Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all. I will indeed just write a check and have done with it for this fundraiser. I'm new enough and this school's dynamics are complex enough that I am not going to raise a ruckus about the existence of this fundraiser, but I will see what I can do in the future to promote healthier alternatives.

I think you should become involved with the school and put and end to this kind of fundraising. as you point out, you do not want to buy or harrass friends and family asking them to buy useless crap when the school gets a fraction of what you spend. writing a check to the school for the amount you were planning to spend sounds mu better (I did this with our daycare, after I decided that I did not want to spend $$$ on tons of useless wrapping papers when the daycare was getting around 20% - I just wrote a check to them and told them I was not going to order anything).

our DCPS does not do this type of fundraising. this is what our school does: ask for donations to the PTA (a certain amount suggested per child, any amount is welcome); hold various events organized and run by parents (mainly a fair with games and moonbounces, and an auction); also, the school has some type of agreememt with Amazon so any purchase done on Amazon by parents, the school gets a percentage (and these are purchases for thing parents would buy anyway, so why not having to school getting a cut). I like these types of fundraising because every dollar spent goes directly to the school (except for the Amazon purchases, but these are purchases we would do anyway on Amazon), and we are forced to buy useless things or force our families and friends to do the same so the school gets pocket change. at the same time, these activities require really a lot of work and planning by the parents, for sure slapping parents with the type fundraising you describe is easier

OP here. Thank you all. I will indeed just write a check and have done with it for this fundraiser. I'm new enough and this school's dynamics are complex enough that I am not going to raise a ruckus about the existence of this fundraiser, but I will see what I can do in the future to promote healthier alternatives.

If a fundraiser is not garnering you at least 50% profit of the top, then it is not worth it. As you sell to one, you are compelled to buy from another and the vicious cycle begins.

Write a check and be gone.

Ditto. Every year I would buy girl scout cookies from my nieces on the west coast and every year I would ask my sister to reroute the boxes, when they came in, to whomever could use them out there. We certainly don't need them in our home.

Anonymous wrote:I would just write a check and skip the fundraising.

+1 my mom did this for us as kids. Didn't want to bother people

For our school's fundraiser, the school only gets to keep 50% of what is sold. If we donate cash, the school keeps 100%. My son's little league sold candy bars as a fundraiser; I just bought them myself & handed them out at Halloween. The kids loved getting the large candy.

You don't have to participate if you don't want to. If you plan to stick around, ask around and see if everyone else is sick of the same fundraisers all the time. If so, do a little research and find something else to do as a fundraiser and make it happen.

Veteran parent who has done it all at schools...nothing worse than the parent complainers who only complain but never offer any positive change. I am sure that the pta officers would welcome the new ideas and energy.

The PTA gets a % of the amount you buy, so your $ goes farther just writing a check. Many do that at our school.

This alternative looks saner to me.

http://news.yahoo.com/schools-sell-instead-candy-trash-bags-184349943.html

Does your school have a healthy schools grant? If yes tell the fundraising chair that it is not aligned w school policy :0

I would just write a check and skip the fundraising.

Anonymous wrote:So I am a brand new DCPS parent (PS3'er) and new to the world of school fundraising (except for memories of all the things I had to sell door-to-door when I was a kid- Christmas ornaments, popcorn, magazines, you name it. I firmly believe that with the possible exception of Girl Scout Cookies, no one ever truly wants things that get sold door-to-door.) So I got my first fundraiser sales request in the bookbag today, and it's kind of a sugary mess- candy, cake, chocolate covered cheesecake drops, etc. I have no desire to have these things in my house, and I have no desire to sell them to my friends and neighbors. I assume the profit margin for the school on these things isn't that high, and I'd much rather just donate the money than spend time on this and support the diabesity epidemic. But I also realize that that is a very privileged perspective, and I don't want to be a non-participating jerk. What do veteran parents do for these things?

The important thing is to contribute how you feel most comfortable. It's not an issue of privilege. Often the sales-oriented fundraisers are a legacy from the days when there weren't internet options or PayPal. IMHO, any fundraising that emphasizes children selling anything (sorry Girl Scouts), is exploitative and not worth the money and effort. That said, if your child has an entrepreneurial spirit and wants to sell (one of my 2 is like that), then I can't see that it hurts.

Unless the vendor is one of those predatory sales groups that gouges schools to have kids go door-to-door with milk crates full of candy. If your school is dependent on that model, do a little research and find alternatives to present to the principal and PTA. Sometimes it's just a question of raising awareness of who really makes the money.

or just write a check and skip the fundraising.

I bought about $100 bucks worth of awful pizzas for my daughter's school and donated them to a homeless shelter's kitchen. They loved them. I'm sure they wouldn't mind some dessert.

So I am a brand new DCPS parent (PS3'er) and new to the world of school fundraising (except for memories of all the things I had to sell door-to-door when I was a kid- Christmas ornaments, popcorn, magazines, you name it. I firmly believe that with the possible exception of Girl Scout Cookies, no one ever truly wants things that get sold door-to-door.) So I got my first fundraiser sales request in the bookbag today, and it's kind of a sugary mess- candy, cake, chocolate covered cheesecake drops, etc. I have no desire to have these things in my house, and I have no desire to sell them to my friends and neighbors. I assume the profit margin for the school on these things isn't that high, and I'd much rather just donate the money than spend time on this and support the diabesity epidemic. But I also realize that that is a very privileged perspective, and I don't want to be a non-participating jerk. What do veteran parents do for these things?