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

+1 This is what I did. Basically told them I do not have the time nor the inclination to ask people to buy candy/popcorn/tchotchkes and would they accept a check instead? The answer was a happy yes, of course.

I'm with 13:14, though I realize that there will probably be some at the school who are die-hard supporters of this type of fundraiser. We rarely participate in sales fundraisers. There are so many other easy options out there, including a $180 fund- get families to donate $18 to the school each month. For families where finances are tight, find another easy option that doesn't involve selling either- like encouraging everyone to sign up with Safeway or Amazon or Target -somewhere they shop anyway and give back that way.

Fundraisers are becoming a flop during these furloughed days. Bummer

Does anyone really eat the stuff! From over the several years that my fifth graders have gone to school and I have reluctantly sold and bought most of the junk myself and the junk I've bought from nieces, nephews and friends' kids I could have a fundraiser myself from the pizzas, cookie doe, candy, etc. buried down deep in my basement freezer. I'm now retired from that business! And am just writing a check and cleaning out my freezer!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What we did at our school, we made our school personnel, parents, students and faculty the customers. We actually starting selling items that were extremely beneficial to that base. Instead of trying to make everyone door-to-door salesmen, we inturn made them a valuable customer.

can you give examples of "items that were extremely beneficial to that base"?

We did tote bags, coffee-mugs, tee-shirts, polo-shirts, flash-drives, calendars, grab n go snacks and on rainy days we sold school logo umbrellas.

I like that. Sell me something I can actually use. Flash drives and a good quality school logo umbrella would get my money. Save the wrapping paper and candy, that's just junk in my house. However, don't you go messing with my girl scout cookies! I actively seek out friends with daughters in girl scouts, just to get a few boxes of thin mints and tagalongs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What we did at our school, we made our school personnel, parents, students and faculty the customers. We actually starting selling items that were extremely beneficial to that base. Instead of trying to make everyone door-to-door salesmen, we inturn made them a valuable customer.

can you give examples of "items that were extremely beneficial to that base"?

We did tote bags, coffee-mugs, tee-shirts, polo-shirts, flash-drives, calendars, grab n go snacks and on rainy days we sold school logo umbrellas.

PTA board member here, and I'll just add my two cents...

1. I'm always thrilled to accept a straight-up donation check. As others have pointed out, 100% goes straight to the school, and it's far easier than all the work that goes into organizing fundraisers.

2. While I appreciate that for many folks the stuff in these fundraisers is cheap/tacky/unhealthy I assure you that if we could get by with just asking for donations, we would have given up fundraisers a long time ago.

There are families that have never even paid our $5 PTA dues, but who easily buy (or get friends/family to buy) $200 of stuff. I guess for some folks, the intangible quality of "helping the school" is not a big motivator, and they need a physical product they can hold.

Our PTA never went overboard on these kinds of fundraisers (I purposely did not ask for assemblies to be held or endless morning announcements. We sent home the order packets, sent out several email blast reminders, one paper reminder, and that was it.) But I would feel like I was denying the school $$ if I just got rid of the fundraiser, despite my personal opinions on the quality of the products or the merit of direct donation vs. purchasing stuff.

Anonymous wrote:What we did at our school, we made our school personnel, parents, students and faculty the customers. We actually starting selling items that were extremely beneficial to that base. Instead of trying to make everyone door-to-door salesmen, we inturn made them a valuable customer.

can you give examples of "items that were extremely beneficial to that base"?

I have no problem saying "no" to these things.

What we did at our school, we made our school personnel, parents, students and faculty the customers. We actually starting selling items that were extremely beneficial to that base. Instead of trying to make everyone door-to-door salesmen, we inturn made them a valuable customer.

i'm going to give you a little advice here: don't make this into a big thing. there is a sector of your school who will always want to sell things (the old school parents) and will not appreciate parents who just want to "write a check". do get involved with your PTA and help come up with other ways to earn money for the school (i.e., fall festivals, yard sales, bake sales, flat out fees). but tread lightly and be respectful. (i personally would love if some kid would sell me some sally foster wrapping paper. that stuff rocks!) good luck.

We had one of these sales at our school and several parents sent in a check that said rather than do this fundraiser, put 100% this amount of money toward the school. It was great, less hassle and better return.

Given the amount of fundraising you need to figure out your budget and then how you want to deploy that budget. Go for the biggest bang for you buck and simplify. Frankly, not even the fundraising chairs at schools have enough time to keep track of who contributes and who does not.