Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those who are part of a PTA that raises lots of money, please share your secret.

There is no secret. You need a population with friends and relatives with disposable income. People who can either straight up donate $1k+ or buy kiddie produced "art" (read: garbage) at the annual auction for hundreds of dollars a pop. In other parts of the city, that is rent money.

Previous years at Much's silent auction have included Redskins tickets, access to DC "movers & shakers", weekend in Tuscany, selected wine from wine cellar, restaurant vouchers for expensive restaurants, Kennedy Center seats, etc. There were also fun things that involved students such as lunch/breakfast with the principal, limo ride and breakfast treats, paint-ball for kids. At my current school teachers raise money and pay for extra-circular activities!!!

Holy crap.

Our silent auction had some toys, spa items, baby gifts, paintings and a bottle of aged bourbon. I think we raised around $2K. Our total PTA budget is less than $15K. But we're a newer charter and have less than 100 students. This is the first year we've really done any fundraising.

the preparation for the Murch action lasts months (action is usually in March, preparation is already ongoing in October from what I saw in the past), with parents who contact local restaurant for vouchers, theaters in DC for free tickets that will be sold at the auction, all kinds of businesses that are asked to donate (hotel rooms for a weekend staycation in DC, the local pizzeria at the corner, the local toy store, the Kennedy Center and so on). parents also donate to the auction, objects (a book, a bottle of wine, a home made scarf, whatever they can) or time (offering to cook brunch for a family, delivering a home made cake once a week for several weeks, a weekly supply of fresh herbs from a parent's garden during the summer and so on). some of the items mentioned above sound fancy but have a more normal origin. the week in Tuscany was possible simply because one of the Murch parent is Italian, her relatives have a small apartment in Tuscany and they offered it to the school at the auction. less expensive that a week on the Delmarva coast if you can buy the airplane tickets with frequent flyers miles, as the winner did. the wine collection is created by a family that host an evening at their homes and parents who attend are asked to bring a bottle of wine. Murch has almost 630 students, so obviously we will raised more that a school with 100 students, but the truth is that there is a lot of very hard work involved

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our WOTP school raises $300,000. Used to pay for extra teachers (2 teachers in every class), art and science teacher, etc.

every single classroom has a teaching aide, is that what you mean? that is great! which school is that?

I think it is Horace Mann Elementary. All the Neigborhood participate to their main annual fundraising, ex-parents, businesses, homeowners. Yes, the area is very wealthy, which makes things easier. But the dedication, energy, focus and initiative by parents (and the Principal) during the 2-3 annual fundraising events are the key.

Anonymous wrote:The WOTP schools get less $$ per kid than title I schools. They do benefit from economies of scale because they are full, but they do not raise as much as the difference in funds. These funds do give the schools significant flexibility in that a principal can use her budget to hire more staff because the PTA can pick up administrative costs such as supplies.

We probably give about $2000/year to our WOTP elementary (flat out checks, bidding at the auction, money spent at other fundraisers), we are not rich but we used to be in private daycare and preschool so we built this in as an expense when we dropped that cost because we want to do what we can to help make our children's education as much as we can. We have two kids.

Even though some EOTP schools get additional title I funds, that nowhere near comes close to the fundraising the PTAs like Janney fundraise. And of course, the title I funds come because you have some extreme poverty in the schools, so they are desperately in need of additional funds.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those who are part of a PTA that raises lots of money, please share your secret.

Lots of rich parents.

A friend whose kids are at one of the JKM schools told me that the fundraising is handled by a professional fundraiser (for a major charity, don't remember which one) who happens to also be a parent at the school. There is a "voluntary" $1500 contribution that they are strong armed to give and most parents do so.

And we wonder why there is such a divide in education here in DC.

I think the situation is a little more complicated. Title 1 schools in DC get much more money than non Title 1 schools, so troubled schools do not necessary get less money, they may have actually get more, even counting the PTA money.

we are at a JKLM school, the foundaising is organized, totally for free, by extremely dedicated parents who, in most cases, juggle family, a full time job, and the PTA activities. many more parents, me included, give their time as the "workforce" for fundraising activities. the foundasing goal is $350 per child and nobody is strong armed to give, parents get a letter and one or two reminders, by mail, and nothing else. the amount is set knowing very well that there are families that cannot donate anything. there are families that donate more, and all kids benefit from the money raised (sometimes even kids who are not at the school - the current playground was completely redone 4 years ago with PTA money, and it is open after school and on weekends to everybody. the money is spent to support school activities and salaries of some staff members (I suspect that the reference to PTA salaries at Janney refers to school staff members whose salaries are covered by the PTA - I am not at that school so I di not have direct experience).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those who are part of a PTA that raises lots of money, please share your secret.

Lots of rich parents.

...and parents willing to research grants and do the leg work to draft and submit proposals, then do the record keeping and reporting for grants the school is awarded. There is a lot of grant money for schools available out there. It is more work than writing a check, but if your school's parents don't have the cash, there are other ways to raise money for schools.

The WOTP schools get less $$ per kid than title I schools. They do benefit from economies of scale because they are full, but they do not raise as much as the difference in funds. These funds do give the schools significant flexibility in that a principal can use her budget to hire more staff because the PTA can pick up administrative costs such as supplies.

We probably give about $2000/year to our WOTP elementary (flat out checks, bidding at the auction, money spent at other fundraisers), we are not rich but we used to be in private daycare and preschool so we built this in as an expense when we dropped that cost because we want to do what we can to help make our children's education as much as we can. We have two kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those who are part of a PTA that raises lots of money, please share your secret.

There is no secret. You need a population with friends and relatives with disposable income. People who can either straight up donate $1k+ or buy kiddie produced "art" (read: garbage) at the annual auction for hundreds of dollars a pop. In other parts of the city, that is rent money.

Previous years at Much's silent auction have included Redskins tickets, access to DC "movers & shakers", weekend in Tuscany, selected wine from wine cellar, restaurant vouchers for expensive restaurants, Kennedy Center seats, etc. There were also fun things that involved students such as lunch/breakfast with the principal, limo ride and breakfast treats, paint-ball for kids. At my current school teachers raise money and pay for extra-circular activities!!!

Holy crap.

Our silent auction had some toys, spa items, baby gifts, paintings and a bottle of aged bourbon. I think we raised around $2K. Our total PTA budget is less than $15K. But we're a newer charter and have less than 100 students. This is the first year we've really done any fundraising.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those who are part of a PTA that raises lots of money, please share your secret.

There is no secret. You need a population with friends and relatives with disposable income. People who can either straight up donate $1k+ or buy kiddie produced "art" (read: garbage) at the annual auction for hundreds of dollars a pop. In other parts of the city, that is rent money.

Previous years at Much's silent auction have included Redskins tickets, access to DC "movers & shakers", weekend in Tuscany, selected wine from wine cellar, restaurant vouchers for expensive restaurants, Kennedy Center seats, etc. There were also fun things that involved students such as lunch/breakfast with the principal, limo ride and breakfast treats, paint-ball for kids. At my current school teachers raise money and pay for extra-circular activities!!!

I wonder how PTA fundraising at charter schools compares to WOTP schools? Particularly interested in how Creative Minds, Inspired Teaching, Mundo Verde, etc. do, given their recent popularity (although I know they're relatively new so they may not have much of a track record of fundraising yet).

Anonymous wrote:Those who are part of a PTA that raises lots of money, please share your secret.

There is no secret. You need a population with friends and relatives with disposable income. People who can either straight up donate $1k+ or buy kiddie produced "art" (read: garbage) at the annual auction for hundreds of dollars a pop. In other parts of the city, that is rent money.

Janney "suggests" a donation of $750 per student, I believe Mann is $1500 and Murch is $350. Not sure what Lafayette's number is.

Anonymous wrote:We raise about 50K a year with a budget close to 40K and have a carry over for the last few years of at least 20k. We fund buses for field trips, enrichment clubs, snacks on testing days, technology, Thanksgiving baskets, whatever the need is that particular year. Last year we had some work done on our school sign and bought the mats for the front lobby. We do a nice size fall festival and silent auction and that's how we raise at least 25 k of the money (we auction things like movie day with the principal, pizza or some type of acitivity with each teacher, front row seats to 5th grade graduation, etc. and these raise alot of money. And then we do some type of catalog sale. We don't have rich parents just regular parents who try to support the fundraisers.

Do you mind saying which school?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those who are part of a PTA that raises lots of money, please share your secret.

Lots of rich parents.

A friend whose kids are at one of the JKM schools told me that the fundraising is handled by a professional fundraiser (for a major charity, don't remember which one) who happens to also be a parent at the school. There is a "voluntary" $1500 contribution that they are strong armed to give and most parents do so.

And we wonder why there is such a divide in education here in DC.

We raise about 50K a year with a budget close to 40K and have a carry over for the last few years of at least 20k. We fund buses for field trips, enrichment clubs, snacks on testing days, technology, Thanksgiving baskets, whatever the need is that particular year. Last year we had some work done on our school sign and bought the mats for the front lobby. We do a nice size fall festival and silent auction and that's how we raise at least 25 k of the money (we auction things like movie day with the principal, pizza or some type of acitivity with each teacher, front row seats to 5th grade graduation, etc. and these raise alot of money. And then we do some type of catalog sale. We don't have rich parents just regular parents who try to support the fundraisers.

Janney's doesn't raise near 600k!