s/o Youth Group Fundraisers

[Amy in NH]

I am the coleader of a county 4-H teen club. One of the main purposes of this club is an interstate exchange trip with a 4-H teen group from another state to foster learning and cooperation between the states. Kids from Montana came and stayed with us last summer; this summer we'll be going to stay with them. The teens do fundraising all year toward this goal. They make and serve a huge turkey supper to an adult farm group in October, make the same dinner and serve the general public in November, deliver town reports a couple weeks before town meeting, clean up the community field at the 4th of July, run an ice-cream and milkshake booth at the fair, and other miscellaneous jobs that come up. In spite of all those regular fundraisers, the group came up $2500 short on their airfare for their interstate exchange trip planned for this summer.

 

So, I spent from 7:30 am to 2:00 pm yesterday setting up, taking down, and standing in the cold wind outside the entrance to our local Walmart to help the teens raise more money with a bake sale. It was our first time doing a bake sale. The teens took shifts working the tables. Each teen/family baked 3 items. We priced cakes and pies at $8, full-size quick breads and boxes of fudge at $5, and everything else by donation. We started out with a huge variety of items and sold mostly everything. We also took in a ton of donations. We made more than $525 in 6 hours. We were polite, wished people a good morning on their way into the store, and a Happy Easter on their way out, whether they bought from us or not.

 

In the Walmart thread, a number of posters with whom I usually agree posted about how much they hate youth groups doing fundraisers in front of local stores. Might I ask how group leaders should support the goals of youth trying to raise money for worthwhile projects? These are kids setting goals and working hard to achieve them. It irks me to think that some people would rather that only rich kids participate in enrichment activities, or that we should do away with youth groups that rely on fundraising and instead just turn them all loose on the streets to become hoodlums? For the haters out there - what would you have us do?

[Anne]

I never mind any fundraising that involves kids actually *working*. I'm with Margaret in really disliking the solicitation e-mails for "mission trips" that are often little more than fun trips, imho. However, I will still donate to those if the kid involved is actually working to raise the money. Do a good job cleaning my house or working in my yard, and I will pay you well and probably include a good tip. Or I'll see that you are working for others and I'll donate based on that...

 

OP, I'd give to your kids!!

 

 

:)

 

Anne

[FaithManor]

It's a tough call. People get tired of being hit up for money. They are especially tired of having to "buy" things...the tough sell, junk, trinkets, or sweets for sale and kids looking like puppy dogs going door to door pedaling their wares. They also do not want to support frivolous things. Frankly, I am not interested in helping the local high school band go to Cedar Point or Six Flags. However, I am happy to help kids go to Blue Lakes Fine Arts Camp or Interlochen (a whomping $7000.00 last summer...it sooooooo helps these kids with college scholarships, but honestly, it's getting to be only for the well-to-do families).

 

We are in the boat of having to help the 4-H rocket team come up with the funds to go to Washington D.C. and compete. This is not a frivolous trip. They've worked their tails off and they will work hard there too. Yes, we'll spend Sunday after at a museum...that doesn't seem too "spring breakish". So, the way we are handling it is that we won't be out there in people's faces asking. The 4-H extension office will host a benefit supper on our behalf. It will be advertised in the local paper and an area recreation center is hosting it for us for free as their donation to the kids. People can come or not. It will be eat by donation and a huge number of 4-H families have all donated food items so whatever comes in, the team will get, but no one family or group incurred a great expenditure to put it on.

 

After that, corporations and individuals will get their name on a banner which will be displayed at the event, for which they will receive an 8x 10 photo of the team with the banner to display in their business. Dh and I have good digital camera equipment and an excellent photo printer so the team will not have any cost to produce them. $25.00 to get on the banner and receive the photo, $50.00 to get their name on one of the prototype rockets which will be displayed in our area at TARC and will be flown for the public upon our return. We can't do all of that painting on the competition rocket or the back-up because it creates too many extra grams of weight.

 

Letters go out about the banner and rocket options and whatever happens, happens. No one will call or visit. Last year, this worked very well, between the benefit dinner and the above, they were able to go and had a little to spare.

 

Otherwise, if they don't fundraise it, since the hotel room reservation was fully refundable rooms will be canceled, those families that can't afford their child's portion of the trip, will not have their team member in attendance. That would be really sad, but dh and I represent the only team family whose income is high enough to afford the trip for our kids.

 

Frankly, of what I've seen of TARC and the teams that consistently participate and qualify for Finals, it is a competition largely for the "haves" - ie. uber well funded schools by in large. Last year, the kids placed high enough to win program money which funded this year's season. The previous year, dh and I put out more than $1500.00 for the team out of our own pocket with parents contributing here and there as they could and they really did what they were able to do. That year, the team didn't qualify. We made it last year due to two things, more experience, and the fact that my dad purchased about $400.00 of iron and steel and engineered a professional rocket launch system that would have otherwise been unaffordable. Most of the teams consistently qualifying for Finals are using professional quality launch rail systems that cost well over $500.00 (one like my dad made runs in the $2,000.00 range). The accuracy is so much better. It changed our results dramatically! Teams that aren't very well funded can't afford much, and unlike the Rocket Boys, they can't go around pulling up railroad ties for the scrap metal to sell. Actually, there is very, very little that any teen can do in our area to earn a wage given the state of the economy. Nobody hires teens except the blueberry farm for the month of July or ONE and only ONE farm to detassel corn in August. So, these kids are dependent on the goodwill of others. Last year, the kids saved their birthday and Christmas present money in the hopes they would qualify to go, and they threw it in the pot at the benefit. They were very willing to do whatever it took to get there.

 

That said, nobody should feel obligated to fund anything for anyone else's child, and definitely one has to consider how worthy the cause may be.

 

Faith

[Jenny in Florida]

I think what folks object to is the youth group that basically begs for money.

 

I never mind any fundraising that involves kids actually *working*.

 

Bingo.

 

What I want to see is the kids, themselves, doing real, meaningful work to support their goals. (I don't mind parents pitching in, of course. But I want to see the kids being the primary movers and shakers.)

 

When my son was fund-raising for his choir trip to England, I was very unhappy with the emphasis on "asking our friends and relatives" for donations. We opted not to take that route (a decision admittedly made easier by the fact that we have no family to speak of). What I did like was that the choir took on every paid gig they could squeeze into their calendar. The kids did what they do, sang beautifully, giving up time and energy that they would otherwise have had available for other activities. The group got paid, and those funds were distributed equitably among the kids who participated in each event. They also did car washes and solicited donations from businesses for an auction (which also featured a concert) and took shifts gift wrapping at a local bookstore.

 

So, first thing: I want to see the kids, themselves, doing something meaningful.

 

I also won't give to or buy from any group when I have no way of knowing who they are. For example, I was driving somewhere this weekend and got stuck at an intersection over-run with tween and teen girls waving around signs imploring passers-by to donate to their softball team. The signs were all hand-lettered and named a team with which I had no familiarity. (Not surprising, since I don't live in the immediate area and don't follow youth sports.) They were yelling and cheering and shaking big plastic jugs labelled "Donations."

 

Now, realistically, how am I to know these girls even belong to a team? What assurance do I have that any funds I might toss into the jug will actually go toward a legitimate cause?

 

Which I guess is the second thing: I want to see some kind of assurance that I'm being approached by a legitimate organization, responsibly raising funds for a real purpose. (For example, my son's choir is incorporated as its own non-profit, and every piece of correspondence that went out asking for corporate donations was on official letterhead and included identifying information about the group's non-profit status.)

 

I want the kids to be polite and well organized. I don't want to be mobbed by yelling children when I enter a store and again when I exit, or when I'm just driving down the street trying to get across town to collect my kid from his dance class.

 

One last thing: The vast majority of the stuff groups sell isn't anything I can use. We're a vegan/vegetarian family. I'm not buying popcorn slathered in dairy and refined sugar or cookies made with eggs or any home-made baked goods from people I don't know. Every year, the son of a family with whom we're close locally sells frozen cookie dough and cheesecakes as a fund-raiser for marching band. Every year, I have to explain that we can't eat one single item they're selling, even if I could get past the fact that the band sees such a tiny percentage of the profits. But, the fact that I can't even use the items being shoved in my face and that I, in fact, find some of them downright disgusting, makes these encounters even more unpleasant. I guess this is related to the whole "polite" thing, but making sure the kids understand that people who pass them by without purchasing are not necessarily just being stingy might actually be a good idea, too.

[Brilliant]

I am the coleader of a county 4-H teen club. One of the main purposes of this club is an interstate exchange trip with a 4-H teen group from another state to foster learning and cooperation between the states. Kids from Montana came and stayed with us last summer; this summer we'll be going to stay with them. The teens do fundraising all year toward this goal. They make and serve a huge turkey supper to an adult farm group in October, make the same dinner and serve the general public in November, deliver town reports a couple weeks before town meeting, clean up the community field at the 4th of July, run an ice-cream and milkshake booth at the fair, and other miscellaneous jobs that come up. In spite of all those regular fundraisers, the group came up $2500 short on their airfare for their interstate exchange trip planned for this summer.

 

..... It irks me to think that some people would rather that only rich kids participate in enrichment activities, or that we should do away with youth groups that rely on fundraising and instead just turn them all loose on the streets to become hoodlums? For the haters out there - what would you have us do?

 

 

I admire your group for being willing to work hard to raise the money for their trip. It sounds like they did some things that were really helpful to the community, and were deservedly paid for it.

 

But why call me a hater because I don't like being accosted at the grocery store? I typically will give a smile with my "No, thank you!" Did you teach your 4-H group that the mean smiling lady secretly wants to turn them loose on the streets to become hoodlums? :confused:

[Amy in NH]

 

But why call me a hater because I don't like being accosted at the grocery store? I typically will give a smile with my "No, thank you!" Did you teach your 4-H group that the mean smiling lady secretly wants to turn them loose on the streets to become hoodlums? :confused:

 

 

Because I take exception to your implication that we "accosted" anyone. A teen who smiles nicely and wishes you "Good Morning" when you enter a store is not accosting you. And I did state that we politely wished a "Happy Easter" even to those who chose not to support our cause. We did not shout at anyone.

 

Posters in the other thread (maybe you were one of them) made it seem like youth groups should not do fundraising? I started this thread because I want to know how they expect youth to meet their group goals?

 

And I've seen firsthand that the alternative to youth meeting their positive goals is youth without goals hanging on the street...

 

So, yeah. :confused: I definitely teach them that people who don't support their goals want them to become hoodlums.

 

Cuz you know, support can consist of a simple kind word...

[QueenCat]

If the youth are off to the side, so that one does not have to walk around them to get in/out of the store, I'm fine with it. When my boys have done this type of thing, we've told them to only ask when people are going in or only when going out, not both, so you don't end up asking the same person twice. We've done better with baked goods when they were in smaller portions, like a large brownie, rice krispy treat or small baggie of cookies. I would never buy a whole cake/pie as we don't eat a large number of treats.

[elegantlion]

I don't mind people in front of the store unless they are overly aggressive in their approach. Heck, I'm going to the grocery with my budgeted list to buy food and *I* can't afford to donate for my own child to do those things. Some groups are okay, some yell out to everyone, those I don't appreciate. I don't need a guilt trip when I'm going to walmart of all places because I'm not helping the community. My budget barely stretches to exist in the community, much less donate so other kids can go out of state. Sometimes being broke sucks. I don't look broke, I have a decent car and decent clothes, I just don't have any money to donate. I think you may find that situation more often than you realize, especially outside of a Walmart. I did buy chocolate from some boys selling door-to-door recently. I had to scrape change out of the change jar to do it, but I did.

[elegantlion]

To answer the question of how youth groups are to raise money, my opinion is they need to tailor the activity costs to either selling something worthwhile or economical (not overpriced wrapping paper), or budget so parents can fill in the gap. If not, they need some type of supporter within the community. If the group can't afford to go out of state, plan something different. I hate fundraisers in general. Everyone we've had to do ended up all of our friends were involved in the same one. There was never anyone "new" to sell the product to.

[Annie G]

I don't mind when youth groups do real work to raise funds. I don't get upset when they are polite. I often donate when the cause seems 'real'. What I don't like is when kids are yelling at me as I walk in or out of stores...being rude and aggressive. I don't like receiving letters from friend's kids who are going on mission trips that are 10% mission and 90% tourism. I get a LOT of those requests. Nope. Not going to donate to your vacation.

 

The wreath project seems fabulous- those kids are learning so much! Way better than selling overpriced candy and wrapping paper. And a bake sale where the kids are baking and selling- way better than what I've seen here.