PTA wwyd?

[Octobermommy]

I'm the treasurer of a small schools PTA. We have about 6% of kids that never turned in their money for their candy bar sales. It is now several weeks past Deadline and despite 2 letters home nothing has been turned in. I'm furious bc I have been dealing with this for over a month now. Nothing in the past has been done to people who haven't turned in Money, which is stealing from the non profit organization( their own school) any way you look at it. I am sending home one last letter. What do you think I should say? My dh thinks I should post their names at school and turn them in for theft ( which for $60 I don't think the police would care) nor do I want to do that.

I want to at the least tell them that their children won't be able to participate in PTAs fundraisers in the future so no prizes, incentives etc. For their kiddos.

What do you think I should do/say?

[kijip]

I would call the parents and ask them when they were going to turn the money in. Letters home are not foolproof as far as communications. If you don't want to call, I would email them directly. While not necessarily the case, it is possible that the parents don't know that the funds have not been turned in. It is not unheard of for kids to either eat the candy or pocket the funds without their parents' knowledge. The parents may be glad you called.

[TwinFoxes]

Oh yikes. I have no idea. But I bet the parents took the money, and the kids don't have $60 to replace it. So sad.

[wellyes]

To put it mildly, I do not think that shaming students is the way to go.

I am also not sure that telling parents their kids don't "get" to participate in fundraisers is a disincentive.... unless the plan is to single out those kids, which, again, is shaming.

It is too bad you can't get a collector involved (obviously you can't). It is a tough situation.

[Octobermommy]

The parents did have to sign a permission slip to participate & the teachers have tried to help out by reminding parents about the outstanding money.

As far as "shaming" goes, It isnt my intent to cause shame. These people have stolen from PTA, plain & simple. We don't have phone numbers that we have access to & no email addresses. It just doesn't seem smart to continue to Accept people being dishonest. We fundraise very little & every dollar counts to us. These parents haven't contacted us asking to work with them at all with due dates or payment plans. This is a pattern & I'm trying to stop it. Saying pretty please has not helped in years past. I just wanted some ideas on how to help PTA.

[Green_Tea]

I just want to make sure I understand - they had to sign a permission slip in order to receive the candy? And these parents signed it, got the candy as a result, and didn't return the candy OR the money?

If the candy was sent home unsolicited, I think you're SOL and that's the risk you take with those types of fundraisers. Otherwise I'd feel no reluctance whatsoever to post a notice in the school newsletter that says something like, "Our candy bar sale was a big success! Thank you to all of the families who participated - we raised over XXX dollars! The following families still need to either return their candy or turn in their collected funds:_________. Thanks!" and then list the names of the families, ie: The Smith Family (but not the child's name.)

[Octobermommy]

I just want to make sure I understand - they had to sign a permission slip in order to receive the candy? And these parents signed it, got the candy as a result, and didn't return the candy OR the money?

If the candy was sent home unsolicited, I think you're SOL and that's the risk you take with those types of fundraisers. Otherwise I'd feel no reluctance whatsoever to post a notice in the school newsletter that says something like, "Our candy bar sale was a big success! Thank you to all of the families who participated - we raised over XXX dollars! The following families still need to either return their candy or turn in their collected funds:_________. Thanks!" and then list the names of the families, ie: The Smith Family (but not the child's name.)

Yes, the parents had to sign a permission slip in order to receive the candy.

[ahisma]

I don't know what to do about this year, but next year I would definitely gather contact info on the permission slip.

Is there truly no way to get contact info from the school? Are there room parents that could help? Do parents drop off / pick up? There must be some way to contact them. How old are the kids?

I don't remember the specifics, but the girl scouts have a pretty cohesive system that they use that pretty much scares everyone into paying.

[blisstwins]

"I don't know what to do about this year, but next year I would definitely gather contact info on the permission slip.

Is there truly no way to get contact info from the school? Are there room parents that could help? Do parents drop off / pick up? There must be some way to contact them. How old are the kids?

I don't remember the specifics, but the girl scouts have a pretty cohesive system that they use that pretty much scares everyone into paying. "


I would NOT use the family names in public. I would be more careful with contact info next year. Can the school itself reach out to these families. Someone has contact info. Who knows what is going on with these families or why they kept the money. You could really set an innocent kid up for some HUGE embarrassment with this. I know it is unfair, but I think it is the cost of doing business to some extent and it is just better to roll with it.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Our PTO as well as room parents collect contact info for directories.... Do you have any access at all to that info from a source? If not, ask the office. If they can't or won't help, some major revisions need to happen next year (not that it helps now). I think a phone call is the best way to handle it.

There were some good fundraising threads recent with ideas that may be easier and less frustrating, if the candy or such arent a good fit.

I have missed deadlines, even with reminders. No intention of stealing or screwing someone over. Give them the benefit of the doubt and a friendly phone call. Good luck!

Eta I wouldn't punish the kids. Ultimately parents are responsible. I'm not a fan of fundraisers with prizes; our school doesn't do those. But, if it is your school culture, it seems really not the best thing to take away and punish.

[Neatfreak]

The PTA at DD1's school works closely with admin, and I believe that the students' final reports are withheld until all PTA funds owed/library books/instruments are returned. There is no policy in place like this to help you?

[mom2binsd]

I think in this case as there seems to be a reoccuring issue I'd ask for support from the principal. I bet one call from him/her and the money would appear.

In future, might I suggest a non selling fundraiser, this way 100% of the profits will go to your PTA and nobody has to sell anything, most schools find they make way more money this way. We do an Unraiser, the families just send in money. Some schools do a fun run where the kids gather "sponsor" money and then bring it in if you feel you need to have an event. Any of those sales of candy/gifts/wrapping paper only give a portion to the schools are such a pain (as you have discovered).

[dogmom]

How many families are we talking about here? 6% could be 20 or 200. Also, is $60 the money they owe if the sold the candy or the money the PTA pays for the candy?

[Octobermommy]

Thanks for suggestions. Unfortunately most won't work bc the culture at this school is very much "taking" & not " giving".

We had very low fundraiser participation last year strictly bc they didn't like the prizes. A strictly donation drive would not work , although I wish.

We are talking 16 kids with $30 owed to company.

The school has stated that they can't give us numbers bc of privacy issues.

[kijip]

In that case, limit candy or similar fundraiser participation to PTO membership and require contact information for membership.

Ideas that might eliminate this issue next year:

A raffle where the tickets are not valid until all the money is turned in. In a prize driven school culture, this is popular. I did one for Little League and we made tens of thousands of dollars.

A sale where orders are placed and product is not distributed until money is turned in.

A walk-a-thon with good prizes for the kids.

[dogmom]

You could try humor as the last ditch effort. I would actually assume that most of the families are just procrastinators and unorganized and guilt will just decrease the chance of them doing a task that reminds them they can't get things in on time. (I've had a lot of friends like this over the years.)

Try something like a brightly colored letter with the head "Chocolate Bar Candy Amnesty!"

You know, either given the candy, the money they were sold for, or the money they cost to buy. Tell them they can drop it off in the office or some location. Would you be able to pick it up?