I’ll admit, one of the fundraisers was decent.  There were some things that I would not mind buying.   The other fundraiser was asking us to put the names and addresses of family and friends onto postcards so that they could ask for money for computers or something like that.  My little girl came home telling me that I needed to fill out her paperwork and send it back the next day so that she could get a t-shirt.  I thought it was a form to purchase a school t-shirt.  The form said that if two of the people on her list responded, then she would get a t-shirt.  Imagine me trying to explain to my 5-year-old child that she wasn’t going to get a t-shirt the next day and that it was a sales tactic.  Thankfully, she’s well beyond her years and she understood, but still she was heartbroken.

For the most part though, I feel that these fundraisers are inappropriate.  Here are some of the reasons why I don’t like school fundraisers.

1.  The stuff is overpriced.

2.  It’s usually crap that I can’t use. 

3.  Kids are made to feel left out or unaccepted if they don’t participate or do well.

4.  I don’t like being stalked at church, outside Wal-Mart or anywhere else by children trying to raise money.

5.  You get little bang for the buck.  I mean, really, $8 for 25 square feet of wrapping paper?  Are they serious?

6.  There’s little to nothing you can do if the item doesn’t work.  Well, you could take it back to the school and demand a refund, but that would just make you look like a cheapskate that doesn’t care about children.

7.  I feel guilty if I don’t participate.

8.  I don’t feel right asking others to buy overpriced stuff.

9.  I get frustrated and annoyed every time I see the product that I paid too much money for.

10.  Many times the parents are the ones that do the selling which causes them to sell these things at work.

Before you start casting stones, please understand that I am an educator.  I know the importance of these fundraisers.  Honestly though, I think there’s a better way.  I’ve seen some pretty creative fundraising tactics at some of the schools I’ve worked at.  One school did a Coca-Cola sale.  The soda was just as inexpensive as if I had bought it at Wal-Mart, but they received a lot of proceeds from it.  What about a spaghetti dinner?  My daughter’s preschool did several fundraisers where the kids could bring in $1 and earn a special privilege such as wearing a hat to school.  Schools could even ask parents to send in a tax deductible donation at the beginning of the school year and then decide how much more money they should try to raise after the donations were brought in.  Some people would rather just give money anyway.

I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels this way.  How do you feel about school fundraisers?  Please leave your comments below and participate in our poll in the sidebar.  Thanks!

image: Discovery Education

Post from: Thrifty Mommy