I can't stand these fundraisers!

[momof1princess]

my daughter just came home yesterday with a band fundraiser too. we're selling 2 pound tubs of cookie dough for $10.00. i think this is much more reasonable than the $15-$20 pound boxes of premade cookie dough we sold last year. i don't mind raising money for band equipment, as i know school music programs are horribly underfunded or not funded at all. HOWEVER, if DD were to tell me she is being graded on this fundraiser (yep, they get grades in band), i would have already been down at that school discussing the matter with the principal.

 

[MickQuinn]

Grading a student based upon ability to raise funds is wrong on many levels.

The district I teach in restricts basing a grade on anything other than actual coursework produced and test grades.

I'd be ticked if I was told my kid's grade depended upon whether they were willing to "sell" or not.

 

[gshumaker]

I've heard of parents who go to the first PTA/band/etc meeting(s) and ask what kind of check do I need to write and not have to see any of these fundraisers. Then they write the check and that is the end of it. It is all about the $$$ and raising the funds for whatever they are planning. They do not care if you sell one item as long as they get the $$$.

For me I refuse the sell any of the overpriced stuff. Bring on those $1 candy bars which is cheaper than you can get in a lot of vending machines today or the box of doughnuts from KK but to ask someone to pay $15 for a roll of wrapping paper is not going to happen.

 

[Amg120499]

With the postcards, they don't have to sell a thing. The school gets paid a specific amount per completed book of postcards. They don't get more money if people actually buy them. I fill out the postcards and send an email to the recipients telling them that they can just throw them in the trash.

That is what I do as well. Just let everyone know to ignore the postcard when it comes in. She gets her grade and the recipients know they don't have to feel guilty about not buying anything. It's a win/win.

 

[momxx5]

Hot Hot Topic......

With a household with 5 children, fundraisers are difficult. They always were.

1. Every child in our neighborhood goes to the same school(elementary, middle, high) so our neighbors are trying to sell the same stuff
2. We have no family in the area. Plus our family is not in position to purchase items. (health bills, stepdad in hospital,then home, etc)
3. DH is unemployed(job eliminated last April), so any money we have is carefully budgeted to pay bills and fundraisers are not on the list. When DH was employed his company had a strict no sales policy, thus not putting people in the position of feeling like they had to buy.

As a member of many committees at schools(PTO, Band Boosters, etc) I know that fundraising is a necessary evil. However all our schools have rules to NOT including fundraising as a grade. That is extremely sad, putting that pressure on the kids. I would definately speak to the principal, PTO, etc in getting that changed.

Our schools also LOVE direct donations in lieu of purchasing from fundraisers. Its a fine line that they do not want to totally "scream" to all, because it competes with the fundraising company. Usually our school sets up so that 1 item purchased = an $8.00 direct donation. That is when prizes are offered to the high sellers. Personally, when able to we did the direct donation. Giving $50 to which group gets 100% versus buying $50 worth of merchandise to which the group gets 20-30%.

In this economy is it extremely hard to do any fundraising, and with the rising costs its even harder for the groups to meet their budget goals. We have had many groups....band, chorus, dance, etc scale back their goals and even cancel trips due to the lack of funding. It is sad for the seniors not to go on the Band trip because of funding.

I pray that things can get straightened out soon with the economy. Our area (county) has been hit extremely hard and has one of the high unemployment rate in the state. All the children are getting used to the whole thing, that the groups & system have had to make major cuts.

So, please do not feel bad for not being able to participate. We were very honest with our children (age appropriate info), and they know fully well what we can participate in and what it out of the question. As far as participation in fundraising for a "prize", we'd have a bit of joke around here.....sell 10 items for a pen that wouldn't last the week. OR doing an extra chore around the house and get a similar pen(or whatever it is) from the Dollar Store.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Fundraisers are fine, IMO really, they are. But NOT if they are mandatory and GRADED??? Hello. Seems pretty inappropriate to me, unless your dd is taking a salesmanship class

 

[ohanaMAMA]

When DD was in public school, I would flatly refuse to do "sales" fundraisers. I do not sell wrapping paper, candy or anything else. I dont have time for that. However. I WILL bake for a bakesale,spend time for a walk-a-thon, send in boxes of tissue,hand sanitizer ect. I had to learn the valuable lesson. that I am ALLOWED to say NO.

 

[Mrs D]

I agree that attempting to tie this fundraiser to a grade is inappropriate.
In talking with parents that are involved in PTL they said they actually appreciate someone writing a check if they choose not to participate in fundraisers. With a fundraiser you get a percentage of the cost of the item. Rather than me paying $30 for some junk I do not want or need when I write a check for $30 the PTL gets 100%!

So getting back to this postcard business - is this s way for marketers to "buy" a list of names and addresses?!?!?!?! That's what it sounds like if school are getting paid for the postcards versus the sales! This is wrong!

Now, does anybody want to buy Marketday: Uno's frozen pizza? My DS's school is selling them.

 

[momejay]

I don't think fund raisers should be a grade. I also don't think the child should be told that those that love her will buy magazines. CRAZY!
I liked the $20 box of chocolates we used to sell/eat as kids. When I was in high school we sold Charms lollipops for a quarter a piece in Lunch, Study hall & Health class. We made about $20-$40 a day for the soccer program. Each player carried around a box. Some teachers would allow us to sell in first few minutes of class or until the bell rang.
Most of these high priced fancy programs just take advantage. I bought some high quality wrapping paper for all occasion. I got 15 feet of high gloss red & green striped paper & paid $10! I would have rather just given the school the $10!
We decided to sell candles one year. They were evergreen, candy cane & other Christmas scents. They came in the day school let out for winter break. Not one parent picked up their candles on time. Orders were cancelled as Christmas was over. Candles arrived broken...It was a mess!
I don't know what the solution is.

 

[samefay]

this is the one that gets me when selling mag subscriptions. We're told that if a child doesn't sell two magazines then they will not be allowed to attend a special program (Like a magic show) that the SCA/school is already paying for. Some fundraisers I don't mind but this one really annoys me.

 

[Alesia]

So getting back to this postcard business - is this s way for marketers to "buy" a list of names and addresses?!?!?!?! That's what it sounds like if school are getting paid for the postcards versus the sales! This is wrong!

No, that isn't what's happening. They do not start sending out junk mail. They just know that quite a few people will buy the magazines.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

My sons school just did a really cool fundraiser. They did a fun run. There is a company that will come to your school for 2 weeks, they do programs about doing your best and about being healthy. They run no more than 35 laps and you can donate either per lap or a flat rate. The best part is instead of the company taking 50% of the money raised they only take 10%. My sons class alone raised $1600. The fun run was so much fun!!! The kids had a great time and it's so much better than cookie dough or magazines.

Our school did something similar, but the PTO ran the whole thing (no outside company) so they earned 100%. Ours was a walk a thon. The local news channel covered the event. The got prizes donated from local businesses. The kids got 1 entry into a drawing for every $20.00 in donations they collected. The top prize was a Wii. There were a bunch of prizes. I forget the total amount, but it blew away our previous sales based fundraiser totals. They will for sure be doing this again.

The magazine one is so annoying. My oldest DS came home saying he needed to fill out postcards, and he didn't even know it was for magazines. They call it a family literacy program.

 

[MrsPooh]

I'm getting irritated with fundraisers also. Until this year my kids have always gone to private schools and we did one or two fundraisers of things to sell per year. That was plenty for us.

This year my oldest is going to public high school and is taking choir which is both a class and an activity. So far this year she has brought home at least one fundraiser per month of things to sell. Our family does not need pastries or some of the other junk they are selling. It is all overpriced and we are on a strict budget.

I understand that there are expenses involved. They must raise about $20 per pupil per year to cover robes, etc. Starting sophmore year they do take a trip each year (Disney or New York). The funds each child raises is credited directly to them to cover their expenses. I'd much rather do a larger scale event - like the restaurant fundraisers or something similiar.

Our family members would rather donate cash toward her trip expense when it is time rather than buying all this junk. I really don't like this stuff.

We don't purchase from the monthly fundraisers

 

[deerhart]

my kids school gives us the option to donate directly to the PTO for our fundraiser or buy items.

We also do 2 resturant fundraisers (pizza and mexican) and Escrip cards (grocery) plus a few other fundraisers type things over the year (like Macy cards etc..).

Also, many of the events have a nominal fee ($2-$3 per person) to offset some of the costs

 

[bethy]

We do not participate in these. We donate money and the organization ends up making more that way because they get ALL the money then. And I get a tax deduction, usually.

 

[Pigeon]

I would send the post cards to all the teachers in the music department.

No way would we do this. I'd be on the phone to the principal ASAP for making this an "assignment."

Dd is in the orchestra. We make a big direct contribution to the PTA and the Friends of Music at the beginning of the year and we are done. If there were some special event they needed money for, I'd be happy to write a check. But I don't do fundraisers, ever.

 

[Purseval]

They should just do away with the choir, and the orchestra, and sports teams, marching bands, every activity except the 3 R's and whatever it takes to get you into college or a trade. Then you wouldn't have to worry about fundraisers. Of course then there would be another long thread with people complaining about the meanspirited educators who killed all the fun in school, but you can't make everybody happy.

 

[mum4jenn]

Why should my child have to hit up all the relatives for magazine subscriptions for 6th grade Orchestra fundraising? I know the school budget has been slashed and they need to keep the program open, but I hate the magazine things. I would prefer just to donate whatever my child would have brought in...but it's a homework assignment and graded. To get a A she needs to send out 7 "postcards" to "people who love her" to get them to buy magazines.

I have some relatives who really have no money for this nonsense. Is this fair? Grrr...sorry for the vent. Any constructive ideas about what to do?

I pick random names out of the phone book to send the cards to.

 

[deerhart]

They should just do away with the choir, and the orchestra, and sports teams, marching bands, every activity except the 3 R's and whatever it takes to get you into college or a trade. Then you wouldn't have to worry about fundraisers. Of course then there would be another long thread with people complaining about the meanspirited educators who killed all the fun in school, but you can't make everybody happy.

most competitive colleges look for students to be doing at least some of these activities that you say the schools should get rid of for admittance. Thus, extracurriculars pretty much are required to get into college.

 

[Purseval]

most competitive colleges look for students to be doing at least some of these activities that you say the schools should get rid of for admittance. Thus, extracurriculars pretty much are required to get into college.

People who are eating canned spam twice a week to make ends meet shouldn't be required to subsidize your child's college admission. That's why fundraisers are held in the first place. If you don't like fundraisers the only other alternative is to get rid of the activities that can't be supported by taxes alone. Expect the situation to get worse, not better, as all the bills the government is running up now start coming due.