Fundraising

[Bev]

Anyone required to do it yet?

We've got to sell some sort of ridiculously expensive cookie dough. (www.englishbaycookies.com/cookies.asp?Category=Pails) The note says they recommend not sending your kid door to door but asking neighbours and family members. Well I'm sorry, but I won't be doing that. All my neighbours and family have children of their own from whom they have to buy all that crap they don't want.

Mason's school does have this other fundraising activity that doesn't earn them a whole lot of money, according to the Principal, but I have signed up for it and am starting to use it. I think they could make a heck of a lot of money if all the parents did it.

I hope this isn't :spam: because I don't work for this company, I just think it is a good idea because it doesn't involve me having to go sell crap door to door! :lol: If the mods think it is :spam: please fry it! :)

It is called Fundscrip (www.fundscrip.com) and you sign up and then you buy gift cards/declining balance card to your local grocery store, Canadian Tire, Chapters, Sears, The Bay/Zellers etc. (rather than using your debit card or cash) and you earn a percentage of the card.

For example I always do my grocery shopping at Zehr's which is a participating member. If I buy a $100 store card (which I'm spending anyway, so rather than debit I'd get the gift card via debit, then use the gift card for my purchase) then the school and I are getting 3.5% or $3.50 per $100 card.

I have split my fundraising 50/50 between me and the school, so we each get $1.75. If I wanted I could put 100% of the earnings to the school, but why not make some money for myself for the boys education funds while I'm at it. ;)

What I think is totally cool about it, is that I would already be shopping in those stores or buying gift cards for family to those stores anyway, so it's not a big deal to order through this program and then pick up the cards the following week and mail/use them.

[TtownAnne]

That is a great idea, Bev! :nod:

Caroline's school does fundraisers too. We refuse to go shilling door-to-door and torturing work associates with it, so we buy something, my parents generally buy something, the ILs generally buy something, and we've made deals with our two neighbors that we are close friends with that we will buy from their kids' fundraisers if they buy from ours. :) If that's not good enough for the school, too bad for them.

[sheila]

Katie's cookie dough order form has remained in her school bag since it arrived. When it comes time to do fundraising for public school, I'm there. But for a private preschool where I am already paying tuition? ah, no.

[Cami]

Bev, we talked about doing something like that with my MOMS Club. It is a good idea. The only thing with cards like that is that some people had an aversion to "pre paying" for a gift card.

It's a little different than that, but the stores around here automatically give you vouchers for however much £ you spend and you give those to the school for them to redeem... for something or other.

So far, Addison has brought home a catalog, similar to Oriental Trading, lots of arts and party stuff plus holiday cards and wrap. Some % goes to the school. I do think I'll buy some stuff from there because they have decent enough prices.

[Dennis]

Our old daycare did some fundraising crap and we refused to participate for the same reason as Sheila. For what we paid in tuition, they had a lot of nerve to ask us to sell stuff.

[Silke]

We got out fundraiser crap selling magazine subscriptions like a week ago. It ended in the trash. I am not going around selling that. :rolleyes:

I remember, Natascha's daycare did some fundraising, too. I didn't participate for the same reasons as Sheila and Dennis. I am paying tuition, and it's not like they are non-profit.

When Natascha attended private school, they had at least 5 fundraisers a year. I am aware, they were non-profit and tuition didn't cover all the expenses, but, like Anne said, everybody else gets those fundraiser requests, too. I rather, just give some money.

Bev, Natascha's old school sold gift certificates to a grocery store in town, too.

[Nocona]

Matthew's school does the pizza/cookie dough crap and I refuse to bother my friends and relatives with it so I just send a donation instead.

The school also sells the GCs where they get a % back. They have a long list and what percent they get. I always get that for the teacher's gift and pick one with one of the largest percentages.

[Michele]

Jackson's school has already had a fundraising activity too - they had to sell Yankee Candles. I feel the same way as Sheila and Dennis since it is a private school and I already pay tuition. However, I felt like I had to sell something - b/c the highest selling class got a reward and I didn't want Jackson's class to miss out on it b/c of me. So...I hit my parents and my brother for some stuff. I also bought something that I plan on giving as a Christmas present. I sold $89.00 worth of stuff...I guess I would rather just have that tacked on to my tuition, than to have to sell stuff.

[Mary DK]

We just turned in fundraising envelopes for both school. We don't really ask anybody, we just do an order ourselves... oh yeah, and my boss ordered some stuff because I've always ordered magazines from her kids... paytime! :giggle:

Eliot's a public school and Ian is a private school but tuition is so low that they need the extra help a couple of times a year to keep it that low so we don't mind pitching in a bit if it helps our pocket book in the long run.

[Kristen]

Our schools are only allowed one major fundraiser a year and we do coupon books. Each book is $10. $7.50 goes back to the child's school and the remainder is used for things like library databases and such.

http://www.kcs.k12tn.net/schoolcoupons/scb-coupons06.htm (This shows some of the sponsors and what they offer.)

Everyone buys these because you really do save more than $10. There are coupons for EVERYTHING from tires to free ice cream at local ice cream places. TONS of stuff.

[Hilary]

Madelynn's selling cookie dough right now. :rolleyes: It's pretty hard to sell it when my entire family lives out of town and the only person I'm friends with has a kid in the school too. :lol:

[Kristen]

Why does every school do cookie dough? There has got to be other solutions out there!

[Silke]

Natascha's old school did the cook dough, until they switched to pizza.
Another one was the Innisbrook giftwrap. That was actually decent stuff. NOt to forget the grocery gift certificate program.
Then there was a yearly auction and gold tournament and the yearly solicitation for a monetary donation.

ETA: Totally forgot about their tuition raffle.

What do all of you think of these so-called incentives that come with it (toys etc directly from them company or school as in ice cream social)?

[Silke]

Some chain stores like Target also offer % to the school if you use the store's credit card. Do any of your schools participate in that?

[TtownAnne]

We're doing the Innisbrook wrapping paper right now.

Our school does the Target %, Boxtops for Education, and also special school-benefit programs through some local grocery stores.

[audrey_13]

Our school is doing almost the exact same thing as yours, Bev. We have gift cards for grocery stores that you pre-load with $ and then the school gets a % of what you spend from the card. We will definitely do that. Plus we just got the fundraiser package -- mostly gift wrap, which at least most people can use, and some food/ingredients like spices, rubs, soup mixes, cookie and brownie doughs, chocolates, etc. We will just buy some stuff ourselves and ask my parents and the ILs. It's a public school and our PTO is very responsible with how they spend the money they earn from these fundraisers so I try to help them out as much as I can.

At least wrapping paper is better than the cr*p we had to sell in junior high for our band program -- cheap-looking lucite candy dishes and picture frames and ornaments -- they were so ugly, no one wanted to buy them. And they wanted us to go door-to-door and even had a sales guy come and give us tips on doing a hard sell (like: when they open the door, hand them the brochure because when you hold something out for people they will automatically reach for it, etc.) It was so bad!

Audrey

[Mary DK]

No cookie dough here... Eliot's was a candy/chocolate & other home nick-nacks and Ian's was the Carter's one with wrapping paper & other Christmas stuff.

The gifts suck!! :lol: Not that my kids are keeping up with them now b/c they don't know anything about it and I :errr: at the thought of they ever figuring it out!!

[Cami]

And they wanted us to go door-to-door and even had a sales guy come and give us tips on doing a hard sell (like: when they open the door, hand them the brochure because when you hold something out for people they will automatically reach for it, etc.) It was so bad!
Audrey

We had a guy like that too, but he taught us the finer points of peddling cheese and sausage. :dead: The football team sold brooms.

[Bev]

Oh my Gawd. Audrey and Cami! You're killing me! If someone stuck something in my face I wouldn't take it. I'd be hard pressed not to shut the door in their face. Don't be pushy with me; you'll meet your match! :lol: Brooms! That cracks me up! :lol:

I'd prefer the giftwrap, at least it's useful. I'll be buying one tub of cookie dough and that's it. :) At least it's a Canadian company. I like the gift card thing, since it is money I'd be spending anyway, I might as well make money from it. :)

[Kristen]

We always sold fruit for band. The worse part was having to unload the semi when it delivered the fruit!

[Karri]

Brooms? :lol: You're serious?

Well, when Aidan was in preschool I participated in fundraising. Because I remember when I was the Director of a PS and how hard it was to get new toys. The tuition parents pay only covers salary and benefits of teachers and the cost to keep the facility running. In order to get any new equipment, we had to do fundraising. So it only benefitted the children. To each their own :dunno:

Anyway....
Aidan's public school does an ASSLOAD of fundraising. The newsletter that kicked off the start of the school year showed us just how much money each fundraiser brings in. I am also a PTA member, which I like, because it opened my eyes to how much money a school spends on things that you may not think about, KWIM?

Like I said, our school does a lot of fundraising stuff. We do one similar to Bev, called Scrip, where parents can purchase GCs at face value that the school got to purchase for a discounted rate. The school keeps the difference. Last year, we made about $1,000 on this.
We sell pointsettas to the community at the holiday and perennials and annuals in spring, and that brings in $1,200 for the year.
We do Market Day once a month and that rakes in $1,500.
We sell the school supply kits at the start of the year and make $300 from that.
A spring Pancake Breakfast for the community brings in $500 and a spaghetti dinner that brings in about $200.

Then the Big Fundraiser is selling that Katherine Beich crap (chocolates, nuts, wrapping paper, etc). That brings in $13k each school year. If you don't participate in it, they ask that you donate $40 per child in lieu of participation. We're all over that at this point in time, until Aidan is old enough to do selling on his own.

Then there is also the on-going collection programs-- the Boxtops for Education, Labels for Education, Milk Caps, and Tyson Project A+, plus the Target card thing, and one of the grocery stores does something similar to Target, as well. All of those bring in about $3,200 for the school year.

In total, all the fundraising efforts bring in about $24k for the school year, which is nothing to shake a stick at, IMO. The school can do a lot with that money.

[Karri]

What do all of you think of these so-called incentives that come with it (toys etc directly from them company or school as in ice cream social)?

Silke - At my first PTA meeting, they were saying that last school year, they did two fundraising efforts, one in fall and one in spring. The Spring one was tied to a contest and they brought in 4x of what the fall one did. So I say that if contests work, I am all for them. Afterall, in the working world, many people are motivated by upward movement and money. This is really no different :dunno:

[Hilary]

I forgot to mention that Madelynn's school also has a fall and spring rummage sale that brings in a lot of money. I think that's a good idea. :nod: I got Ava 6 pairs of shoes that are all practically new. :blush: I got Madelynn some snowboots too. :up:

[Clare]

Well, when Aidan was in preschool I participated in fundraising. Because I remember when I was the Director of a PS and how hard it was to get new toys. The tuition parents pay only covers salary and benefits of teachers and the cost to keep the facility running. In order to get any new equipment, we had to do fundraising. So it only benefitted the children. To each their own

ITA with this. We pay school fees but that's to pay the teachers and keep the school running. The school still needs fundraising for all the extras. I'm also on the PTA (although we call it P&F - Parents and Friends) so I know that the fundraising is essential and where the funds are going. We just raised $5000 for airconditioning for all the classrooms. I'm happy to buy a few chocolates so my kids can be cool and comfortable at school.

We do not sell door to door and never will and Alex refuses to sell anything at work. Nor do we have family to sell to. So we end up buying whatever it is ourselves.

This year our fundraisers have included
*chocolates
*bakery goods at Easter
*voucher books
*markets
*lapathon (the kids get sponsored to walk around the oval, we pay per lap)
*rollerskating
*wine
*professional photos (the school gets the $10 sitting fee)

It's a challenge to come up with new ideas, so I'll be referring to this thread! I think we'll skip the brooms though :lol:

[Bev]

I have no problem with the fundraising itself, I know it is necessary, but it just seems everyone sells the same overpriced crap. It's a shame because I'm sure that's pretty much all that's out there. Except maybe brooms. :lol:

I'd really rather just do like someone else says, if you don't want to participate pay the minimum $40 or whatever. I don't want $40 worth of cookie dough, but if it saves me bothering all the neighbours who have kids selling the same stuff and from bothering the ILs who have no money for that sort of stuff I'd pay the $40 take the cookie dough and bake it for a bake sale! :lol:

[Lora]

The boys go to Catholic school so we pay tuition. However, fundraising is essential to keep our tuition costs down. So far we have had a magazine subscription drive and the boys got the Christmas fundraisers this week. They will be selling candy and gifts from a catalog. My Mom and FIL will probably buy something and I will make a few purchases of candy as well. We also have the Scrips program which brings in a lot of money for the school.

Lora

[Nichole]

We just got a fundraising thing in Gav's daycare cubby the other day. It says that it goes to charitible organizations like Juvenile Diabetes, Ronald McDonald House, etc. I don't really like to pester people at work, so I'll probably just get something and hit my parents up. I'll save our neighbors for down the road when we need to cash in on buying stuff from their kids. :lol:

[LISA]

Oh I'm sure the fundraising crap will be coming soon :rolleyes: last year it was chocolate bars by the case..real nice now that i'm on SB :tearhair: I ended up buying a box and giving them out for halloween treats to my good friends kids .. Cass used to sell the cookie/muffin dough or frozen pizza/cheese strings.

[BeckyB]

Right now Macie has the McMillians cookie and muffin dough forms sitting here. I will try to sell some of the stuff.

Matthew (from preschool) has the forms for mabels labels. I will buy some from him for the kids but I dont know if I will be able to sell much more of them.

[LISA]

How funny is it that I get the fundraising stuff in her bag today :lol:
but I'm shocked, it's not chocolate but apples (I would prefer the chocolate now)
$10 for a basket.. I'll be hitting the famdamily up come Thanksgiving weekend next week :devil:

[Hannabanana]

The fundraising this year for Hanna's school is those entertainment books. I'm going to buy one (it's $20) but there's no way I'm going to solicit from neighbours/family. Too expensive.

When my neice/nephew sell the cookies/chocolates, I will buy from them though because they're old enough to ask me to participate.

[Cami]

About the brooms, yes, the football team really did sell them!! We had one of the best football teams in the state and they were all a "big deal." :rolleyes: The town loved to support them because watching football was the primary entertainment from Sept to Nov. :lol: But since I was there, a former pro football player's kids go to the school so he dumped a buttload of money their way. Probably no need for brooms anymore!!

ANYWAY.

I came back to this thread to mention the fundraiser Aubrey brought home because I thought it was a good one. They had each kid create his own holiday picture (with crayons, markers, shapes, glue, etc). Some company scans them and prints the art as a Christmas card and we can buy as many as we want of our kid's design. They will even personalize the inside. The school gets some percentage.

[Bev]

That is a good idea Cami! That's a pre-school eh? Not kindergarten?

I am going to volunteer to be on the Parent's Advisory Council for Fun Lunches (and possibly web design) but I will be thinking of some ideas to give the fundraising committee. I think the K-gr. 2 would be a good idea for the Christmas cards. Actually, I suppose all the grades could do it because parents want to support their kids.

My sister said the schools make a buttload of money from the cookie dough thing.

[Cami]

Bev, yep, it's preschool so the designs were pretty, uh, basic. :lol: I think it'd be great for a bit older kids. But what parent wouldn't get suckered into that at any age? :)

[LISA]

That's a sweet idea Cami!

I have to find those fundraiser papers :tearhair:
I like your idea Bev about the gift cards.. if they sold Tim Hortan gift certificates I'm sure they would make a mint! :lol:

[Bev]

Yeah, too bad, eh Lisa! :lol: But they have all sorts of things, Sears, Zellers/Bay/Home Outfitters, Rona, Canadian Tire, Chapters. All the stuff I buy gift cards for. :)

[Mary DK]

I came back to this thread to mention the fundraiser Aubrey brought home because I thought it was a good one. They had each kid create his own holiday picture (with crayons, markers, shapes, glue, etc). Some company scans them and prints the art as a Christmas card and we can buy as many as we want of our kid's design. They will even personalize the inside. The school gets some percentage.
That sounds like a great fundraising! :nod: Something like that I would definitely buy more than what I bought out of the 2 we got.