School fundraisers

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

I love books. In fact, I'm a research librarian. So there's no anti-book agenda in my house.

We go to the public library at least once a week and come home with a huge tote bag full of books. While we have many books at home, I don't feel obligated to support Scholastic.

In fact, I'm starting to loathe Scholastic. Our book fair seems to have more plastic crap and posters than they do actual books. In addition, so many of the books are genuinely low quality--not the physical book, the content. Now, I don't care what my kids read, just so long as they are reading copiously and joyously. But the sort of tripe marketed by Scholastic isn't generally of any enduring value, and thus not worth my money.

I wonder if the sales vary from area to area. I know ours has great books - award winners and all the great ones I would buy DD anyway. Ours has a huge amt of books, so the plastic crap and posters are only a very small portion of the items for sale. For DD I discourage this stuff and let her know we are there for books!

 

[VickiVM]

Our PTA does not do fund raisers anymore - they ask for a monetary donation at the beginning of the year (whatever you decide to give). But that doesn't stop other types of fundraisers, such as for the library.

We don't to them anymore, except for cookie dough (my favorite).

We live in an affluent part of the city, so I sort of find it offensive this hawking for money when other districts are much more needy than us. I would glady give if they shared it with a sister school that had less programs.

 

[C.Ann]

In fact, I'm starting to loathe Scholastic. Our book fair seems to have more plastic crap and posters than they do actual books. In addition, so many of the books are genuinely low quality--not the physical book, the content. Now, I don't care what my kids read, just so long as they are reading copiously and joyously. But the sort of tripe marketed by Scholastic isn't generally of any enduring value, and thus not worth my money.

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Are all of your book sales only Scholastic? DGD's school has 3 different companies they deal with on a rotating basis throughout the school year.. The content of the books is excellent and DGD will often lean more towards the adult (non-fiction) books - (ie: the weather; geography; history; science; trivia facts; health; etc.) because she has such an inquiring mind..
It has been my experience that Scholastic offers many of these types of books - as well as the other companies that sell in her school district.. Are your book fairs short on space - and thus a smaller selection being offered?

 

[minnie61650]

DD came home from school with a DVD and a pledge sheet for a fun run next week. WE have an agreement in our street that we will not ask each other to make a pledge since we all have kids in this school.

I hate how they make a five year old feel less than adequate if she does not get enough pledges for a "Free" iPod Shuffle!

I told her if she would like to pledge the $35 per lap she was welcome to do it, but she could buy one for far less money.

If that is not bad enough, we found out that this company keeps 63% of the money collected for the school for their administrative fee for running the fun run.

I know the schools need money and volunteers and we give as much as possible, but this extra stuff is frustrating.

Welcome to the world of school fundraisers.
My children (all 4) had fund raisers for their schools and now my grandchildren have fun raisers.

And yes they love to sell enough for the prize they want.

Don't forget the fundraising company HAS To buy the prizes out of their profits so the net profits are not really as much as you think.

Have fun with the sales and good luck to your DD. I hope she sells enough to get her "free" iPod shuffle!

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

I'm a big fan of libraries...just got back from picking up a book for DS. I'm sure many people are too busy to bring their kids to the library these days and find it inconvenient. Personally, I love the whole atmosphere of libraries and took my kids often when they were growing up. I think going to the library encourages reading certainly as much as just owning a ton of books at home.

I don't blame anyone for wanting to know how the book fair (or any other fundraiser) benefits the school, and being frustrated not getting an answer.

I was never an "I'll never say no to buying a book for my child" kind of person. Kids like to buy things, and I was never one to overindulge them in a store, period. I'd often take note of something they wanted (literally...kept a little notebook in my pocketbook) and then for a holiday (including Valentine's Day and Easter, instead of too much candy), birthday or other event (graduation, last day of school), I'd look to the list, and that includes for books. I think kids just like the idea of getting something at the store, including books, whether or not they're really interested in that particular book or not.

Having said that, we always purchased from book fairs. It was a treat for them to buy books (maybe because I didn't always say "yes" every time they asked), and I considered the book fairs one of those special occasions. I also donated a book to the classroom or the library at Christmas and year end, and organized (if I was room parent) a book donation from the class at year end too. We strongly encouraged reading, in and out of the classroom, and my kids are great readers (DS not as much as the DDs, but still).

And...old books aren't necessarily "outdated". There are a lot of classics out there, that will never be "old". I also think it's wonderful for parents to share their love of particular books from their own childhood with their children. And sometimes an "outdated" book will give some great insight into "the olden days" when we were young. I'm about to leave to donate 113 books to the Salvation Army, from when I cleaned out my elderly mom's house (and there are more I have to sort through). But I've kept a few...classics, as well "fun" ones, like the medical encyclopedia from 1946...now THAT'S interesting reading.

 

[mickeyboat]

Our school is part of the pilot program for this fundraiser:

http://www.inspiringkids.org/pilot program.htm

The school gets 50% of the funds raised from the bulb-a-thon, some money goes towards the purchase of the bulbs which each student helps plant on the school grounds, and the 4th graders choose where they want the remaining funds to be spent. Last year they chose to purchase supplies for a relatively local impoverished school district and also chose to send funds to an African village.

It's a great program.

Denae

 

[C.Ann]

And...old books aren't necessarily "outdated". There are a lot of classics out there, that will never be "old". I also think it's wonderful for parents to share their love of particular books from their own childhood with their children. And sometimes an "outdated" book will give some great insight into "the olden days" when we were young. I'm about to leave to donate 113 books to the Salvation Army, from when I cleaned out my elderly mom's house (and there are more I have to sort through). But I've kept a few...classics, as well "fun" ones, like the medical encyclopedia from 1946...now THAT'S interesting reading.

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Absolutely true! I have books from my childhood - as well as my DD's - but if you are looking for current up to date facts, you really need the newest books available.. Older books are fine - if you are speaking of classics; any type of fiction; etc..

 

[jama]

What is market day?

 

[horseshowmom]

What is market day?

I just googled it and was coming back to this thread to ask for first hand experiences. It's a food buying type program (lots of different categories).

Most of the prices couldn't be seen without having an account. How expensive are the items (comparatively speaking)? Also, how about quality? How do schools that use this fundraiser generally implement it?

We're a small, rural school in a low economic level area, and our budget has been cut to the bone (lost several staff members as well). We really need to come up with a good fundraiser, so I'd love some input. Thanks!

 

[sahd2one]

I'm a big fan of libraries...just got back from picking up a book for DS. I'm sure many people are too busy to bring their kids to the library these days and find it inconvenient. Personally, I love the whole atmosphere of libraries and took my kids often when they were growing up. I think going to the library encourages reading certainly as much as just owning a ton of books at home.

I wholeheartedly agree. I can't imagine anyone finding a library inconvenient.

And...old books aren't necessarily "outdated". There are a lot of classics out there, that will never be "old". I also think it's wonderful for parents to share their love of particular books from their own childhood with their children. And sometimes an "outdated" book will give some great insight into "the olden days" when we were young. I'm about to leave to donate 113 books to the Salvation Army, from when I cleaned out my elderly mom's house (and there are more I have to sort through). But I've kept a few...classics, as well "fun" ones, like the medical encyclopedia from 1946...now THAT'S interesting reading.

No kidding and again

I was the mystery reader a few weeks back and read a short story from one of my Rudyard Kipling books from 1912!

 

[allison443]

I love books. In fact, I'm a research librarian. So there's no anti-book agenda in my house.

We go to the public library at least once a week and come home with a huge tote bag full of books. While we have many books at home, I don't feel obligated to support Scholastic.

In fact, I'm starting to loathe Scholastic. Our book fair seems to have more plastic crap and posters than they do actual books. In addition, so many of the books are genuinely low quality--not the physical book, the content. Now, I don't care what my kids read, just so long as they are reading copiously and joyously. But the sort of tripe marketed by Scholastic isn't generally of any enduring value, and thus not worth my money.

My family is also a huge fan of the library-usually every other week, though We have tons and tons of books-recently I donated over 300 books my kids have outgrown. I still let my kids buy at bookfairs, though. I just didn't understand why the OP refused to buy his kid a book because some parent volunteer didn't answer his question, although he certainly had the right to ask, and I really don't get why they wouldn't tell him-maybe it was the way he asked or something It wasn't that he was against supporting Scholastic-it was more like he got miffed. To me I would still buy my kid a book she wanted.

I totally agree with you on the junk at the bookfairs. You are 100% correct. Even the monthly Scholastic flyer that came home, sometimes 75% of the books would be tv-related and really not good at all The bookfairs sell too many posters, fluffy pens, diaries, etc....Did you see that Scholastic recently stopped selling BRATZ "books" due to parent complaints?

 

[sahd2one]

They ran today. We are going to give her teacher a direct donation after the money is collected by the PTA. They had this lofty goal which they in no way reached because of the money the fun run company kept. They might have come close without the middleman...even in this "down" economy.

 

[C.Ann]

They ran today. We are going to give her teacher a direct donation after the money is collected by the PTA. They had this lofty goal which they in no way reached because of the money the fun run company kept. They might have come close without the middleman...even in this "down" economy.

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I thought your economy was "up" - no signs of trouble? You're really confusing people - waffling back and forth..

 

[allison443]

They ran today. We are going to give her teacher a direct donation after the money is collected by the PTA. They had this lofty goal which they in no way reached because of the money the fun run company kept. They might have come close without the middleman...even in this "down" economy.

The same thing happened the first year our school did a walkathon.. the organizing company kept a large percentage. Since then, our PTA organizes it and it is almost 100% profit.

 

[sahd2one]

The same thing happened the first year our school did a walkathon.. the organizing company kept a large percentage. Since then, our PTA organizes it and it is almost 100% profit.

Yeah I know. Even though we are not experiencing a recession where I live, schools are still having fundraisers as they have throughout my life.

I had a huge problem with the company keeping so much of it. Best to have the profit go to the schools and not some company. I think had they not used the company, they would have met and exceeded their goal, but quite a few parents were miffed about it.

 

[2girlsmom]

My school had bake sales, or carwashes to raise funds for yearbook or band trips, etc. Schools have always been in need of money no matter the "economic" conditions.

My DD was already upset because I would not buy books at the Scholastic School fair because no one would answer how much money actually went to the schools. Even Scholastic refused to answer my emailed question.

I can answer this, the school gets 40% of the value of the sales in BOOKS if under $1800 sales, over that amount, they can CHOOSE to get 50% sales in books or 25% of sales in cash to $3000. 60% in books or 30% cash for over $3000.

I just chaired our school's book fair, and while the school did get $400ish worth of books, I personally think this is a complete and total ripoff.

 

[Pikester]

When we do the bookfair at our school we always take our amount in vouchers to purchase books from their catalogs. In March, for 3 weeks during which one of those weeks is the Cat in the Hats birthday, we hold Project R.A.B.B.I.T. Read A Book Because It's Terrific. This is put on buy the PTO and the Public Library. We order the bulk books appropriate for K-4th grade and every student receives a book on the Friday of those 3 weeks. That's about 400 students. I do remember that we got more for our money by taking it in vouchers then by taking the cash.

We just had a bookfair and we must have had 8 cases of books, all good stuff. We did have the junk but just a couple of card tables.

In the spring we also have a bookfair but we don't get any money or books from that one. That is a buy 1 get 1 free bookfair. The free book is suppose to be what we are getting as our "money".