School Fundraiser

[katydid1971]

Just found out about DS's school fundraiser. I'm not happy about it. First DS is a Kinder so I'm not going to send him out selling. But that really isn't the problem because I would just have him call the grandmas and have them each order one thing and call it good. The thing I don't like is this year the kids are suppose to sell $20 gift cards that the buyer can use on the company's website (http://www.sallyfoster.com/sf/). I went to check out the site and the stuff is junky and over priced. There is nothing that is $20 so the people either have to spend more or lose some of the value of the gift card and they have to pay shipping. I really don't think this is going to be successful but I guess I will have to see. I am wondering what your schools do for fund raising and if you have anything that has been very successful and more popular than selling gift wrap.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Our school refuses to do any junky fundraisers- no wrapping paper... I love it! The only ones they have done are a holiday gift shop featuring well made things and of the ilk that you would get at 10000 Villages, a sandwich sale (close to the line on good since the ingredients weren't fantastic- but it was popular), bake sales, and a lunch for dinner before school events. Book Fairs. A plant sale. A few other things sprinkled here and there like bake sales.eta- and things like Boxtops and other rewards' programs. They won't do one unless they get 20-30% of the profits to keep so that limits options. Also, there is no mandatory fundraising at all. The school is a charter school. I am very happy with this. I would personally opt to just send in a check rather than fundraise if I was forced to contribute money that way.

Beth

[BabyMine]

We just got our first fundraiser also. Thank goodness for Facebook becasue I posted all the information on there. Ours isn't mandatory and if people want they can write a check. This is the gift wrapping paper and kitchen supplies. I wish they would do something that benefited social issues such as homelessness. M is also in K.

[MaiseyDog]

I agree with you about fundraisers being a pain in the neck, but if it makes you feel any better- I LOVE Sally Foster gift wrap. I know it is over priced, but it's great paper. It's the only fundraiser other than girl scout cookies that I will actually buy.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I agree with you about fundraisers being a pain in the neck, but if it makes you feel any better- I LOVE Sally Foster gift wrap. I know it is over priced, but it's great paper. It's the only fundraiser other than girl scout cookies that I will actually buy.

I meant to say that before. I bought some from my nephew ages ago and it was fantastic paper. Thick, easy to work with, and pretty.

Beth

[katydid1971]

I agree with you about fundraisers being a pain in the neck, but if it makes you feel any better- I LOVE Sally Foster gift wrap. I know it is over priced, but it's great paper. It's the only fundraiser other than girl scout cookies that I will actually buy.

I've bought the gift wrap in before from neighborhood kids, and I agree its nice paper. My problem is you can't just buy 1 roll you have to buy a $20 gc and then order it from the site with shipping starting at $6, for one roll is $12, two rolls are $20. Who is going to pay $20 for two rolls of gift wrap from a neighborhood kid. I wouldn't. I guess I'll see when the sale is done how well it goes but it sounds like a big mistake to me.

[Laurel]

The $20 gift card requirement is something new for this year. Our school opted out of doing Sally Foster and decided to just ask families for cash donations because of the gift card change. I can't imagine that it is going to be good for their bottom line.

[MissyAg94]

Our (private) school asks for a one-time cash donation (no set amount) from parents. That is the only fundraiser.

[BabyMine]

I meant to say that before. I bought some from my nephew ages ago and it was fantastic paper. Thick, easy to work with, and pretty.

Beth

We are doing the fundraiser for Charlston Wrap. Is the wrapping paper similar to Sally Foster. It's not that expensive so I was going to buy some.

[WatchingThemGrow]

We have a SF packet too, but I think we're going to opt to just give some cash instead of doing the fundraisers. Not a huge amount by any means, but something that will make us feel okay about not participating in stuff we don't want or need.

[tarahsolazy]

Our public elementary has done a cash fundraiser only the past two years. Just write a check for whatever you want to give, suggested donation $90 a family, and be done with it. I gave them a bit more than the suggestion, because I was so thrilled to not be confronted with selling stuff.

[infocrazy]

Our (private) school asks for a one-time cash donation (no set amount) from parents. That is the only fundraiser.

This is us too, but DS1 goes to public school. They give a suggested amount though but you can give whatever.

[AnnieW625]

DD1 is in preschool. There is a candy bar sale in January. Not looking forward to it, but we'll deal with it then. There is also a Chuck E Cheese night in November, but thankfully DD1 is small enough that all she likes is Skeeball, and playing in the structure. They won't make any money off of us, but I guess enough people eat there or bring their older kids too that they do it every year.

[JustMe]

I hate our school's main fundraiser...its cookie dough, with ingredients I dont want my kids eating and I dont want to push on anyone else...I guess it raises lots of money though. I make a donation to the school, and call it good. Dd does get mad at me, though

[o_mom]

We have the SF stuff this year. However, we opted for a cash donation instead so my plan was to only buy if we really thought we would use stuff. I hadn't actually looked at the SF catalog yet, but that's a good point about the gift cards not being able to be used.

[Twoboos]

Best fundraiser I ever heard of was the kids doing a walkathon around the school track. No sharing the money with another company, and the kids all had age- and ability-appropriate lengths to walk.

I gladly made a donation for that one.

[KrisM]

Best fundraiser I ever heard of was the kids doing a walkathon around the school track. No sharing the money with another company, and the kids all had age- and ability-appropriate lengths to walk.

I gladly made a donation for that one.

My kid(s) do this. I like it too.

[billysmommy]

This is us too, but DS1 goes to public school. They give a suggested amount though but you can give whatever.


This is what our public school does too. They call it "Gift your Child". I love not having any fundraisers to deal with.

Ds2's preschool just had a great fundraiser ~ they sold mums. It ran for one week (the first week of school) and they made over $900 which is wonderful since it's a very small preschool (~100 kids total)

[hez]

Best fundraiser I ever heard of was the kids doing a walkathon around the school track. No sharing the money with another company, and the kids all had age- and ability-appropriate lengths to walk.

I gladly made a donation for that one.

DS's walkathon is next Friday. I'd much rather he did that, too. We've done Sally Foster the last two years, and I'm over it-- we won't be participating if they do it again this year. Part of the issue for us was lack of organization. The long-term sub in his room didn't turn in anyone's order forms, and none of those kids got their orders before Thanksgiving. Annoying if your out-of-town family bought Christmas paper, and you can't get it to them before that holiday without figuring out how to ship it.

Our PTO does other fundraisers throughout the year-- I'd so much rather just be asked for an annual donation and wash my hands of the constant paper announcing this fundraiser or that. But maybe I'm lazy or something.

[JBaxter]

Nathan's preschool did the yankee candle fundraiser and a basket bingo. I did the candle but not the bingo. Nathans elem school does wolfgang candy ( over priced and I can get much better other places) and some pizza kit things. We do not do those.

[mom2binsd]

Our public elementary school does an UNRAISER....you just donate any amount you want $$- 100% goes to the PTO....I don't understand why any school does any type of sales anymore, it's such a waste of time/energy/PITA and the % that the school gets isn't great (and the products aren't anything special).

I would suggest to the school that they rethink their fundraising efforts. We've done very well with the UNRAISER.

[bubbaray]

We do "unraiser" (totally stealing that term!). This is our major source of $$

Last year we did:
Entertainment books
Pampered Chef
Mabels Labels
Scholastic (though this is for the classrooms and they earn books, not cash)

IIRC, there is also a magazine fundraiser, which is a joke. I'm not sure which we are continuing with.

We also get matching funds from various community grants. For example, last year we got $5k for holding an environmental fundraiser (bottle drive) that involved a certain % of families (over 50%). We are also (hopefully) getting a matching grant for a new intermediate playground.

[LD92599]

Best fundraiser I ever heard of was the kids doing a walkathon around the school track. No sharing the money with another company, and the kids all had age- and ability-appropriate lengths to walk.

I gladly made a donation for that one.

Here too!

[wendmatt]

We just did a Yankee candle one. Great idea but they are pretty pricey so paying over the usual amount makes them high. We bought one and a friend bought one so didn't make much. They did the "unraiser" last year and it did OK but didn't make enough and don't seem to be doing it this year.

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

Best fundraiser I ever heard of was the kids doing a walkathon around the school track. No sharing the money with another company, and the kids all had age- and ability-appropriate lengths to walk.


This is what our school does. They also sell sponsorships (get your name/company on the tshirt), have a silent auction, have gift baskets (1 per class) you can purchase, etc. all on the same day.

It's really fun for everyone and we do it October so you get the fundraising out of the way.

[Sillygirl]

Our school wrote and published a local guidebook, 200 pages, covering kid-friendly attractions all over the county. It's been a huge hit, it supports local businesses that are listed, and we printed it in our local community, keeping dollars circulating. Very much in line with the school values, and easy to sell because there's nothing like it around here.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Our school wrote and published a local guidebook, 200 pages, covering kid-friendly attractions all over the county. It's been a huge hit, it supports local businesses that are listed, and we printed it in our local community, keeping dollars circulating. Very much in line with the school values, and easy to sell because there's nothing like it around here.

Ds1 and 2's preschool did that. Love the idea. :)

Beth

[ehf]

COMPLAIN. And suggest an alternative.

I work in a school. This is the kind of thing that is REALLY driven by parent feedback. Sally Foster paper is good--and my mother still buys it (I'm 33!) from neighborhood kids. The gift card seems like a racket.

My advice: do a bit of research into fundraisers and suggest a better one. Usually some random person on staff is in charge of organizing this, and they put about two seconds into it.

If they have a better idea, and particularly if they have complaints, they'll just change it. They don't really care what you buy!

[squimp]

There are going to be a lot of complaints about Sally Foster this year. I also don't mind buying a pack of gift wrap, but I don't want to sell or buy $20 gift cards. We're closing it up and sending it back to school.

Our kids do a fun run with laps around the gym, which is like a walk-a-thon and they raise tons of $$ that way. That's where my donation will go this year.

[ncat]

We ignore fundraisers that I don't want to do.

Last year we had a Thanksgiving pie fundraiser that looked reasonable. We bake our own or I would have bought some.

This year we have a mums fundraiser (with a local garden shop).

[Corie]

We are also doing the Sally Foster fundraiser. I just tossed everything
in the recycling bin. I have no plans to sell it or buy anything.

[xmasbabycomin]

COMPLAIN. And suggest an alternative.

I work in a school. This is the kind of thing that is REALLY driven by parent feedback. Sally Foster paper is good--and my mother still buys it (I'm 33!) from neighborhood kids. The gift card seems like a racket.

My advice: do a bit of research into fundraisers and suggest a better one. Usually some random person on staff is in charge of organizing this, and they put about two seconds into it.

If they have a better idea, and particularly if they have complaints, they'll just change it. They don't really care what you buy!

You know what? I agree. I got dragged onto the PTA board last year b/c nobody else would do it. I soon figured out why. One lady ran the whole show-decided all the fundraisers, chose all the t-shirt designs, selected all the concession food for the activities, etc...and nobody had the cajones to stand up to her b/c she spent 30 hours a week at school and thought she owned the place. Anyway, it may not be like that at your school, but it may be. I would have loved to have somebody help me stand up to her, and I certainly said something when she wanted to sell crap. I'm not on the board this year, and guess what came home last week? Order forms for BPA-laden insulated sports mugs for $10 a pop. Barf. And that's the THIRD fundraiser order form PTA's sent home this YEAR.

Coupon books, FunRuns, Auctions and Carnivals have all been successful at our school. The restaurant nights have also been good (Papa Johns's, Wendy's & Chick-Fil-A & local bus. have all worked w/us) considering what we put into it.

[vdrake71]

Some of the things that our elementary school does:
- Manta gift cards around Christmas (gift cards for lots of different places and the school keeps a certain percentage)
- Donation to school
- Sweatshirt/shirt sales with school logo
- Fun Fair with silent auction
- Family Dance (I believe that they charge about $10-20 per family)
- Book Reading at night with pasta dinner
- McDonalds McCare Night
- Jewel % back

Other schools in our area also do clothing and toy sales. They keep 40% of the profit.

Our preschool did one fundraiser which was a cookie sale after Thanksgiving. Every parent needed to donate 2 dozen cookies and they charged $5.00 a pound. The rest was donated to the fire station. They made enough money to buy need toys and supplies and this was the only fundraiser.

I hope this helps.

[hellokitty]

Oh, don't get me started. Our school fundraisers are basically sales for crappity crap junk! I don't buy any of it, b/c nothing is useful to me. One of my friends is on PTO and she says that actually, our PTO has plenty of $, so if I don't want to buy the crap, then don't buy it, b/c they don't need the $ THAT bad. Now, I *DO* help out in other ways. I volunteer when I can, whenever there are activities/parties at school, I always sign up to volunteer to bring in items that the teacher needs, etc.. If they did a GOOD fundraiser with something useful, I'd buy it. Like the football team did community discount cards two yrs ago for $10. The discounts are GREAT! I probably got about $40 worth of discounts from buying that card. I would buy it again w/o hesitating if they did that fundraiser again and I liked that we were supporting local businesses and most likely the football team GOT the majority of the $ out of the $10.

[Corie]

I've always wanted to do this fundraiser.
It says right on the front of their homepage that they do fundraisers!

Family Pastimes Games

http://www.familypastimes.com/

[WolfpackMom]

DS' daycare sent home a fundraising thing on Thursday for cookie dough. A $13 tub makes 48 cookies. He is 7 months old and I am paying a butt load for 2xa week daycare - why do they need a fundraiser? Its not like this is a public school where I could see the need for additional funding.
Needless to say, we aren't doing it. I do like those Citipass books that DN school does though!

[Sillygirl]

I've always wanted to do this fundraiser.
It says right on the front of their homepage that they do fundraisers!

Family Pastimes Games

http://www.familypastimes.com/

Oooh, I've been wanting to get some of their games! I wonder what kind of deal they offer for fundraising? Thanks, Corie!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Cool Corie! Our school holds a game night, just for fun. I will look into this more.

Beth