^^ and there is also the tshirts and prizes wouldn't you have to reduce your donation by the cost of those as well?

We had great success with a direct donation campaign. Yes you have to put the information out there just like any other fundraiser. And a direct donation to a non-profit PTA is 100% tax deductible.

Accountants out there... I saw where Boosterthon suggests donations to the fun run is tax deductible but don't you need to reduce your donation by the $2.00 online processing fee and the 50% that is paid to Boosterthon (a for profit company) to get your tax deductible portion? Then what about the $4,000 fee that comes off the top and is paid to Boosterthon, doesn't that reduce your deduction as well?

I fell for the whole "one and done" and wrote a check. Our school had a Boosterthon that same year. it was absolutely obnoxious. They do brainwash the kids. From what I heard the school had raised quite a bit through "one and done" and the Boosterthon was certainly not needed, but boy did the school get a windfall despite half going to the for profit.

One of my issues with BT is that the percentage they take is never advertised. They never tell the parents about the scale. They don't advise the children to disclose to donors what cut BT will take. I find that unethical. We disclose the cut for every other fundraiser. Why not BT?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had boosterthon a few years but no longer do. We raised a decent amount of money with it, too.

I wasn't a fan of the assemblies and the stuff they brought home for getting pledges. But honestly, I think some of you parents are finding more of a moral failing in it than the kids took away from it. The kids I know saw that they were raising money to help their school and they got to run around with their friends for an afternoon. As for the "stuff", we just had a discussion with DC and said we were giving X, grandparents were giving X, and we weren't asking anyone else. That raised an amount we were comfortable with. In other words, it was not a big deal. I can't imaging going in every day to remove my child from a 30 minute assembly for two weeks - besides being silly, not everyone has that time. I know it's harder to have conversations with your children about these matters but try it. It does work.

+1

I've also seen MULTIPLE people claim "I'd rather just cut a check to the school" (on some of the dozens of other discussions being had about this out and about on the internet) but none of them actually put their money where their mouth is. When I informed them that our school has always had the option for you to give a tax-deductible donation that goes 100% to the school, they're all "whaaaat? Really?" Yes, really. Dozens of emails came home about it last year and no one gave any money. So now they're trying something different. Deal with it or donate directly to the PTA.

16:44 again.

Having done several years of this, this is the lesson our board learned. A lot of people don't read their emails. Or they read them and forget them. And a lot don't read the paper mail. And a lot don't come to parent meetings where you can do some face-to-face outreach. The best we've ever had is 50% participation in our fundraising, despite hitting all of these methods!

Therefore you have to do multiples of ALL of the above, as well as embed the link to online donations directly in the emails. Make up funny titles to your email so that parents will actually click on them. Be goofy to lure them in, then be serious when you say that all that support will disappear if people don't pay up. Be persuasive, eloquent, passionate.

It's a real group communication effort that requires meeting deadlines and strategizing, not an afterthought gig by one exhausted parent at 10pm after her full-time job and her evening with the kids.

Anonymous wrote:We had boosterthon a few years but no longer do. We raised a decent amount of money with it, too.

I wasn't a fan of the assemblies and the stuff they brought home for getting pledges. But honestly, I think some of you parents are finding more of a moral failing in it than the kids took away from it. The kids I know saw that they were raising money to help their school and they got to run around with their friends for an afternoon. As for the "stuff", we just had a discussion with DC and said we were giving X, grandparents were giving X, and we weren't asking anyone else. That raised an amount we were comfortable with. In other words, it was not a big deal. I can't imaging going in every day to remove my child from a 30 minute assembly for two weeks - besides being silly, not everyone has that time. I know it's harder to have conversations with your children about these matters but try it. It does work.

+1

I've also seen MULTIPLE people claim "I'd rather just cut a check to the school" (on some of the dozens of other discussions being had about this out and about on the internet) but none of them actually put their money where their mouth is. When I informed them that our school has always had the option for you to give a tax-deductible donation that goes 100% to the school, they're all "whaaaat? Really?" Yes, really. Dozens of emails came home about it last year and no one gave any money. So now they're trying something different. Deal with it or donate directly to the PTA.

We had boosterthon a few years but no longer do. We raised a decent amount of money with it, too.

I wasn't a fan of the assemblies and the stuff they brought home for getting pledges. But honestly, I think some of you parents are finding more of a moral failing in it than the kids took away from it. The kids I know saw that they were raising money to help their school and they got to run around with their friends for an afternoon. As for the "stuff", we just had a discussion with DC and said we were giving X, grandparents were giving X, and we weren't asking anyone else. That raised an amount we were comfortable with. In other words, it was not a big deal. I can't imaging going in every day to remove my child from a 30 minute assembly for two weeks - besides being silly, not everyone has that time. I know it's harder to have conversations with your children about these matters but try it. It does work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am 10:54 on page 1.

Everyone who is against Boosterthon please make sure you volunteer to help raise money in another manner.

I worked my tail off for almost two months trying to raise money. In the end, Boosterthon resulted in more money NET to the school.

If more parents would step up to volunteer and brainstorm ways to fundraise, then Boosterthon would not be needed.

+1. This is the sad reality. Our school had Boosterthon, went away from it for a year, and now its back because it makes more money.

Putting money over your principles is a big problem, and it also shows a lack of outreach to parents on the part of the PTA. There is NO reason to hire Boosterthon, EVER.

As a PTA Board member, I would prefer not raising any money rather than trampling over all that we believe in.

Well I am glad that your PTA agreed with you and is OK with not raising money. Others may believe that getting money for much needed school equipment and class trips is important, esp. in schools where class trips would not happen without PTA support.

We have great fundraising and communication people on the board who persuade parents to donate during our check-writing campaign (now online also) in the fall. They have a whole elaborate shtick. We just raised 40K.

We don't sell any goods, but we describe, in several languages, all the wonderful activities, enrichment, remedial support, tech, the students will benefit from throughout the year.
The school organizes multiple parent informational meetings at the beginning of the school year for our different populations and lets us present at each one. We reinforce through emails.

And YES, I would rather have no money than do Boosterthon. The kids won't die without PTA support. It would be a frugal year, but better than that ridiculous pressure and lack of ethics.

Thanks PP. This is very helpful in moving forward. But again, without volunteers, it's hard to make this work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am 10:54 on page 1.

Everyone who is against Boosterthon please make sure you volunteer to help raise money in another manner.

I worked my tail off for almost two months trying to raise money. In the end, Boosterthon resulted in more money NET to the school.

If more parents would step up to volunteer and brainstorm ways to fundraise, then Boosterthon would not be needed.

+1. This is the sad reality. Our school had Boosterthon, went away from it for a year, and now its back because it makes more money.

Putting money over your principles is a big problem, and it also shows a lack of outreach to parents on the part of the PTA. There is NO reason to hire Boosterthon, EVER.

As a PTA Board member, I would prefer not raising any money rather than trampling over all that we believe in.

Well I am glad that your PTA agreed with you and is OK with not raising money. Others may believe that getting money for much needed school equipment and class trips is important, esp. in schools where class trips would not happen without PTA support.

We have great fundraising and communication people on the board who persuade parents to donate during our check-writing campaign (now online also) in the fall. They have a whole elaborate shtick. We just raised 40K.

We don't sell any goods, but we describe, in several languages, all the wonderful activities, enrichment, remedial support, tech, the students will benefit from throughout the year.
The school organizes multiple parent informational meetings at the beginning of the school year for our different populations and lets us present at each one. We reinforce through emails.

And YES, I would rather have no money than do Boosterthon. The kids won't die without PTA support. It would be a frugal year, but better than that ridiculous pressure and lack of ethics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am 10:54 on page 1.

Everyone who is against Boosterthon please make sure you volunteer to help raise money in another manner.

I worked my tail off for almost two months trying to raise money. In the end, Boosterthon resulted in more money NET to the school.

If more parents would step up to volunteer and brainstorm ways to fundraise, then Boosterthon would not be needed.

+1. This is the sad reality. Our school had Boosterthon, went away from it for a year, and now its back because it makes more money.

Putting money over your principles is a big problem, and it also shows a lack of outreach to parents on the part of the PTA. There is NO reason to hire Boosterthon, EVER.

As a PTA Board member, I would prefer not raising any money rather than trampling over all that we believe in.

Well I am glad that your PTA agreed with you and is OK with not raising money. Others may believe that getting money for much needed school equipment and class trips is important, esp. in schools where class trips would not happen without PTA support.

This is taking place at Terra Centre Elementary in fairfax right now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am 10:54 on page 1.

Everyone who is against Boosterthon please make sure you volunteer to help raise money in another manner.

I worked my tail off for almost two months trying to raise money. In the end, Boosterthon resulted in more money NET to the school.

If more parents would step up to volunteer and brainstorm ways to fundraise, then Boosterthon would not be needed.

+1. This is the sad reality. Our school had Boosterthon, went away from it for a year, and now its back because it makes more money.

Putting money over your principles is a big problem, and it also shows a lack of outreach to parents on the part of the PTA. There is NO reason to hire Boosterthon, EVER.

As a PTA Board member, I would prefer not raising any money rather than trampling over all that we believe in.

From Money Magazine:
"MONEY advises giving to charities that spend no more than 20% of their revenue on overhead costs, which can be easily found on Charity Navigator. In the case of the American Red Cross, it spent 10.4% of its revenue on administrative costs and fundraising efforts in the fiscal year ending in June 2015, per Charity Navigator.

That said, it is completely appropriate to ask the charities and nonprofits you donate to how the funds will be used. In some cases, you can also earmark your funds for specific causes (i.e. disaster relief) so you know they won’t go to the charity director’s half-million-dollar salary."

Anonymous wrote:There's a 2K fee off the bat. Then they take a cut on a sliding scale. The more you raise, the less they take. Our school usually kept about 50% after BT took their cut. T-shirts are extra as well, unless you can sponsors, they run about $2 a shirt.

That is absolutely ludicrous. There is no organization where I would make a donation if I knew that 50% of the donation was going to administrative costs--not even my kid's school.

There's a 2K fee off the bat. Then they take a cut on a sliding scale. The more you raise, the less they take. Our school usually kept about 50% after BT took their cut. T-shirts are extra as well, unless you can sponsors, they run about $2 a shirt.