Does anyone else not like fundraising? Raise your hands.

[MomNeedsVacay]

I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old in preschool. Fundraising shouldn't start this young, right? I mean, we started the year off with wrapping paper.... Okay.... Are my kids supposed to go door to door to sell the stuff? I hate asking the relatives to buy it- you KNOW they don't want it.... THen, its raffle tickets, then its "buy tickets to the "Parents Night Out"( $40/ea), THEN its...."Please find items to be donated for the Parents Night Out" ....then its "Please bid ridiculous amounts of money for the donated items at Parents Night Out".... I already spend $800/ month on preschool! When will the madness cease?

 

[bellebud]

i hate the fundraising too... my kids are in catholic school and there's always some fundraiser to be done. I don't ask anyone to buy anything... not relatives or neighbors... i personally think it's rude. since every school now pretty much does endless fundraisers, if everyone went door to door selling, we'd all spend all day answering our doors and buying stuff from our neighbors and relatives. I buy what i have to and use it myself or for little gifts for people. I agree it really is out of hand.

 

[britincanada]

When my boys were at preschool we paid a fee at the beginning of the year instead of fundraising! It was $45 a year, for consumables. We also paid for field trips, but each drove our own kids (car pooled when we could!)so no transport costs other than our gas.

We then a had a fund raising catalogue that you could buy cards etc from IF YOU WANTED TO, no pressure -more a convenience!

A preschool should be able to budget the years expenses without needing fundraising! It's not like a school that is dependant on government funding. At $800 a month the income is certainly there...is it a not for profit preschool???

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

I throw out all the fundraising packets that my DD's get. I am not going to spend money on anything i dont need and i certainly am not going to ask any of my relatives. The only thing i do sell is Girl Scout cookies. Dh and I take boxes of cookies to work and leave them on our desks. They sell themselves and i never have to ask anyone.
I decided to join the fundraising committee this year so that i could have a say rather than complain, but the school does what it wants anyway. I figure i put in my say and if they don't like it then i don't need to sell what they want us to. I don't feel bad about it either. It's too much because its not only school, its cheering, soccer, and also girl scouts. I would much rather pay a fee than have to sell that crap!!

 

[dzneelvr]

Totally agree with the lame "fundraising" aspect. What you get are those families that do no fundraising and we that do, cover for all. besides, the % that goes to the vendor is zero when each family pays the fee. The school gets 100% In these days of limited spendable income, displaced families, and $1 stores--fundraising the small items is just laughableHow about asking local companies to donate school supplies? Many of us work for organizations that want to do community service in some way--we just don't get asked Rise up and challenge your school to do better for both the school programs and the families!

 

[mjantz]

I don't like the crappy wrapping paper fundraisers but there are a few I do like. My kids school does 'Free Dress Day' fundraisers. You pay a set fee for 5 free dress days (its a uniform school). The school gets all the money & there's no vendor to take their cut.
I also like the Entertainment books for 2 reasons. First, we actually use them & second, they're available all over the US so I can send them to our relatives & they will usually buy them.

BTW, my relatives want to see what the kids are doing for fundraisers. My in-laws have purchased my kids free dress packets for the past few years & love doing it because they get something the kids want & all the money goes to the school.

 

[Kim1964]

I didn't like them when DD#2 brought them home from daycare, when I was already paying to send her there. I especially hated it when the reason for the fundraiser was to buy a new refrigerator......shouldn't they be buying that out of their operating funds?

Anyway, my kids both go to public school now and the fundraisers don't bother me. I don't buy things I don't want....instead, I figure the school was only going to get 35-45% of what I would have spent, so I send in a check as a straight donation instead. They still get their money, and I spend less and don't add to the amount of crap we have lying around the house.

 

[eliza61]

I absolutely abhor fundraisers. Most of the stuff is crap you don't need and way over priced. Usually when my kids had to do it, I would by one item and that's it. Some times I will spring for girl scout cookies every now and then. I just wish our countries schools did not have to resort to fund raisers to fill in the gaps.

 

[Stephres]

Our PTA is trying a "No-Show Ball" this year. They made a fancy "invitation" telling people this is a great event because there will be no parking problems, no rubbery chicken, no boring speeches, etc. Then the response card has options: Please reserve a table for $25 but I won't be at it, etc. It is really cute and we hope the parents will just write a check for $25 instead of having to sell stuff throughout the year.

 

[mom2aredhead]

Sometimes I'll write a check for $5.00 depending on what the fundraiser is for, but for the most part, we don't do it.
I was at a 75th birthday party recently and one of the kids there was walking around getting people to buy popcorn for the boyscouts. It was generally family and close friends there, so a lot of them felt pressure/guilt to buy then complained about it after the fact.
My son is only 4, so we don't get hit too bad yet. But I will say this - I will NEVER go door to door or have my son stand in front of the supermarket asking strangers for money. Its way too dangerous. If need be, I'll just make a donation, or we will not join organizations where that is required.

 

[joycepa]

The madness will never cease!!!
This is what I have been complaining about all week!!!!
My DD14 has already had 3 different fundraisers for her high school band since school started. It's to the point of picking up the fundraiser items and being handed the info for a new one.
This week I signed DD6 up for twirling and they handed fundraiser info out at signups!! That one is a bingo for baskets. Each girl has to ask a business to donate a basket or money toward a basket and sell 5 $20.00 tickets for the bingo. They are asking for a $10.00 donation for every unsold ticket. So if I buy 1 ticket and my Mom buys 1 it will basicallly cost me $50.00 for my ticket.
I also have to donate food for the Bingo!!!!!
I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one that dislikes fundraising.

 

[Gillian]

That Boy Scout popcorn is expensive!

I realize now how nice it is that my kids preschool doesn't do fundraisers. They have Scholastic books monthly, so I try to order from there a few times a year.

 

[ILoveDisney&Cruising]

I LOVE one fundraiser ....... those schools and organizations that sell $10 "discount cards" - like a credit card but on the back has 15 or so vendors. Papa John's buy 1, get 1 free, 10% off local restaurants, $1 off dozen Dunkin Donuts, etc. -- cards are re-usable and good for 1 year.

I actually seek those out .... by calling all the local high schools & such to buy my card.

But every other fundraiser stinks, imho. With the obvious exception of Girl Scout cookies!

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I don't like fundraisers either, but I do send a check to the PFO since we don't participate. My kids did not start fundraising until elementary.

Now, I am going to have to defend Boy Scout popcorn. Scouting gets 75% of the money you pay. Most school fundraisers are 30%. I also think the popcorn is good. Sorry for the ramble. My DH is in charge of our Pack's popcorn sale this year because no one else would do it. It is a lot more work than you would think. Our pack does give the option to donate the money.

 

[mickeylove2]

I agree, it's rediculous. My 2 dd's have fundraising for school, baton twirling, cheerleading, girl scouts, umm am I missing anything??? Yeah it starts with the catologs for candy and wrapping paper, then candy and magazines, then it's Corbi's, then raffle tickets, bake sales, Easter candy and flower bulbs, jewerly, cookies, and the list goes on!

 

[LovePug]

Raising my hand! Hate fundraisers! I have a deal with my co-workers that if they don't bug me with their kid's crap, I won't bug them. The only thing I did, once, was for softball. They gave us an actual box of candy bars to sell ($40 worth). I figured that I'd be buying myself 40 candy bars, but I threw them on the counter, using the honor system, at work to see what would happen. They all sold and all the money was there. That was pretty cool...no pressure on anyone.

 

[poohfriend77]

Luckily my DDs haven't had any fund-raisers yet, as my oldest is just in preschool. But I was starting to dread seeing neighbor kids on my porch with their little catalogs. My friend talked her PTA into holding a fall festival a couple years ago. They have carnival-type games for the kids (parents donate "gently-loved" Happy Meal-type toys for prizes), they get silent auction/raffle prizes donated, and dinner/bounce house/dunk tanks are all at discounted rates.

I know my friend and a (VERY) few other parents worked their tails off on this event every fall, but it's so successful that they did away with all other fund-raisers! I took my family and spent the $40 that I would have spent on "stuff." Instead, we got dinner, the kids had a terrific time, and DD4 won tickets to the planetarium and a restaurant gift card. Plus the school gets 100% of the profits! It's win-win, and I really hope my kids' school can do something like this when their time comes.

 

[BelleRocks]

Never ask family or friends, because I hate the pressure of being asked myself. I buy something for myself IF I really want it, otherwise, I just chunk it. I volunteer one day a week, as well as donate when they have ice cream social, etc. So, I refuse to feel guilty about it.

 

[My2Cinderellas]

add me to the list. At first, I participated in a few fundraisers, DH took a few orders at work, very low key no pressure and then the 2nd child started kindergarten. and the fundraisers got insane. I buy school logo tees or sweatshirts every year, and give them a donation check. It irks me to no end that they give you the "don't take your kids out of literacy block for appointments" speech but they hold pep rallys then to encourage the kids to sell overpriced crap to earn crummy prizes.

We now do Girl Scout cookies and that's it.

 

[Carnator]

I hate them also. Everyone at work has school age children an all go to different schools. So we all feel obligated to buy each others stuff. I put a stop to this last year. I refuse to sell anything anymore. I just write a check for amount I think our children would sell , turn it in and that is it.