PTAs: I don't want to donate money to facilitate adults socializing with their friends

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PTA volunteers should not need “thank you” breakfasts. Parents should not need “community building” events for themselves. The PTA is for the kids and should be kid focused.

That's just now how things work. If you think you can do it better run for PTA President.

lol how do things work? I can tell you how things work at the PTA - a bunch of parents who take themselves way too seriously and often neglect to think about what would actually be welcome to the school as a whole. The idea of a thank you event runs counter to what should be more like a mutual aid society. A hierarchy of volunteers runs counter to that. PTA is not the place to get your ego stroked.

Ok. How much money have you raised for any non profit? Tell us. How many years have you been in fundraising?

Dude, that is the point. It is a school PTA, not a professional nonprofit fundraiser for the Humane Society.

Dude make a friend and go with them to the invites instead of sounding like such a loser that nobody talks to you at a PTA event.

Thanks for proving then point.

What point? We still don't know what events we're talking about. I volunteer and I don't go to the "thank you" breakfast because I don't care that much. But I don't think she muffins and coffee expense is really breaking the budget. People are more likely to volunteer if they know someone else. OP isn't putting in any effort whatsoever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are you talking about? We raise about $30k a year and it all goes to classroom needs, kid focused weekend events, like $500 a year goes to pizza for pta meetings (open to all of the PTA members and kids), activity busses etc.

WTH? I've been active at every single school my kids attended. We never wasted money providing pizza/food etc for a pta meeting. What a waste of money.

Spending $500 is chump change to secure $30K in donations. How much money did the PTA leaders themselves donate? In most cases the people doing the work are almost always the biggest donors. This $500 is nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PTA volunteers should not need “thank you” breakfasts. Parents should not need “community building” events for themselves. The PTA is for the kids and should be kid focused.

That's just now how things work. If you think you can do it better run for PTA President.

lol how do things work? I can tell you how things work at the PTA - a bunch of parents who take themselves way too seriously and often neglect to think about what would actually be welcome to the school as a whole. The idea of a thank you event runs counter to what should be more like a mutual aid society. A hierarchy of volunteers runs counter to that. PTA is not the place to get your ego stroked.

Ok. How much money have you raised for any non profit? Tell us. How many years have you been in fundraising?

Dude, that is the point. It is a school PTA, not a professional nonprofit fundraiser for the Humane Society.

Dude make a friend and go with them to the invites instead of sounding like such a loser that nobody talks to you at a PTA event.

Stfu

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PTA volunteers should not need “thank you” breakfasts. Parents should not need “community building” events for themselves. The PTA is for the kids and should be kid focused.

That's just now how things work. If you think you can do it better run for PTA President.

lol how do things work? I can tell you how things work at the PTA - a bunch of parents who take themselves way too seriously and often neglect to think about what would actually be welcome to the school as a whole. The idea of a thank you event runs counter to what should be more like a mutual aid society. A hierarchy of volunteers runs counter to that. PTA is not the place to get your ego stroked.

Ok. How much money have you raised for any non profit? Tell us. How many years have you been in fundraising?

Dude, that is the point. It is a school PTA, not a professional nonprofit fundraiser for the Humane Society.

Dude make a friend and go with them to the invites instead of sounding like such a loser that nobody talks to you at a PTA event.

Thanks for proving then point.

What point? We still don't know what events we're talking about. I volunteer and I don't go to the "thank you" breakfast because I don't care that much. But I don't think she muffins and coffee expense is really breaking the budget. People are more likely to volunteer if they know someone else. OP isn't putting in any effort whatsoever.

+1 When I first opened this thread, I assumed OP would be talking about the big after school events like the movie nights and spring carnivals and stuff, where the kids run around crazy and adults barely supervise. Or where local MS/HS kids from the neighborhood come alone. Instead it’s about some vague event where people socialize and it isn’t a fundraiser, and the PTA is spending money on it? Is this a private school? Or are they raising money that OP doesn’t know about? Because PTA’s as non-profits are only supposed to spend a very small amount of money on “themselves” (events, supplies etc.) and the vast majority needs to go to fundraising.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are you talking about? We raise about $30k a year and it all goes to classroom needs, kid focused weekend events, like $500 a year goes to pizza for pta meetings (open to all of the PTA members and kids), activity busses etc.

WTH? I've been active at every single school my kids attended. We never wasted money providing pizza/food etc for a pta meeting. What a waste of money.

Our current school does not do this. We do a mix of zoom and in person meetings. Both very poorly attended besides the actual pta board.

Our old school had pizza and childcare so parents could attend. My old school had much higher attendance than our current school via zoom. Our old school had a high farms population. I’m not sure if they came for food or the actual meeting but many more families came and participated at that school. It was both informative and social. My kids would want to go and hang out with their friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Then don't donate. Spend your money and time how you so fit.

Easy.

You know OP begrudgingly donates about $10 a year then moans about where her dollars are going. Clearly doesn’t donate any time either if she has no idea what these events even are. Just save the $10 and do nothing. Nobody will notice.

Yeah if there is an event to thank people who have hundreds or thousands, the return to the school is worth it.

The only adult only event I can think of at our school is a volunteer thank you breakfast.

I disagree. It is a PTA that should be focused on the school not fundraising.

Ugh this makes me want to leave public school. If I give thousands and we get a thank you dinner, the school still makes money. Some people are so dumb.

Again the PTA is not the venue for you to be individually feted as a philanthropist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are you talking about? We raise about $30k a year and it all goes to classroom needs, kid focused weekend events, like $500 a year goes to pizza for pta meetings (open to all of the PTA members and kids), activity busses etc.

WTH? I've been active at every single school my kids attended. We never wasted money providing pizza/food etc for a pta meeting. What a waste of money.

Our school did pizza so that families could come during dinner time and for something to entertain the kids. I think that was pretty reasonable as a way to increase the inclusiveness of the PTA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are you talking about? We raise about $30k a year and it all goes to classroom needs, kid focused weekend events, like $500 a year goes to pizza for pta meetings (open to all of the PTA members and kids), activity busses etc.

WTH? I've been active at every single school my kids attended. We never wasted money providing pizza/food etc for a pta meeting. What a waste of money.

Spending $500 is chump change to secure $30K in donations. How much money did the PTA leaders themselves donate? In most cases the people doing the work are almost always the biggest donors. This $500 is nothing.

You are unwittingly demonstrating exactly why the rich PTAs are repellant to a lot of us. It is a school. A collective. Every kid and parent is equal. No parent should feel they are modeled important or special because they are the biggest donor and biggest PTA socialite. It actively detracts from the public nature of the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Then don't donate. Spend your money and time how you so fit.

Easy.

You know OP begrudgingly donates about $10 a year then moans about where her dollars are going. Clearly doesn’t donate any time either if she has no idea what these events even are. Just save the $10 and do nothing. Nobody will notice.

Yeah if there is an event to thank people who have hundreds or thousands, the return to the school is worth it.

The only adult only event I can think of at our school is a volunteer thank you breakfast.

I disagree. It is a PTA that should be focused on the school not fundraising.

Ugh this makes me want to leave public school. If I give thousands and we get a thank you dinner, the school still makes money. Some people are so dumb.

Again the PTA is not the venue for you to be individually feted as a philanthropist.

Our school doesn’t give us a thank you dinner so it is a moot point. If they did, i was just commenting that it would be a small token of gratitude to those who donate time and money.

I already commented that I was the fundraising chair previously and all the events were fundraiser so the pta or school is NOT buying any adults dinner or drinks. We have to buy ourselves or we have to buy tickets for the event and then bid for a fundraiser.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our PTA had a thank you breakfast for all volunteers last year. It was at 10:00am on a Tuesday. I think that should tell you everything you need to know about MY kid's school's PTA.

If it was in the evening, people would grumble about having to get a babysitter. (And the OP would chime in that this is a social event between adults that shouldn’t happen). They did it during school so you’d have childcare. But people will always look for a reason to take out their frustrations on the PTA and the people who do volunteer to justify not volunteering or doing so less in the future.

I don't understand the grumbling about babysitters. Why do SAHMs not trust their husbands? I do have childcare during the day but I also HAVE A JOB. And I'm not going to use an hour of my PTO to go to a PTA breakfast. Please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are you talking about? We raise about $30k a year and it all goes to classroom needs, kid focused weekend events, like $500 a year goes to pizza for pta meetings (open to all of the PTA members and kids), activity busses etc.

WTH? I've been active at every single school my kids attended. We never wasted money providing pizza/food etc for a pta meeting. What a waste of money.

Spending $500 is chump change to secure $30K in donations. How much money did the PTA leaders themselves donate? In most cases the people doing the work are almost always the biggest donors. This $500 is nothing.

You are unwittingly demonstrating exactly why the rich PTAs are repellant to a lot of us. It is a school. A collective. Every kid and parent is equal. No parent should feel they are modeled important or special because they are the biggest donor and biggest PTA socialite. It actively detracts from the public nature of the school.

What exactly is stopping you from going to the meetings or thank you breakfast? Stop with the sad sack excuses. You're not involved and resent the people who are. Just don't donate you will still reap the benefits of those more generous

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Then don't donate. Spend your money and time how you so fit.

Easy.

You know OP begrudgingly donates about $10 a year then moans about where her dollars are going. Clearly doesn’t donate any time either if she has no idea what these events even are. Just save the $10 and do nothing. Nobody will notice.

Yeah if there is an event to thank people who have hundreds or thousands, the return to the school is worth it.

The only adult only event I can think of at our school is a volunteer thank you breakfast.

I disagree. It is a PTA that should be focused on the school not fundraising.

Ugh this makes me want to leave public school. If I give thousands and we get a thank you dinner, the school still makes money. Some people are so dumb.

Who is giving thousands to their public school PTA??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Then don't donate. Spend your money and time how you so fit.

Easy.

You know OP begrudgingly donates about $10 a year then moans about where her dollars are going. Clearly doesn’t donate any time either if she has no idea what these events even are. Just save the $10 and do nothing. Nobody will notice.

Yeah if there is an event to thank people who have hundreds or thousands, the return to the school is worth it.

The only adult only event I can think of at our school is a volunteer thank you breakfast.

I disagree. It is a PTA that should be focused on the school not fundraising.

Ugh this makes me want to leave public school. If I give thousands and we get a thank you dinner, the school still makes money. Some people are so dumb.

Who is giving thousands to their public school PTA??

You'd be surprised. Where do you think the rich PTAs get all their money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are you talking about? We raise about $30k a year and it all goes to classroom needs, kid focused weekend events, like $500 a year goes to pizza for pta meetings (open to all of the PTA members and kids), activity busses etc.

WTH? I've been active at every single school my kids attended. We never wasted money providing pizza/food etc for a pta meeting. What a waste of money.

Our school did pizza so that families could come during dinner time and for something to entertain the kids. I think that was pretty reasonable as a way to increase the inclusiveness of the PTA.

I think that's a much better idea than our school whose PTO doesn't even send out a newsletter and holds three meetings a year during the work day.

[Anonymous]

OP never came back to give us examples of non-fundraising events.