Hi! I am from Ohio, our main fundraiser is a physical-fit-a- thon. It is set up in our gym(we usually have it in January and it's too cold to have it outside) like a obstacle course. The kids get pledges from family and friends-they receive prizes worth 10% of their pledges. Does anyone have ideas for games for our school carnival??????????? Thanks

It didn't take ColoradoPTOMom very long to figure out who I was. She's right, you can do these "thon's" with a few volunteers. It's nicer to have a good staff. It also depends on the size of your school. We do a Math-A-Thon that has almost 400 of our 600 students participating and use probably about 15 - 20 volunteers. ColoradoPTOmom's system with the xeroxed envelopes is very good. We will be using her system next year and simplifying.

It's really nice if you can find another PTO in your area to share with. Our community has 30 elementary schools and within the system, a few of us communicate well. It is very informative and supportive!

By the way, ColoradoPTOmom, be sure to bring your checkbook to the auction!

toomanyhats - don't scare them with those volunteer numbers! We did our spellathon last year with three volunteers, the PTO President, a first grade mom and I operating the entire event - from acting silly on the in-house morning news broadcast to counting money and making deposits and it was cake! The kids earned gift certificates that a local quality toy store and the mall donated - we didn't spend a thing on the incentives - and we had the printing donated. We made four times more money than ever was raised in the past - what was the difference you ask??? We got everyone excited to reach for the moon and we kept the excitement going with surprise give-aways and messages home. This year we're going to ask that pledges come in the form of sponorships rather then per-word pledges. Some people pledge a penny a word and that's a strong message back to the kids that their efforts aren't worth much. Sponsorships will be at set levels and depend primarily on the effort the child puts into doing well rather than percentage right. I can go on and on but am limiting my chatter - click on my profile and send an email for further information - I've had so many PTOs contact me I am putting together a "how-to packet" ... maybe I should turn that into a fund raiser for the school --- !!!!!!!!

toomanyhats - I know it's you! Good luck with your silent auction !!! She spent the time to share her ideas which gave us the know-how to operate a very profitable silent auction last year...it feels great when two PTOs in the same district can network /learn from each other. We work together so all the children benefit! Cooperation/networking is important between PTOs - parents need to work together to be even more successful with PTO/school events.

[This message has been edited by ColoradoPTOmom (edited 11-04-2000).]

Math-A-Thons are very popular here in Colorado! Our school has been doing one for the past 10 years. They are great fundraisers, but you do need a really good volunteer base for organizing it and counting the money as it comes into the school. We have a prize tier for ours. Students start getting prizes at the $25.00 level and up. Depending on the size of your school you can do very well. Overhead is low, just copying costs and prizes. Some schools get prizes donated. We don't. We spend about 15% of our gross on prizes that really motivate the students. Good Luck!

We did a mathathon for the first time in our school(K-5) last year. We had pledge sheets where you had the option to pay a set dollar(or cent) amount per correct answer or a flat pledge ie)$5.00. We had the teachers help with examples of math each grade was doing through out the year and then we made up tests based on each grade level. We had volunteers grade each test and help determine and collect the money. I hope this helps!!

coloradoPTOMom said her school does these events for fundraisers. I would love to find out how these work. I hope you read this ColoradoPTOMom. Other schools around here have Walkathons around their track, we don't have a track to use, so this alternative sounds intriguing. Thanks!