Reply to Boosterthon in elementary school

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We had boosterthon a few years but no longer do.  We raised a decent amount of money with it, too.

I wasn't a fan of the assemblies and the stuff they brought home for getting pledges. But honestly, I think some of you parents are finding more of a moral failing in it than the kids took away from it.  The kids I know saw that they were raising money to help their school and they got to run around with their friends for an afternoon. As for the "stuff", we just had a discussion with DC and said we were giving X, grandparents were giving X, and we weren't asking anyone else.  That raised an amount we were comfortable with.  In other words, it was not a big deal.  I can't imaging going in every day to remove my child from a 30 minute assembly for two weeks - besides being silly, not everyone has that time. I know it's harder to have conversations with your children about these matters but try it. It does work.[/quote]

I've also seen MULTIPLE people claim "I'd rather just cut a check to the school" (on some of the dozens of other discussions being had about this out and about on the internet) but none of them actually put their money where their mouth is.  When I informed them that our school has always had the option for you to give a tax-deductible donation that goes 100% to the school, they're all "whaaaat?  Really?"  Yes, really.  Dozens of emails came home about it last year and no one gave any money.  So now they're trying something different.  Deal with it or donate directly to the PTA.[/quote]

16:44 again.

Having done several years of this, this is the lesson our board learned. A lot of people don't read their emails. Or they read them and forget them. And a lot don't read the paper mail. And a lot don't come to parent meetings where you can do some face-to-face outreach. The best we've ever had is 50% participation in our fundraising, despite hitting all of these methods!

Therefore you have to do multiples of ALL of the above, as well as embed the link to online donations directly in the emails. Make up funny titles to your email so that parents will actually click on them. Be goofy to lure them in, then be serious when you say that all that support will disappear if people don't pay up. Be persuasive, eloquent, passionate.

It's a real group communication effort that requires meeting deadlines and strategizing, not an afterthought gig by one exhausted parent at 10pm after her full-time job and her evening with the kids.

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