Are you finding fund raising a problem?

peachyprice

It does seem to reduce considerably once they get to secondary school, I think I've only had 3 £1 non-uniform charity days since September. These are organised by the students for their House's chosen charity and they get house points based on how much they raise.

But saying that my daughters school does expect each parent to contribute to the 'school fund' at £100 per school year or £5 per month, per family.

theoretica

You could point out that giving odd bits here and there doesn't let the charity claim gift aid.

kathrynha

I have managed to get out of the raffle tickets been sent home at daughters school by playing the religion card. Evils of gambling and all that.


Cue next lot of raffle tickets sent home, parents grumble and kids tell parents that kathrynha's child didn't get any, and I get asked how I got out of it and suddenly there is a religious revival amongst the parents

Eenymeeny

kathrynha wrote: »

I have managed to get out of the raffle tickets been sent home at daughters school by playing the religion card. Evils of gambling and all that.


Cue next lot of raffle tickets sent home, parents grumble and kids tell parents that kathrynha's child didn't get any, and I get asked how I got out of it and suddenly there is a religious revival amongst the parents

Ha ha good for you! and a good point, sometimes you just don't want to join in with the 'fun' of gambling, whether for charity or not.
I've done the same thing with lottery syndicates at work. We were brought up to value our pocket money and putting it in a slot at a fairground would have definitely been frowned on!:eek:

MummyBobble

I chair the PTA at DS's high school. They have one non-uniform day each term to raise money for a charity chosen by the school council. They also hold occasional cake sales (for children in need, red nose day etc) at the suggestion of the children who organise the event themselves. I completely understand that it's very difficult for many parents to contribute further, especially with the cost of trips, lunches, bus fares etc (it certainly is for me, they get my time instead of money). As a PTA we try to focus on organising fundraising by events where parents feel they are getting something for their money. We've held hot pot suppers and curry nights (for these we charge a reasonable entry fee to cover the food at a small profit, sell soft drinks but parents can also bring their own drinks so they can bring alcohol if they like), quiz nights (small entry fee, bring your own refreshments, sell raffle tickets on the night), movie nights for children (£1 entry fee, sell soft drinks, sweets etc), we sell raffle tickets on the four evenings of the school show. We also hold a fun run where there is an entry fee paid to the PTA and runners can choose to make it a sponsored run if they wish, raising money for their own chosen charity. None of these are big fundraisers but they do encourage more involvement from parents with the school than there would be otherwise.

Our next idea is to organise a carboot sale at the school. We'll charge parents the same for a pitch as the local carboots, and invite a burger van and or ice cream van to sell refreshments in return for a donation to school funds. We do avoid simply asking for money, or asking parents to provide things and then pay for the privilege!

theoretica

I do wonder about non-uniform days. Given the trouble some schools have getting kids to wear the set uniform, why ever would they want to enhance this by giving the message it is something worth paying to get out of?

Eenymeeny

I agree with you theoretica. (The thought of going to school in anything but uniform would have filled me with horror. Maybe it was just my school, but comments were made on anything that was down to personal taste, such as pencil cases, bags,even hairslides!. I valued the 'safety' of the school uniform!)
MummyBobble, there are a lot of good ideas there and actually providing something for the money is a great idea. I especially like the idea of a movie night. Giving the kids somewhere to go at night under supervision is well worth paying for and I would think that the parents would be very grateful to the people involved in providing it. (What ever happened to Youth clubs? )

zippychick

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double_mummy

i had the best one today

myself and a group of other parents/carers were told about an overnight trip next month by the teacher and advised the letter was in kids bookbag and not to worry about the date on the letter they forgot to give it out in january but that it doesnt need to be paid until the end of this month so it should be fine!

also a quick reminder about eco day on friday where they need to take in recyclables and bring in healthy foods for a picnic lunch -(the big one i pay for school dinners the little one gets them free as she is in reception)

duchy

MummyBobble wrote: »

Our next idea is to organise a carboot sale at the school. We'll charge parents the same for a pitch as the local carboots, and invite a burger van and or ice cream van to sell refreshments in return for a donation to school funds. We do avoid simply asking for money, or asking parents to provide things and then pay for the privilege!

My son's primary school PTA found that doing the hot dogs/burgers themselves was a huge money spinner - Don't invite a van in - do the costings (mark up on burgers is usually at least 200% cans of soft drinks too- some parent will have access to a cash and carry card they'll share) and get parents involved and make sure every penny spent that day goes to the PTA (Parents are far happier to spend more on food when they know the money is going to the school too so instead of going to get a burger elsewhere afterwards will buy the PTA ones in a way they wouldn't with an outside van.

Also offering parents a discount if they pay for their pitch ahead of time gets more uptake (some will pay and not use the pitch as they'll not have got around to sorting their junk so make sure you tell them it's non refundable when they cough up -and others will be happy to be getting a "deal" so will use your car boot to sell rather than their regular one so you'll have more sellers .)