Daddio, I think you are on the right track. In my sons' elementary it was an unwritten rule that kids do not sell anything. Now that one of them has moved up parents are wanting to them to sell. I do not. I had a bunch of small fundraisers planned but the committee did not want that. They want 1 big one that will only make about 30%. After what happened last year (it was their first year) and the economy being what it is (we are rural and gas is about to kill us all just to get where we have to go) I am afraid it will be way down. It only netted about $7,000.00 last year.
In the past the fall festival I worked on included a Royalty contest which never made under $10K while I was there (at that time it was K-5 school). The ceremony was held at night. At first we had a talent show along with that. The principal felt that there was too much commotion for the kids performance to be appreciated. We also had a ham supper at night. Now they do a very successful basket auction along with a prize walk. If we had enough donations we would have the prize walk during the day also. Many parents told me they got alot of their Christmas shopping done that night. Ha ha. So it is promoted as a family night but it makes good money too. In the day time and after the supper concessions are sold which include hotdogs, drinks, and popcorn. If the weather is warm the snocone machine is used also.
For such a small area our businesses give alot. I wanted to have a market day so they could make some money and we could too. It was voted down. I think that is a great way to promote community involvement though.
I like to take advantage of any kind of "no hassle" fundraisers like Chuck E. Cheese night, Chick Fil A, etc. Box Tops are a biggie for us. There is also ink cartridge and cell phones. Not only do you make money off those but those are things people need to get rid of anyhow why not recycle? We also do a spirit sale, I think all of our schools do this. This time I only offered clothing but for our Winter Fest I would like to purchase other spirit items like cups, megaphones, etc. These were good money makers at the elementary. You decide how much you want to charge for each thing.
One month we had a change drive contest when we were trying to switch our playground covering to mulch. We made $1200.00. I think the top three classes got some kind of party.
We also had basketball tourneys at the elementary. At this school they want to do dodge ball tourneys. You could incorporate any kind of event like that. As long as you charge reasonably I don't think people mind to pay for the entertainment. Like a dollar or so, just enough to cover the event since you have so much in reserve. And if you did have an unexpected major something to come up you could use any of these options.
We are getting away from doing catalog sales and going with a read-a-thon to coincide with National young readers week. In the spring we will do a knowledge-a-thon that is grade level appropriate. It does take time for teachers but they are happy that this is educational based and they receive half the profits
When I became president (I'm starting my 3rd year now), we had over $42,000 that was just sitting in a money market account from the previous board (which they where the same board for several years).
Although the PTO has had the monies set asside since we found out, our board didn't feel it was responsible to just spend it because it was there. We have been picking away at with purchase that we needed over the past two years to bring it down to something that is really just a "reserve" - just in case. We do need to remain fiscally responsible too.
At last nights annual budget vote, we included other items again that were to be purchased for this school year. Our new balance once the purchases are made will put the reserve at about $10,000. And, as this year moves forward I would not be surpised if we get that to about half for next years board to have as a reserve.
Daddio - if your PTO has that much money in an undesignated reserve, DON'T do a classic catalog fundraiser this year. Tell your parents why and take the money you need from the setaside fund. The other option is to make a conscious decision to allocate the setaside to something big like a captial improvement or a extra special enrichment activity. As a parent, I would major issues with my PTO accumulating $30,000 with no plan. We try to live by the guiding principle that the people who raise the money should benefit from it.
We advertise our carnival as both. With a student body of 550, we usually have over 1500 attend.
Our kids get votes for king and queen by getting donations from family and friends. They get one vote for every 50 cents as well as one ticket to use at the carnival. We don't try to track which game makes more money. We just make sure there is enough to keep everyone busy for the three hours.
Our teachers are very involved and come up with fun ideas to promote the carnival. We had over 70 kids bring in $100 or more. We sell tickets the night of, but mostly to older citizens coming to play bingo (we get great prizes!).
We charged $7 per wristband and had unlimited games for that. We ended up making about $1800 on the event. We also had food available, but don't try to make anything on it. I have a feeling some places charge a lot more.
