Preschool asking for money

[Anonymous]

We have recently started at a small coop preschool. The school is lovely and we are more than happy with the teachers and the facilities. But the fundraising is leaving a bitter taste in our mouths.

Usually the school has a couple of big fundraisers a year. I'm sure it's always a struggle to organize etc but this year they've ditched one of them in favor of a blatant begging request to parents for money. There is a 'suggested' amount and the various letters and emails we've had say they would like 100% participation. And we are getting updates on a regular basis of how many families per class have donated with an incentive for the class with the highest % participation by a certain date. I'm sure this week those who haven't yet donated will be targeted individually. Maybe it's not intentional but it's really not far short of a name and shame for those who haven't donated.

It's really bugging us. We've just paid tuition, we've only been in the school a couple of months and now they want more $$$. We'd happily pay higher tuition in return for less of this guilt tripping over not donating to the latest fundraising drive.

Is this unusual?

[Anonymous]

We felt the same way when our first started preschool. We have since learned that it's very normal - especially if you go the private school route.

One advantage of donating vs including in tuition is that your donation is most likely tax deductible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We felt the same way when our first started preschool. We have since learned that it's very normal - especially if you go the private school route.

One advantage of donating vs including in tuition is that your donation is most likely tax deductible.

I get that but rather than consume all this time of those moms (and it is all women) on the fundraising committee, we'd rather they just asked for a 'tax deductible' donation say with the 2nd tuition installment.

[Anonymous]

If you give early, you won't have to worry about it anymore.

[Anonymous]

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/270929.page

Ongoing debate about this here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you give early, you won't have to worry about it anymore.

thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/270929.page

Ongoing debate about this here.

I've seen that but it's not quite the same. We are talking about a small coop preschool not a big private school full of relatively wealthy parents. It just seems a huge investment of effort for amounts that really we'd prefer they were more up front about.

[kaybn]

You say co-op? Then it's parent-run, right? So those kinds of tuition/fundraising things are parent decisions. The most productive thing you can do it get involved in those decisions- and not feel that you are too early in the year to jump in; if all the decisions and feedback come from families that have been in the school for longer, that's not actually a good thing for exactly the reason you're talking about- it's hard to keep the perspective of a new family when you aren't one.

Can you go to a board meeting or subcommittee meeting, or ask to be added to an email chain, even just to hear the discussion? They are probably setting tuition and fundraising goals for next year around this time of year- so it's the perfect time to speak up. I've been on lots of those discussions at my kids' coop, and it's always a challenge to figure out how best to balance it. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, as in most things. And squeaky wheels with good ideas are the best!

[Anonymous]

Disgusting!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We felt the same way when our first started preschool. We have since learned that it's very normal - especially if you go the private school route.

One advantage of donating vs including in tuition is that your donation is most likely tax deductible.

I get that but rather than consume all this time of those moms (and it is all women) on the fundraising committee, we'd rather they just asked for a 'tax deductible' donation say with the 2nd tuition installment.

Sounds like a great idea - have you proposed that?

At one of our schools they have decided to skip a few of the big, time-consuming events and just focus on one annual giving effort. There are a few others small fundraisers, but those are mostly just for fun.

[Anonymous]

I'm on the board of a small co-op preschool (but it sounds like not this one because we haven't had these fundraisers yet). But basically, in our case we are under pressure to keep the tuition low. So in our case tuition only covers 80% of expenses and the rest of the money has to come from fundraising. I agree this is not ideal, and there are many parents like you who feel they would rather just pay higher tuition that do all this fundraising. Many other parents balk at higher tuition though, so it's tough. Our school has tried to focus on raising money from those other than parents, through things like yard sales, etc., instead of direct fundraisers from parents.

[Anonymous]

I am with you and this is one of many reasons why we left our co-op. In the end, it was a lot more than planned and I would have just preferred to pay a bit more monthly if they needed it (which they did).

[Anonymous]

As a preschool director, I can tell you that we are sensitive to the needs of our families and work hard to keep the tuition as low as possible. That being said, if we want to attract good staff and have excellent materials, facilities, and staff education, the money has to come from somewhere. I know that I am always open to hearing ideas on how we can maintain this balance. The truth is that fundraisers allow us to do things that we would not be able to do without those funds. This can only benefit the children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a preschool director, I can tell you that we are sensitive to the needs of our families and work hard to keep the tuition as low as possible. That being said, if we want to attract good staff and have excellent materials, facilities, and staff education, the money has to come from somewhere. I know that I am always open to hearing ideas on how we can maintain this balance. The truth is that fundraisers allow us to do things that we would not be able to do without those funds. This can only benefit the children.

Then please, just charge $50-75 more a month if you really need it instead of all the fundraisers. One, sure, but multiple, once a month is way too much. Or, when you are asking for many things like a auction basket, bake sale and then purchase/sell other stuff twice a year. Then, just give a bit of a break if a family cannot afford that extra amount. Or, ask families to donate stuff. Ask them to donate supplies, snacks (ours just asks for a bunch the first day and when used up then ask for more - more has not happened as most just gave a huge amount), cleaning stuff, new (or like new toys) etc. - at least that way you feel more involved with the school. I continue to bring in snacks and other stuff - not because I have to, nor they asked but because they haven't and are so good to my child. I also watch for massive sales so it makes it easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a preschool director, I can tell you that we are sensitive to the needs of our families and work hard to keep the tuition as low as possible. That being said, if we want to attract good staff and have excellent materials, facilities, and staff education, the money has to come from somewhere. I know that I am always open to hearing ideas on how we can maintain this balance. The truth is that fundraisers allow us to do things that we would not be able to do without those funds. This can only benefit the children.

I'd echo what the poster above mine said. We'd happily pay slightly higher tuition for less of this fundraising stuff. We don't mind things that attract money from outsiders (so like sales, community fundraisers etc) but we resent the asking parents for more cash.