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@ s/o daycare/pre-k fundraisers
We get fundraiser packets all.the.time. I think we get 2-3 a month and as soon as one is over we get more paperwork on the next one. Not all of them are school fundraisers - some are for a cancer society or for other charities, but usually at least 1 month is for the school.
Is this a lot or typical? There is no way I can keep up with them, and I usually don't unless there is something I really think we could use or do - like they had a penny drive that was cute to do with her. I feel guilty since they say they fund the "extra" but there is no way I can constantly put $$ to all that OR bug my family/coworkers that much for extra cash. Then I get mad at my daycare for assuming that I'm sort of bottomless cash pit - espeically since prices just went up $40/month.
/rant
Re: @ s/o daycare/pre-k fundraisers
The school where my children go holds four fundraisers per year: a spaghetti dinner in the fall, a pancake breakfast with Santa, and two Scholastic Book Fairs.
That's it.
We have been at our not for profit center for two years and have never fundraised.
I was talking to my friend last night who sends her daughter to a private montessori preschool and their fundraising is out of control. She already pays more in tuition than I do and they are always having events or other fundraisers to make money. I was blown away.
I think the pressure is self-imposed, lol. They just put the paperwork in her cubby and post due dates for it, but the teachers and manager never mention it unless you inquire. They do note in letters that the $$ goes to field trips (I forget the other things right now) but ofcourse only the older kids go on those. But we still gotta bring it home and throw it out, lol.
grace's daycare did a couple per year. yours is EXTREMELY excessive. i'd just leave them at the desk if you're not going to do them (tell them you're being EF and want to save a tree
now that she's in school we get them all the time, too. we only do 2 a year (yankee candle and this artwork one that is sofukkingcute i could die. i'm getting grace's artwork turned into a new iphone case! squee!!!) my nephews in private school have even more than grace!
I think it is excessive. We've sold pizzas, raffle tickets and now we are on our second raffle ticket fundraiser and I'm on the board, so we are supposed to be getting donations... it is too much.
In our case, the daycare was pretty much run into the ground, and now they are trying to dig back out (under new management). Most of the kids are on scholarship or are state-funded, so I can understand not just charging extra. But I would be very interested in seeing their yearly budget or something to see exactly where all the fundraising dollars were being spent.
I thinks it's crappy that they keep sending them, or do them at all.
but I guess they figure the worst that can happen is they get no money so they send them hoping something sticks. If parents get universally tired of it and start recycling w/o opening they might stop sending so many.
Is there any PTOish / Parent Counsel organization where you can bring this up and try to get 2 fundraisers a year?
My daughter attends private school that costs 5 figures and I have been appalled at the frequency with which "donations" are requested from parents.
Unfortunately this was our first year in the school and I was none the wiser, so I donated nearly every single time. By the time January rolled around and they pitched their major fundraiser of the year, for which they were asking larger sums of money, I was beyond angry, particularly when I chose not to donate and then started receiving emails and phone calls pushing the whole "100% participation" issue. I have stopped donating for this school year and next year I am going to set a budget and donate that amount only. Once that budget is exhausted, I will not give any more.
To be clear, it's not that any of the donation requests are that large; they aren't. It's as a PP mentioned - I don't appreciate being treated as a bottomless pit of money, particularly since we are already paying quite a bit merely for the privilege to attend this school. As I told my husband, it feels like financial death by a thousand cuts.
Neither of our childcare providers hold fundraisers that we have to actively participate in. One held an "art show" open to the public, and the proceeds bought art supplies for the school (of course, it was all of us parents flocking there to buy our kids' projects, but it wasn't compulsory!). The other one hasn't held any fundraisers.
I don't like the idea or required fundraisers, and certainly not that often! I pay a $hitton of money for childcare - my tuition should cover the needs of the facility.
I work at an independent school.
We do one fundraising event and then just our annual fund, so parents only get asked for two things throughout the entire year.
If we didn't do those things, we would have to raise tuition to cover the gap.
That is a pretty standard model of funding for independent schools, but I think sometimes it surprises families that are new to private education.
Trains Across America
Would you like to buy my condo in Salem?
There's one big fundraiser at the girl's school (Pre - 2) per year.
Personally, I'd rather do a few smaller ones (like MrsAJL was talking about - book fairs and the like).
The big fundraiser there is BIG. And spendy... $60 pp to get in, then a silent auction (of donated stuff. we aren't talking kids' artwork here, we're talking nice stuff, hard to get anything for under $100). So - solicited to provide or seek donations, then pay money to get into an event to buy more stuff, after dropping a bunch of money to have the kids babysat. It's a big $$ hit.
...but the nice thing about it is that there's no attempt to get the kids to do the fundraising. It's an adult project, full stop.
On top of that... they ask for a bit of a contribution around Christmastime to split and give to the teachers (they each got close to $400 last year, so not bad).
...and if the teachers are doing something, they can leave a jar by the door - like one of them is running in some charity something, and has a jar for money.
I am the 99%.
My Chart My Nest Bio
I think we've only had two:
*Scholastic Book Fair
*Valentine grams (a muffin for a $1 delivered to your child on Valentine's Day)
*sigh*
at the girl's school, the big fundraiser goes to two things: capital improvements on the building (like in the last two years they've installed new flooring through out, and redone the "big yard" - the outdoor space shared by all the kids) and scholarships.
I'm totally OK with raising money, above and beyond tuition, for these kinds of expenses.
...having a scholarship fund, even for early childhood education, is IMHO a very laudable goal.
Not everything is supposed to be guided exclusively by market principles.
ETA: Her school is a nonprofit, and its tuition is lower than any other preschool in the area that isn't co-op. I'm sure I'd feel differently if we were talking about Kinder Care.
I am the 99%.
I just got our first one today for Joe corbis stuff. I won't bring it to work or have dh do the same. We will buy some crap and be done. It is for field trips and lt cant go on them anyway at his young age so I am okay with this. I know they are normal, but if it were a few a month, that would be a deal breaker for me.
Hi! Our private church run pre-school just does one fundraising time per year. The funds are used directly for a certain project ie. planting trees, painting the hallways etc... they also are included in the school P & L statement which is given to all of the parents as well.
They send home 3 packets (baked goods, kitchen gadgets and gift wrap) all at once at the beginning of the school year when you attend your welcome to school meeting and that is it.
GL!
I'm totally fine with this place doing fundraisers in general. As much as I would rather just pay $20 for DD to go on a flied trip, I know that another family might not be able to swing that. As much as daycare is a horrible cost to us, I know its truly debilitating to others. I also like that they are, supposedly, keeping costs down through fundraisers and NOT jacking up the rates. Finally, I really don't see daycare as similar to private school, especially when you see what passes for acceptable child care for low income families ::shudders::
Its just the shear amount of various types they do that gets to me. I think I'd rather be part of a parent committee that does 3-4 events a year to fundraiser than get a steady stream of over-priced crap to buy and try to sell to others.
I would tell them that. It can't be that effective to send those packets home every month. GL!
Its just the shear amount of various types they do that gets to me. I think I'd rather be part of a parent committee that does 3-4 events a year to fundraiser than get a steady stream of over-priced crap to buy and try to sell to others.
[/quote
I would tell them that. It can't be that effective to send those packets home every month. GL!
My Chart My Nest Bio
Completely agree with this. I am pretty "whatever" about most things, but I am strongly against fundraisers at for-profit daycare centers. My mind was blown the day a friend came in with World's Finest Chocolate order pamphlets for his infant twins. It's like grocery stores doing fundraisers to buy a new freezer, or something. They need to charge accordingly for their services, and not rely paying parents to pimp crap products on behalf of their children.
These would be fine with me because I like books and not cooking (and Santa is an added bonus) but if they were selling overpriced crap or just donation drives, I would lose it.
I don't like the fundraisers for public schools either. I'm not sure what I'll do if I ever have a child.
DD started pre-school at the end of February and they've already had 2 fundraising campaigns. One was selling Little Caesar pizza kits. Obviously the parents are expected to do that so that irritated me right off the bat. I didn't pay attention to the other. Twice a week they offer a hot lunch (it's pack your own on other days) which is also a fundraiser. I do participate it that, but only because it makes my life easier and DD tends to eat more when other kids are eating the same thing.
Another thing that really irks me is all the outside companies that come in and offer specialty classes during the day for an extra monthly fee. Sign language, ballet/tap, PlayBall to name a few. I'm already paying a hefty price for just two days a week. They let each kid take a freebie, so of course I get notes in DD's folder about how much she really wants to take the dance class. And yep, I totally caved. So I guess it's actually a genius business plan.