Nart Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 My son just started public school kinder at a high performing magnet school. I just looked at the paperwork that was sent home for the fundraiser. The suggested donation is 150 dollars per child (not per family). This is the only big fundraiser the school conducts. I used to teach in a very low socioeconomic school where there was no suggested donation and no pressure to fundraiser. So the 150 dollars is less than a dollar a day but he has only been in school 2 weeks so I am not very familiar with the school. The paperwork stated it was for a reading intervention teacher, assemblies, and field trips. What is fundraising like at your kids' school? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Eh, I don't get too worked up over fundraisers and suggested donations; all schools around here - public and private - have them. If we were new to a school, we might or might not donate. It depends. This year, the school is running a fundraiser themselves rather than using an outside company to do it, and knowing that the school will get more out of it is more of an incentive for me to participate. Thanks for reminding me - I have to write some checks this week so my kids can each get the little prize :glare:. But I have avoided it for a long time and the school has done some great things for us (and I can afford to do it), so it's time for me to give back. But, by no means do we always participate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrissySC Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Between supplies and the things that they ask for (charter school), I think we are up to around 350 dollars. I still need to get people together and pander for playground equipment. :-/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneezyone Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Between the paper drive, field trips (donations for kids who can't pay), spirit wear sales and annual fund drive...I'd say $100-150 was about right for DD's public school. At the private school where they are now, $250 per kid is more the norm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Peach Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 The PTA does the fundraising at my kids' schools. We have already gotten catalogs sent home. But I refuse to go around the neighborhood and sell this stuff. My neighbors pay high taxes for the school already. What I will do is the other fundraisers like special snacks the kids can buy, etc. Our supplies needed for the school were minimal, but we did donate all the optional supplies like paper goods, Clorox wipes, highlighters, dry erase markers, and the like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Between supplies and the things that they ask for (charter school), I think we are up to around 350 dollars. I still need to get people together and pander for playground equipment. :-/ This is our case. BUT our school has a mix of high socio-economic families, and kids who really need the free lunch program. So even though we are certainly not rich, I don't mind giving what we can because I know that we are essentially subsidizing field trips etc. for kids who would be unable to pay the fee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 I don't write a donation check per se (so far, anyway). But I also don't do fundraisers. As in, I'm not going to hit up my friends and relatives to buy a coupon book or give me their Campbell's soup labels etc. When there's a fundraiser, I figure out how much is my share of the cash need and just pay it - maybe more - to keep them off my back. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slackermom Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 A large majority of our students qualify for free or reduced lunch, so I think the school doesn't expect much money from families. Rather than doing an annual appeal for money, they do several small fundraisers each year. The teachers run a sale (usually chocolates or something like that), and the parent group does a fall and spring raffle. We also sell t-shirts and other clothing. We sell tickets for an end of the year event, but the financial goal is to simply cover costs. For field trips, teachers usually go to free places, or try to get grants, and sometimes ask for a $5 donation per child to help cover the cost of a bus (which runs about $300). For things like that, those who can afford it might put in $10 or $20 to make up for those who can't or don't chip in. I always get the teachers the supplies they request (and some things they need but don't request), but it seems like there is maybe one family per class that takes on that responsibility. Last year I spent about $300 on chocolate, $200 on supplies, $50 on raffles, and $50 on field trips. I sold about half the chocolate, and each of the relatives got a box of chocolates for Christmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 The local district suggests a dollar per day per child. We donate even though our kids attend a private school. And then there are the fundraisers for the private school, which make the dollar a day thing seem tame! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristineW Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 The local district suggests a dollar per day per child. We donate even though our kids attend a private school. And then there are the fundraisers for the private school, which make the dollar a day thing seem tame! We attend public school but $1 day is definitely tame for our school district. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CathyEJ Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Our school only does one big fundraiser per year, a "lap-a-thon", where the proceeds go to technology, library books and special events for the school. Every child that raises over $100 gets a T-shirt, so I pledge $100 for each of them. Their grandparents and uncle make pledges as well, but I don't allow them to ask anyone else. Their school also has a recycling program, so I probably donate another $100 or so through that. $150 sounds reasonable to me, but I think it's a little odd that there is a suggested amount. Don't feel pressured to donate any more than that, or even all at once. I'm sure the school will appreciate any donations you make over the course of the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyinMD Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 My son's school is having an unfundraiser. Basically it involves soliciting for money without being required to sell junk. I like it when the school's do this however the lowest amount listed on the form to give is $50. In the letter that came with the form it states that the PTA spends $25 on each student every year. I might send $25 but I probably won't send $50. My son is in a self contained Autism classroom and most of the programs the PTA pays for are things he wouldn't get anything out of. I'm sure they are enjoyed by the other kids but funds are kind of tight right now or I would maybe send more. They are also sending some sort of coupon book home next month that we are strongly encouraged to purchase. I think that is another $50 so I think they are already asking for plenty of money. I donated quite a bunch of supplies to ds's classroom already. They use a lot of things like wipes since many of the kids in his class are in diapers. My dd's school has already started with the fundraisers. Based on what we got last year they send something home a couple times a month they want people to sell. Her school is in the same district as ds's so it really seems to depend on the PTA at the school. They do some sort of frozen food buys all the time which seems to be the bulk of the fundraising efforts. I haven't bought for that but I have sent in on other fundraisers. They also have 2 book fairs and of course are always asking for boxtops. Dd is all excited that the class with the most gets a pizza party. I hate how they do that to the kids because her class isn't likely to get it. She's in kindy and they try to keep those classes smaller so her class is already at a disadvantage due to having fewer kids to bring in for the drive. Why not just say please bring in box tops because it helps our school. I'm going to cut them out and save them regardless because I know the school can get money for them. I hate them holding a prize over the kids they aren't likely to get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie75 Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Our public school has about a 1000 kids attending and held their annual fundraiser already. They hit nearly 50k in two weeks! I've cut way back on work so we didn't even donate this year. I was happy to see those that could donate, did. I plan to take part in the smaller events and donate what we can. I also volunteer twice a week, so I feel less guilty about not donating yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathnerd Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 DS started PS this year and already we donated $300 with much more to donate during the fundraisers etc. We are a high performance school district (and also located in California where there are budget cuts seemingly every month!) so the PTA uses the money to fund quite a bit of activities which comprise of sports, arts, field trips, assemblies and "acceleration" in academics (keep up those super high API scores :( ) Though the $$$ is a lot lesser than the private preschool DS attended, I seem to be hit up for money every week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 We tend to buy things off of teacher's wishlists instead of big donations. Our kids attend a charter school. We have to pay quite a bit for uniforms (not available through Lands End, French Toast, but only one supplier), sports uniforms, workbook fees, etc. With three kids, it adds up fast. We also plan to donate funds for field trips. I usually buy one of the coupon books, but that's about it. I only buy things if I truly want/need them, and we do use the coupon books enough to make it worth the $20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Peach Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Just wanted to add--oldest DS's math teacher mentioned that she hated the fundraisers at school (catalogs with trinkets). She said if the parents donated $20 it would net the school more than if they bought a $40 trinket. My thoughts exactly. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nart Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 We decided to split our donation between the jogathon fundraiser and the teacher's wish list that will directly benefit our child. I asked his teacher and she had a list of things that she needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.