kids all selling this overpriced junk to only 3,100 population wise... it was hard to sell.

I kinda figured out at that point that if I was going to donate to something I would donate directly

 

[Toby'sFriend]

i write the check and explain to my kids that when we give to charity, we give because it is the right thing to do --- not because somebody is going to give us a crappy rubber toy or maybe a ride in a limo.

It is not a lesson they accept happily, but it is one I feel pretty strongly about.

 

[MALE*RN*777]

The boy goes to a private school and we only have him participate in two of the fund raisers. One is the candy bars which I can sit at the front desk so no one fells obligated and the other is Easter candy which the family usually buys.

 

[DISUNC]

The fundraiser is $17 boxes of garlic bread (6 pieces per box), $14 frozen pies, and $17 packages of preformed balls of cookie dough.

I will NEVER understand the logic used for these HIGH PRICED (crappy)items! I cant believe they seel so much the school makes $

Why they just dont stick with $1.00 candy bars????

 

[piratesmate]

I'd call the school and ask how they feel about it if you're worried about your niece's reaction to the pizza party thing. Our schools don't want to take donations - so the children can't attend the "special" things even if they bring donations of double the "quota". And they put a lot of pressure on the children to sell. I don't send a donation because they simply don't seem to want it...neither do I feel obligated to buy the overpriced junk.

 

[shortbun]

Thats when I write a $25 check

My son's school has actully been having a 'no sale' fundraiser. We are all asked to raise $35 per child or more. I LOVE it!!! Grandparents LOVE it!!! Neighbors LOVE it!!! This year, our neighbor brought over $5 and said, "this is for the no sale fundraiser, thanks for not asking me to buy anything!" My Mom is thrilled and willingly kicks in $10-no wrapping paper, no cheap chocolate, no stupid reward toys for my son to get all morose about not earning. Yay!!!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

A "no sale" fundraiser....interesting. That is something I would donate to!

 

[rcraw45425]

Younger DD is in a brand new elementary school this year, hence PTA had no funds whatever to start with. Every time I turn around they are "fundraising" with this junk. I ut my foot down the other day and told her I had already bought $75 worth of crappy magazines and I wasn't buying any more junk so she could go to a pep rally at the high school during school Older DD has fundraised a little for her band trip (we had to raise $400 , wrote the check for $300 ). Older one was given a math a thon booklet to raise money for St. Judes. The completed book counts as two test grades. If they get X $$ in contributions they get extra credit. I hit the roof. Paying for grades???

 

[Pigeon]

I refuse to buy any of this junk, whether it is for my own kids' school or for a relative's kid. Corporate America can sell its own crap without using my children as an unpaid sales force.

My kids know this and understand the inherent dishonesty behind trying to get them to sell stuff for free for some company. Sure, they do come out of these idiotic assemblies all fired up for the "free" pizza or whatever, but they always understand when I talk them down.

This year, I'm keeping a running total of all the time they spend at assemblies and other corporate marketing events designed to motivate them. I'm going to write a letter to the principal at the end of the year asking for an explanation as to why the school can squander so much valuable educational time on this garbage.

 

[tigerdragon]

My DS started school last fall and the only selling that his school does is a card for $10 that gives you discounts to local businesses. I love the card. We have already saved much more than the $10 we spent and the card is valid from last fall all the way through until the end of this year. The PTA said they made a lot more money selling the cards than they ever did on the junk they had sold in the past. The school has a small reward for selling over 2, over 5, and over 10, but there are no pizza parties or assemblies. I like the way they handle it.

The other fundraiser that the school does is the fall carnival where you buy tickets and bid on items that have been donated to the school. There are games for the kids to play, too.

Unfortunately, I have nieces and nephews who go to a different school and still sell the junk so I've still felt obligated to buy overpriced wrapping paper and cookie dough.

 

[jen0610]

My kids both know that the only fundraisers that we support at school is Market Day and the Entertainment Book. With Market Day, we get some really good things to eat and the school makes money. With the Entertainment Book, we save well over the cost of the book, every year.

For their soft/base ball leaque, it is either sell candy bars (1 box per kid), which you pay the $40 a box up front for and keep the money you make or sell 4 discount cards (per kid) at $10.00 each (which is also you pay for up front and keep the money you make) or you can make a $20.00 per kid donation. Let's see....I can either spend $80.00 on candy/cards and HOPE that I can sell all of them or I can donate $40.00 and be done with it. Any guesses on the option we have choosen the last 7 years?????