Boxtops.

[Fairy]

Honestly, boxtops seem like such a waste. My time is worth more than that. I would just donate an extra $5-10 - that's worth 50-100 boxtops! I think over a full year I collect about 15 and it's just such a low return to clip, save, remember to turn in...

I am on the PTO. We get several hundred $$ a year to our PTO just from boxtops. That's enough to fund many line items in our budget That means less relying on parents to give us cold, hard cash. I used to avoid it, cuz I didn't wanna do the cutting and I really didn't know what the impact was. Now that I see first hand what a huge impact it really is, I promote it where I can. There's a line in the sand for everyone, we can't do everything. I get it. I AM it. I know. That's totally ok. But just saying that this is free money to schools, and the impact really is quite real.

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

I am on the PTO. We get several hundred $$ a year to our PTO just from boxtops. That's enough to fund many line items in our budget That means less relying on parents to give us cold, hard cash. I used to avoid it, cuz I didn't wanna do the cutting and I really didn't know what the impact was. Now that I see first hand what a huge impact it really is, I promote it where I can. There's a line in the sand for everyone, we can't do everything. I get it. I AM it. I know. That's totally ok. But just saying that this is free money to schools, and the impact really is quite real.

I get it, too. Our school is the top school around and makes several thousand dollars. But, for me personally, I would rather just give an extra $10. I still cut them out due to guilt, though.

[kdeunc]

I realize that box tops are a pain in the butt. I just counted, bagged and mailed (with the help of DH) over 7000 for our school. Our PTA gets about $2000 from the program each year. We have almost 70% of our kids on free/reduced lunch so boxtops are a way that families who can't just give an extra $20 can support the school too. I appreciate everyone who sends them in and I completely understand those that don't!!

[KHF]

We collected over $4,000 last year alone from Boxtops. In a school with a relatively mid to low income population, that is huge. I think over the last 6-7 years, our school has brought in around $35,000 from the program.

[TwinFoxes]

Honestly, boxtops seem like such a waste. My time is worth more than that.

I know a lot of people feel this way, but to me it's so easy. I cut them off with the scissors in my kitchen drawer, I have a ziplock bag that the school gave me stuck on the fridge, and just drop them in. I would never in a million year be the BTFE coordinator, but cutting them is easy. Our BTFE coordinator works that program, she gets bonus points, and we get literally thousands of dollars. Our school is in a pretty well off neighborhood, but we can always use the money!

[calebsmama03]

I do collect them but we don't use a ton of processed foods or paper products that they come on (with the exception of Kleenex) so we hardly ever have any. I keep a baggie in the cabinet and pop them in when I have them but I agree it seems like such a small thing.

As others have said, I do know expired will not count. Our "free money" person makes a big deal of checking expy dates.

[Tanya]

I don't mind saving them, but now that I've helped the coordinator at our school, it's an insane job. They trim them down as small as they can to save on postage when they mail them in plus check expiration dates. I've tried to be more careful when I cut mine out now (and not just tear them off, etc.).

[Pennylane]

Honestly, boxtops seem like such a waste. My time is worth more than that. I would just donate an extra $5-10 - that's worth 50-100 boxtops! I think over a full year I collect about 15 and it's just such a low return to clip, save, remember to turn in...

Lots of people say the same thing but never send in the donation. Our school raises between $600 - $800 a year on boxtops that otherwise we wouldn't get.

Ann

[MamaMolly]

I don't mind saving them, but now that I've helped the coordinator at our school, it's an insane job. They trim them down as small as they can to save on postage when they mail them in plus check expiration dates. I've tried to be more careful when I cut mine out now (and not just tear them off, etc.).

Well shoot. Here I was going to makes smart mouth comment about who cuts them when you can just rip those puppies off but now I'm going to feel all guilty sending them that way.

[rlu]

I have DS cut/trim them. Good fine motor skill practice.