School Fundraising

[CamColt]

I know in the past when school fundraising has been brought up it can turn into a touchy subject. And Ive read here quite a few times that people would rather just donate money than to have to buy the junky stuff from the brochures. Im on the fundraising committee at our school so I want to know what people think of this idea.

We are starting a brochure fundraiser Friday(there are some Disney items in there!). What would you think if along with the order forms, brochure, etc... that goes home if you got a paper stating something like "If you do not wish to purchase any of the available items, but are still interested in donating to the (schools name) Fall Fundraiser, please return this form along with a check for your donation. 100% of this money goes directly to the school. We greatly appreciate all your help". And at the bottom of the form we would have lines for $5.00, 10.00, 25.00, and other.

Would you consider that... tacky? greedy? a good idea?
Thanks for any opinions.

 

[DoeWDW]

I think this is a FABULOUS idea!! Wish my school would do this! I'd much rather give the whole amount to the school instead of buying more "stuff".

 

[MUFFYCAT]

I think that's a great idea. Each year I say, I'd rather send them a check for $30.00 and be over with it. I don't like the stuff that's in our fund-raiser. I'm not buying anything this year, because there is nothing we need from it.

 

[tar heel]

I would call it common sense. All of our schools have offered such an option for years, although they've not suggested that you donate less than $50! If you go this route and are offering any kind of sales perks, make sure people who donate also get those and advertise the fact. (For example, some schools have a fair-type thing for kids who sell a certain amount. This year, our elementary school is giving a water bottle for participation and a T-shirt for 5 or more items)

I will tell you from years of nonprofit fund-raising experience that, if you offer a $5 option, some people will take it. If you start at $10, almost no one will give $5 and so forth. I wouldn't offer a $5 option (someone can always do that by checking "other"). I don't think I would do $10 either. I would start at $20 or $25.

 

[CamColt]

Thanks everyone!
Good tip tar heel. We were discussing it at our meeting and mentioned the $5.00 because we didnt want to come off sounding too greedy, thinking people would get mad and not bother doing it at all. But the "other" does leave that option open.

 

[eeyoreforever]

I'm one who generally doesn't mind buying things from the fundraisers. The wrapping paper has always been excellent quality and I've bought a few other small items. The candy is the only thing I wouldn't buy.

Just a thought for those who would rather just donate the money-is there maybe something in the catalog that you could buy and perhaps donate to a nursing home or some other organization. If you're going to give the school $30-$40-$50 or whatever, you may as well get something for it that could brighten someone elses day. Even the wrapping paper could be donated to a nursing home so they could wrap little things for the residents or even use it to decorate with.

As far as the "donation form", I would personally start with the $5 category, because even though someone can check the other box and write in $5, it may make them feel like a cheapskate. I know that is how I would feel.

Good luck with your fundraiser.

 

[tiggerlover]

Great idea!

 

[MAC3]

I think it's a great idea. 100% straight to the school, instead of the stuff you'll never use(but I buy off everyone that asks).

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I think it is a great idea and I would write a check on the spot and stick it back in the bookbag.

If you're going to give the school $30-$40-$50 or whatever, you may as well get something for it that could brighten someone elses day.

When I donate to my kid's school, I do get something for it. The library gets new books, the computer lab gets a new printer, the teachers get the supplies the need to teach their lessons -- the list goes on and on.

I don't think there is anything wrong with donating to Nursing Homes or whatever, but when you buy the wrapping paper or other items, the bulk of that Revenue is going to the company that produces the catalog which isn't even a part of our community. I can easily go to Wal Mart or Target and buy wrapping paper for a fraction of the cost to give to organizations.

 

[disneysnowflake]

I'd much rather donate money than have DS2 sell those tacky items to my family and friends.
Besides, there are 13 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren in my family. 4 of those kids are out of school, but the rest are in school and selling something. Usually my poor parents are the target for fundraisers. I swear they spend about $1000 a year just on fund raisers from their grandchildren/great grandchildren. And that's just from school fundraisers. Most of my nieces and nephews sell items for scouts, church, band, football, etc. I swear every single week someone is selling something.

The only thing my son doesn't like about my sending in donations instead of his selling is that he's usually the only kid who doesn't get a prize. Even if you sell one item you get a prize, but if mom and dad send in $30 DS2 gets nothing. Doesn't seem fair.

 

[goofy4tink]

I know that when Scouts sells the cookies, our girls have always been instructed to answer yes, when asked if they can take a donation to the troop instead ordering cookies. Seems a lot of people would rather just make a donation rather than buy something they feel to be useless. One lady told me that at $3.50 per box of cookies with about 20 cookies (tops!) per box, she felt she was doing the girls a favor by just donating $15 directly to them instead of ordering the cookies.

I would love it if our school offered this option. In fact, my friend is on the catalogue sales committee and we were just talking about the ability to just make a monetary donation instead of buying more gift wrap/candle/Turtles!!! Hopefully they will offer it this time around.

 

[Geoff_M]

Another option would be to find a company that offers good products at a decent price. Such companies DO exist. But all too often the committees that select the fundraising vendor go "gaa-gaa" over the vendors profit margin and use that as the driving factor. Sure it's easy to sell a program to a school with promises of a 55% profit margin... but that's easy to do when you're selling chocolate at $20 per pound! There's a line I like with regard to this when evaluating fundraisers: "If you walked into a store and saw this product for sale at this price.... Would you buy it? If the answer is 'no' then why in the world would you ask other people to?" Why would you want to rely on "but it's for a good cause" (read: mercy purchase) as your main sales driver?

People forget that profit is an equation: Sales * Margin = Profit. If your school offer products that are desireable to buy at a decent price then the increase in the sales portion of the equation will offset the lower profit margin. And you get happier customers that may actually look forward to your group's next fundraiser and may not complain about having to buy "junk" at "high prices".

 

[H&Hmommy]

I think that is a great idea. I just killed myself helping DD-7 sell 35 candles so that she could take a limo ride to McDonalds during lunch. I just could not stand the thought of her watching all of her friends load up while she had to stay at school. So now I will have to drive many miles to deliver 35 candles and collect the money.
Good luck with your fundraiser.
Kim

 

[aprincessmom]

It's a great idea. I have no problem with giving money for the school...I have a problem with having to buy overpriced things that I may never use and asking friends and family to do the like. At least this way I know the school gets every penny I donate.

 

[Nancy]

My middle Dd had to fund raise to go on her school trip last yr. Luckily they gave us the option of paying for the trip because for me to sell enough to raise the money we would have spent 4 times the amount of the trip! I only have my MIL and Mom living here (also SIL, but she won't buy anything) so it was more cost effective for us.

I used to fund raise when they were doing competitive dancing because I was on the parents guild and knew exactly how much money we actually earned, plus whatever I raised went directly into my DD's account with only 5% going to general fund.

 

[vhoffman]

I would much rather see a direct donation option as opposed to having my kids try to sell junk to family and neighbors. I simply won't put my kids in that position--peddling whatever for fundraisers and risking the hurt feelings of rejection when they can't make a sale. When fund raiser packages come home for wrapping paper, etc., I just throw it away. I don't want to put my kids in an awkward spot, and I also don't want neighbors and family to feel put upon every time we see them. So the school gets nothing from us. However, if there was a direct donation option I would be glad to give them the money. Its not a matter of being cheap, its that many people aren't comfortable with trying to sell stuff and the inevitable rejection that ensues (my kids are 6 & 7, too young to handle such feelings).

While we're on the subject, here's a related pet peeve of mine. Our school collects box tops, soup labels, and tab pulls from soda cans. They have a contest to see which class collects the most of each item. Some mothers bring in hundreds of these items--just last week a mother in my son's class brought in a gallon milk jug full of tab pulls. While that's all well and good, it makes the lesser mortals among us feel hesitant to donate smaller amounts. Last year I collected exactly 17 box tops (sorry, I just don't buy those brands), and I just threw them out. I felt my paltry contribution would humilate my kids in comparision to the hundreds of box tops some mothers donated. My niece's school has a barrel in the lobby to donate boxtops. People donate a few at a time, whatever they have, and guess what? Her school collected 3x's as many boxtops as my son's school, and her school is about one half as large! Making a competition out of it only serves to discourage the small contributions, which actually in total add up to much more than the few mega donations. Where do these mothers get all that, anyways? Its much more than an average household could possibly consume. They must have family and friends save them. But if you're on a fundraising committee for a school (or any organization), do realize that if you're asking for contributions from every member, come up with options that everyone is comfortable with. A cash option, or a barrel or box for everyone to donate. Some people love to play fundraiser and get their validation from how many boxtops they collect or how much wrapping paper they sell, but do realize not everyone wants to play those games. Their contributions count, too.

 

[phorsenuf]

We must have a good school PTO or something because I like the fundraisers we do.

The middle school does a magazine drive which is great because every year I do my renewels through them. For me its a win-win.

The high school right now is doing Yankee candles. That's a good way to knock out some Christmas presents for the out of town reletives that we buy for but don't see at Christmas. I really don't like buying for them so the candles make it easy.

They've also done frozen snacks in the past that I loved! They were french bread pizzas and cinnamon rolls.

I always bought them and kept them in the freezer for those busy hectic nights. The kids loved the rolls for breakfast before school!

Like I said, I guess we are just lucky........

 

[Ellen aka Snow White]

I don't think the donation idea is a bad one - however, will those kids be awarded the same as the others? Probably not since the prize incentives are usually paid for by the vendor to encourage sales. I would definately address this issue on your donation letter so that you won't have kids thinking they are taking that limo ride!

 

[brerrabbit]

Not school related but I have been on the board of Little League baseball for years and one of our major fundraisers is selling candy. We ask that each player try to sell $84 worth of candy. Our cut is 50% so we offer the option that if you don't want to sell it you can just buyout for $42 we have as much as 30 to 40% of the parents go that route.

 

[RobinMarie]

Oh how I wish they would convert to a 'donation optional' situation! All the stuff they sell seems to go straight to the landfills.

I think it's a great idea!