Parent Driven Fundraisers in Private Schools

How do schools like Head Royce, Redwood, Bentley and the like run their fundraisers that are parent run?. Are they actually run solely by the parents or are these events driven by the development staff? How much leeway do the parents have? ANy information that you can supply as to the mechanics of these events is appreciated. Curious

I'd be happy to answer specific questions if you'd like to get my email from the moderators. An Auction Hack

School fundraisers and Candy Sales

As the budget crisis in California gets worse, the job market continues to show no signs of improvement, and education becomes the next item on the chopping block for additional cuts- I continue to be baffled by the process of fund raising in public schools. People don't want their kids to grow up to pan handlers or buskers, yet it's suddenly acceptable to sell chocolate door to door? Where is the outrage? Where is the commitment to furthering education? It's not enough that I explain to my child that the school will get more money if I write a check than if she sells candy. She goes to sales rallies in the auditorium. There are big posters on the windows. Kids compare sales. They win prizes. She is not and feels extremely left out.

I am an unemployed graduate student. It is BECAUSE I have less money that I despise waste. The school will get 50% of the sales- pretty high by some standards. In addition, parents are encouraged to purchase items requested by teachers at retail prices. When I made the point in a PTA meeting that parents were paying too much (1.29 for 8 crayons vs. .05 wholesale), the response was that parents don't like to just write a check. I want ALL of my money to go to the school. I feel cheated when it is not- I'm not even sure the other parents are aware.

Candy sales promote poor eating habits- the "do as I say not as I do" approach to a problem. Imagine a school fundraiser with cigarettes, or alcohol? It is abhorrent because we agree on the harm these things do- not just because it's illegal. Physicians have proven that sugar is just as harmful- isn't this sufficient? Or do we need a law here too?

I welcome any information on the best practices for school fund raising. If everyone is doing it there must be discussion panels somewhere. Isn't there a larger entity in the administration that promotes gifts to schools and educating parents on the best use of funds? Any research to show the economic benefits that the business community reaps as a consequence of reduced school funding? Ready to raise a fuss...

Many families cleaned out their closets to donate items, teacher donations were also popular (go to the movies with Ms. So and So) and if you have any connections to showbiz, those items (backstage passes, set visits) are popular with people outside of the community.

It does take a committee to run the thing but it can be very rewarding.

I should have started with this advice though - if you want to change things at your school, you must get involved with the PTA or Booster Club. Be the change you want to see. Good luck! Gizella

As a teacher I tell my kids that I do not agree with this way of raising money but they may participate if they wish; I have expressed my opinion to the principal and to the fund raiser liaison as well.

As a parent, I will NEVER support my children's schools through this means.

I'm happy to give to the schools and would support more grass roots, possibly less lucrative efforts such as bake sales. But the idea that our students/children should sell junk in order to have adequate supplies is indeed abhorrent.

In my case, at a school which receives a lot of title 1 funds, we seem to be reluctant to ask the families to contribute, but we don't mind asking their kids to be excited about junk. I feel that families want to invest in the school, and were we to ask for a small donation at the beginning of the year a great number would be happy to give, and would feel more involved in the school as a result. Carrie

On the other hand, the reality, at least at our school, is that our candy-bar sales make the school A LOT of money that we desperately need. And that is because the $1 price-point makes them very easy to sell. Families that aren't involved in the PTA and don't really understand how desperately this money is needed will nonetheless go out and earn the school $25 by selling 50 candy bars to their friends, neighbors and coworkers. I loathe and detest selling things and yet I find I can unload a lot of bars just by placing them in the breakroom at my job with an honors-system envelope.

Our school has an annual Spelling Bee that is also a fundraiser--students get pledges and people donate according to how many words that child spelled correctly. 100 percent of the proceeds go to the school. Fantastic, right? It's a great event... but the reality is that many fewer students participate, so less money is raised. Almost anyone will fork over a dollar for a candy bar, but not as many will pledge $5 or more without getting anything in return.

I suggest that instead of going to your PTA and saying ''candy bar sales suck!'', you should say ''I have great ideas for other, healthier ways to raise money... here they are.'' Hopefully you will get some great ideas in response to this post. Auctions and ''direct response'' can be a challenging fit for a school with a working/middle class demographic.

I will be very interested to read others' ideas. PTA gal

I am pushing to have my school do a fundraiser with zero-waste lunch boxes. That at least is for a good cause. There is one company that I heard gives close to 50% back to the school. So that is almost as good as the candy. I think the company is called Brightbin.

But I do agree.... fundraising in schools is a big challenge at times. I am in favor of fundraising that won't make out kids fat and that actually do something good for the world. Good luck to you!

School fundraisers for needy families at Christmas

Each year my children's school raises money to buy things for families in need. The families provide a wish-list, and students donate money to buy the items. This year the list for one family was for 3 ipods. Another family asked for a computer & a digital camera. Some families asked for things like toys, clothes and blankets. I feel like the school should have a clearer criteria for what constitutes ''need'' and that some of the requests are overly expensive and not really ''needs'' but just ''wants''. The idea of giving to help those in need is great, but ipods, cameras, etc. seem way beyond the scope. Am I just being too critical, so I should just keep quiet and give what what I'm comfortable giving? Or, should I speak-up about this? possible Scrouge

Now I wouldn't give my own kid an ipod. That's something they'd have to save up their own money to buy. But I have and do give them toys and games that they don't ''need''. And I would try to do the same for a less fortunate family.

Or, the alternative is easy: don't contribute. Donate the money you would give at the school to a charity that you feel better reflects your values. Your mileage may vary

Magazine Fundraising

I'm on a non-profit board and like everyone else these days, we're looking for new ways to fundraise. One way we've thought of is by selling magazine subscriptions, probably just a soft sell to encourage families to renew the magazines they already get, so we get a cut of the fee. Does anyone have any good or bad experiences with this kind of fundraising? Also, if I do a little searching, I find about 20 different sites that sell subscriptions as a fundraiser. Any advice on which one might be best? or which ones to avoid? Thanks, Magazine Fundraiser

1) MANY months ago, a coworker circulated a magazine fundraiser package for her child's school. I signed up for a subscription to Wondertime Magazine. I wrote a check up front and filled out a confusing form.

2) Something like three months later - possibly more - my coworker showed up again with another packet. My subscription was not yet on its way. No, what I got instead was a voucher and a postcard form I had to fill out again with the code of the magazine I wanted. Then I would have to mail that form in.

3) A few minutes after she left, I tried to fill out the form and realized my magazine code wasn't listed. When I called her, it turned out she'd given me the wrong set of materials.

4) A few hours later, she came back with the correct form. I filled it out and mailed it off.

5) Six weeks after this, I still have no magazine, and probably never will because - you guessed it! Wondertime is one of many magazines which has gone out of business during this recession.

I will NEVER participate in one of those fundraisers again thanks to this pain-in-the-butt experience. I would beg you to consider some other fundraising methods instead. Entertainment books, for example, where the purchaser gets coupons for restaurants, shops and theaters around town. Auctions. Something with more immediate gratification and less aggravation.

But if you do decide that magazine subs are the way to go, do some research on any company you consider and make sure they have a more streamlined process - and also ask them what they do if a magazine shuts down. Mad (about) Magazines

Do we have to collect sales tax on items we sell?

I'm looking into ordering a product from out-of-state for re- sale as a PTSA fundraiser for our school as a change from the candy, wrapping paper, and magazine sales that many groups use. Because the product comes from out of state, I don't have to pay sales tax on it at time of purchase. Since this is my first time doing this kind of thing, I'd appreciate advice about whether we have to collect California sales tax on products sold for nonprofit fundraising, and if so, what we need to do before and after the sales to set this up. Obviously, we'd prefer to keep this as uncomplicated as we can. PTSA mom

Unethical school raffle practices?

My daughter attends a public school. Every year they have an auction at the Claremont Hotel. This someone on the auction committee decided to raffle off a two year lease on a Mini- Cooper. The cost of each ticket is $100. Now with the auction only a few weeks away the women running the raffle announced that not enough tickets had been sold. (So far they have sold 160, bringing in $16,000 for the school.) They clain they needed to sell 400 tickets or $40,000 dollars worth. (For the number of students at our school that would mean each parent would have to buy 3 or 4 tickets spending $300 to $400.

What they also announced was that the item was not donated, they are purchasing it, and 10% of the proceedes goes toward the lease of the car. (I'm more than a little miffed about that.) If I purchased 4 tickets, $40 of the $400 I donated would go to the leasing company. I would think ALL of the money I donated would go directly to the school.

I'm wondering if this is a standard practice for school auctions? At other schools do they take money from the donations to buy a raffel or auction items?

My second question is a legal one. Some of the parents saying this is bait and switch because the women running the raffel never said a certain number of tickets had to be sold or a percentage of the ticket sales/donations would not go to the school. After selling 160 tickets and collecting $16K they want to switch prizes. (The parent's club is a non-profit corporation.) Does anyone know if they can do this legally? Any ideas on what to do? Thanks Anon

there is so much pressure around these fundraisers and i really don't think that parents should feel pushed into buying this stuff, espically when the item is not really donated. the committee needs to set a firm policy. a former pta fundrasing maniac

As to the car lease, school auctions sometimes do this. My school did not due to uncertainty re ticket sales. Still, it was not an unreasonable decision for them to make & their hearts were clearly in the right place. You are right that they should have disclosed the need to sell a certain number of tickets in the literature. They made a mistake but didn't commit a mortal sin. Give them a break. Now, they can either refund the ticket prices & tell the dealership they could not sell enough or try to sell more. They seem to be trying the second option. It's hard to say what the right answer is.

The important thing is that this glitch not drag down the whole event. After all, the point is to help the kids & everyone shares that goal. If someone starts to be very critical of the organizers due to one mistake, it distracts them from making the event a success and fixing this problem.

Your expectation that the auction committee get everything for free & every dollar you give go to programs is unrealistic & unreasonable. Sometimes businesses have a fixed cost but will give a substantial discount on an item. It's very difficult to get donations. Try it sometime before you criticize them. The committee might make a choice to pay a fixed cost because there is a big upside for the school. Also, there are costs of the event, food, rentals, decorations, mailings, printing. The money you spend on items is partially used to pay those expenses. This is no different.

Running an event like this is a full time job & full of headaches. Insted of being irate and hurting the event, try to create positive energy around the event. Accept people's good efforts & intentions even if they made a decision that turned out not to be best, knowing they made 1000 right decisions along the way. Take a walk in their shoes

If you have a different idea, join the committee next year, and give your suggestions. Meanwhile, it is your choice to buy the raffle tickets or not. Maybe you feel guilty not contributing more, but can't be the concern of the fundraising committee. Fellow fundraiser

1) In a perfect world, businesses would be lining up to donate to nonprofit fundraisers, but $4,000 donations from businesses are certainly few and far between where I work. It's a common practice, and entirely legal, for a nonprofit to purchase an item (often at a discount) and then offer it as an auction or raffle item. For instance, many travel agencies or outfitters will agree to donate one ticket if the organization purchases a second; the organization can then offer a ''trip for two''. You get the idea.

As a previous poster pointed out, all of these fundraisers have a certain amount of overhead (for site rental, food, bidding software if it's an online auction, etc); this is no different. That said, most raffles and auctions NET enough money to make a real difference for students. $12,000 will go a long way. The only to make sure that 100% of your donation goes into the school's operating budget is to write a check directly to the school. (Do they have some kind of annual fund?) I guarantee you they will be very happy. You'll get a tax deduction, too.

2) As to your question about whether it is legal to switch prizes, I checked the web site of the National Association of Independent Schools, which has some pretty thorough information about auctions and raffles, and they did not address this specific issue. However, I do know that the IRS considers raffles to be games of chance, even when the proceeds are used for charity, and assumes that people are purchasing the tickets with the expectation that they might win something, not with ''charitable intent''.

The regulations that govern games of chance govern school raffles as well (this is why schools can't sell tickets online or even send them through US mail(!) and why raffle ticket purchases are not tax-deductible), so my educated guess is that they can't legally switch prizes. I would strongly recommend that they talk to a lawyer before making this change - or, if they can't find a lawyer willing to donate their services ; ) to call the development departments of a couple of local schools.

Please remember that these volunteers are well-meaning, and they are trying to come up with strategies that will raise a maximum amount of money for your child's school. People's good intentions can go awry, but I'm absolutely sure there are good intentions at work here. So gentle reminders and kind advice for the organizers are in order here, not harsh criticisms.
School Employee

One of the stipulations is that 90% of the money raised in a raffle must go directly to the charity (i.e., overhead must be 10% or less). So my guess is that the organizers of your raffle set the minimum ticket sales level in order to respect this rule.

I hope this all gets sorted out to everyone's satisfaction, and that nobody loses sight of the good will behind this effort to raise money for programs that benefit the kids. Best of luck to you all.
School Employee

Ideas for 8th Grade Auction Project

We are trying to come up with an idea for a class auction project with little success. While kids' art is a big seller in Kindergarten, by 8th grade...So we are looking for a project others might be interested in that would still involve the students. Any good ideas?

Mother's helper, filing help, household help (nothing too hard), cleaning out a garage, yardwork, a specific project like sorting out photos and getting them into an album, a kid- prepared Saturday lunch, loading music on an iPod, demonstrating how to play a video game (!) - I can think of lots of things.

(I have a 7th grader who won't willingly help with much, but he's VERY helpful to other families or at school - he would probably jump at this kind of thing.)

Set a boundary on the amount of time that is expected, so the kids are not worked too hard, and have them juice up the descriptions - they would certainly be involved in all angles that way.

Kind of a more sophisticated school car wash, I guess.

hope that helps. - Nancy

Fundraiser ideas for co-op preschool

Hi folks, I'd like to hear from people who have been involved with fundraisers at their childrens' schools. I am looking for ideas to raise funds for my son's coop. I'm only aware of the rummage sales and school fairs that I see advertised a lot. Anything else? Thanks~ brainstorming mama

Idea #2: All parents of the preschool are required to go around town and get 2-3 items donated to the preschool. (Bottle of wine, gift certifcate, bed and breakfast, etc.) Sell raffle tickets for $5.00 each. All items are free and you can make $500 just selling 100 tickets.

Advice: Don't do the wrapping paper thing. We tried and it was so embarrasing to sell. Also try and stay away from food items (pizza discount cards, Krispy Kreme). Seems people don't really buy very many of them because they are such a good deal. What are you going to do with 20 dozen Krispy Kremes??? trying to make moolah for the kids

Another idea that can be used with the silent auction and separate from is some artwork by the kids that can be put on a card and sold as a pack for X amount. This is great if you can get the word out. Maybe a coffee place or some store can help get the cards out there.

Good luck! Thinks about Fundraisers

My daughter attends a co-op preschool and we are always searching for new ideas for fund raising. We are already using Schoolpop and eScrip. Last year our school also held a Holiday gift-wrap sale and sold wine with the labels decorated by the kids. In the spring, the school held an auction with the items donated by the co-op families. I would appreciate any other ideas that have proven helpful in raising funds for schools. Susan

Our preschool is constantly running fundrasers and I would like to hear about your favorite fundraiser that brought in a lot of money, was fun and easy to organize. So far we have done a movie night, t-shirts for the school, trike-a-thon, candy sales, bake sales, painting tiles etc. Thanks in advance. Hadley

For-profit daycare ''fundraising'' constantly

My children's montessori school is a privately-owned corporation. They have two campuses and several hundred children. We love the school and our kids really enjoy it there. The problem is that they spend an inordinant amount of time pressuring parents to engage in volunteer work and fundraising activities for the school. They send home multiple reminders EVERY WEEK about the need for parents to engage in fundraising. Parents are expected to provide 20 hours of work per year or be charged a $200 fee. Parents are expected to sell raffle tickets, collect soup labels, and contribute work hours to fundraising events. There are many other demands and fees as well.

They conduct their fundraising activities thru their PTA but the funds are earmarked for new playground equipment and emergency supplies (despite the fact that they've already charged us a fee for an ''emergency kit''). The PTA meetings are run and controlled by the school management. After looking into ''normal'' PTA activities, I've learned that PTAs are supposed to be separate entities from the school and their finances must be kept separate from the school and the school employees. They're tracked by the IRS and if the PTA doesn't qualify as a non-profit, then the money raised is taxable.

Our previous daycare had a once-a-year fundraiser that we enthusiastically participated in and donated money to but they were a non-profit and the money went to things that were above and beyond the call of duty, rather than normal capital expenditures. This school appears to be very successful and lucrative for its owners, who contribute little or no time to the running of the school. Is it common for for-profit schools to expect this of parents or is this school just scamming us for free money? I like the school but I hate feeling like I'm being ''played.'' Do I have a right to refuse to participate?

How to plan a preschool fundraiser that's worth the effort

Our daughter attends a Montessori preschool in Alameda. I was asked to chair the fundraising committee and agreed to because I had a feeling if I didn't no one would (this actually happened last year). I have no experience fundraising and generally don't like it.. but I am trying. The school has a set of fundraising traditions and I have implemented the fall ''traditions'' but want to encourage the administration and school community to think outside the box for spring. Our two main fundraisers are 2 carnival-type events (food prepared by families, sold along with entertainment) and they are an incredible about of work to pull off for what feels to me like modest return. We just made $3,500 or our fall event but if I calculate how much time it took to organize and how much families spent preparing food, donating other items, I just don't think it's the most efficient fundraiser. And the same event last year made only $400 (even though I wasn't involved in organizing that event last year I almost cried when I found out how little was earned). We have about 70 families--- a small subset that are probably quite comfortable economically, some in the middle who have professional salaries but still struggling in the Bay Area, and that a good proportion who are renters (which I have to admit makes me assume money is tighter). So expecting a lot of families to donate more than about $50 at a time feels uncomfortable to me. I read some posts about fundraising in elementary schools, but only saw public schools discussed. Since families are already paying what probably feels like a lot for tuition, and many are of modest means to moderate means, I worry about innundating them with too many requests. Thanks for any suggestions. Jen

Last year we did a raffle and made $2,000. We are a 24-family center. It was hard to ask the community to donate prizes, but we did it. We are in gourmet ghetto so we had some really wonderful prizes and that helped a lot. I also donated a lot of gift certificates I had lying around, to Rivoli and to the Claremont, etc.

Asking the parents to sell the tickets was hard, but some parents sold them, some parents bought their own tickets.

We also did some grant writing and a couple of years got money from every child counts.

Hope that helps. Paula

I think a good school fundraiser has to hit several marks -- not only should it make money, it should do so without being overly stressful and time intensive for the volunteers, it should support either the goal of the school or the building of community, and it should offer people something they want, or make their life more convenient in some way.

A Holiday Book Fair is a good example -- supports learning, allows people to do holiday shopping and benefit their school. Working on it with other parents is a great way to get to know each other and build community.

Google ''preschool fundraising'' and you'll get a ton of ideas. There are also websites where you can order t-shirts and logo items to benefit the school without requiring a lot of effort on your part -- cafepress.com is one. There are also sites that will put children's artwork on note cards and calendars for gift giving (don't know the names of any offhand -- try Google.)

Good luck! a fundraising vet

Do silent auctions alienate parents who can't afford to compete?

I'm wondering what other folks' opinions are about Silent Auctions as school fundraisers. The subject has come up several times at my daughter's school, and it is regularly dismissed because of the fear of alienating parents who can't afford to compete (financially) in the auction process. What do you think of them as fundraisers? And do they really alienate folks who don't have the money to compete, or are we being too oversensitive? (We also do a raffle, and I've been thinking that it could be fun if done in conjunction with the raffle, and as long as the most coveted raffle prizes remain raffle prizes.) Thanks
Anonymous

1) There were many auction items at all different financial levels. Everything from trips to exotic locations to prepaid movie tickets.

2) We went in knowing that we wouldn't be able to compete for some of the big items (especially the ''class items'' since the rich parent's go crazy bidding for the memorabilia) and so we didn't have our hearts set on them, and frequently didn't bother to bid on them.

I think it is a good way to raise money for a school... personally I have never paid more than the market value of the items I purchased so I didn't feel ripped off and the school made money since the item was donated. I guess the most important thing for the auction commitee to keep in mind is to solicit donations for things people would really want, and to have lots of tille items, not just the big ticket ones. lower middle income family with upper income school connections

If I were in public school, I think I would feel the same way. Even though we couldn't afford to go to the fancy fundraising events, I would be glad to have them if they funded activities that my child could participate in.

Perhaps if you made it very clear where the money was going, say to an after-school sports or music program where there would be no cost to the child, people would understand the benefits and be willing to miss the event without feeling bad. in favor of fundraising

However, we still feel we can participate in the fundraising process...there are some families (with time or skill) who are able to show their support by contributing or soliciting goods/services for the auction, and there are some families (with cash) who are able to show their support by bidding on auction items. We are a family who is able to contribute a professional service as an auction item to these fundraiser events. Next year, if I plan ahead, I can make a craft item for auction at one or more of these fundraisers.

I think it is important for a school silent auction committee to stress that families are contributors when they can donate an item or service, or are able to solicit goods/services from a local business--it's not just the families who spend money at the auction who are valued. Our son's preschool auction committee encourages creativity, so handmade items or personal services such as hand-knitted sweaters, beaded jewelry, homemade jam, hosted ethnic food dinners or consulting services become coveted silent auction items.

The only downside is that by late May, our family suffers from post-fundraiser fatigue from participating in these annual silent auctions! A contributing family

Solicit donations from my clients for son's school?

I would really appreciate feedback on the following issue. My senior son has been on a Berkeley High School sports team throughout hs. This team relies for the bulk of its $ from fundraising - it gets VERY little from the school district. Once a year there is a major fundraiser, which includes our having to come up with a list of at least 20 names to solicit. I am self-employed, performing a service for a stable regular clientele in their homes, many of whom have been my clients for years. These are really the only people I know who have money to spare. However, for the past three years I have never solicited from them because it just didn't seem right. I've never really been clear about this though and if I get a response that most people think it's ok to solicit from my clients (most of whom have met my son but don't really know him) then I'll do so this year. What do folks think? Especially those who have a service worker coming to their home on a regular basis - would you be offended if that person solicited $ from you for their child's sports team? Is it appropriate? anon

A popular way to raise money for high school sports is to require everyone on the team to write 10 letters to family and friends asking for outright donations of cash. I have seen this in lacrosse and crew at Berkeley High, and also at a preschool one child attended. I think the idea is that every family has a few relatives or close friends who can afford to donate something. This method is always used in addition to other fundraising strategies such as car washes. Typically, each kid is given 10 fill-in-the-blank letters and 10 envelopes and told to fill them out and bring them back in. The first time I heard about it was when my sister called me from out of state to ask me how much she should send. My kid had collected addresses from my address book without me knowing! I was embarassed! Since then, we have received them on a regular basis from the children of friends and business associates as far away as LA. The reason why the teams do this is because sports like lacrosse and crew are not supported by the schools, and the equipment is expensive. For BHS lacrosse, the equipment for one kid was $600-$800. There are trips every week all over the Bay Area for 40 or 50 kids, and if they are any good, regional and state games that require plane fare and food and accommodation for all the kids. The coaches salaries are not always paid by the school and must come from donations or fees that the students pay to play the sport.

If these teams don't raise money to cover these costs, then only the rich kids can play. At BHS there are a lot of poor kids, and no one is ever turned away who wants to play. So the money has to come from somewhere. These letters raised more money than any other method when my son was playing lacrosse and that's why they send them out. So now, I send money sometimes and sometimes I ignore. If I were you I would not hand them out to clients. On the other hand, most parents of school-aged kids have seen these letters or have been hit up for other items, and they will not be offended, and will feel free to hit *you* up when their kid starts fundraising.