Um no.

[luvsJack]

I also think fund raising at private schools would put me off. You pay so much for tuition, on top of tax dollars to support the local public school, then they want you to raise funds for the school you are shelling out 15k annually? No thanks!

I find fund raising at public schools acceptable, as well as preschools that are affiliated with a church. There is should be no profit in a church, since they are able to file non profit tax returns.

But, private schools do the most fundraising of all because they do not get money from the state or county to provide the things they need.

When I went to private school, I remember raising money in one sale so they could paint lines in the parking lot!!

A friend of mine has two kids in private school. She is constantly being asked for money for something. Right now its in trying to build a gym and hopefully purchasing land for a football field. But the closest elementary public school has a fantastic gym and football stadium because the supervisor in their district was able to use county funds to make it happen, the private school doesn't have anyone that can do that.


Most daycares here are private owned and a single business. If any of the owners around here drove a Porsche and the money didn't come from other income, most people would be highly suspicious of that daycare. Its just not a business that is known for making a lot of money. Most people go into it for other reasons. Our center made both of us a paycheck and stayed full. We got out due to my mom being ready to retire and me needing something that gave me more flexibility to be available for my dd.

Through the twelve years, when, for instance, the regulations changed for playgrounds and we knew it would take a very large amount of money to bring the playground up to code, we had a choice: get a business loan and up tuition to cover it, completely do away with playground equipment (which we were not willing to do for he children), up tuition and go without a paycheck until the money was available for the upgrades or do some fundraisers. We had a meeting with a group of parents and decided that fundraising was the way to go.

Regulations like that can change over a short time. The playground situation was not something any center could really be prepared for. We were over and above the current regulations and then the changes came along. The new regulations were great for the kids, but not so great for the business end of things.

 

[handinpocket]

The tuition is much higher than average, actually. We chose this one because after interviewing several, I liked this infant staffmember I interviewed the best and because it is very close to where I work. And the owner drives a Porsche SUV and owns 3 daycare, I Don't think she is broke. And the staffmember we loved so much, well she is not the one there most days. I like the other lady, but not as much as the one they said would be in there. They made a lot of promises, they have only delivered on some.

For those that asked, it's frozen cookie dough for sale. Seems like a logistical nightmare to get to it anyone who buys it. I am not selling it.

Yeah, you have said that over, and over, and over......we get it.

 

[U2_rocks!]

To me, the difference between fundraising and having the normal monthly fee increased is that with fundraising you can get others to help raise the money. How many of us can go out in the community and ask our neighbors, coworkers, friends and family to help us pay our daycare fees every month? But we can sell them stuff, or get them to buy tickets to a fun event, or ask them to sponsor something. Sure it's not always easy to ask in these hard times (I actually hate it), but some people are still in a position to help out.

If fees are raised then only the people using the service have to bear the extra cost, and that's hard for those who are only barely affording it. By doing fundraising you spread the cost around to many more people so that each one contributes far less than a fee increase would be (per person).

I don't like fundraising - it takes time and energy, and it makes me do what I absolutely loathe, and that's asking people for money. But I do understand why it's done and I do support what I can, when I can (but I can't always help).

 

[DawnM]

Hate, Hate, Hate fundraisers where you sell some overpriced junk.

We have participated in the ones that have food sales like dinners, or the yardsales our Scouts have put on, but selling popcorn I no longer do! I will write a check for a donation (it is sell $300 per boy or donate $100.) I have 3 boys. I started an ING account this year and put $25/mo into it.....I now have the $300 ($100 per boy) to cover it!

 

[AC7179]

I hate school fundraisers. They also get filed in the garbage at my house. And I love disappointing my kid when they find out they will not get any of the crappy prizes(for selling) the school spent two hours hyping up that day.

Amen! I pay an arm and a leg in private school tuition and it chaps my hide to know that an hour or two of the class time that I am PAYING FOR was spent talking this fundraiser up (basically telling them how AWESOME these prizes are, and if they ONLY sell FIFTY items they get <insert AMAZING prize> here). So then during pick up time we have additional drama when I tell her she can only sell to us and her grandparents which is never enough for any of the AWESOME prizes. It really, really, really annoys me. I partiicpate in the school carnival and reasonable fundraising activities like that---parent's night out where proceeds go to the school, etc., but I do not ever do those glossy overpriced catalogs! Ugh!

 

[Riles_and_Gabe]

I realize my perspective is quite different from the OP's. My son's daycare is very affordable and I feel very lucky to have found them. I pay $140/week and it includes breakfast, lunch, and snacks. The daycare shares space with a cheerleading studio so during the winter he has lots of space to run around even when they can't go out.

I know that after paying rent, staff, supplies, etc...the owner is not left with much. So when she wants something special for the daycare she needs to fundraise for this.

I prefer the fundraisers as it allows me to participate when I have the funds. Even though my weekly amount is very low, I have a very tight budget and wouldn't be able to handle an increase. I also try to donate items to the school whenever I come across a really good deal. I love shopping for clearance and really great sales so like to help out when I can. Yesterday, Old Navy had their costumes on sale for $5 so I purchased 2 to donate to the daycare for the kids to play dress-up.

Again, this is just my perspective and I am sure completely different from someone that has to pay a much higher weekly amount.

 

[luvsJack]

I realize my perspective is quite different from the OP's. My son's daycare is very affordable and I feel very lucky to have found them. I pay $140/week and it includes breakfast, lunch, and snacks. The daycare shares space with a cheerleading studio so during the winter he has lots of space to run around even when they can't go out.

I know that after paying rent, staff, supplies, etc...the owner is not left with much. So when she wants something special for the daycare she needs to fundraise for this.

I prefer the fundraisers as it allows me to participate when I have the funds. Even though my weekly amount is very low, I have a very tight budget and wouldn't be able to handle an increase. I also try to donate items to the school whenever I come across a really good deal. I love shopping for clearance and really great sales so like to help out when I can. Yesterday, Old Navy had their costumes on sale for $5 so I purchased 2 to donate to the daycare for the kids to play dress-up.

Again, this is just my perspective and I am sure completely different from someone that has to pay a much higher weekly amount.

You are the kind of parent that daycares LOVE!!!

 

[DopeyDame]

Between this and the "I"ce post today, I am absolutely loving my DS's school right now. It's private, and not cheap but not the most expensive in the area by a long stretch. They have one silent auction/dinner event every other year. That is the only fundraising they do. At the PTO meeting last week, the president had the stack of magazines hawking crap that companies try to get schools to sell. Fortunately, we all looked at each other, said "we don't do that" and in the trash they went.

Even before we had kids, my husbandn and I decided that our kids wouldn't be hawking crap to neighbors and friends to finance their school or activities. We'll happily donate money directly to the school for things (and have bought them supplies and books when we've found a good deal on something we thought they could use), but I just don't see the logic of selling crap to friends so that a very small percentage of that can go to my kid, while the rest goes to a big corporation.

 

[luvsJack]

Between this and the "I"ce post today, I am absolutely loving my DS's school right now. It's private, and not cheap but not the most expensive in the area by a long stretch. They have one silent auction/dinner event every other year. That is the only fundraising they do. At the PTO meeting last week, the president had the stack of magazines hawking crap that companies try to get schools to sell. Fortunately, we all looked at each other, said "we don't do that" and in the trash they went.

Even before we had kids, my husbandn and I decided that our kids wouldn't be hawking crap to neighbors and friends to finance their school or activities. We'll happily donate money directly to the school for things (and have bought them supplies and books when we've found a good deal on something we thought they could use), but I just don't see the logic of selling crap to friends so that a very small percentage of that can go to my kid, while the rest goes to a big corporation.

I think its great that you are able to donate things or money to your kid's school but not all parents can do that. The same with activities; some kids would not be able to participate if not for fundraising of some type.

I don't do all the sales. I don't like magazine sales very much. I don't like the catalog sales with all the gift wrap and such.

We have done coffee (comparable to the price of Starbucks ground coffee and very good), cheesecakes (doing that now and selling well), candy bars (sold like crazy) and live Christmas wreaths (will never do that again). Its just something that has to be done for the activity that dd is in.