Question (rant) on Fundraisers

[Bob B.]

DW and I just started our oldest daughter in eighth grade at public school, she had been home schooled. And I can see this fundraiser thing growing in intensity.

It's not just school - it's swim club, Church youth group, almost anything a kid can be involved in. We opted to not send DD to a school-sponsored trip to D.C., in part because of all the fundraising activities that she (we) would be expected to be involved in. Also, she'll be able to take part in a much more robust trip to D.C. through 4-H in a couple years.

My philosophy has always been that I won't contribute to your kid's fund raiser, and I certainly won't ask you to contribute to mine.

My daughter is also involved in FFA, which has it's own share of fundraisers. My wife and daughter wrote a $2,500 grant on behalf of the local chapter that was funded by National FFA. Can we be exempt from FFA fundraisers now? Apparently not. Here, go sell some frozen cookie dough.

I will say this - the fundraisers that kids are involved with now are a step up from the cheap crap that I was expected to sell 30 years ago. But honestly, I'll write the check. Grandpa and Grandma would rather write a check as a Christmas or birthday gift, in support of a worthy activity, than buy stuff from a fundraiser.

Is my family alone? I'd love to hear what the SA community has to say about this.

[MonkeyMama]

I am personally not interested in buying "stuff" to support schools or non-profits. A check directly to the Organization goes much further.

That said, our kids' schools and Organizations seem to realize this and they don't do that kind of fundraising.

The exception is maybe selling fireworks. I don't know the numbers, but non-profit organizations man the booths (to sell fireworks to the public) and get a cut of profits. Our public school and soccer/little league did these fundraisers (Was the only fundraiser I recall for sports).

Our school is more big on doing fun nights out where everything is donated. For example, chili cook off ($5 per person to eat chili all night, but all the food is donated and 100% of the cash go to the school). We have a fall festival and a spring festival. & frequent "parents night out" where teachers provide movie/entertainment so parents can get a date night. With the Festivals, parents also contribute items for raffle and silent auction.

The school has one big fundraiser every year where they basically beg everyone for money. That's actually going on right now. But there is no selling of goods or any "middle man".

I don't know what difference it makes that my kids attend a public charter school. The school has a lot more financial autonomy than other public schools in the district. Since the money is mostly raised by the PTA I don't know that it matters much. BUT the people who were most involved in setting up this school were really disgusted with school district misappropriation of funds (& other fraud), and along with that is I think is the involvement of adults who'd rather see more financially beneficial fundraisers. There seems to be a pretty big emphasis on financial efficiency.

[creditcardfree]

I dislike them for the most part too! The latest one for us was a Wreath fundraiser to raise funds for our daughter's marching band. My husband took it to work with the caveat that there was no pressure to buy what so ever. If someone is interested then fine, but no pressure from us at all.

One person in the entire office ordered two wreaths. We purchased one because we could have it sent to my mother in law. Perfect gift for her. And the bonus is it does help the band.

If you write a check I think that is fantastic!! And I think all organizations should offer this as an option. However just because the organization gives you a flyer for fundraising does NOT mean you need to participate. The more people refuse to participate the more they will realize that fundraiser is not the route to go.

[rennigade]

Why do you think these fundraisers exist in the first place? People are not willing to donate money without receiving something in return. Its pretty straight forward.

At my last job HR sent an email out letting everyone know fundraiser stuff was no longer permitted at the office. Its usually just awkward for all parties involved to walk up to a coworker and ask them if they want to buy something. Sure, they could simply say no...but the reality is that can make a fellow employee angry which leads to tension in the office. Im glad they did away with it personally.

[disneysteve]

People are not willing to donate money without receiving something in return.

When our daughter was school-age, we never participated in any of the fund raisers (wrapping paper, cookie dough, candy, nuts, candles, etc.). About the only one that we did buy into was Girl Scout cookies. At least they are selling a unique (and tasty) product at a reasonable price.

To rennigade's point, what we often did, however, was to make a cash donation rather than buying a bunch of very overpriced crap that we didn't want or need. Instead of an $18 box of candy that we could get at the store for $6, we just donated $5 to the group. That gave them the support and saved us $13.

When our daughter sold GS cookies, we often had customers come to the table, give us cash, and tell us to keep the cookies. So there are lots of people out there who support charities because it's the right thing to do, not just to get something in return.

[cooliemae]

I can understand everyone's hesitancy when it comes to this topic, but I think that fundraisers can be used as a positive tool to teach students money skills.

I was in our school's band growing up and the band was a big part of the school. We traveled all over the country each year and had a very good parent auxiliary program that helped control the cost of all of these trips for each student. However, each student was still responsible for raising $400-$500 each year to pay for the trips. This could be done through fundraisers that were sponsored through the band or students could simply pay for their portion outright.

I never had to pay for my portion because I would work hard with the fundraisers to cover it. However, we didn't do the usual fundraisers. The band auxiliary would put on chicken dinners and have students sale tickets to eat. So it wasn't me just getting my friends parents to buy cheesy gifts or whatever, but something that people would enjoy.

Also, the only help my parents gave me was names. I was still expected to reach out to the friends of the family to actually make the sale. It taught me some good lessons when it comes to sales and cash management. So I think that fundraisers can have a positive place in schools, though they are often just third party companies coming into schools and using the students as unpaid salesmen.

[Fishindude77]

I like to see stuff like car washes, bake sales, etc. where all the money goes to the kids and towards the need. What I don't like are these "middle men" set ups where they are selling you food or items through a second party vendor. That vendor is selling items at a profit and the kids are only getting a small commission.

[ua_guy]

I agree that there's a little bit of value in fundraising - it teaches kids how to approach people about their cause and persuade them, it teaches kids about the general public and different levels of generosity. It might be the start of a kid learning how to overcome shyness or how to feign extroversion when it is needed, if they are introvert.

But that too seems to be a bit lost. Just two weeks ago I got a email from my sister asking a group of us in the family to donate to her kid's fundraiser. It wasn't her kid asking us, and the fundraiser was online magazine sales (groooaaaaan.....). How about have the kid reach out to us and ask? This has been happening more frequently and like posted above, I'd rather give money directly to the cause than have some sham magazine re-seller take a bunch of the cut (nor do I want magazines).

I agree that it seems like everything for kids comes with a fundraiser these days. Everything else does too. Electronic donation options for fundraisers at the grocery store - breast cancer, prostate cancer, people standing outside the grocery store (girl scouts, boy scouts, veterans, autism awareness, breast cancer, leukemia foundations, celebrities crying on TV for wounded warriors and abandoned pets, starving children in Africa, high school carwashes, you name it.

[rennigade]

When our daughter sold GS cookies, we often had customers come to the table, give us cash, and tell us to keep the cookies. So there are lots of people out there who support charities because it's the right thing to do, not just to get something in return.

Can you consider fundraisers to be charity? I dont view selling GC cookies or any other candy to support the high school band or baseball team to be charity.

Donating money to churches or red cross, etc...now that makes sense not to always receive something. Its very few and far between where someone will walk up to someone selling girl scout cookies and not take a box after they give money.

I should have worded my post different. 99% of people will want something in return...1% will not.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I give to the school and I donate time. But I'm just starting out. I can see how it will get out of control fast.

[disneysteve]

Can you consider fundraisers to be charity? I dont view selling GC cookies or any other candy to support the high school band or baseball team to be charity.

It depends on who is doing the fundraising.

Girl Scouts is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity.
Your kid's school band is not.
Our synagogue's Early Childhood Center is a non-profit charity.
My daughter's summer theater camp is not.

The only real difference from the donor's standpoint is whether or not the donation is tax deductible.

[greenskeeper]

I've suggested for our school district to approach businesses in the community to set up the option of "rounding payments" to the nearest dollar. Say you go to a store and purchase $30.25 worth of goods. The payment could be rounded up to $31.00 and the 75 cents goes towards the school. It would add up fast.

[bjl584]

it's totally over the top anymore. There is a constant steady supply of items for sale from coworkers from every sports league, club, and school function that you can think of at my work.

[dawnwes]

We HATE them.

I have three boy scouts. In our troop we can either sell $300 in popcorn per boy or donate $100. We pay $100 per boy (total $300) in cash to avoid selling!

Now, our troop has also had yard sales and the kids work their tails off. That we do because it is actual work, not begging people to buy overpriced popcorn.

My son's school (public charter) doesn't do many fundraisers, they did ask the kids to sell Chick Fil A calendars or donate $100 to the school. We wrote a check for the $100. Since we had considered sending him to private school for $12000, I figured a check for $100 could be handled just fine.

[FLA]

I resent that the fundraising giant packet comes home the very first day of school, sometimes well before the teacher sends their letter with expectations, etc. Come on, the first freaking day? Our PTA, IMHO, pick things that don't have enough lower priced options nor sell anything I would want to buy.

I bought into this in kindergarten, quickly realized going door to door does not produce sales around here, only annoyance. And I hate being put on the spot at work, being asked outright in front of others to buy stuff so I would not bring it to work.

The worst part were the kid incentives, the kid who sold x amount would get a nintendo. So of course your kid is not going to be that kid and at 5 yrs old they get upset.

now first day fundraiser packet goes right in the trash. We do participate in PTA activity fundraisers and I always do the car wash for various teams. And I send a check to the music program because it is great but gets cuts every year.

the other thing is I get even though schools are very well supported by taxes in this district, they still need even more money. But honestly, I prefer to give to the worst school district in the city. My friend taught elementary there under grueling conditions for 40 years, retired, goes every single day still and has her own class and does it for free. (Now that is charity!) I ask her for a list of needed items and we donate back packs filled with the stuff. The kids got more out of that than anything we did for our school. She brought my kids to her classroom, showed them how the majority the kids have at least one major problem; poverty at home; homework is not a priority when there is nothing to eat, a physical disability but that child is not tended to as the handicapped children in our school, learning disabilities but again no special helper and English is a second language. She showed them their ancient text books, how many children were in her class compared to ours, etc. One year, she had a class of 40% of kids who did not speak a word of English, no interpreter. Where I would've said, ENOUGH, I am outta here, she instead had them all reading by the end of the year even though she speaks no foreign languages. That is a class I want to get my money and a lesson I want my kids to learn.