Rolling my eyes at people and their bullshit

[Deleted]

I'm upset we don't do the wrapping paper fundraiser anymore. It was my favorite :-)

Good wrapping paper and 50% went to the school.

[pamela]

Totally forward the email to the school with your donation check in lieu of their fundraiser.

[teflep]

Sept 19, 2012 12:44:16 GMT -5 cjoy said:

"So how many rolls can I put you down for?"

Perfect.

[ringstrue]

I wanna buy a few things for DDs fundraiser but I'm starting to roll my eyes at it. I think I just need to suck it up and do it.

But we have her pictures coming up and those will be over priced.

And then they wanted her to do "Amazing Athletes" at daycare but it's $60 to join and then $45 a month for her to play their games for 1 hour a week. But she really liked her trial day so now I have the guilts about that.

[teflep]

Sept 19, 2012 12:47:42 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

Sept 19, 2012 12:44:16 GMT -5 cjoy said:

"So how many rolls can I put you down for?"

No way. I did not phrase it that way. I just tried to have a sense of humor about it. I've gotten plenty of similar emails from my aunts over the years when their kids were in school. This aunt doesn't have kids, so she's never sent such an email (or participated in such a fundraiser) though she's pretty unabashed about regularly asking me for free legal advice, so I guess I can feel pretty guilt-free about not responding to those requests anymore.

I think she meant that is how you should respond...just to show her she is ridiculous.

[pixy0stix]

I've been hit up for 6 things within the last week for people's kids, and I'm not even family. I'm over it, and will probably snark the next person that asks me for money in return for something useless.

[crazytalk]

I love the response, "great, 5 rolls it is!"

I actually wouldn't mind the wrapping paper one; I agree w/ whomever said the quality is really nice. I'm irritated today because we got a Yankee Candle fundraiser packet in the mail from my kid's new school (he's a brand new Kindergartner), and it's the same candles you can buy in the store but more expensive. Who the fuck buys that? Sorry, I have a Kohl's down the street at which I can use my usual 30% off coupon, and a Yankee Candle store pretty close that alwyas has stuff on sale.

I'm impressed you emailed family about it. I sorta planned on throwing most of this stuff in the garbage. Hhmm.

[dirtyred]

I love the fundraising wrapping paper! The rolls are huge, the paper is thick so no box words or images show through, and it's often reversible.

I was sad when all of my friends kids got old enoug that they didn't sell it anymore.

[bootsie]

I would much rather just write a damn check and skip all of this wasteful crap.

How many fundraisers a year is typical for preschool and do you participate in all of them? DD's school just finished one about 10 days ago and yesterday there was material in her folder for another one that starts now. This seems obnoxious to me, but maybe it's normal. At least the first one was for reusable grocery bags, coolers, etc. I bought a lot for myself and family members. This one is for buckets of cookie dough that can be kept at room temperature for 3 weeks. Ew. My family are food snobs (and live 3000 miles away) and I'm a personal trainer. I can't sell this stuff.

[vanillacourage]

Do you exchange Christmas gifts with her? If so, don't wrap them, and tell her you know how important her personal beliefs are to her and wanted to honor that.

/onlysortofkidding

[bootsie]

[/quote]

Anyway, the fundraiser is pretty modest. I only have to get $50 worth of purchases.
[/quote]

That seems reasonable. I was pretty proud of the $130 I raised in the last fundraiser considering they only gave us one week. Then I found that prizes weren't given out to the kids until the $350 mark. Pffft. You can take your Angry Birds eraser and stick it where the sun don't shine.

[bootsie]

Sept 19, 2012 13:16:09 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

Sept 19, 2012 13:13:14 GMT -5 bootsie said:

I would much rather just write a damn check and skip all of this wasteful crap.

How many fundraisers a year is typical for preschool and do you participate in all of them? DD's school just finished one about 10 days ago and yesterday there was material in her folder for another one that starts now. This seems obnoxious to me, but maybe it's normal. At least the first one was for reusable grocery bags, coolers, etc. I bought a lot for myself and family members. This one is for buckets of cookie dough that can be kept at room temperature for 3 weeks. Ew. My family are food snobs (and live 3000 miles away) and I'm a personal trainer. I can't sell this stuff.

The school goes through 8th grade. It's not just a preschool, so the whole school does the fundraiser.

I don't know. I've gone to both public and private schools and the fundraising even in the 80s and 90s was pretty much standard. It's nuisance, but it seems like it's just part of the deal.

Oh, yeah. I completely expect to do fundraising, even at a private school that only goes through pre-K. But I just hit up people within the past 2 weeks.

[ringstrue]

We typically get them in September and maybe other ones that are more Christmas/Hanukkah oriented later. I think they do a spring effort as well. Nothing over the summer as I recall.

oh but then there are book orders, field trips, crafts you gotta bring stuff for. It sort goes on and on.

[laurenpetro]

If anyone wants to pay full price for Yankee Candles, let me know.

Yes, I'm kidding.

[wawa]

Sept 19, 2012 13:27:19 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

Sept 19, 2012 13:21:11 GMT -5 bootsie said:

Oh, yeah. I completely expect to do fundraising, even at a private school that only goes through pre-K. But I just hit up people within the past 2 weeks.

That does seem a bit much.

Our school has a main fundraiser that is called something like, "The Annual Giving Fund" or something. That one requires you to raise quite a bit but they give you the option of just paying a lump sum on your own and bowing out of the "knocking on doors" aspect of it. So we actually did that for that fundraiser.

I don't actually know if there are others coming down the pike. I would assume there will be something in the spring.

So...this is private school, right? What happens if you just don't participate? Not that I'm suggesting you do so, I'm just curious about the consequences.

[eclaires]

lol - I love the idea of telling her "so 5 rolls?" Or not wrapping her Christmas gifts.

Our public school has two fundraisers going on right now. One is local coupon books - so you know, if you're planning a trip to the great city of Knoxville (or the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area), I can sell you a $10 coupon book. It's actually a pretty good set of coupons. We bought one last year from a neighbor kid, and we used it occasionally and saved more than we spent. The other is their fall festival, which I am dealing with because I am the room mom. It's not a big deal, really. Each class is responsible for a themed gift basket that goes to the silent auction. Parents can donate money or things that fit the theme - we've had good participation from Jackson's class in both categories, so it's been pretty easy for me so far.

Our public school also has a huge amount of volunteering and stuff from the parents... I've already volunteered for various things at school a few times and Jackson's been in school less than a month. Some of my neighbors seem annoyed by the volunteer requests (we all have kids around the same age), but I kind of like it. It makes me feel like parents care about the school and it helps me know what is going on.

[Deleted]

Yuck. I hate those school fundraisers. I do have the decency to just delete the requests though.

If they just asked me for money I would be more willing to do that. Will you donate to my school? Sure! Here's $5.

[msmerymac]

Sept 19, 2012 13:29:13 GMT -5 wawa said:

Sept 19, 2012 13:27:19 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

That does seem a bit much.

Our school has a main fundraiser that is called something like, "The Annual Giving Fund" or something. That one requires you to raise quite a bit but they give you the option of just paying a lump sum on your own and bowing out of the "knocking on doors" aspect of it. So we actually did that for that fundraiser.

I don't actually know if there are others coming down the pike. I would assume there will be something in the spring.

So...this is private school, right? What happens if you just don't participate? Not that I'm suggesting you do so, I'm just curious about the consequences.

The Catholic school near my in-laws make you sell a bunch of calendars or else write a check for $400 (the price of the calendars). It's nice that you have the option to not hit up your friends and family, IMO, but it's also kind of like... extra tuition.

[wawa]

Sept 19, 2012 13:55:02 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Sept 19, 2012 13:29:13 GMT -5 wawa said:

So...this is private school, right? What happens if you just don't participate? Not that I'm suggesting you do so, I'm just curious about the consequences.

The Catholic school near my in-laws make you sell a bunch of calendars or else write a check for $400 (the price of the calendars). It's nice that you have the option to not hit up your friends and family, IMO, but it's also kind of like... extra tuition.

yeah, that was my thought too. It's a little odd. Why not just charge that extra $400 in tuition? Though I guess if you get people in the habit of donating to the school you're more likely to get continueing donations from parents of alums? I dunno.

I went to public school and the only weapon they had to get us to do the fundraisers was the public shaming in homeroom when I had no cookie dough/pizza/magazine/coupon book orders to hand in so the required fundraiser is kinda out of my realm of experience.

[wawa]

Sept 19, 2012 14:00:37 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

Sept 19, 2012 13:55:02 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

The Catholic school near my in-laws make you sell a bunch of calendars or else write a check for $400 (the price of the calendars). It's nice that you have the option to not hit up your friends and family, IMO, but it's also kind of like... extra tuition.

It's actually like a tax break. You can't deduct private school tuition from your taxes, but you can deduct a $400 "donation" to a school. I'm pretty sure that's why they do it that way.

Ooooohhh. that makes more sense.

[foundmylazybum]

I just keep thinking about how your aunt probably typed out that sanctimonious email on a computer made in China.

[Deleted]

Thank god my school doesn't do it. We do an annual drive but that is admin run. Your aunt is obnoxious. I mean, of all the fundraisers, wrapping paper is the best!

The only fundraiser involving kids is for relay for life. And it's optional. They all pick their own ways to fundraiser if they participate.

[downtoearth]

I didn't read all of the responses, but I'm a total b!tch b/c I usually ask my sister/friends how much of the amount I pay they get to keep. It's usually 10% or less of the cost of the item, so instead of buying $20 in wrapping paper, I'll hand them a $5 and say, donate this to the school.

Most parent organizations are set-up just fine to get cash $$ instead of fundraising $$. Heck I do this to my own kid...he brings home a fundraiser flyer, I write a check to the parent association for $25 instead of buying the crap. The president actually thanked me last year for doing this with each fundraiser b/c it saves them time and money to process and so every dollar goes to them instead of some other company getting a good chunk of it.

[AJL]

My niece will be 3 in October. Her preschool is selling magazine subscriptions. I didn't even get a personal e-mail from her mom. I got an automated form letter from the fundraising company. Needless to say, I'm not buying any magazine subscriptions.

[UMaineTeach]

In my school's defense of fundraisers - all of them are run by the PTO, so if any parent has a problem, she can hash it out with other parents the first Monday of the month. Also, I think they just do 2 a year.

We do have kids bring in things to put in a silent auction theme basket for family lit. night, but each grade level team decides, based on what they know about the students' families, if each class will do a basket or if the whole grade does 1 together and the teachers are on the hook for buying the basket, so they suffer along with the families. Plus, I don't know any teacher who would let a sorry ass basket go to auction, so they will buy things to round it out if there aren't enough class donations.