Just say "No" to School Fundraisers

[FreedomFlower]

It's school fund raising season again. I just got approached for the third time by a little person thrusting a glossy brochure at me, smiling sweetly and shyly asking me to buy something. How can anyone resist that? This is the whole point- You can't. But you should. I'm fed up with these fund raising companies using little kids to pimp their cheap imported products. Wrapping paper?! What kind of environmental message is that sending our kids? Let's see...For a $10 item, the school gets $5. The company probably imported it for $2. I'm paying $10 for a $2 item?! Now I've been on the other side of this too. I was a girl scout. I sold candy bars, stuffed animals, etc for band. I'm a sucker for kids and education, but now that I'm an adult why should I treat this differently than any other purchasing decision? I still refuse to buy crap made in China, even if the salesperson is my cute niece.

My solution: Give all of the money directly to the school.

Or why can't they have Old fashioned bake sales? How come there isn't a fund raising companies that sells organic cotton T-shirts or fair trade items or other environmentally or socially conscious goods?

[jdlh8894]

1. Or why can't they have Old fashioned bake sales?

Haven't you heard? Bake sales are being outlawed due to obesity.

[yellowcanine]

4. Because the food safety issues are mind boggling.

[alarimer]

62. No, it's the fear of lawsuits that is mind-boggling.

Because people can and will sue for any reason or no reason whatsoever, it's made school-officials a bunch of braindead morons.

We had bake sales and spaghetti dinners all the time when I was in high school and nobody died or was sick from it. I guarantee that the food safety thing is made up bullshit by the very companies that scam schools into their "fund-raisers".

[Crabby Appleton]

34. Bake sales banned -A Crackdown on Bake Sales in City Schools

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/nyregion/03bakesale.html

[XemaSab]

49. Why can't they sell

:popcorn:

[Liberal_in_LA]

53. popcorn?

[yellowcanine]

2. I do like those big chunky chocolate bars, though.

[TN al]

22. Don't those $1 candybars...

...come with a $1 coupon to Subway? Can't beat that.

[madrchsod]

3. that`s what i`ve done over the years

thank god my kids are grown up!

[get the red out]

5. If the stuff was worth the price wouldn't it be in the store?

They must be making more $$ by using kids to sell it for "fund-raising" since I seriously doubt these companies do it out of the goodness of their hearts.

Suspicious stuff, and years and years ago I was one of the dutiful little sellers.

I was pleasantly surprised when some young ladies on a high school girls basketball team were simply asking for donations for the team outside a grocery store a few weeks ago. I was happy to give them a little pocket change. No pretense.

[walldude]

6. Maybe, and I know this sounds crazy,

but maybe, if we actually FUND the schools properly then kids wouldn't be forced to sell useless crap so they can go on a field trip or afford instruments for band or paint for art class. But what am I thinking, we have Wall Street fat cats who don't have golden toilet bowls on their yachts yet.

[get the red out]

9. Oh NO!

That would be UN-AMERICAN! :sarcasm:

[asdjrocky]

37. Thank you!

I knew I'd only have to read so far down to find someone to say this. Imagine having a bake sale at an inner city school in Oakland Ca.

[XemaSab]

50. You never know

a bake sale there might do really well. :shrug:

(I went to 4 schools in Oakland. :P )

[asdjrocky]

55. What part of Oakland?

Remember, I'm from Stockton. That's the town you move to if your too mean for Oakland. :hi:

Actually my niece, who I'm very, very proud of, is a teacher at a very nice little elementary school in Oakland, and there are some great things about that city.

Oaksterdam, just to name one.

[XemaSab]

56. I went to

St Paul's, Cleveland, Lakeview, and a now defunct middle school.

[asdjrocky]

57. Good schools?

[XemaSab]

58. Mixed bag

Perhaps a little too mixed.

Lakeview and the middle school were academically underwhelming.

St Paul's and Cleveland weren't bad, but could have had a few things done differently.

[asdjrocky]

59. I was schooled in Stockton.

We now have the highest drop out rate in the state, and back then it was pretty much the same. The violence I saw when I went to high school was pretty brutal.

But what are you going to do? It's my home town.

[XemaSab]

60. I saw some gnarly shit in Oakland

It changes a person. :(

[asdjrocky]

61. Yep.

I went to high school the first year of desegregation in Stockton, boy was that a wild year. My sister, six years older and in school during the old school boundaries, grew up in a completely different world.

Funny, we were talking about that just the other day.

[seabeyond]

7. for the last couple three years, havent allowed kids to do fund raisers, i write a check

to schools and they get all the money.

pta
library books
cross country

and anything else i see they need the donation for

[cyberswede]

The real solution

If we funded our public schools properly, they wouldn't need to do fundraising activities. I blame Republicans. :)

Besides, you can't raise $25,000 at a bake sale very easily, unfortunately.

[smoogatz]

24. Bingo!

If our system for funding public education wasn't so thoroughly broken, we wouldn't have to pimp our kids out as wrapping-paper salesmen. We will politely decline to do so, when our kids are old enough, and donate directly to the school instead.

[cyberswede]

32. That's actually better...

then the school gets 100% of what you're giving.
I do see why the schools use the fundraisers, though. Most people wouldn't think to donate cash to their school (or aren't willing to do so).

We're trying to raise a bunch of money for an improved playground at our elementary school. We've sent out pleas for donations all over the place, and have not received many cash donations (if any). People seem willing to buy fundraiser crap, buy food at our fair booth during the summer, buy shopping coupon books, etc, but we rarely get an actual monetary donation. I don't know why. Are people leery of giving cash? Would they rather pay for overpriced cheap stuff? :shrug:

[Hello_Kitty]

8. The fundraisers are because schools are so underfunded

When I was a kid we sold things to raise money for choir robes or field trips, not to fund basic needs of the school.

But, whatever. People clamored for tax cuts here in AZ and voted for the numbnuts who slashed funding for everything, including the schools.

[trumad]

10. I hate them...

First off I won't let my kids go door to door and harass the neighbors....

Second---it's all crap.

[Xithras]

11. Bake sales aren't allowed anymore.

There were a couple of cases in the late 80's and early 90's where bake sale goods made people ill, and those people sued the schools and organizations holding the sales. Several won.

Insurance companies don't want to pay out big settlements on behalf of schools simply because Susie Baker forgot to sterilize her kitchen counter before baking brownies for her daughters school bake sale. Or because Joe Pieman made his raisin cookies using the same spoon as he used to make his peanut butter cookies, and put some unsupecting allergy sufferer into shock. The insurance companies responded to this by imposing rules that withhold coverage for any illness or death resulting from food that wasn't purchased or prepared by the school. If those types of suits happened now, the schools would have to pay themselves, and a suit like that would bankrupt many districts. So, the schools banned them. My kids aren't even allowed to take cookies or cupcakes to school to GIVE them away to classmates anymore. My older son was actually reprimanded in elementary school for giving some of his friends a few of the chocolate chip cookies that my wife had made for his lunch.

[eissa]

12. My office mates run when they see me

this time of year. Trust me, I hate selling this crap as much as the people I solicit. $15 for cookies?

So does anyone want a bucket of pre-formed, ready-to-bake, yummy chocolate chip cookies? :P

[Jennicut]

13. Ugg, even my little kindergartner is being asked to participate in one.

Nope, would rather write a check directly like other posters said.

[Nederland]

14. My daughter's school stop doing that last year

They asked the parents what they wanted to do, just write checks or have their kids hawking useless crap. The parents overwhelmingly chose to write checks.

[hamsterjill]

15. It's all junk!

And your post illustrates the real issue - they are using these poor kiddos to sell their crappy products.

[havocmom]

46. and training kids to do as a corporate entity tells them without thinking it all through

It today's world, it seems unwise to send kids door to door anyway. But, it is good training, if you are tomorrow's employer: ready made robot workforce.

[hamsterjill]

68. You're right!

On both counts.

I totally agree that it's unwise to be sending kids door-to-door these days.

[newtothegame]

16. If you're complaining about a $10 item, you probably don't wanna be buying fair trade or organic n/t

[smoogatz]

29. Weak analogy.

Fair trade/organic is good value for $. $10 wrapping paper from China is highway robbery.

[sandnsea]

17. Write a check to your personal causes, even your scout troop

All of it goes directly to the troop, or school group, and the leader will be a lot more judicious in the use of that money than the "fundraising" sale machine is.

[KT2000]

18. Just wrote a check

to the school and passed on those magazine subscriptions.
Agree with you wholeheartedly.

[Brickbat]

19. Many of our fundraising stuff was made in America (American Greetings wrapping paper) and some of it

-- such as frozen soups and so on -- was even made in my home state.

But yes, dislike the fundraisers m'self, which is why I bust my ass on levy petitions and votes. I hope you do, too. Because the reason we have these fundraisers is because schools are underfunded.

[seemunkee]

20. Our school started a direct appeal

They said if they raised XX dollars there would be no other fund raising. Can't remember the amount as it has been quite a while since my kids were in elementary school. They made the goal and that was it.

[MiniMe]

70. We did something like that to get money for band uniforms

The director decided that it wasn't worth it to see stuff that people didn't want, but they bought it because they wanted to support the school. This was back when kids could actually go door to door instead of having their parents sell it at work. So we god handouts from the school, and asked people for donations. People were more than happy to give us money for the uniforms, and thanked us for doing something like this so they knew that all the money went to the school.

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. How about funding schools appropriately in the first place

so we don't need to have all these fund raisers?

[madfloridian]

25. Exactly right!!

How sad we have to have fund raisers.

[Hawkeye-X]

64. Dupe, delete

been a lot of dupes for me..

[Hawkeye-X]

65. Exactly. And I know where to point the biggest hog of money:

Military Industrial Complex.

We don't need wars, bombs, nuclear weapons, or any of those offensive crap.

Guns can go out to the pasture. Or melted down completely.

Divert 80% of the money to education, health, labor and social security.

Defense has got to go. It's time to let those other countries pull their own damn bootstrap.

Hawkeye-X

[MindPilot]

23. It should be illegal -- I just sent this to my rep

It should be illegal for school kids to be engaging in “fundraising’ activities; making kids get out and panhandle or sell door-to-door to finance school activities is exploitive and demeaning.

Children going door-to-door, in addition to annoying the neighbors is, in this day and age just plain dangerous.

If kids are selling stuff under the pretense of financing a camping trip or something similar and someone is profiting from the products they sell that may very well be in violation of child labor laws.

Securing adequate funding for schools is the responsibility of the School Board Members and Administrators. If they are incapable of raising revenue through the appropriate channels, then they should be the ones knocking on doors to pitch overpriced wrapping paper, not the students.

[DeadElephant_ORG]

26. How about we FUND our schools properly with TAXES - and cut OUT those profiteering middlemen??? nt

[BobRossi]

27. Some schools offer the option of a direct donation. nt

[bobbolink]

28. Very good points raised. One more point, about the necessary funds.

School bonds are often taxes on property. There ARE people who can't afford more taxes on their home...... older people, people who have been downsized. They aren't being "selfish" to vote against more property taxes... they simply want to be able to keep their homes.

We MUST go back to progressive income taxes--it's the only fair way!

a saying from my generation...

"I dream of the day when schools have all the money they need to educate children, and the military has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber."

[aikoaiko]

30. Why not simply say "no, thank you. I given all that I can this year"

:shrug:

[Skittles]

41. because you WANT to help

but you want to help the right people

[RebelOne]

31. Every person in my office who has a kid in school

puts those brochures in the break room. It's starting this month. One person is pushing his son's Boy Scout popcorn. I never buy any of that stuff.

[NICO9000]

33. I had to say "no thanks" to a Cub Scout the other day

Been lurking for years, but chronic unemployment has made me finally come out of the closet and join the discussions. :)


As a former Scout, I've had lots of problems with what they've allegedly become these days, but I felt a twinge of guilt to have to turn down the little guy. I remember some of the crap they made me try and sell and how bad I felt when I would get turned down over and over. Back in the late-60s, you could go door-to-door with Dad standing outside the house to make sure you didn't get snatched up. It didn't help that the stuff this kid was selling looked barely one step up from the junk the kids that do come to the door in my neighborhood hawk out of plastic bins to "help keep them out of gangs and off drugs." My wife mentioned that the Cub Scouts should take a page from the Girl Scouts and sell something people actually want. I can't wait 'till every March to buy more cookies than I actually need from them!

[lastliberalintexas]

52. Welcome to DU

And good luck with the chronic unemploymnet! :)

[CharmCity]

35. Amen!

I said no this year and wrote a check to the school.

[FreedomFlower]

36. Isn't it ironic?

the adbot advertisements for this thread are "Start your fundraiser today" Entertainment book and links to other fundraising companies.

[DeadElephant_ORG]

38. very

[AwakeAtLast]

39. My school district did something totally different this year

Our elementaries held walk-a-thons, promoting a healthy lifestyle while earning cash per lap/minute. No overhead, no going door-to-door, and no cheap Chinese made crap! They made the same amount as they have with typical fundraisers and the kids had a blast!

[Skittles]

42. that IS good

I'd sponsor a kid doing that - yes INDEED

[lastliberalintexas]

51. My SE Texas elementary of 30+ years ago did jumpathons

We kids got to see who could jump rope the longest while being sponsored for X dollars/cents per hour or just a flat rate sponsorship. It was a great fundraiser because, as you point out, we had wonderful exercise, people weren't "forced" to buy junk at ridiculous prices, ALL the money went to the local school, and people could donate as little or as much as they could afford.

I wish more schools would do those again!

[scheming daemons]

40. Wow... aren't you a nasty witch

You don't want to buy anything, don't buy.


Don't be a prick/bitch about it.

[Skittles]

43. missing the point, as usual

[whistler162]

44. No you are actually paying, ie. adding to the profit of

the corporation $3.

$5 - donation/funds to whatever school fundraising activity
$2 - Items cost
$3 - profit to corporation that supplies said item. Nice profit margin, probably more like $.5 to make and ship and $4.5 to corporation.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

45. Marching Band our kids belonged to had to raise a fair amount of money to be competitive

They did some small ones, but did a spring mulch sale every year for big bucks. A few couples did all the prep work and over a single weekend the band would sell/deliver bagged mulch. I think one weekend they did 18-20 semis trucks of bagged mulch. It was cited as being the biggest fundraiser for school in the county outside of the tax bills. We bought mulch and help deliver. Was actually kind of fun.

[MadHound]

47. Tell you what, schools will stop with the sales stuff

When you convince a super majority of voters in your area to raise property taxes sufficiently to properly fund your school district.

Oh, wait say the people, we don't want our property taxes raised and we're a large enough minority(notice, not a majority) of voters that we can block school funding.

Thus schools are now forced to sell crappy stuff at exorbitant prices in order to be able to afford the basics, books, supplies, etc. etc.

That's the choice you have, this is what you get when you allow the public to determine education funding.

[lastliberalintexas]

54. There are other options

If a fundraiser is necessary, why not try the walkathon or jumpathon route? The school would probably make even more money on those since the corporation wouldn't get a slice of the pie.

Besides, I'd like to see property taxes (and sales taxes) eliminated and replaced with progressive income taxes at the state level. If you're sreaming of the day bond issues pass, then I can dream of the day we have progressive taxation again.

[Horse with no Name]

48. I just make a donation if it is a worthy cause

and they can keep their cheap Chinese crap.
It kills two birds with one stone.
On edit:
I DO buy the meat from the FFA. I love it and can't wait until they sell it every year.

[OneBlueSky]

63. there's something even worse . . .

some rather dubious nonprofits are sending kids door to door to sell junk items at ridiculous prices, telling consumers that it's to support a youth center or whatever . . . there's one group in partcular -- something like the New York Youth Club -- that hits our neighborhood about once a month (I'm in a suburb 30 miles from the city) . . . they each cart around an ice chest filled with large candy bars, scented candles, and other assorted crap, all with a set price of $6 . . . their pitch, of course, is that most of the price is a donation to the charity . . . I haven't bought anything, and I haven't been able to find out anything about this group, but they sure as hell are active in the New York suburbs . . .

[Manifestor_of_Light]

66. I think those magazine sellers are a scam for young people.

May be the same people -- I don't know. There was a series about it in the Houston Press some time ago.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

67. We had to sell junk to finance orchestra trips in the late 60s.

I hated selling candy, stuffed animals, etc. But we had to rent two airconditioned buses to go play in far flung parts of the state and compete.

[4_TN_TITANS]

69. HOW ABOUT FUNDING SCHOOLS COMPLETELY???

I hate buying and selling crap as much as the next person, but since NO ONE wants to pay more taxes, this is the result.

Especially here in TN, the same people that piss and moan about their kids having to peddle stuff are the same ones who will vote down any and every increase in funding so the schools wouldn't have to do this.

Think about it this way - instead of giving the money directly to the schools, we are giving to private business who takes a cut and gives the school a fraction.