tell me about magazine sales at your childs school

[Grumpy's Gal]

One of my kids is going to be involved in a magazine sales fundraiser at school this year. This is a first for us.

I have been asked to sit on a parents group to help with this. I am looking for ideas on how to promote sales and rewards etc that would interest kids in the tween and early teen years.

Any ideas are appreciated. I'd also love to hear if your school had a magazine fundraiser and how it went -- what did your school profit and what you used the money for.

TIA.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

They expect you to buy 3yr subscriptions for magazines for the most part so it is expensive.

I don't know what to tell you about promoting sales. I don't participate.

Now I might if I was told specifically what the money was going to go for.

I don't care about the prizes. Limo rides and fancy prizes for high sellers. Drawings each day and pizza parties for the highest selling class are some of the incentives they have.

I am not buying for junky toys.

 

[golfgal]

I used to chair a very large magazine fundraiser at our kids' old school. It was nice because we only had that fundraiser each year-brought in over $90,000 each year. The best prizes, the ones that motivated the kids the most, were a limo ride home from school and the money machine-a blow up thing that we put cash in-the kids put their arms through holes and grabbed money. We also had a final prize day that we called Whaky Whipper day-those sticky hands on a string things-gel type deals. We put money in a circle and the kids used those hand things to "grab" money. We usually brought in about 1/2 of the sales that day. We had pretty close to 100% participation in the sale because everyone knew that if that sale didn't go well we would have more.

 

[clh2]

My DD's middle school did this all the years she was in Student Council. It was their major fund raiser for the year.

Their incentive was a "mega-party" only for the kids that sold 5 subscriptions. Sorry - I don't remember what all went on at the mega party.

Now - I personally will never buy another magazine subscription through this type of organization again. One year - the magazine I purchased was DC'd from the program before the order was entered. There is also a major time lag from when the order is placed until when the subscription started. And, the company would prefer that you pick a different magazine, instead of giving you a refund.

Sorry - I just hated this fundraiser. Probably not what you wanted to hear, I was really glad when DD moved to HS.

 

[golfgal]

My DD's middle school did this all the years she was in Student Council. It was their major fund raiser for the year.

Their incentive was a "mega-party" only for the kids that sold 5 subscriptions. Sorry - I don't remember what all went on at the mega party.

Now - I personally will never buy another magazine subscription through this type of organization again. One year - the magazine I purchased was DC'd from the program before the order was entered. There is also a major time lag from when the order is placed until when the subscription started. And, the company would prefer that you pick a different magazine, instead of giving you a refund.

Sorry - I just hated this fundraiser. Probably not what you wanted to hear, I was really glad when DD moved to HS.

Neither the school nor the magazine drive company have any control over the magazines being discontinued or refunding money vs getting another magazine. All of that is under the control of the publisher. It is a pain but there isn't much the school can do about that. Yes, the lag time can be long. Our fundraiser was for 3 weeks at the end of Sept to Mid-Oct and the magazines started arriving in Nov.

Mystery Machine--not that I have any say in how you run your household but your kid benefits from these fundraisers and choosing not to participate is fine and dandy but I hope you at least get some cash contributions so you aren't taking advantage of other people's hard work. We have done these fundraisers for over 10 years and have NEVER had to order a 3 year subscription to anything. There are a couple that OFFER 2 year subscriptions. The price of the subscriptions in the fundraiser are the same as you can order through the magazine 99% of the time.

I hate fundraisers all the way around. I would much rather have my taxes increased $100/year (which is what we figured it would be per house in our old town to eliminated ALL of the fundraisers in the public schools and provide the same funding to the schools) but no one else wanted their taxes raised. That same year we spend over $200 on fundraisers--makes a lot of sense?? Our kids were in a Catholic school there so we would have continued our fundraiser-but it had been in existence so long the entire town just renewed all their subscriptions then so it was an easy one to do.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Neither the school nor the magazine drive company have any control over the magazines being discontinued or refunding money vs getting another magazine. All of that is under the control of the publisher. It is a pain but there isn't much the school can do about that. Yes, the lag time can be long. Our fundraiser was for 3 weeks at the end of Sept to Mid-Oct and the magazines started arriving in Nov.

Mystery Machine--not that I have any say in how you run your household but your kid benefits from these fundraisers and choosing not to participate is fine and dandy but I hope you at least get some cash contributions so you aren't taking advantage of other people's hard work. We have done these fundraisers for over 10 years and have NEVER had to order a 3 year subscription to anything. There are a couple that OFFER 2 year subscriptions. The price of the subscriptions in the fundraiser are the same as you can order through the magazine 99% of the time.

I hate fundraisers all the way around. I would much rather have my taxes increased $100/year (which is what we figured it would be per house in our old town to eliminated ALL of the fundraisers in the public schools and provide the same funding to the schools) but no one else wanted their taxes raised. That same year we spend over $200 on fundraisers--makes a lot of sense?? Our kids were in a Catholic school there so we would have continued our fundraiser-but it had been in existence so long the entire town just renewed all their subscriptions then so it was an easy one to do.

I have been on the PTA, I have been a GS Leader, I don't need a lecture on fundraisers.

I do not agree with magazine sales as a way to make money for a school.

 

[mjkacmom]

I have been on the PTA, I have been a GS Leader, I don't need a lecture on fundraisers.

I do not agree with magazine sales as a way to make money for a school.

I can't agree more. Our kids fill out those mailers that are supposed to be friends and family - most kids fill in the names of other students, to get the prize. Our school has a large tricky tray, which brings in about $40,000 a year, and I end up spending over $200 with my donated basket and tickets. I will also volunteer my time on committees.

 

[EthansMom]

Our school does the gift wrap and magazine fundraisers at the same time. Our PTO doesn't believe in the high-pressure sales tactics so we don't have the stupid little prizes or take a lot of time out of the class to discuss the fundraiser with the kids.

When we do have a fundraiser incentive, it's generally something that every kid can qualify for and/or a whole-school incentive. For instance, one fundraiser the kids were told if the school raised $X then the school would have no homework on a certain day. Another idea is to have one or two raffle baskets. Each child who returns the order form, even with no orders on it, gets one raffle ticket. And each child gets a raffle ticket for every magazine order. The raffle baskets could be higher-end prizes like a DSi.

I hope this helps!