kstolz - I love the community raffle idea and wonder if it would work with $1 ticket... Thanks!

We added a bowlathon this year. It's coming up in April. I have no idea how successful it will be but we have found that our families would rather do something to raise money (walkathon, carnival, auction/raffle) than selll catalog stuff. They have burn out from the wrapping paper fundraiser.

The other thing we have done for the past two years is a Big 3 raffle. We get three awesome prizes (this year $300 gas card, $500 grocery gift certificate and a kid friendly prize (Game Stop $100). We choose prizes that appeal to the community not just our school. People sell them at work, to friends, family etc and we have raised over $11,000 each year. We sell the tickets for $5 each. This is a great way to make money outside of your parents' pocket. We're going to sell tickets outside of the store that donated the $500 this year. They will get great exposure and of course their customers will want to win since they already shop there.

You will need to get a group of parents together to figure out the items that make most sense for your school community and your city/town community. You would be surprised how much you can make with a raffle like this.

Good luck!

We had the same experience. The biggest problem I find is people are just tired of buying candy bars, pizzas, kitten posters, wrapping paper, etc, etc. Especially in this economy when families do not have lots of additional funds for "frivolous" items. On top of that, the traditional fundraisers seem to come more often than before. The other week we had a carnival, but even that didn't work. The problem there was the games, etc were expensive. Again, higher prices for cheaper products is not the answer.

We recently decided to use a local company here that does fundraisers. I know there are no ads here, so I'd be happy to pass on some information if anyone is interested.

These are great though. They are safety card kits -- really nice 5x7 full-color, educational cards (front and back) with wallet-sized cards. They have a bunch -- like CPR for infants, CPR for children, CPR for adults. The same for choking first aid. And then a number of them geared toward kids to help them learn how to dial 911, how to identify an emergency, Fire Safety, etc.

So far, they are doing well. Every one likes buying something beneficial, and something they need.

Just a though!

Calista
Washington Mom

I hear you loud and clear! The best advice I can give would be to really put a limit on the "fundraisers" you do do, during the year. There was a report on here somewhere that I saw that says, from a survey, that schools should do two fundraisers a year. One, the fall (catalog/cookie dough) sale and one community event/fundraiser (walk athon, read athon, art fair) in the spring and forget about the other fundraising noise that we all tend to throw at our parents.

Event the box tops, ink cartridge, soup labels, blah blah blah is all NOISE and people just don't want to hear it!

OUr school finally realized this and what we do it this....we do our same Innisbrook fall sale, combined with a letter for parents to make a one time donation (I think we ask for $50 or something) if they choose not to participate in the catalog. Then, we do a spring event and that's really it. We have done consistenly well,told our parents that we will give them an option to NOT participate and they really appreciate that.

Hope that helps....hang in there.

Yes, cookie dough and pastries are the edibles I was referring too.

We were satisfied with the reps, selections and customer services.

This year we've done a sample tasting and assemblies. We also send out fliers, put it in the newsletter, make banners/posters, recorded message home from our Principal and talking to parents ourselves. Unfortunately, the parents tell us (and most of the board members agree) that they just can't pay those kind of prices for items they can purchase much cheaper elsewhere.

I know direct activities are so much work but maybe just taking away one fundraiser and adding two activities in it's place may produce better profits for the school.

But then there are those who don't have the volunteer base and shouldn't work themselves silly planning activities all year long!

Personally, I just want the economy to recover so that we can buy $15 wrapping paper to benefit our school!

I agree, I am so sick of cookie dough, gift wrap, see's candy, entertainment books. It gets to be way too much time effort and energy, and nobody wants to volunteer anymore. The money we are making insn't worth it. We just signed up for Screamin coupons, I hope it brings in the money we lost from Albertsons canceling their program, because I just can't take shoving another "thing" for sale down parents throats. It gets to be way too much.