School Fundraisers

Jacquie - posted on 09/12/2010

AHahahaha I remember that crap- I was on PTA too, which put the pressure on you to outsell the others... sooooo happy with the home-schooling now. All I have to worry about selling is Girl Scout Cookies...

Sharon - posted on 09/12/2010

Oh ahahhahahaha!! All the trees at our school = donated, the paving stones? = donated. computers? = outdated. playground equipment - they don't have 4 square cement play areas or a tether ball even. They do have FEW swings, slides etc. But not enough for the number of kids, there no kickballs or footballs. I buy ALL their school supplies. pencils, crayons, markers, construction paper, glue (stick and tube glues), etc etc etc etc. Oh compass, protracters, rulers, etc. yeah every stinkin bit of it, I buy it.

Sharon - posted on 09/12/2010

Oh Jodi I'd forgotten about that one!! I have two of those and I love them.

Jodi - posted on 09/12/2010

Good idea Ashie, I didn't think of doing it for Christmas!! I think I'll put that forward to do for next Christmas instead of just releasing it whenever (probably a bit late to get it done in time for this one on voluntary labour ). Or maybe Mother's Day.....

Ashley=) - posted on 09/12/2010

Jodi..my nephews school did that even the teachers put a recipe in and i got it for Xmas off him and i have to say it was the nicest Xmas present ever..great recipes.his name was under his recipe soo cute.:-)

Jodi - posted on 09/11/2010

Another fundraiser that is REALLY easy - a recipe book. Parents contribute their favourite recipes, it gets collated and published, and then sold. Yeah, ok, we are buying our own recipes back, but we get everyone else's too......

Rosie - posted on 09/10/2010

i feel bad, but i hate them, in fact i dread them. i absolutely abhorred them when i was young. going dor to door as a small child getting doors shut in my face, and OH THE HORROR of actually talking to people (i was and still am hella shy). my oldest is autistic and i don't like pressuring him to be social, when it just isn't in him to be social. my middle boy started kindergarten this year, and first day he brings home crazy overpriced booklet fundraiser.
i have never thought of a bake sale sharon, thats a great idea. i LOVE to bake, and it makes a contribution without having to be a social butterfly. i feel bad that i let my insecurities come into play here, but i can't help it, i dread it that much. thanks for the idea!

Lyndsay - posted on 09/10/2010

I like some of them. My younger brother is in grade 7 and his school is selling chocolate bars and chocolate treats. Sure, they're expensive... but they are really freakin' good, so its worth it. :D

Holly - posted on 09/10/2010

Lol about the Hallmark Store Sharon... I would imagine you as being someone to make your own cards with all the funny stuff you say! :D



So I found out that the PTA actually does the fundraisers at my daughter's school (not the school itself), so the school is not responsible for overseeing how or where the money raised is spent! WTF??? We're not participating in any more PTA fundraisers since I can't see how the fundraisers are doing our school any good... There's no new playground equipment, all the trees on campus are dying (or already dead) because of budget cuts and none of the classrooms are getting any supplies! Oiy...

Sharon - posted on 09/09/2010

LOL again - i have the same problem as Jodi. this is a relatively small community. Every child out here goes to TWO schools, lol and they have the same fundraiser being the same district. The military kids have no relatives nearby and the local kids - lmao - are related to the other local kids. Its a mess.

Anyway - I was just kvetching. I do all I can to support my kids and I just wish all their efforts counted for more. Hell, I wish they could make more effort but its virtually pointless out here. Its against company rules here to try & sell to your co-workers even - AUGH.

Oh and the running thing, lmao, my kids love it! freaks.

My oldest - he's in highschool and they do the discount cards, I LOVE those. out here its all pretty much a small discount off fast food stuff. but still - more helpful than a discount at the hallmark store, lol, I don't shop there often.

Amie - posted on 09/09/2010

=O Holy crap! The fund raiser that gives my kids school the least sits at 60%.

Stifler's - posted on 09/09/2010

Haha the school gets the money anyway though. I hated sport and stuff I was just like "how is running fun?".

Jodi - posted on 09/09/2010

LOL Emma. At my son's school it is compulsory and they all have to get their cards signed of at each checkpoint, so they can't cheat :) The only way you can get out of it is if you are sick, or like last year, when we were away on holidays we had already planned and booked.

Lindsay - posted on 09/09/2010

That's very true, Sharon. We can get the info from our PTO. I've looked at it before for our individual school but I can't remember the exact amounts. I'm thinking that we get something like 30% from the catolog fundraiser. The discount cards, they get nearly 100% profit because everything is donated. They are only out the price it takes to get the cards made. They are similar to a credit card but not quite as thick of plastic so buying in bulk I imagine is very cheap. They sell school t-shirts for $10 a piece and are out the cost to make them, which again in bulk in pretty inexpensive. I do know that if your school participates in the boxtops, the schools recieve 10 cents for every box top.

Stifler's - posted on 09/09/2010

We used to have fun runs and I'd collect the money and do one lap. Pie drives are good where the local bakery donates family size pies and people buy them and the money goes to the school.

Jodi - posted on 09/09/2010

My dilemma with things like that is that MOST of my friends have kids that go to the same schools, so they have the same problem!! So I was glad when they put the fundraising levy in place so we didn't have to do it. The only thing now is getting people to sponsor the walkathon, but I feel that is a good cause in more than one way, because it gets kids arses moving and doing some exercise. I do like it as a fundraiser.

Sharon - posted on 09/09/2010

I hate the fundraisers too. Selling raffle tickets is a pain in the arse. I don't have a large circle of friends, family is scattered over the country and O/S and I don't work...so who am I going to sell the wretched things to?? Like Sharon, I'd be happier to donate cakes to a bake sale.

Sharon - posted on 09/09/2010

Lindsay - if the kids or the school even got the bulk of the money I'd be ok with it but they don't. My school won't say how much they get per dollar of a sale. But I've been told by others - its not much.

Katherine - posted on 09/09/2010

Sara, that's an awesome idea. Kids don't feel bad they didn't sell enough and the parents don't go broke.

Good Day! - posted on 09/09/2010

My favorite fundraiser was an art show. It was district-wide and included all 5 schools (3 elem., 1 middle, 1 high school). Each class did an art project. Then kids could do projects on their own to enter into the show. The art teacher also did a project with each class. The parents and community really came out for this. Parents bought their own child's artwork ($5-$10), plus others in the community purchased artwork as well. Parents were not required to attend and all art was done on school time (unless the kid wanted to do it him/herself). It was a smashing success!

C. - posted on 09/09/2010

I couldn't agree more! I used to do those things when I was in school and I hated them. I was shy and all and it did make me come out of my shell having to talk to people, but at the same time- NOBODY wanted to buy anything from those stupid catalogs.

About the bake sale.. You should bring that up to your kids' teachers.. That's a great idea and most everyone likes something sweet every now and then.. Or even make something like homemade baked mac 'n' cheese or something. Heck, that would save a lot of people from having to cook for dinner and it's not as unhealthy as fast food.

Kylie - posted on 09/09/2010

Our school has got an awesome fundraiser atm...the local chinese Taiji massage place is giving 10% of revenue raised to the schools P & C for the rest of the term. So I'm going fora 1 hour massage on Saturday...just doing my part for the school.:) We get the bulbs and cookie fundraiser too but there is no set amount we have to sell...and raffle tickets..we only have to sell 10 tickets at 50c each.

Stifler's - posted on 09/09/2010

I hate those things, no one wants the shit and they only buy it to get people off their back. My parents ended up buying a $50 box of chocolates when I was in school because our house is 1km from any other houses and the one neighbour we had wasn't going to buy it all. Pie drives and stuff are way better.

Lindsay - posted on 09/09/2010

We do the same with the field trips, Jodi! We just signed it at registration and it's done...the less paperwork the better!

Jodi - posted on 09/09/2010

Our school doesn't do any of those fundraisers. Instead, they just charge a fundraising levy ($20 per family per term) so we don't have to. I can live with that!! We do have occasional fundraising events, like discos for the kids, a school fete (fair), cake stalls, a Christmas gift stall, walkathon, hot dog days, etc, but none of those require us to spend hours knocking on doors....although because I'm now head of the events committee, I have to spend hours helping to organise them, LOL. These events are actually to raise money for a specific improvement to the school. Right now we are raising money for better fencing to increase the security and reduce vandalism.....it will take a while to raise the $120,000 we need.

Just for the record, we also have an excursion levy, so all of the excursions are covered. I don't have to think about it. In fact, at my son's school I don't even have to sign permissions slips every time now. I just sign a form at the beginning of the year and it is all covered!

Tara - posted on 09/09/2010

I don't have a problem with the school doing fund raisers, if you want to donate to your school and receive something made in china as tangible recognition of said donation that's up to each parent.
What bothers me is the competitive nature of these fund raisers. I would much rather see group activities like bake sales and car washes. These kinds of fundraisers are more valuable and more applicable to what they are learning in school. They also teach team work, cooperation, and accountability all in a way that doesn't line the pockets of some over priced importer and doesn't pit one kid against another. Not just because of demographics but also because some kids just don't want to go door to door, or they have other commitments etc.
If it's mandatory than it borders on child labour. If it's not mandatory I would hope that those who opt out for whatever reason would not be singled out in any way nor have their class time taken up by the giving out of rewards and prizes for those who sold the most crap.
off my soap box, since I don't really belong here. lol

Lindsay - posted on 09/09/2010

Yes, everything in school fundraisers are overpriced. I don't think of it as paying for the product though. Of course you can go out and buy the same things much cheaper, but it's basically a donation to the school and you get a little something out of it. Our school always have some sort of fundraiser going on for one program or another. The kids aer not required to participate in them though. I typically get something small from most of them. We've had 2 fundraisers so far where the kids are supposed to go out and sell things. One was the catalog orders. It has everything from wrapping paper, nick knacks, flower bulbs, and magazines to cookie dough and bread doughs. That sell went towards text books in the school. The other they had were discount cards. These are my favorite and not hard at all to sell. The cards are $10 and 37 local businesses sponcer it by offerring discounts and buy one get one frees. The cards are good for a year and if used at all, you get your money's worth out of them. This sale went towards new playground equipment for the new school they are building.
They have a book fair next week. The school is selling t-shirts for the kids and parents. A fall festival is coming up in a few weeks.

Fundraisers are a pain and are overpriced but they are there to help better the schools our children are attending. So I guess to me, they are essential and worth the hassel.

Tawny - posted on 09/09/2010

I remember fundraisers growing up we had cool ones I remember selling boxes of Sees Candies and selling really neat candles . My child isnt old enough yet but I know my friends bring around the stupid paper showing the items that are way over priced and like someone said in early post are like items you would by at Wal Mart.

Holly - posted on 09/09/2010

My daughter's first fundraiser is over today. She is so bummed that she didn't sell 10 items (economy - no one wants to spend that money because they don't have it!), so she can't go to a party the school is hosting for the last hour of school on some random day in the future. I think it's wrong to have a party like that and impose the selling limits on it. We're finding out what day the party is on and we're going to pick our daughter up at lunch for a fun half day to reward her for trying her best in school (NOT for the fundraiser).

The thing that irks me the most about all of it though, is that they do the fundraisers, but I don't know where the money goes! WE pay for our daughter's field trips (it's anywhere from $5 to $15 and if you don't pay your child can't go), WE pay for after school events (such as ice cream socials and movie nights the school hosts), WE buy our daughter's school supplies (as well as being expected to buy supplies for the whole class), BUT our daughter's classroom is still underfunded and doesn't get the basic school supplies it needs. My daughter's teacher PAYS for his own website for the class and on there is a wish list of things he needs for the classroom. On it are simple every day things such as: erasers, pencils, paper, etc. I think it's horrible that the school doesn't provide these things to the classrooms (like they did when I was a student).

Where does the fundraiser money go? On that note, where does all the money the local grocrey stores donate (based on percent of sales to parents) go? Where does the money from the after school events go? THIS is what I want to know and we will not be participating in any more school fundraisers until I know (and I am planning on taking this all up at the next schol council meeting next month...).

Amie - posted on 09/09/2010

I'm curious about something after reading the replies.

Is fund raising enforced at your kids schools/activities?

It's not here. If I didn't want to do it with my kids, we wouldn't have too. I know more then one family that chooses not to participate.

Teresa - posted on 09/09/2010

I love those chocolate covered almonds. I'd never sell them when I was in school, but I'd buy them to eat during class... ;)

Teresa - posted on 09/09/2010

Our school doesn't do fundraisers. They do a yearly 'fund drive' where family, friends, businesses, etc... can donate money w/out anyone having to sell crap or pay for overhead. I like it that way. :)

Amie - posted on 09/09/2010

LOL!!!! Our son came home from his first night of Scouts with their popcorn fundraiser, they're starting it early this year.

Our daughter has her Navy cadet fundraisers a couple times a year. Only one of those gets sent home though.

Then their school runs 2-3 a year. The "christmas" one should be coming up soon, probably end of the month.

We have a ton of family and friends that are supportive of our kids. Even our neighbors support them with these things. They are warned to not go to people they don't know though, unless accompanied by an adult. So a couple times a year we call on others to help us out with that. There's only so many times I can freeze my arse off before it wears on a person. lol They generally do a good haul each go around.

The part I personally hate though is the sorting. If more than one fundraiser order comes in at once it is ridiculous. Last year our dining room was taken over by all the boxes. =S

Jocelyn - posted on 09/09/2010

While I have yet to do something like you Sharon (on the parent end) I had to do that shit in high school. Hated it!!! That was the worst way to fund raise they ever had (and still have) We had some AWESOME fund raisers, like silent auctions, bingo nights, and 4 course meals (cooked by the cooking classes as part of their final exam). Even normal bake sales are superior (imo) to Christmas wreaths and bird feeders...

Holly - posted on 09/09/2010

I agree with you Sharon - and I live in a "normal" neighborhood! lol

Sharon - posted on 09/09/2010

that is awesome katherine. I'm going to propose a similar or the exact same idea as yours, lol, when I go to the school to discuss excessive homework.

I pay a $1 for every field trip.

I pay a $1 for every away trackmeet

I pay a $1 for every party.

I donate candy for the school carnival. Last year I paid $30 for the candy bars. Then the kids spent $50 playing games and playing in the bouncy castle.

I seriously doubt the candbar game his class had going raised more than $50.

I would rather pay to see kid produced films. They did this last year as part of a class project and we didn't pay to get in but I wish they had charged for it. the kids made the short mystery films, they wrote the stories, filmed the movies, and edited their films - 100% all by themselves. It was great. They made menus, served pizza and salad with condiments, it was really fun. I'd pay $5 to $10 for that. I'd donate my handheld video corder too.

I'd pay to see a talent show too. ugh so many options and they go with the stupid one.

Johnny - posted on 09/09/2010

At least it isn't chocolate covered almonds. I see all these poor kids standing standing for hours outside the grocery store trying to hock these huge boxes of disgusting chocolate covered almonds that no one wants. I've seen people take pity, buy the box, and then throw it in the trash.
My co-worker's kids school does a wrapping paper thing in October. You can order from a catalogue of all of this really nice wrapping paper, boxes, gift bags, bows, etc. that are perfect for Christmas. I look forward to it every year. And it doesn't require the kids going door to door or people buying crap that they otherwise wouldn't need. It is slightly more expensive than Walmart, but at least you know that the money is going to the kids.

Katherine - posted on 09/09/2010

My daughters school has everyone contribute $50 (per family) and then we don't do fundraisers. Which I think is great.