The Fundraiser Blues: "I don't understand this fundraiser. Why are we selling stuff? Why is my kid talking about "ducks" ? Can't we make money some other way? "
Why do we raise funds by selling stuff ???....
Many schools use a fundraising company to help them earn money because the pre-packaged program that these companies provide makes it easy for schools to make the most money for the least amount of effort.
The company provides us with order forms and catalogs of things like cookie dough, wrapping paper, gift items, jewelry, etc. Families take orders and collect money. The company then gives us the merchandise to deliver and a percentage of the profits. The company also provides us with posters to hang to advertise the fundraiser, and incentives for the children (or their parents) to sell items to friends and relatives. In our case, the company we use provides the children with small collectible "ducks". When a family sells a certain number of items the child can turn in a "coupon" to receive a small duck as a reward. Robins PTO also hosts playground games, an assembly to get the students excited about the fundraiser, and EVERYONE (yes EVERYONE even if they didn't sell anything) gets to go to a post fundraising event like a BMX stunt bicycle show or stunt basketball show that happens at the school. (This year, 2011, we have the BMX show).
Robins would LOVE to do more scholastic approaches to fundraising such as spell-a-thons, read-a-thons, math-a-thons, or anything else people can come up with. For that type of fundraiser to be profitable enough to support our programs we need a LOT of parental participation and volunteer support, (more than we have typically had in the past). Scholastically based fundraisers require a lot of volunteer help, coordinating, and organizing. Robins welcomes any ideas, help, or support of future (and current) fundraising endeavors. In fact, if YOU would like to coordinate, assist, organize or otherwise help out with a scholastically based fundraiser the Robins community would be grateful.
Donations may also be made directly to Robins PTO or the Robins Gift and Donations account.
We are happy to accept direct donations for any amount of money families feel they can afford.
The vast majority of schools require some form of fundraising to support crucial programs. Money raised by Robins fundraisers (along with State Tax credit donations) primarily supports our fabulous OMA and Visual Arts programs, and our classroom technology. Every penny we earn goes directly into the school to support programs that are critical to your child's learning.
We need all the help we can get! If you have ideas, time, energy, enthusiasm, or can help in any way, we need YOU.
Please contact our volunteer coordinators, or our fundraising coordinators, or ANYONE on PTO.
First we need to answer the question:
"WHY does our school need to fundraise in the first place?"
Here's why... The Answer
