How was MV gala tonight?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Guessing I'd know by now if my number was drawn (I bought a raffle ticket for the bike but was out of town--am not a parent at the school) but on the off chance, is the winning raffle number posted someplace? Thank you!

Ha! I was wondering the same thing myself!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How in the world is that type of money raised? That requires 300+ parents showing up and spending on average $200.

They got quite a few corporate sponsorships. Teachers weren't charged!

I attended with a staff member and they were charged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Guessing I'd know by now if my number was drawn (I bought a raffle ticket for the bike but was out of town--am not a parent at the school) but on the off chance, is the winning raffle number posted someplace? Thank you!

Ha! I was wondering the same thing myself!

The raffle winner was there in person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How in the world is that type of money raised? That requires 300+ parents showing up and spending on average $200.

They got quite a few corporate sponsorships. Teachers weren't charged!

I attended with a staff member and they were charged.

...a reduced rate with the opportunity to have their ticket bought by a sponsor parent. Attending was not mandatory as it was a fundraiser not back to school night. All reasonable steps to make attendance possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How in the world is that type of money raised? That requires 300+ parents showing up and spending on average $200.

They got quite a few corporate sponsorships. Teachers weren't charged!

I attended with a staff member and they were charged.

...a reduced rate with the opportunity to have their ticket bought by a sponsor parent. Attending was not mandatory as it was a fundraiser not back to school night. All reasonable steps to make attendance possible.

Still, if you raise $100k surely you can afford to allow teachers to attend for free, no?

[Anonymous]

Over 100 tickets were given away to lower income families and teachers and their guests. If a teacher or family expressed (confidentially) a hardship or inability to pay, the ticket was comped. Teachers/staff who were willing to pay $25 did so. Not a single person - family, teacher, or otherwise - was turned away because of money.

[Anonymous]

Tickets were only $25??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Over 100 tickets were given away to lower income families and teachers and their guests. If a teacher or family expressed (confidentially) a hardship or inability to pay, the ticket was comped. Teachers/staff who were willing to pay $25 did so. Not a single person - family, teacher, or otherwise - was turned away because of money.

Someone clearly has some sort of personal ax to grind over this issue, having posted on it multiple times on this thread and others. The facts you posted are very reasonable and understandable, but likely will do little to dissuade that person. But thanks for the detailed info.

[Anonymous]

So which one, families donated to buy teachers tickets or they were comped if they expressed hardship? Sincerely asking as we're looking for solution too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over 100 tickets were given away to lower income families and teachers and their guests. If a teacher or family expressed (confidentially) a hardship or inability to pay, the ticket was comped. Teachers/staff who were willing to pay $25 did so. Not a single person - family, teacher, or otherwise - was turned away because of money.

Someone clearly has some sort of personal ax to grind over this issue, having posted on it multiple times on this thread and others. The facts you posted are very reasonable and understandable, but likely will do little to dissuade that person. But thanks for the detailed info.

I am 13:13, only other post I wrote was 12:17 so it must be a common concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over 100 tickets were given away to lower income families and teachers and their guests. If a teacher or family expressed (confidentially) a hardship or inability to pay, the ticket was comped. Teachers/staff who were willing to pay $25 did so. Not a single person - family, teacher, or otherwise - was turned away because of money.

Someone clearly has some sort of personal ax to grind over this issue, having posted on it multiple times on this thread and others. The facts you posted are very reasonable and understandable, but likely will do little to dissuade that person. But thanks for the detailed info.

I am 13:13, only other post I wrote was 12:17 so it must be a common concern.

Fair enough. Sincere question- did you find the posted explanation of the policy for comped and donated tickets to be reasonable to deal with your concerns?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So which one, families donated to buy teachers tickets or they were comped if they expressed hardship? Sincerely asking as we're looking for solution too.

Both. We had some families buy extra tickets and tell the organizers just to distribute as the organizers saw fit (to teachers/staff/families). Other families bought specific teachers and their guests tickets. And then, toward the end of the process, when it was clear that we had secured very generous corporate sponsorships, we didn't worry about mapping specific tickets to specific donations. We just created a list of people who wanted/needed free or reduced tickets and put them on the guest list. I'd add that it was our first Gala. We had no idea how much things were going to cost, how many people could come, how much we would raise, etc.. So, in hindsight, it's easy to criticize some decisions. But, the reality was that the committee had to make hundreds of decisions, including ticket prices, without the benefit of historical data. When we had a firmer idea of what was happening, we made a significant portion of the tickets free, and I can honestly say I don't think money was a factor for anyone. Others here, divorced from the school, may disagree. But the hugs during the Gala, the emails from the teachers afterward, and the love on Facebook tells an entirely different story, and that's the one I'm going to take to heart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So which one, families donated to buy teachers tickets or they were comped if they expressed hardship? Sincerely asking as we're looking for solution too.

Both. We had some families buy extra tickets and tell the organizers just to distribute as the organizers saw fit (to teachers/staff/families). Other families bought specific teachers and their guests tickets. And then, toward the end of the process, when it was clear that we had secured very generous corporate sponsorships, we didn't worry about mapping specific tickets to specific donations. We just created a list of people who wanted/needed free or reduced tickets and put them on the guest list. I'd add that it was our first Gala. We had no idea how much things were going to cost, how many people could come, how much we would raise, etc.. So, in hindsight, it's easy to criticize some decisions. But, the reality was that the committee had to make hundreds of decisions, including ticket prices, without the benefit of historical data. When we had a firmer idea of what was happening, we made a significant portion of the tickets free, and I can honestly say I don't think money was a factor for anyone. Others here, divorced from the school, may disagree. But the hugs during the Gala, the emails from the teachers afterward, and the love on Facebook tells an entirely different story, and that's the one I'm going to take to heart.

Makes total sense. Congratulations!

[Anonymous]

It was a beautiful night to see parents, staff, and friends celebrating together. Thank you to all who planned this incredible event.

[Anonymous]

Thank you to all who worked so hard on this wonderful night. What a great community and a fantastic first effort!