Boosterthon made some money for our school, but people hated it. We decided that a non-funraiser fundraiser would get more money.

Anonymous wrote:Our school did read-a-thon this year and it was much better than boosterthon.

oh, please tell us about this. I'd love to bring this idea to our school . . .

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a very lengthy thread all about boosterthon in the MD schools forum. I asked my school about opting out for my kid and was told that he would miss a special time of the school coming together and bonding. Barf.

I would definitely have been pulling my child out that day!!

But the problem is it's not just one day--the race is one day--but for several days leading up to the race there is a lot of hyping the kids up to get pledges. Our PTA cloaked it in character education.

THIS. I loathe this fundraiser. The kids come home asking for us to collect donations because they're spending classroom time with the sales pitch. It's horrible and I can't believe it's allowed. I have no problem with a fun run to raise money and with some school spirit to excite everyone about it. But I have a major problem with classroom time being spent preparing the kids to solicit for the school.

Am I too late?

Yes, a non-refundable fee of $2,000 is due upon signing the contract regardless of how much money is raised by the children. This is separate from the percentage taken from the child-generated revenue. See a copy of the entire contract here:
https://www.facebook.com/285574712738/photos/a.10152925143837739.1073741827.285574712738/10154131475982739/?type=3&permPage=1

Separately....

Booster let slip the password they use to access their database.
"Hacking Equifax, Target and Uber undoubtedly took a great deal of time and talent.

"But Booster Enterprises made it easy. They put the password to their fundraising database - which holds information about children and their contributors - into a video which was found on their Google+ account (now deleted)."

More at:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10155641370557739&id=285574712738

Our PTA DOES object to Boosterthon. The principal brings them in over the express objections of the PTA. It makes a ton of money. I can’t stand the sheeple parents who donate. Just wait until next month and your money goes twice as far!

Anonymous wrote: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?

Hilarious. No, you don’t.

Non-profits use rich, for-profit vendors every day of the week, and it does not impact the tax deductibility of the gift, whatsoever.

Our elementary did it one year. They earned a lot of money. A lot of the schools who participate earn more money doing this than any other way.