I have to say that we do a lot of 'soft' fundraising. Restaurant Share nights, popcorn sales, sock hops, spaghetti nights and sprinkle in concession sales with most of our family events. These go over very well and while they many not make us a fortune they usually make enough to cover the cost of whatever family event they are a part of. Spaghetti Supper usually goes with Reading Night and covers the cost of art projects, entertainment and supplies we may need for Reading Night.
We then limit our major fundraisers to two a year. One in fall is a catalog sale, usually food product and then in spring we do some type of discount card or another catalog sale. We also have a huge fun fair in the spring which does raise us quite a bit of money but our community does not look at it like a fundraiser, they view the fun fair as a community event.
I have parents on both ends of the psectrum. Some complain that we are asking for money for something (popcorn, sock hops etc) all the time and others that complain that we do not hold enough of these soft sales. I've actually had more than one mom tell me we should be selling popcorn every week instead of once a month and another complain LOUDLY that a sock hop a quarter is not enough we should be holding them monthly.
Then I've had a mom ask me if we could maybe go a week without nickle and diming her to death.
No matter what you choose to do you are going to have complainers.
I have heard that things like Walk-a-Thons are HUGE money makers, It allows parents and the community to make direct cash donations to the school and yet feels like you are not simply holding your hand out asking for their money. They are 'sponsoring' a walker and somehow that makes a huge difference. The good part is the money goes directly into the coffers and no one has yet another knick-knack that they don't need or really want. We are going to try our first Walk-a-Thon next year for Halloween. The kids will walk along a predesignated route in their costumes and we will have sponsors and look the community at large for bigger cash donations.
Good luck and remember that you are doing good work, don't listen too much to the complainers.
Hi Allison12,
I can't respond directly about the website you mentioned, but I can share some thoughts on direct donations. There is an upside and a downside. While direct donations are straightforward and definitely appeal to some parents, they really don't address the issue of community building that typically takes place during other fundraising efforts. I'm specifically referring to those that are event-driven (like an auction). Community building is so critical to any parent organization because it not only gives families a great sense of belonging but it helps your group develop more committed parents who are more willing to help the group by volunteering in a variety of ways.
I'm new to the PTO world, but I've witnessed a shift in fundraising techniques throughout my community. I've been seeing fewer and fewer product sales and more and more solicitations for direct donations. I've been exploring a combination of both. A friend recently referred me to the following site. Thinking about giving it a try.
Hi Mary, Have you been on the Ultimate Donation List on this message board? It's lengthy, but it has lots of parents referring other parents to different companies and vendors, many of which are national companies It might be one thing to pursue as a way to get some donations. This probably won't do much for your Spring Fling, which must be right around the corner, but it could help down the road.
Our spring fling is usually a great success. But this year we are having a hard time raising money getting donations all most anything. I have found out our problem I am from the Avilla, Mo. PTO We live about 18 miles from Joplin which was tore up by the tornado last May 22. This is our town to even though it is 18 miles from us we are in the same county (JASPER) we have to go there to go to the mall, Target any chain restaurant. Our community has help has much has we could with clean up and rebuilding. Many of us has have lost our jobs due to the tornado because so many of us work in Joplin. We also have took in many of the Joplin students into our school, but since they are not going to a Joplin school they did not get all the help the other students like there school supplies, backpacks and a lot of other goodies so we stepped in to help. Things are slowly getting back to normal but everything is still centered around Joplin as I said before we help has much as we can. But our school is starting to suffer we have took students in yet we are getting no sponsors, donations etc. It seems like I am begging people and everyone says the same thing we have or we are giving to Joplin schools. I am really starting to get frustrated. Does anybody have any suggestions?? I am so glad I found this site it has already gave me some great ideals! But I would love more thoughts of things to do.
