Post by redheadbaker on Oct 11, 2021 7:47:48 GMT -5
DS' school has a clothing collection fundraiser (they get money for every pound they collect). I'd like to suggest something else, because the clothing collected is sent to developing countries, which disrupts their local economies, making it difficult for local artisans to compete. More here: historyofyesterday.com/why-we-should-stop-donating-clothes-to-africa-ab51f836c4bd
What fundraisers does your school do? Which seem to be popular/raise a lot of money?
Post by outnumbered on Oct 11, 2021 8:16:25 GMT -5
This probably is not helpful, but our PTOs (especially middle and high school) use direct donation in the form of dues to raise the majority of their funds. Everybody can participate in the PTO regardless of donation.
At the elementary level occasional fundraisers include something like this arttoremember.com/about/ 4 years ago we did a fun run (through boosterthon) to raise money for tech.
ETA Scholastic book fair, dine out nights, school supply kits, scrips, amazon smile and library birthday books make up the rest of the fund raising.
Post by greenmonkey1 on Oct 11, 2021 8:17:26 GMT -5
My boys always did a magazine sale in the preschool. I cannot speak to how much the school makes, but it was really easy as a parent. The prices and selection were good so I would just wait and renew my subscriptions. My sister and parents would do the same so we'd have 6-8 "sales" just for subscription maintenance.
The elementary school does a read-a-thon and I am not a fan. The boys are supposed to get sponsors who will pledge a certain amount of money per minute they read or who will donate a flat amount. I just pay the minimum amount per kid and call it a day. The boys still log their minutes because there is a competition for amount of reading, but I don't solicit sponsors.
I ran a Honeybaked Ham fundraiser when I taught high school that was really easy to administer. It was always around Christmas or Easter and the prices were the same as would be paid at the store. If the fundraiser sold enough (it was a reasonable amount) then Honeybaked would deliver the product to the school and we'd either have the individual students pick-up and deliver to their customers or the customers would come straight to the school. The selling points to the customers were they knew the quality and value of the product, they were paying regular store prices/not inflated for the fundraiser, supporting the school, and pick-up was smoother than if they had to go to the store.
I'm also a fan of the restaurant fundraisers and our PTG does one at least once a month. This year they are switching it up/not just doing pizza and partnering with a local taco restaurant for a taco kit fundraiser. They are easy for PTG to administer and there is no minimum sale that needs to happen. It's mostly just getting the word out and the school lets them put info in the weekly email blast.
My Mom loves the wrapping paper fundraisers, but nobody around us does that anymore. That's the one product she likes to buy off fundraisers. We've also sold our fair share of cheese balls and candles as well from the companies that have the brochures of products.
Post by lemoncupcake on Oct 11, 2021 8:20:13 GMT -5
Our school fundraisers are almost always selling items (wrapping paper, food items, etc.) from a catalog. Some schools also do an Apex event - it's a physical activity that works like a fun run.
I wonder if the same person organizing this fundraiser is the one that did your pregnancy crisis center thing? Either way, framing a charitable endeavor as a fundraiser is weird.
I’m in an elementary school PTA. We do one big fundraiser in the fall that’s a walkathon. We’ve raised anywhere from almost $25k (2019) and our goals this year is $15k, which I think we’ll beat.
This covers 90% our operating costs for the year.
It’s all online and this year during recess due to Covid. I can offer more info if needed. Other than the online platform fee, which is similar to PayPal’s, the PTA does everything. We don’t pay a 3rd party to run it because they take a huge chunk.
We don’t mark-up spirit wear other than to cover tax.
We do semi-monthly family spirit nights, but they don’t bring in much.
Kroger and Amazon smile give us decent returns for no work for us.
Post by maudefindlay on Oct 11, 2021 8:29:21 GMT -5
We also only do a walkathon in the fall. The school requests sponsors from local businesses and kids are to get pledges. They walk our school's track during their recess time as well.
What I would change about it is stop offering incentives for the kids. It is not fair to kids who cannot raise as much and also it's a good opportunity to teach doing something without expecting something in return. Really though they do get a reward, last one paid for a complete overhaul and redo of their playground (old one was all ripped out, all new play equipment and structures and a bunch of trees planted).
I purposely donate via direct donations each fall so I don’t feel ANY guilt about not participating in other fundraisers. I HATE sending my kids to ask family and friends to buy crap.
That said, our school does an Apex event each year which my kids love. We do the book fair and other family night events (no entrance fees, just concessions and sometimes carnival games for the kids).
We do clothing and food donation days each year, but there is no money connected to that, just school spirit.
I wonder if the same person organizing this fundraiser is the one that did your pregnancy crisis center thing? Either way, framing a charitable endeavor as a fundraiser is weird.
Nope, as far as I know, she's not involved in this.
For our PTA, our primary fundraiser is our spring carnival each year. There is an online auction and an in-person raffle associated with it. Auction items are mostly things like "Principal for a 1/2 day", "lunch with your teacher and 2 friends," and other experience gifts. It raises most of our funds. Smaller fundraisers are spirit nights at restaurants, sometimes spirit wear like clothing (not much, we mainly markup enough to be sure we don't lose money), and Original Works art.
The school itself does a fall fundraiser. They've used Boosterthon for years now. BT does take a bit cut but it's about the same as with any company. The kids actually love the character lessons and the fun leading up to the event plus the run itself is great! A few parents complain about the cut they take but I understand why the school opts for it. It is much less work for the school itself and they raise a lot of money. DD looks forward to it every year.
We rely mostly on direct appeal for our annual fund. Our goal each year works out to around $150 per student - obviousiy not everyone can/will donate that much but a lot of people donate more so it works out a bit. Our other fundraisers are pretty basic and more community events that happen to also bring money in (Halloween fair, etc. We had an ice cream truck at our back to school picnic that we got portions of proceeds from etc). We made great money last year selling school branded masks (we are still universally masking in school).
But really it’s direct appeal for the vast majority.
FWIW, I've seen the clothing and shoe donation fundraisers advertised at our PTA convention in TX. It's a thing. We don't do it for the same concerns as you and because we don't have any trouble raising funds in more traditional ways.
The clothing drives as fundraisers are really popular around here, mostly for sports teams.
My kid's elementary school moved to a recommended donation a few years ago and it was great. Honestly, I'd rather give $50 directly to the school than be pressured to buy $50 in wrapping paper so that my kid can get a keychain "prize", and the school ends up seeing maybe $10-20.
In all my years in my kids schools, I've yet to see a fundraiser for something that I actually want to buy (sorry). I think that's what makes the clothing drives so popular-- not only do you *not* have to spend any money, they are also making it easy for you to purge items that you were getting rid of anyway.
I posted on ML a couple weeks ago about being pressured to participate in the fundraiser at my son's middle school this year. There were prizes for sending X number of emails (which just resulted in a bunch of us parents all agreeing to send emails to each other so that our kids got the prize they wanted). Then a pretty highly desirable field trip for kids who hit a certain dollar amount in sales. My kid REALLY REALLY wanted to do the field trip, so we asked grandparents to buy stuff that they really have no interest in, then I made up the difference. If he made another $100 in sales on top of the field trip level, he got to bring a friend. So of course once we hit field trip level then he started pushing for the extra $100. At that point I told him that he was welcome to look through the catalogue and spend his own money.
I really, really hate the way they talk it up with the kids. Also between the value of the items we actually bought + the value of the prizes he received, I can't imagine the school even made that much. It's just so frustrating to me.
I highly recommend moving to a dues option, at least for a couple of years, and see if it works. Or offer a certain amount of dues as an "opt out" of the fundraising expectations.
I detest fundraisers. I would much prefer a letter home that said “Here is our budget and funding goals for this year. To reach our goal, we need to raise the equivalent of $X per student and would appreciate your support in the form of a donation or participation in XYX fundraiser”. I would write a check to cover my kid and a few others and be done with it.
Right now our school is selling chocolate candy bars and it is quick and easy.
They also do the Apex run and I detest it. As part of the Apex program, they send the Apex staff into the classroom to do “lessons on character” (or some other similar nonsense). I’ve volunteered in the classroom plenty of times when Apex staff come in, and basically all they do is come in, hype the kids up and teach them buzz words, create chaos and then leave to go do the same thing in the next classroom. Plus, Apex has our school sign a contract saying that Apex gets a % of all funds raised before, during and after the fundraiser. So I’m always hesitant to even make a cash donation since Apex keeps approximately 50% for themselves (I know that isn’t the exact percentage, but it’s close)
I detest fundraisers. I would much prefer a letter home that said “Here is our budget and funding goals for this year. To reach our goal, we need to raise the equivalent of $X per student and would appreciate your support in the form of a donation or participation in XYX fundraiser”. I would write a check to cover my kid and a few others and be done with it.
Right now our school is selling chocolate candy bars and it is quick and easy.
They also do the Apex run and I detest it. As part of the Apex program, they send the Apex staff into the classroom to do “lessons on character” (or some other similar nonsense). I’ve volunteered in the classroom plenty of times when Apex staff come in, and basically all they do is come in, hype the kids up and teach them buzz words, create chaos and then leave to go do the same thing in the next classroom. Plus, Apex has our school sign a contract saying that Apex gets a % of all funds raised before, during and after the fundraiser. So I’m always hesitant to even make a cash donation since Apex keeps approximately 50% for themselves (I know that isn’t the exact percentage, but it’s close)
That would be really nice but I'm in several PTA/PTO groups on FB and the groups who have tried this don't actually have much success over time. It works for some the first year but then tapers off really fast.
Honestly, I like our online auction the most because it doesn't directly involve the kids and it is a really easy way to raise a lot of money.
Post by steamboat185 on Oct 11, 2021 9:48:45 GMT -5
Our two biggest fundraisers are a fun run and a readathon. We don’t use one of the fun run companies. They just make a balloon arch, bring out the school speakers and mark the course with cones and it raises about 15-20k dollars (we have about 530 kids from 3yrs to 5th grade). It’s all run by the PTO. Kids can win prizes based on laps and money raised no one is totally left out.
The readathon they do use a vendor, but they only take about 1% and let every kid have their own website. Kids can win prizes based on the total minutes or money raised. Last year they raised about 20k.
Precovid we had an auction too that raised about 20k but it was a lot of work and they are discontinuing it.
We also earn money through Amazon smile, grocery store kick backs, dine out nights, and spirit wear sales.
I detest fundraisers. I would much prefer a letter home that said “Here is our budget and funding goals for this year. To reach our goal, we need to raise the equivalent of $X per student and would appreciate your support in the form of a donation or participation in XYX fundraiser”. I would write a check to cover my kid and a few others and be done with it.
Right now our school is selling chocolate candy bars and it is quick and easy.
They also do the Apex run and I detest it. As part of the Apex program, they send the Apex staff into the classroom to do “lessons on character” (or some other similar nonsense). I’ve volunteered in the classroom plenty of times when Apex staff come in, and basically all they do is come in, hype the kids up and teach them buzz words, create chaos and then leave to go do the same thing in the next classroom. Plus, Apex has our school sign a contract saying that Apex gets a % of all funds raised before, during and after the fundraiser. So I’m always hesitant to even make a cash donation since Apex keeps approximately 50% for themselves (I know that isn’t the exact percentage, but it’s close)
That would be really nice but I'm in several PTA/PTO groups on FB and the groups who have tried this don't actually have much success over time. It works for some the first year but then tapers off really fast.
Honestly, I like our online auction the most because it doesn't directly involve the kids and it is a really easy way to raise a lot of money.
Becca ,I just to chime in with a success story regarding direct donation (not discounting your experience redheadk , ). All of this district schools PTOs send out a letter each year detailing how PTO money is spent. You can pay via check or paypal. Every year the schools get approximately the same amount of money. It has never tailed off. I think the letter really spurs people to send in money and they anticipate the need every fall. They would rather write a check than spend time putting together a fundraiser.
A fun run in the fall and auction in the spring have been the big ones around here. I never tell family even about the fun run, and just make a big donation myself and call it a day.
ETA: Also for things like teacher appreciation events, we’d send out a signupgenius for parents to volunteer to bring in certain items. My one lasting legacy as a PTA board member, we started including a dollar donation option for those too, and we brought in a bit of money that way.
I've read a few times that the biggest fundraisers near my work are the Tricky Tray events (silent auctions).
This is the first year I'm trying to be involved in any meaningful level as a parent with the PTO/PTC where I live. They had a Fall Festival event recently outdoors at the school and I volunteered. They charged $20 per family to enter. Now that I'm doing the math, if 150 families came, that's only $3000 collected before expenses.
The PTC sent home a fundraiser to buy frozen cookie dough and pizza. I threw it in the recycling. I already gave more than the suggested amount when I signed up for the PTC/PTO and would be happy to give more rather than sell stuff.
I'm not sure why these 2 PTOs I am familiar with don't reach out to the community more. Some of my colleagues in other states say they get hit up constantly to donate to the schools. I have to go out of my way to try and find a contact to give to the schools where I work and I've given up because the contacts change every year with no continuity. Where I live, I attended the first PTO/PTC Zoom meeting and there was zero mention of finding community sponsors. Like I would give lots of money if they let me sponsor stuff that promotes my practice. More than they'd raise by bothering parents to sell frozen cookie dough. I know they've done it before because DD's main folder has the name of a law firm on it for the last 2 years. Not sure where the disconnect is.
That would be really nice but I'm in several PTA/PTO groups on FB and the groups who have tried this don't actually have much success over time. It works for some the first year but then tapers off really fast.
Honestly, I like our online auction the most because it doesn't directly involve the kids and it is a really easy way to raise a lot of money.
Becca ,I just to chime in with a success story regarding direct donation (not discounting your experience redheadk , ). All of this district schools PTOs send out a letter each year detailing how PTO money is spent. You can pay via check or paypal. Every year the schools get approximately the same amount of money. It has never tailed off. I think the letter really spurs people to send in money and they anticipate the need every fall. They would rather write a check than spend time putting together a fundraiser.
this is our experience too. Plus we note the annual fund in all communication about things that it has paid for (like in our weekly newsletter “teachers received their stipend checks from the PTO this week to help set up their classrooms! This is paid for by your generous donations to the Annual Fund. Donate here, etc etc etc - every field trip, visiting artist, community event etc. ), plus we really focus on a participation goal for donating. Most people don’t want to deal with fundraisers like selling stuff, they would much rather give a donation and call it a day. They key is that you have to keep reminding them! As soon as we added Venmo as an option the other year it got a lot easier because parents would see the signage/email whatever and could easily bust out their phone at drop off and donate.
Becca ,I just to chime in with a success story regarding direct donation (not discounting your experience redheadk , ). All of this district schools PTOs send out a letter each year detailing how PTO money is spent. You can pay via check or paypal. Every year the schools get approximately the same amount of money. It has never tailed off. I think the letter really spurs people to send in money and they anticipate the need every fall. They would rather write a check than spend time putting together a fundraiser.
this is our experience too. Plus we note the annual fund in all communication about things that it has paid for (like in our weekly newsletter “teachers received their stipend checks from the PTO this week to help set up their classrooms! This is paid for by your generous donations to the Annual Fund. Donate here, etc etc etc - every field trip, visiting artist, community event etc. ), plus we really focus on a participation goal for donating. Most people don’t want to deal with fundraisers like selling stuff, they would much rather give a donation and call it a day. They key is that you have to keep reminding them! As soon as we added Venmo as an option the other year it got a lot easier because parents would see the signage/email whatever and could easily bust out their phone at drop off and donate.
This is exactly what we do, remind people throughout the year in the newsletters how their money is spent. If the kids have an enrichment or field trip pictures are posted on the schools facebook page with a thank you to the PTO and parents for paying dues to make the event possible. We started using venmo 2 years ago, it has been successful.
this is our experience too. Plus we note the annual fund in all communication about things that it has paid for (like in our weekly newsletter “teachers received their stipend checks from the PTO this week to help set up their classrooms! This is paid for by your generous donations to the Annual Fund. Donate here, etc etc etc - every field trip, visiting artist, community event etc. ), plus we really focus on a participation goal for donating. Most people don’t want to deal with fundraisers like selling stuff, they would much rather give a donation and call it a day. They key is that you have to keep reminding them! As soon as we added Venmo as an option the other year it got a lot easier because parents would see the signage/email whatever and could easily bust out their phone at drop off and donate.
This is exactly what we do, remind people throughout the year in the newsletters how their money is spent. If the kids have an enrichment or field trip pictures are posted on the schools facebook page with a thank you to the PTO and parents for paying dues to make the event possible. We started using venmo 2 years ago, it has been successful.
Do y'all have insurance? We can't pay for field trips or use Venmo due to insurance. We can (and do) use PayPal.
We do one at the beginning of the school year and just ask for a cash donation. We don’t do any other fundraisers or make the kids sell things etc. Local businesses do donate items and we raffle those off - once you’ve given your entered for every drawing. We have a suggested amount but really focus on participation. Classes that reach a certain amount of participation get pizza parties etc.
One of my kids is at a different school and we have a festival - food vendors all donate a percentage of sales or charge a flat fee and we keep anything over that. There is an auction at the event and we’ve moved to an online platform for that so you don’t have to attend to bid.
Post by redpenmama on Oct 11, 2021 11:17:19 GMT -5
I'm on our elementary school's PTA executive board. We consolidated several small catalog fundraisers into one large fundraiser every year. We do a Fun Run and it raised $28K this year. It funds the vast majority of the operating budget for the year. It's run through one of the big companies and the $28K was what we netted.
Pre-COVID, we also held a Fall Carnival that would bring in some money through ticket sales and a silent auction.
We also do spirit nights at restaurants throughout the year, which bring in anywhere from a few hundred to a thousand dollars per event.
We do the dreaded coupon books and frozen cookie dough. There are a few items available to order online like overpriced cookies and coffee from a local company, so friends and family who aren’t local can still buy stuff.
I’d just as soon give money straight to the PTA, but there’s some kind of “mega party” kids can go to if they sell a certain amount. I HATE this, and if I knew when the damn party was I’d just keep my kid home for the day. It must raise a lot of money because the school keeps doing it year after year.
Our home school PTA recently transitioned from several fundraisers (including a run) to a direct give. They also have community sponsors, although to sent's point, I have never seen an ask for that. It's been successful, I think. They also do dine out nights and sign up genius things throughout the year.
The other school has an option to add a direct donation when joining PTA (~$10 to join) plus they just did a fun run that exceeded their $25k goal. I'm not sure what else they'll have, but I prefer the direct give only and I especially dislike auctions and direct sales (like cookie dough). The fun run was ok except they do all these junk rewards and enlist/pressure the kids to push it to their families, send emails through their system, etc, which is annoying.
Our biggest fundraiser is also a Fun Run. It’s entirely put on by the PTO, and they receive donations from parents and local businesses for almost all supplies and prizes (this year they drew names of kids who had brought in donations and those kids received GCs for local restaurants). They also host challenges like if 80% of the class participates, they get an extra recess or if 100% participates they earn a special activity like bringing a special snack to school or stuff like that.
They encouraged each kiddo to raise at least $50/kid, and then overall goal was $25k, which they exceeded.
Like many PPs, we do a jog-a-thon, which I love. I don't want to buy more stuff/food that I don't really want, and the jog-a-thon is good exercise. Teachers also seem to like it - they do walking laps while the kids are jogging.
We also have a requested donation annually ($350 per kid) and an annual gala where people bid on donated items. And regular restaurant nights where anyone who mentions our school when ordering from a certain restaurant earns 20% (or similar) of the bill for the school. We're at a public K-6.
Post by sandandsea on Oct 11, 2021 13:50:30 GMT -5
We do direct donations and a walk a thing as the big ones. The direct donation is a PTO ask of $x00 and they specifically say we provide x,y, z to the school averaging to $x00 per student. It’s by far the best return and highest participation.
We also do dine out nights with local restaurants and Amazon smile, box tops, etc but those are a lot more effort for little cash back.