Anonymous wrote:I think it's tacky and I'll just buy the stuff and then give to neighbors instead of asking them to buy stuff.

I don't mind when the teens fundraise by providing an actual wanted service like car wash, mulch delivery/spreading, babysitting service, coaching services for younger kids, snowshoveling, etc. I am happy to support those things when it's a service or product I need, as opposed to "buy this overpriced item that you don't really want so Johnny's overpriced travel team can do to Orlando for a tournament."

Popcorn is the worst.

Anonymous wrote:I find it so tacky. Our team is really pushing this, and I cannot bring myself to ask friends to donate to my kids' activities. Do you do it anyway or ignore?

My neighbor just came by last week selling raffle tickets for something at his school - it’s one of the wealthiest schools in the area. We live in a neighborhood where homes range $2-6M+. I bought one book because I’ve known the kid since he was a toddler. Yes, it’s tacky! His parents are not tacky and probably made him do it to follow the rules of whatever the tickets were for - they are the don’t skip corners type parents. Luckily my kids had never had to do this and they also go to wealthy private schools.

OP - yeah it’s so so so tacky. It feels just gross to donate to schools that get millions a year in donations and whose families can afford whatever it is they are fund raising for.

Anonymous wrote:I’m ok supporting the local public high school teams. I’m not ok supporting the private travel teams.

This. I donate if it's a high school team.

I think it's tacky and I'll just buy the stuff and then give to neighbors instead of asking them to buy stuff.

I don't mind when the teens fundraise by providing an actual wanted service like car wash, mulch delivery/spreading, babysitting service, coaching services for younger kids, snowshoveling, etc. I am happy to support those things when it's a service or product I need, as opposed to "buy this overpriced item that you don't really want so Johnny's overpriced travel team can do to Orlando for a tournament."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid's team requires fundraising - it can come from mom or dad or others. It's an expensive sport and fundraising helps offset fees for folks who can't afford it. Parents are expected to contribute about $5k a year, and fundraising per kid is $1000 a year. Not every kid's family can afford that.

If they can’t afford it, why do they choose to participate?

Want Vs need

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it so tacky. Our team is really pushing this, and I cannot bring myself to ask friends to donate to my kids' activities. Do you do it anyway or ignore?

Lucky that none of our teams force this, but just ignore. It is tacky today unless you're in a very underprivileged area (and you wouldn't be posting on DCUM). Youth sports is big business that parents are actively opting into. It's not some underdog story.

Edit to add - the one exception would be if some team made a legitimate national championship requiring last minute flights/hotels. Think Little League World Series, but even that is still suspect because the teams that make it train a ton and cost a lot.

No, this is not an exception.

Anonymous wrote:My kid's team requires fundraising - it can come from mom or dad or others. It's an expensive sport and fundraising helps offset fees for folks who can't afford it. Parents are expected to contribute about $5k a year, and fundraising per kid is $1000 a year. Not every kid's family can afford that.

If they can’t afford it, why do they choose to participate?

My kids are grown now but were involved in sports and music in school and we always resisted all kid fundraisers. Dh and I just donated ourselves, and dcs also participated in whatever fundraising events were hands-on and their responsibility.

I didn't even ask our parents/siblings: we're not wealthy at all compared to most on DCUM but our families are even less so, and I would never ask friends, acquaintances to chip in either. I feel pretty strongly that it was our responsibility to pay.

My kid's team requires fundraising - it can come from mom or dad or others. It's an expensive sport and fundraising helps offset fees for folks who can't afford it. Parents are expected to contribute about $5k a year, and fundraising per kid is $1000 a year. Not every kid's family can afford that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it's your kid, just pay whatever the fundraising goal is. If it's someone asking you, just say 'no, but good luck' and get on with your life. It's not that complicated.

We weren't asked to donate a specific amount of money just to sell sell sell. The activity is already costing us upwards of $8,000 a year, what's the point in fundraising to raise $2,000?

Then either sell, don't sell and donate your share of the 2K, or ignore altogether. Why do you need someone else to explain this?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m ok supporting the local public high school teams. I’m not ok supporting the private travel teams.

I'm referring to a travel team, but wouldn't taxes cover public high school?

lol, you think there aren't fees for HS sports?

Anonymous wrote:I don’t mind if the kids actually do it (car wash, ask me directly to buy popcorn), but it bothers me when the parents do it. My uncle outright asked for money for my cousin to do an activity. Nope.

Same here. If the kid wants money, they should ask.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m ok supporting the local public high school teams. I’m not ok supporting the private travel teams.

I'm referring to a travel team, but wouldn't taxes cover public high school?

Generally, no. It gets dicey when they choose to go to extra events outside of the HS schedule (and now they're not much different than a travel team).

my sons activities do a lot of fundraising. it is exhausting and I minimize how many times and to whom i reach out too.

it does teach kids to work for what they want. better than me always paying for what they want. at least they have to work for it a little bit (car wash etc.)

I give to other activities as well - marching band or whatever.

Anonymous wrote:If it's your kid, just pay whatever the fundraising goal is. If it's someone asking you, just say 'no, but good luck' and get on with your life. It's not that complicated.

We weren't asked to donate a specific amount of money just to sell sell sell. The activity is already costing us upwards of $8,000 a year, what's the point in fundraising to raise $2,000?