Stop donating and don’t sell anything. Next year, buy the one box of chocolate or overpriced art project on an ornament that they tell you is a fundraiser. You don’t have to do any of this, remember.

Yeah, they should really just ask for a check. No one wants to sell chocolate and no one wants to buy it- or any of the other crappy food items or cheap junk they sell

Why do they make you buy stuff? Why don't they just have an annual fund or something for the school that you can donate to?

Next year, don't donate. Instead write a note saying that you are saving it so you can use it during fundraisers so your child isn't left out. If enough people do this they will stop.

The schools my kids went to did check-writing/online donation campaigns. Boosterthon and horrors of that ilk can be stressful and damaging to children, plus companies who prey on desperate PTAs and children are the lowest of the low. Boosterthon takes more than 50% of the profits - it should be banned. Pressuring children to compete to sell crap is ridiculous these days when everything PTAs need is worth so much compared to what the crap brings in. Selling things is just not feasible.

Our school (public) set up a non-profit a few years ago and just asks for monetary donations. I’m more than happy to contribute. I hated school fundraisers as a child and dislike them even more as an adult.

Ugh they make me depressed. Our niece and nephew are always trying to sell us crap, and they do some sort of “shopping” event before the holidays where the kids pick out gifts which is nice in theory but it’s all such crap. The chocolate bars are gross, too.

Thankfully ours sells stuff to the parents (Cookies dough, school spirit wear, and the like.) It works great we buy what we want, the school gets money through the PTA, and DS isn't selling something ridiculous.

He does fundraise for Cub Scouts and his baseball program. I don't have a problem with that, it helps him learn how to interact with adults, handle money, and learn to discuss something that he enjoys.

But I have difficulty thinking that he would be as gung ho to sell stuff to support the school. He does fine in school but he is less excited about school then he is Cub Scouts and Baseball.

Ugh, me too! Our school is sneaky, they don't push it outright but then will throw in something like that "every kid who participates gets X prize!" and then I look at my 6 year old and think about him feeling left out and feel pressured to participate. It's such a ponzi scheme!

When my DD was in K she was supposed to get donations to "win" a stuffed animal of her choosing. I said we would get something off the class wishlist, but she had plenty of stuffed animals so we weren't participating. She then asked if all the kids getting stuffed animals don't have any. I went with it and said sure. It worked for two more years...

We had a jogathon. If you wanted a water bottle for you kid, you had to donate $250. I’m not sure what lesson they think they’re teaching the kids, but it’s probably not the one they’re learning.

Next time just hold a little money back to buy the minimum.

I refuse to participate in those. I'll do auctions, restaurant night, etc but my child sent' going around selling stuff.

I'm with you. I'd much rather write a check. I feel like these fundraisers use kids and the schools don't benefit as much as they should. I had to come around in 1st grade though. Kids hate feeling left out. My kid could sale $300 with of merchandise to earn a cheap Chinese made toy worth less than $1

DDs school had a chocolate bar fundraiser, and they enticed the kids with prizes, one of which being that if you sold a box of chocolate, you’d get an ice cream social with the principal. We have a hard and fast rule that we don’t participate in school fundraisers, especially this kind, but gladly donate at the beginning of the year so the school receives 100% of the donation.

In hindsight, I wish I would have bought a box and just donated it because I’m hearing pretty much every kid sold at least one box. I never thought it would take off like it did. Do I need to make this up to my kid, who will surely be one of the few kids excluded. Our previous donations won’t count towards this, of course.