School Activity Fund-raising Puzzlement
by Albus
The school activity fund-raising season is upon us. Once again,
legions of eager, sparkly-eyed students are marching out in all
directions to implore their parents, relatives, teachers, and even
complete strangers to buy this or that fund-raising gew-gaw or
product to raise money for trips, uniforms, classroom materials,
and what-not.
Not to impugn the motives of the students or their advisors, or
criticize their enthusiasm and sincerity, but isn’t there a better
way to raise money for deserving activities and causes? For
instance, wouldn’t contributors get a better bang for their donated
buck by sending a check instead of buying a candy bar?
That fund-raising pizza, box of chocolates, charm bracelet, T-
shirt, dinner-coupon book, calendar, or whatever, doesn’t come
for free. Anywhere from 50% to 80% of your “donated” dollar goes
to pay for the product. So only 20% to 50% of your donation goes
for the target cause.
Political candidates don’t sell pizzas and chocolates to raise
campaign funds. They ask for — and GET! — cold, hard cash. In
fact, that’s the mode of operation for any operation or charity that
solicits donations, with the notable exception of Veterans’ Day
VFW posies.
Instead of turning kids into street beggars selling apples and
urchins squeegying windshields for alms, why not teach them
that serious causes deserve serious action, and introduce them
to the concept of a reasoned, compelling request for funds to
support a real need? How about sending out a note or brochure
explaining the real need and requesting donations, instead of
sending an order form for stuff no one really needs?
Failing that, how about at least making it easy and acceptable
for a donor to send a check, instead of buying a product, so
that 100% of the donation actually goes to work?
====
AMEN! I have never been able to say no to kids selling anything. Some are out going door to door, even when it’s cold and rainy. It seems to mean so much to them, to win those coveted plastic prizes for selling the most. However, my freezer is full of pizza and frozen cookie dough and we have all the nuts, candy, magazines and junk we will ever need. Plus, what about all the stupid scrip programs, box top programs and all the other stuff you are continually hit with? What a serious pain in the butt! ENOUGH! And yes, how much of the money does the school actually get? No one really wants any of the stuff the kids sell. I’d much rather send a check and know that the school got ALL of it.
Where’s your stats and references on the profit margin on fund raising programs? Before ranting on something this petty I’d like to see the facts to back it up.
The cynic in me says that folks around Antigo won’t listen to reason when it comes to fund raising for anything, especially for anything school related, that’s why the guilt trip.
Albus, can you tell me how you get these issues raised on here? Do you run this site?
You might ask why I ask. Well, it seems that the issues have become pretty far fetched. It seems that there are lots of things happening in Antigo that are far more interesting that fantasy healty fairs, tobacco being sold in pharmacies or even chiropractors vs. MDs.
As for this discussion, I have no problem with schools, groups or anyone else selling things as fund raisers no matter what the profit margin. I like that the kids (in most cases of fund raising) are going out and earning their way towards goals rather than asking for a handout. The kids at the high school have to fund raise to go on their foreign trips, gridiron clubs to support the football product. In this mode, people are actually getting something out of their donation. DDDDDD, if you can’t say no, that isn’t the fault of the fundraiser, it’s the fault of yourself. However, I applaud your generosity in continuing to support these causes with your hard earned dollars. I am constantly approached to buy from many of these students. Sometimes I like a good candy bar and sometimes I don’t. Either way, when I do make a purchase on these things, it goes to a good cause (because I always ask what I am supporting).
Equating them to street beggars is a pretty harsh statement. I understand your frustration of being constantly asked to contribute, but don’t knock them for trying to ease the burden of doing events that many in this community could never afford out of their own pocket. I oftentimes say no to these requests, you can too without insulting them.
Lenny, here’s a sample of fundraising promotion suppliers:
This one gives profit margins — http://www.escpromotions.com/
This one give purchase price (set your own margins) — http://www.theawristocrat.com/fundraising.html
I also talked with a school district Activities Director (not Antigo) elsewhere in Langlade County who said the margins are “usually about 40% to 50%”. It seems reasonable to apply this estimate to Antigo. You can make a call to Antigo’s Activities Director and get data to prove me wrong, if you wish.
Voiceofreason, I do NOT run this site. I get ideas for topics for posting here by reading the Antigo Daily Journal, Antigo Shopper’s Guide, and AntigoBuzz.com, and by talking with the people, merchants, shoppers, parents, and children of Antigo and nearby communities. As to whether there are topics more interesting than the ones I raise, if you have some you are certainly welcome to write them up and contribute. Instructions are on the blogs home page – http://antigobuzz.com/blogs
Bear in mind, of course, that “interesting” is a subjective judgment, and the “different strokes for different folks” rule applies. For instance, I can’t imagine that anyone would find my choice of topics uninteresting, but there’s a possibility that I may be biased in that regard.
I thought “Albus” had some pretty…well we’ll go with “interesting” opinions, but this tops them all off. Not just schools, but all kinds of organizations use fundraisers. If you gave someone the choice of donating $5 and getting nothing, or dontating $5 and getting a pizza, they’d take the pizza. With fundraising, you basically make 100 times more than you would with asking “Can I have $5?”.
Being in the high school german club, we have the opprotunity to go to Germany next year. The cost of the trip is $2300 which includes meals, transportation, the whole works. We sell Seroogy’s candy bars, which people really like and don’t hesitate to buy. There are 3 kids that already have their trip paid off by doing this. Without it, they would never have enough kids to take a trip. None of the high school clubs would be able to travel anywhere.
What I don’t get is how you people can cut down our generation and say we don’t care about education, but yet you don’t to anything to contribute to it. While other school districts thrive, the Antigo Unified School District continues to nosedive. Referendum after referendum fails because the tightwads in this town don’t want to spend a few extra tax dollars on public education. Sports get cut, classes get cut, and many of the textbooks are outdated. I’m not saying that everything the school district wants to do is right, but show some support. I know for a fact that if clubs or classes could go more places, kids would be more interested in learning. Besides the elementary schools, field trips are educational. Some things can’t be taught in the classroom and require traveling somewhere to learn about the topic.
DF2Y says: If you gave someone the choice of donating $5 and getting nothing, or dontating $5 and getting a pizza, they’d take the pizza. With fundraising, you basically make 100 times more than you would with asking “Can I have $5?”.
Albus asks: Wouldn’t it be interesting to test that assertion? How about just sending a survey questionnaire out, asking whether people would prefer donating a whole $5 directly, or getting a pizza for their donation and knowing that only half their money goes to the cause? You’d have some indication then of the preferred method to use for the next fundraiser, wouldn’t you?
Al, you are correct. And, even as I knock the topics, I find myself reading them. So, keep ‘em coming i guess. I still want the kids working for their trips and events rather than asking for a handout. Also, I can support many of them by purchasing a few from each.
Albus, I’m not interested in proving you wrong, I just wanted to facts. And the facts seem to be changing. First it was gloom and doom with 20-50% margin, now it’s 40-50% margin.
Obviously groups would try to sell things with higher profit margins, and with higher demand given folks their marketing to. Depending on the product, I think the margins you’ve shown me are fair based on those companies making a profit, and doing the hard work of providing the product and some administration.
Here’s the answer I have, if I don’t want what someone is selling, but I do want to help that individual or group, I’ll make out a check and not ask for anything. It’s quite simple.
Lenny, of course the margins depend entirely on the choice of product or “premiums”, and can range all over the map. I’m certainly not against the providers making a profit — that’s what business is all about. But, like you, I am looking to make sure my donated dollar has maximum impact on the educational process. If the data (or educators’ argument) shows that the instructional benefit of having kids pushing products is greater than having them ask for donations directly, then have at it! But some of us frugal types will still want to have a way to get 100% of our donation into the bottom line.
Keep in mind that fundraising companies need to make money somewhere. Especially in today’s economy, everyone needs to help each other out. If schools just ask for money directly, the fundraising company employees lose their jobs, just adding to the unemployed list.
DF2Y, that’s not a good argument. If you’re trying to sell something people don’t want to buy, no one is obligated to try to keep you in business. It seems not enough folks in Antigo wanted Kentucky Fried Chicken, and now it’s gone. That’s the way the market works. Consumers are under no obligation to buy just to “help each other out” in today’s economy. K-Mart’s gone, too. Should we have pushed the community a couple of years ago to rush in and buy stuff from K-Mart just to help them out?
DF2Y, your post totally disrupted my preparation to write a scorching rebuttal to people that would rather spend twice as much as necessary for a product than need be so half of it can go to a worthy cause.
Little did I realize, as i gleefully booted children down my steps for trying to sell overpriced trinkets and fattening food to me, that by doing so I was forcing yet another undeserving fund raising employee to endure the humiliation of standing in the unemployment line. Far be it from me to wish this degradation upon these pillars of American society, after all that they have done for me and my family throughout the years.
From now on I will welcome these doorway-darkening-urchins, I will buy their genuine plastic imitation pearl necklaces, their inedible pizza’s, and their imported chocolates with that funny white film, because I know that, not only am I supporting the free education of our country’s future leaders, but I am preventing the decline of one of our nations finest industries, second only to lobbyists, that of the fund raisers product suppliers.
You must understand that this additional expense will have to be offset be changing the title of my house to my sainted mother’s name filing a homestead exemption to avoid taxes. That should recover a portion of my new spending, more will be recovered by no longer donating to that church because they don’t sell me anything and they don’t support the fund raisers. No more for the fire department, rescue squad, or homeless shelters. Food bank, no way. If they don’t have enough respect to sell me something that I don’t need, or want, they get nothing from me.
So bring it on kids, sell me something useless, at a price that would embarrass a used car salesman, and I will do my part to insure that you have the education that you need to succeed in the competitive field of scamming your fellow citizens.
I really don’t see what the big deal is either way. If you don’t want to buy something from kids trying to sell stuff, then don’t. I forgot that “Albus knows best” and because he doesn’t like it, the rest of us shouldn’t either. Like I said before, not just kids do fundraisers. The American Cancer Society sells Seroogy candy bars and does other fundraisers to put money towards CANCER RESEARCH, something that could save your life someday! When you have a close family member get cancer, you’ll see. And maybe you’ll wish you all weren’t cheap pricks because “only half is going for it”. It’s better than nothing at all.
DF2Y, the point is not cheapness, it is frugality. I’m not say “don’t donate”. I’m saying a ten-dollar check that goes directly for the activity is 100% better than half a ten-dollar check that goes to a middleman. It’s the same amount from me, but twice as much to you! Even though this is an election year, the rules of basic arithmetic still apply to economics.
DF2Y – You are right about a lot of things and after reading your posts, I am really glad that I NEVER say no to kids selling things. I buy from them, because I remember having to do the same stuff in school and I never found it easy. I do agree with ALBUS though. I would much rather skip the pizza or magazines or whatever and just give a check. Then I’d know that the cause I donated to would be receiving 1OO% of my money. Kids going door to door is not safe anyway. I definitely think it’s a good thing to EARN the money, but the candy and pizzas, etc., just seems so old and tired. I’m sure I’m not the only one who stops for the brat fry or the car wash? I’d much rather get my car washed than get an icky frozen pizza. I also give to the American Cancer Society and other organizations and all they do is send me a letter. I’ll tell you about something we did for a relative of mine who’s group went on a high school trip to a foreign country. We sent letters to all the people that each family knew, asking for donations, but promising a souvenir would be brought back from the trip. The group got more money than they ever dreamed. While on the trip, a group picture was taken in front of a famous landmark and it was made ino a thank you card. Each donor also got a small souvenir. A tee-shirt, a snow globe, etc., some small thing that actually came from the country. They were wrapped and deilivered with the cards after they returned. The best thing is that the next year, the group did the same thing again and each donor at least DOUBLED the amount they had given the year before. Plus, they got more donors. I think the idea worked so well, because it made the donors feel more personally connected to the cause. Anyway, just sharing my info. So DF2Y- you haven’t said where we can donate to your German Club trip.
“As long as you have a net connection, you can reach the WordPress admin panel: there’s nothing you need to install at your end. (There is an option to copy some of the admin functions to your local machine, which I’ve never seen the need to utili…
“Of course, as long as you remember your username and password
.”…