At the elementary school level, a carwash ends up being a whole lot more work for the parents who have to supervise than it is for the kids. Also, desert cities now discourage this kind of thing because of the huge waste of water (professional carwashes recycle theirs). As for bake sales, don’t get me started. By the time the mom (that’d be ME) buys the ingredients, makes the products, and wraps them in an appealing way, the amount of time and money that’s gone into them far outweighs the amount of money you can reasonably charge. Every giftwrap/chocolate fundraiser we’ve had has netted us 50% of the total. Entertainment books that sell for $35 give us $15 per book and I don’t remember what the percentage is for school pictures (although that one at least provides parents a useful service if they want pictures). It’s really not a bad deal when you consider the logistics of running a school-wide fundraising campaign.
I hate the fundraisers too. It’s really distasteful to me to see my kids shill for companies that do nothing but turn out fundraiser products. However, until the state/city/school district decides it’s worthwhile to fund things like art, computers, and music, I’ll be working the PTA fundraisers every year.
Our PTA limits the school-wide (as opposed to specific clubs) fundraisers to two per year. We do the corporate candy/giftwrap one in the fall and have a walkathon (where kids get pledges and run/walk laps) in the spring. I prefer the walkathon, since it’s a straight donation and depends entirely on each child’s individual effort.
i remember doing that! most of the time it was just for the school, although just as often it is for the music dept.; scouts; etc.
M&M’s for the junior high; raffle tickets for the 5th grade trip to Indianapolis; that over priced candy and wrapping paper for the music dept. of any school; the cloth calendars that hang on the wall; and coupon books & tupper- ware for the boys and girls club!
{QUOTE] originally posted by tatertot:
You know which fundraiser I really hate? The one where they convert the gym into a little shopping center so the kids can buy presents for their family. In theory, this might be a good idea, but all it’s just pure 100% crappy gifts that nobody could possibly want
[/QUOTE]
my old elementary school does that! They called it santa’s secret shop, and (in theory) all the little kids could get little presents for their family without the hassle of the parent taking them to a store during the xmas rush. That school also did the “bake sale thing” and school carnival, but the most popular thing they did to raise funds was to sell popcorn, little bags every friday 25 cents each. A different grade would sponsor the sale each week.
The most unusual fund raiser i particiapated in went like this: we put together some grab bags and made lures for a sale we had at a bait shop, with a bake sale that day at the bait shop, for the keystone club of the boys and girls club.
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I don’t mean to sound like a cranky old person and hope it didn’t come across that way. I can understand “only sell to people you know”, and hell, if I had a child, I’d enforce that rule myself. I wouldn’t object if Mom or Dad brought the kid in on a lunch hour to go around to co-workers drumming up business, and my theoretical kids would certainly call on every nearby friend and neighbor. I guess I just object to that transparent system of [no effort = reward] on the part of the child. i.e., it isn’t selling to co-workers per se that I object to; it’s the fact that the child is completely uninvolved in the process. I cling stubbornly to that idea that it’s not a bad thing, for kids or adults (though there’s more of a learning process in action for kids), to have to put out a little effort to achieve success or reward.
Ah the lovely fundraisers… I’ve done quite a few of them over the years though not all that many were with the school. I can recall going around selling expensive candies and wrapping paper and ribbons and such though I don’t know how much the school got. I’ve also gone out selling Girl Guide cookies (something like the Girl Scout cookies in the states except the states has more options (at least that’s what I heard… we only sell vanilla and chocolate mix in the spring and as of a few years ago chocolate mint in the fall…) and have done so since I started in Guides until I had to give it up because of schedules which was for about 9 years.
I can remember getting those lovely ‘prizes’ many of which are gone by now I think the coolest thing I got was a caculator once. Now I could get one of the exact same quality at the dollar store. I’ve also seen those ‘Santa’s Workshops’ I once saw one at Heritage Park in Calgary and that stuff was terrible as well.
I can understand the not selling door to door which I think is good because who knows what could happen in this world? But one thing I do remember is when I was selling GG cookies that fairly often (at least in the richer areas of town) that we got a bad reception. Most of them didn’t want to buy and more then once I got a door shut in my face. I always prefered when we would go to the grocery stores and sit there selling our cookies to people entering or leaving the store (we had a table set up and had permission from the manager) we always made more money (At least I think we did. I never really knew what was in the accounts of course) and we weren’t freezing trying to sell to people who didn’t want anything.
My oldest started kindergarten this year. The first fundraising package came home with him about a week ago. The wrapping paper company claims 50% of the proceeds go to the school, but even if this is true, the cost is twice the cost of a roll at the store (not even on sale) for half the square feet of paper. These are not exagerations. I checked a role that still had the price on it. $3.99 for 80 square feet (32 feet by 2.5 feet). The school’s paper was $7.75 for 40 square feet (20 feet by 2 feet), for one of the cheaper rolls.
If you live next to me, you’re lucky. The note that came home said not to sell door-to-door, they’ve gotten many complaints. We’re supposed to scam our relatives, not our neighbors. :rolleyes: I think I’m just going to cut them (PTSO) a check.
Where I used to work, the coworker’s school fundraiser was candy bars, $1.00 each. The box was just on the counter by the coffee, with an envelope for payment. No pressure, and eventually they’d get bought by someone.
This has nothing to do with the OP but just seemed like an excuse to tell the story. Last year a friend’s child was selling those discount coupon books (“buy two $29.95 dinners at xxxx restaurant and get a free appetizer”, etc) for band camp. Each child was arbitrarily sent home with a box of thirty, out of which he managed to sell some a half dozen (at a price somewhere around $25) to whomever. The rest were in a bag in her car, and, since the sale period lasted for a couple of months, they were easily forgotten about. Somehow, someone cleaning out her car did not relize what was in the bag and mistook it for trash. Voila, financial tragedy! She wrote a check for more than $500 to the school to pay for the books… and she didn’t even get any damn coupons out of the deal.
in new jersey they have stopped door to door sales by kids when a boy was killed by a neighbour while selling on his street. having a school function or parents bringing in to work is much safer. in my office the parents that bring school sale stuff are very low key about it, they do an email saying they have stuff for sale and just keep it at thier desk on an asked for basis. i just bought a yummy tub of cookie dough.
and hope it didn’t come across that way. I can understand “only sell to people you know”, and hell, if I had a child, I’d enforce that rule myself. I wouldn’t object if Mom or Dad brought the kid in on a lunch hour to go around to co-workers drumming up business, and my theoretical kids would certainly call on every nearby friend and neighbor. I guess I just object to that transparent system of [no effort = reward] on the part of the child. i.e., it isn’t selling to co-workers per se that I object to; it’s the fact that the child is completely uninvolved in the process. I cling stubbornly to that idea that it’s not a bad thing, for kids or adults (though there’s more of a learning process in action for kids), to have to put out a little effort to achieve success or reward.