Boosterthon Fun-Run Fundraiser - NOT a fan
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Anonymous
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Yes, it's physical activity - which parents and schools can encourage throughout the year by giving kids time at school and at home for outdoor play. The half-hour of running kids do for Boosterthon won't do much to enhance their physical fitness.
Yes, it's successful - but less so with each passing year, from what I have read. And since when do the ends justify the means, particularly where our children are concerned? No, it shouldn't be a big deal if someone doesn't get a prize. We are familiar with the word "no" in this house, and I have even been known to refer to it as "our daily dose of Vitamin N". What bothers me even more than the prizes (though that irks me, too - they are crap, and simply encourage materialism) are the class rewards. Each class tries to raise the most money at their grade level, and/or a particular amount of money. Rewards - such as extra recess, no homework, "electronics day" (bring a device to school and play - *eyeroll*), etc. - are offered by the teachers to get their classes motivated. Students know who is getting pledges and who isn't based on the presentation by the Boosterthon team of daily prizes, in each classroom, to students who have gotten enough money in additional pledges since the previous day to earn the next prize. A young child does not want to disappoint his/her teacher and classmates, so feels badly if his/her family and neighbors are unable to make additional pledges. Especially in the upper grades, peer pressure of this type quickly becomes negative rather than positive. If the focus was solely on participation, I could support it. But the emphasis for incentives is on how much money is solicited. Just wrong. I don't care how much money has been raised by Boosterthon. There are some positive aspects, but the negatives far outweigh them IMO. |
Anonymous
| It bugs me that people don't seem concerned about what their children are exposed to at school, since they feel confident they can "combat" it at home. Sad that we have such low expectations of our schools and the folks who lead them. |
Anonymous
| I was looking online to see if anyone else felt upset by this fundraising and I'm glad to see I'm not alone. Our school did this last year and because the majority of our students are low-income, we only raised $6K. That's less than $10 a kid and costs us $2000 plus 48% of the total. Absolutely ridiculous fundraiser for our school and completely inappropriate for our students to be telemarketing with a freaking script. We are not registering this year and I'm taking my kid out of school for a fun day during the event. If I'm going to donate to the school, I expect 100% of my money to go to the school. |
Anonymous
| Boosterthon also takes a HUGE percentage of the profit, like 40%! I HATE them. Our pta got rid of them this year and is using a group that takes a smaller percentage. Boosterthon is a ripoff. |
Anonymous
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All you have to do is a fundraiser that gives back 100% and gets the kids involved.
My sister's school in Delaware does it without Boosterthon. For every $10 donation the student gets, they get a "no homework pass" Up to 10 of them and they can only use once a week. If every student in the class gets at least $10 in donations, they get one movie/popcorn afternoon. If a child is having a hard time getting a donation, they can volunteer at the school (wiping tables, sweeping, running errands to teachers, reading to younger kids etc...) for "$5.00 an hour" so 2 hours gets them their donation. Even without the financial pressure, they made $13,500+ in one year. |
Anonymous
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They take 48% plus the $2000 booking fee. It's a crock. They are not a charity. They funnel donations through the PTO so you can write it off but then the school has to write them a huge check. How that's legal with the IRS is beyond me. The Richmond Times looked into it just this year.
http://www.athleticbusiness.com/more-news/firm-s-48-percent-take-of-fun-run-proceeds-criticized.html |
Anonymous
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If your school tells you they raised 40,000 - do the math. They really made $19,760. ($40,000 - $2,000 booking fee X 52%.)
I would hate this company a lot less if they were up front about their take, but they are not. Last year they made over $14 million, likely off people who though they were giving to their child's school. |
Anonymous
| My school is organizing a fun run and kids can ask for sponsorship money or just show up and participate. Best thing is that the school keeps 100 percent of the profits. |
Anonymous
Awful |
Anonymous
| Oh good lord. My nephew's school is doing it and my SIL loves it. Wish my school would do it. It's exercise and I don't have to buy any fatty, sugary crap I don't want. Hello three pound tub of cookie dough! |
Anonymous
Or you could have your kids just, you know, put down the ipod and play outside. And buy decent food for your family to eat. Why does the school need to do everything for you? |
Anonymous
Maybe if everyone stopped buying the unwanted junk the school would find an alternative fundraiser. |
Anonymous
| At my child's school, this event will happen at lunch time for kindergarten. That is ridiculous. |
Anonymous
Our district does a Fun Run on its own as well. It's super popular, and we keep all the money. There are prizes for most money raised and most laps and then a drawing for those who participate at all. Our school raised almost $25,000. The kids love, love, love it. So do the parents. |
Anonymous
This is mirrors our complaint about the Apex Fun Run scam now targeting the Denver, Colorado area. Brilliant post, concise and poignant. |