Market Day/Scrip - ideas for school fundraisers

[left210]

I am co-chair of the market day at our school. We are a small community and average about 50 orders per month but are looking for ways to get more orders. Does anyone have any ideas?

I edited my title because the thread started to include other fundraising ideas and it would be great to hear about any other fundraising ideas your schools have been successful with so that we can all stop buying gift wrap and junk we dont need or want.

 

[mamaLori05]

unfortunately, with the way the economy is I think you should just be glad with what you get. Unless Market Day lowers their prices even more, I think it may get cut from a lot of people's budgets. It's sad, but the dollar only goes so far!

 

[Purseval]

What is market day?

 

[laurafergie]

What is market day?

Me too?

 

[savannahcat]

My DD's school does Market Day and I have never ordered. Seems like everything is overpriced and I would rather just write a donation check directly to the school. I'm not sure that there's anything the school could do to convince me to order.

Just out of curiosity, how much does the school profit from Market Day on average?

 

[savannahcat]

What is market day?

http://www.marketday.com/

 

[sweetpeakaris]

unfortunately, with the way the economy is I think you should just be glad with what you get. Unless Market Day lowers their prices even more, I think it may get cut from a lot of people's budgets. It's sad, but the dollar only goes so far!

Totally Agree! Prices are a little high for what you get. Sams Club, Costco, etc. has better deals.

Does your school do Script? Maybe adding another Fundraiser will help. I love to purchase Script.

 

[laurafergie]

http://www.marketday.com/

Ahhh - Thanks!

 

[java]

What keeps me from ordering Market day is the annoying pickup time. It's always 5-6 right smack in the middle of dinner or after school sports practices. If it was directly after school- so I could pick up the order plus my kids I might be more likely to order.

I did like what I ordered when I ordered. (Those molten chocolate things are delicious!!) Good luck!

 

[LilyWDW]

OH my.. that is so odd! Mom and I were JUST talking about this last night and how much we enjoyed it when I was a kid. We were bemoaning the fact we no longer had this going on!

 

[aprilfoolwed]

I agree that it's a bit of a tough sell for any budget-minded family, or for most working families. The prices are too high for those of us on budgets (Sam's Club is a lot cheaper!) and the pick-up times are awful for those who work.

I have 2 kids in elementary school now and I would love to support the school with Market Day. Every months I scan the flyer, and decide that it's just too much money for it to be worth it.

The PTO is just going to have to settle for my TIME over my MONEY.

 

[allison443]

What keeps me from ordering Market day is the annoying pickup time. It's always 5-6 right smack in the middle of dinner or after school sports practices. If it was directly after school- so I could pick up the order plus my kids I might be more likely to order.

I did like what I ordered when I ordered. (Those molten chocolate things are delicious!!) Good luck!

I was going to mention the pickup time as well. Our school used to do Market Day and one thing that was good was they had pickup on Thursdays when there were a number of extracurriculars/sports practices being held AT the school. This resulted in lots of parents being at the school. So since I was taking my dd to basketball anyway a 6 on Thursdays I would place an order, knowing I could pick up my order at the same time.

Our school has now eliminated Market Day and most other fundraisers. They have institute the scrip program. Each family must purchase $3500 of scrip (This is NOT a public school, so yes it is mandatory).

 

[left210]

I appreciate all of your comments and will take them back to my Market Day representative. I was trying to find out though if there were ways to entice and/or encourage those who had not tried market day to do so. I know cost may be a factor for many but I was thinking along the lines of had anyone ever done a sampling table at a school function or looking for other ideas. Our MD Rep usually has samples at the market day pick up to sample products but this is all people who already know and order from market day. I thought we should try to get the tasting to those who have never tried it.

 

[left210]

I was going to mention the pickup time as well. Our school used to do Market Day and one thing that was good was they had pickup on Thursdays when there were a number of extracurriculars/sports practices being held AT the school. This resulted in lots of parents being at the school. So since I was taking my dd to basketball anyway a 6 on Thursdays I would place an order, knowing I could pick up my order at the same time.

Our school has now eliminated Market Day and most other fundraisers. They have institute the scrip program. Each family must purchase $3500 of scrip (This is NOT a public school, so yes it is mandatory).

So how does scrip work? When you order a gift card how long does it take to get it? This would be great for your regular shopping trips to the grocery and especially at Xmas time when people are buying gift cards anyway. So do you have to know ahead of time I want 2 Meijer cards, 1 Bass Pro, etc. or do you get a general scrip card that works anywhere on the list?

 

[left210]

OH my.. that is so odd! Mom and I were JUST talking about this last night and how much we enjoyed it when I was a kid. We were bemoaning the fact we no longer had this going on!

You can go to Market Day and look up local schools in your area and place an order through them online if you want. I did that when my son changed schools a few years ago when that school didnt have Market Day.

Yes I agree some of their items may not be budget friendly but there are some items that once you try them it is hard to go back to the store and get it. For instance, I love the chicken steaks. Yes I can buy chicken breasts at the grocery but I love that they are individually wrapped and thaw out so quickly under hot water and do not need to be trimmed. Yes I have bought the ones that claim to be like this at the grocery but they are not. I still do the bulk of my shopping at our local grocery but do buy our favorites from Market Day every month.

 

[minnie1928]

What keeps me from ordering Market day is the annoying pickup time. It's always 5-6 right smack in the middle of dinner or after school sports practices. If it was directly after school- so I could pick up the order plus my kids I might be more likely to order.

I did like what I ordered when I ordered. (Those molten chocolate things are delicious!!) Good luck!

That's a major complaint in our area as well...

FWIW, I don't order from them due to cost.

 

[hambirg]

So how does scrip work? When you order a gift card how long does it take to get it? This would be great for your regular shopping trips to the grocery and especially at Xmas time when people are buying gift cards anyway. So do you have to know ahead of time I want 2 Meijer cards, 1 Bass Pro, etc. or do you get a general scrip card that works anywhere on the list?

Scrip is wonderful! And it it not one card, but regular GCs. At my kids old school you were given an order form every week on Monday and given your Scrip on Friday. But they also had general stock that you could just walk up and buy on Friday. . if you did it that way sometimes they would be out of what you needed though. It's really a no-brainer way to raise money. . .groceries, gas, etc. I would buy cards all year long to go towards Christmas shopping.

There's is also an e-scrip program.
http://www.escrip.com/

 

[LilyWDW]

You can go to Market Day and look up local schools in your area and place an order through them online if you want. I did that when my son changed schools a few years ago when that school didnt have Market Day.

Yes I agree some of their items may not be budget friendly but there are some items that once you try them it is hard to go back to the store and get it. For instance, I love the chicken steaks. Yes I can buy chicken breasts at the grocery but I love that they are individually wrapped and thaw out so quickly under hot water and do not need to be trimmed. Yes I have bought the ones that claim to be like this at the grocery but they are not. I still do the bulk of my shopping at our local grocery but do buy our favorites from Market Day every month.

I looked... no local schools showed up on the website. I am now a sad panda...

 

[left210]

Scrip is wonderful! And it it not one card, but regular GCs. At my kids old school you were given an order form every week on Monday and given your Scrip on Friday. But they also had general stock that you could just walk up and buy on Friday. . if you did it that way sometimes they would be out of what you needed though. It's really a no-brainer way to raise money. . .groceries, gas, etc. I would buy cards all year long to go towards Christmas shopping.

There's is also an e-scrip program.
http://www.escrip.com/

So the school places an order on Monday and the cards come in from Scrip by Friday, is that correct? On the walk in ones I guess the school just has some local places on hand?

 

[hambirg]

So the school places an order on Monday and the cards come in from Scrip by Friday, is that correct? On the walk in ones I guess the school just has some local places on hand?

I don't think that's correct. I don't know exactly how that process works. My friend was a Scrip coordinator for the school and they would pick up our orders from another school. . .maybe a regional distribution point kind of thing. As far as the walk in type, yeah, the school had a basic stock they would sell during car pool and after church. HTH

Here is the site for the actual regular Scrip program. It looks like they have a couple different shipping options. Hopefully, you can find your answers there. http://www.glscrip.com/howscripworks/index.aspx

ETA-There is an order turn around calculator on the left of that page. It looks like the Monday-Friday scenario is doable.