Small Vent fundraisers at school !

[brymolmom]

I'd love it if our PTA stated what they "need" to raise per child per year.

The PTA should be able to post meeting minutes and budgets on the web which give details of where the money went.

In theory I agree with you, but being the secretary and responsible for the minutes - I rarely have time to post such details. The basics is about it. Don't forget - it is a volunteer position and I likely put in about 5 - 10 hours per month already just with the meetings, sorting through the email, making and copying and distributing fliers, etc. So, I don't feel the need to do more (but would be happy if anyone else wanted to take over next year and put more into it than I am - I have no problem than that). I figure if someone was truly interested - they would either attend one meeting or at the very least send an email inquiry with their specific questions. In which case I would forward to the treasurer and she would likely give at least some specifics. Honestly though, i think a lot of people (not the ones on this post tho) don't really care - they would complain no matter where the money was going.

Personally I LOVE that we have a PTO - different at all schools but at ours our organization helps promote a 'community' feel to the school with monthly roller skating, meetings on topics from understanding the report card to child safety from the Center For Missing & Exploited Children, a fall and spring 'party' and a field trip. I would hate it if we ever disbanded due to lack of funding. And MY affection for the school would fall a bit because I LOVE the community feel that I think our PTO really enhances. I realize some people might not participate in ANY of the school activities, and those people have every right to throw out all the fundraising requests, but those of you who do participate or enjoy the fact that the offerings are there - should be willing to help out. WHICH is sounds like many are here ARE WILLING to help out - would just prefer to do so by writing a check.

 

[melancholywings]

Wow! How ironic that as the fundraising chair for our PTO I just sat through a 90 minute sales pitch to sell candy.
I am new to this position and am tired of the same ol'...I agree with most of you that I am so tired of gift wrap and candy! For the love of God if I wanted to spend a fortune on candy I would rather spend it on Godiva!
So here's my question to you all...
Would you spend $10 per ticket to go see a minor league baseball game with the family??? $5 goes to the school.
For me if I'm spending money I'd at least do something with my family rather than stuff my face with chocolate or try to stash another roll of gift wrap in a closet that's already stuffed!
Thanks for your opinions!!!

Our school did a run on the next door JR. Track. All kids participated but you could buy a T-Shirt for a little bit extra. They also do several things through community buisnesses. One pizza place sells $5 pizza with all profits going back to the school on specific nights. Famous Daves had a - I think 10% night or something.

My favorite PTA event is reading night. All the kids show up in PJ's. Some of the teachers then will read outloud at the front of the room. The kids then have a 'bring a book get a book' swap where all swapped books are placed on a table and they just grab what they want. So everyone can walk away with something new. And the PTA sells cheap raffle tickets for little prizes that are given in between readings. It's modest, quaint and fosters a sense of community. I think many of those fundraisers forget that and there's a disconnect between selling crap and feeling that your part of your school.

 

[lovintennessee]

As PTA president we have to let everyone know what the money is going for that is raised. Due to the economy we have put a hault on fundraisers for the rest of the school year. The best one we did all year was an Applebee's Pancake Breakfast that the kids and teachers worked along with the PTA.

Our school principal is a totally different story. He tells the parents that he is not prepared to discuss how much money is raised and how it will be spent.

 

[Pigeon]

Would you spend $10 per ticket to go see a minor league baseball game with the family??? $5 goes to the school.
For me if I'm spending money I'd at least do something with my family rather than stuff my face with chocolate or try to stash another roll of gift wrap in a closet that's already stuffed!
Thanks for your opinions!!!

Nope, I'd rather watch paint dry. And I want all my contribution to go to the school.

 

[albertamommyof4]

I am a co chair on parent council here in canada and it is very interesting.
If you don;t go to the meetings then you have a hard time knowing what they are fundraising for but if anyone asks then they will say and also the minutes to our meetings have to be posted on the schools website

A lot of your views are that you are against the prizes for the kids, well what i think is that if the government funding for schools was not to low then the schools would not have to fundraise to begin with, so if the kids schools have to participate then why not them being able to get a prize for it. We can not go door to door for the fundraisers and i explain to my kids that they may not get a prize or win a prize but the money is helping out the school and they are okay with it .

 

[shortbun]

We write a check as well. DS knows to throw away the fundraiser info at school. lol!
He still gets sucked in by the prize ones. We throw those away when he gets home.

 

[Becky2005]

II saw one post who said they write a check to the PTA at the beginning of the school year this way the PTA gets the entire amount. I never thought to do this, but I do like the idea!

That's how our grade school PTO works -- they ASK you to just hand them over money. It's a suggested amount of $30/kid or $40/family I think, something like that. They call it the "unfundraiser" -- with a notation that if they don't raise enough they may still have to come back and ask you to sell something.

When my DD was in Kindergarten was the 2nd year they did it & so far, they have never had to add on for that.

Now, they still do other fundraisers throughout the year -- Market Day, gift card thing, Fun Fair, Box Tops, local restaruants with donation back but no selling anything specific.

Then my kids hit middle school & it's magazine sales; wreaths for music boosters. Then add in HS if your kids are involved in sports and it's selling just about everything under the sun -- although food tends to be involved a lot. (cheesecake, cookie dough, orange crush for valentine's day, etc...) -- a lot of those are the groups themsevles though selling it to other HS kids.

 

[apnep]

we have three kids and we seem to be at an endless fundraiser.

I don't know how many Christmas wreaths, cookies, nuts, bread, softner salt, magazines...we have sold over the year.

I do not participate in any of these fundraisers. They are a pain, and I am not going to ask my family to buy any or march my kid door to door to sell these overpriced items. It really irks me that my kids get these packets sent home with them. I would MUCH prefer it, if the PTA just asked me for a check up front at the beginning of the school year.

Ang

 

[Pigeon]

A lot of your views are that you are against the prizes for the kids, well what i think is that if the government funding for schools was not to low then the schools would not have to fundraise to begin with, so if the kids schools have to participate then why not them being able to get a prize for it. We can not go door to door for the fundraisers and i explain to my kids that they may not get a prize or win a prize but the money is helping out the school and they are okay with it .

While I totally agree that schools should be adequately funded in the first place, the pep rallies and pressure to spin the kids up for selling crap are nothing short of obscene.

We hear frequently from the schools about how important contact time is. They stress that medical appointments should be made for after school, children should not be pulled out for any reason other than sickness, etc. They lost me on that the day dd came home and told me they had found class time for an assembly about all the prizes they could win selling Sally Foster.

And bribing kids in this manner is just plain manipulative. If Sally Foster wants to sell crap, let them hire a sales force. They aren't doing it on the backs of my children.

 

[apnep]

What bothers me about fundraisers at my kids school is the pressure put on the kids to participate. Class gifts if EVERYONE in the class participates - DD doesn't get the prizes for the fundraiser and then she is mad at me for making her be the only in her class who didn't get something or we let her whole class down when they don't get a reward.

I don't mind the fundraisers but I wish they wouldn't bribe the kids to participate.

I SO agree with this! When I toss those fundraiser packets my DD gets upset because she's not participating! My DS came home from school and said he needed to take a dollar for Haiti because they were going to have a soccer match between the kids and the teachers. If you didn't bring a dollar you had to stay inside! Things like that bug me. I have an idea, why don't you stay inside and teach my children how to read, write, and do math.

Ang

 

[apnep]

Our school sells T-shirts that say "Just Say No To Fundraisers" with the image of a pile of fundraising junk in the center with a red line drawn through it.

We make more money on the tshirts than we ever did on fundraising.

Ha! Now I'd buy that!

 

[jodim]

I absolutely hate fundraising, unfortunately it is necessary for most schools to function and be able to offer extra's most of our kids enjoy.

My kids go to a private school, I already pay out quite a bit in tuition and I get very frustrated that I have to buy more or ask family / friends to buy things as well. We have went to almost no door-to-door type selling... we do raffles (Bingo's), a huge springtime dinner/auction, rib sales, scrip program, etc.

I know if we didn't do all these fundraisers that my children would not be able to take part in all of the extra's made available to them. (Halloween parties, Easter egg hunts, Heritage Week, etc)

Even in public schools our government is making so many cuts to education, that in order for the school to function and give the children a opportunity to do something other than "curriculum", they must do fundraisers.

I know it sucks, and if more people would just write a check to the PTA/PTO/PA then the need for fundraisers would drastically reduce.

I highly recommend that you attend PTO/PTA/PA meetings and voice your opinion. (It's also a great way to find out what is going on in the school) It will allow you to suggest things like writing a check instead, or the t-shirt idea (phenomenal, I love it!)

 

[richmond282]

This was years ago but my kid's school ( a public school) had a yearly spring fair complete with rides- a really big event. The fair was held in the evenings for one weekend but on Friday ONLY those children who had sold X amount of chocolate bars got a 1/2 day out of class to go ride the rides. The other kids had to stay in classrooms and do worksheets. I was FURIOUS! I had four kids in that school, did not like my kids going door-to-door, could not afford to write a check, and cried over thinking of my kids being excluded. I let them skip the day at school rather than to be one of the ones left behind. So, yeah...I hated the fundraisers too and especially this one. I volunteered my time extensively in the school. Didn't have alot of money, but I did have time so I felt I gave my fair share. I started a paper back "Swap Shop" that was run by the second grader's three times a week under my supervision and an "Achiever's Club" that I ran every Friday for at-risk 5th graders working on a goal, getting Domino's to donate a weekly pizza, arranging games and esteem-building activities and running the group along with the school social worker...so I did my part and did it happily. I also felt that the taxes I paid should have been enough to provide the basic equipment and books but I was a girl scout co-leader with a friend who was a kindergarten teacher and she had to chip in quite a bit of her own money to buy things needed for her classroom, year after year.

This is actually illegal to do in TN now. The laws have recently been changed. We can now no longer require fees for anything a student gets a grade for either. I wonder who is going to pay for all this stuff?

 

[ohlas]

Nope, I'd rather watch paint dry. And I want all my contribution to go to the school.

what color purple pretty

 

[nicki.momof3]

I use to do every school fundraiser but since the school my daugher is attending won't let us know exactly where the money is going I have stopped supporting them.

Have you actually attended a PTO / PTA meeting and asked and they refused to tell you what they do with the money - that seems very odd . Or since they are not reporting home in a newsletter or personally calling do you assume they are not tellig you. A personal invitation to help your childs school should not be needed for parents.

Get involved than you can complain. If you don't help out or attend meeting you can don't have a right to complain.

I have 3 children in 3 different schools, I work full time, care for a very sick parent, and still find time to help out and be involved at my childs school.

 

[ShanPooh]

Oh here is one that has me.
The info. just came home today.
Malley's chocolate bars. Either buy the box outright and sell them at our leisure or sell individual bars and turn in the money and any remaining chocolate bars at the end of the sale.
Problem - boxes are $45 each!!! We have two kiddos, so that would be $90!!! CRAZY!!!
Sure they have four generous grandparents, DH co-workers that wouldn't mind buying a bar or two, and DD's Chinese class but I'm certainly not going to pluck down $90 in hopes that we can sell 72 chocolate bars. I could really stand to lose 20 pounds and don't want the temptation lying around!
DH is a confessed chocoholic. When he was in school he would buy the box himself and eat a good part of it himself! (Being a guy, he has a great metabolism)
For those who just make checks out, more power to you, but I couldn't fathom plucking down an extra $90 this year and $120 next year.

 

[Kat77]

Our school sells T-shirts that say "Just Say No To Fundraisers" with the image of a pile of fundraising junk in the center with a red line drawn through it.

We make more money on the tshirts than we ever did on fundraising.

I'd buy that!!!
DS12's school did a write a check instead campaign this year.... I really hope it worked!

 

[zoemurr]

So funny to hear everyone say they'd rather give a check. I am on the PTO board and I BEG every year for a 'please send us a check for $x.00 and forget the rest'. We DO put a 'or you can write a check directly to the PTO' on each of the fundraising - but, IMO, it won't work as well as asking for a specific amount. I think it scares people away from writing a check cuz they might think 'is this too little/much'? What do you think? Does your school ask for a specific amount?

Also - for anyone who doesn't know where it's going - make sure to attend some meetings. I have a couple of friends who always swear they don't know where the stuff goes - but they've never been to a meeting. We give general 'your money goes to Fall Festival, Teacher appreciaition, Dress up day, Celebrate the school night plus one field trip per year' on literature, but we go into detail at the meetings. So if you want to know, really, attend and ASK!

to sell 10 carwashed or donate $30. We wrote a check.

Every year my son's school does a teacher raffle. It is voluntary, and I'm not sure they make a lot of $, but eveyone loves it. Teachers donate things and the kids buy raffle tix. Some donate "stuff" (a webkinz or movie tix) but most donate time. "Have lunch with Mrs. M" "The art teacher will draw your picture" "Play DDR with the gym teacher" It's very creative and no money down, 100% goes to the school.

I do love the "No fundraisers" shirt! That I would buy!

 

[lovintennessee]

Have you actually attended a PTO / PTA meeting and asked and they refused to tell you what they do with the money - that seems very odd . Or since they are not reporting home in a newsletter or personally calling do you assume they are not tellig you. A personal invitation to help your childs school should not be needed for parents.

Get involved than you can complain. If you don't help out or attend meeting you can don't have a right to complain.

I have 3 children in 3 different schools, I work full time, care for a very sick parent, and still find time to help out and be involved at my childs school.

I am very involved in my child's school. I am the PTA President and we have asked the principal numerous times at our PTA meetings exactly how much money was raised and what it will be used for. His response is that he is not prepared to disclosure that information to us. This upcoming meeting will be the third time he has been asked. The reason we need to know is because we wanted to try to match the amount for playground equipment.

As for our PTA every meeting we have a report on what was spent and brought in. The school should let the parents know how much money is raised and what it is used for.

 

[2Eskiedogs]

The best fundraiser my kids have ever done would by the music department does a raffle calendar for $20. For $20 you have 365 chances of winning money prizes. Each child in the music department is to sell so many, plus they also sponsor a house to house selling party, which the kids are rewarded with pizza and pop. We also take orders from local churches. This is the only fundraiser that is fun to do. Once you have people who you sold to win, they tell a friend, then you have even more people the next year that want to buy them.

The 2nd best is our scrip program.

The magazine sale is the worst. I don't have the kids sell them, nor do I buy them. Several years ago, several family members and myself ordered magazines, paid for them and never received them. I had a heck of a time, calling the magazine company to refund money back to them. Several months I can understand, but 6 months no way. Now all my youngest does it fill out the postcards so he can get the free gift.

We had a discount card that you purchased for $10, it had several free offers on the front of the card, some of the offers were buy one get one free on different food items, plus it had discounts for certain eating places, drycleaning, movies. Problem was I kept forgetting to use it.