IMHO - no. Doing this opens the flood gates for others to come to the organization trying to hock their 'wigets.' If you say yes to this person and no to the next then you are percieved as 'playing favoritizm' etc and soon perceptions of the group will influence more than they should. Even if someone donates all of their earnings they are still getting something from the cmpany they sell the 'wigets' from ~ a step up in sales standing perhaps (raises) or a new earnings bracket/percentage for the rest of the sales year are just a few.
Looking at our fundraiser file (mailers from companies) our group can come up with plenty of other things to sell if we feel we need to absolutely run another fundraiser. Nip this in the bud and you can save everyone a headache in the future.

I am going through the same thing right now.

I have a member who is a MaryKay rep. She approached the Principal, and then e-mailed me, about kicking back a percentage of sales during a certain time. I'm so on the fence about this...

On one hand extra money is great. If someone wants to give it to us we'll take it. On the other hand she is a member, which means she is getting favorable treatment, at least to a degree.

I have another member (a realtor) who promoted, but just within the active committee, that anyone who referred her a home that she sells, that she would kick back a certain percentage to the PTO.

For some reason this one seemed more acceptible. Maybe it's because there are less realtors in the school than there would be sales reps. Maybe it's because I know that once we allow this one member to promote her product that others might start asking for the same thing.

My worst worry is that our group is going to start looking like a "we want your money" group, which is not the case. But from the parent's point of view, they see us asking them to attend the roller-skating nights (we make like $1 per skater - no that much), attend the Harvest party (we try to break even, but it's $3 per kid), the food drive, the Friendly's Night (go eat dinner there on a certain night and we get a percentage), cutting out BoxTop$, etc.

So, if these members send fliers home to the general populace, I feel that this negative belief can be attached to the group. I think the way I am going to handle it is only allow it to be promoted within the active group. Allow the person to hand out fliers at the meetings, mention it in the minutes, but not allow it to be sent home or be mentioned on the website or in the morning announcements.

Regards,
PresidentJim

These message boards are full of really thoughtful answers.

Please give me your feedback on what you feel about running a fundraiser that only supports one members business. The fundraiser is roughly this -- use this members business and they will kick back a portion of their "profit" for that time.

I'm really conflicted about this... it feels alot like individual member benefit and BIG time setting a bad precedent. However, I acknowledge that fundraising can be a difficult task and creativity is needed.