I know that when we first were approached with this concept, I went through my check register for the previous school year (a fundraiser year) and added up all fundraising checks I'd written. It totalled almost $250! So writing a check for $125 seemed like a no-brainer!

This idea is great because it controls the amount that is given to you. In the past when some schools said when the offered the option of letting people make a one time donation to exclude them from fundraising people gave all different amounts and some amounts given were not substantial enough. This idea controls the amount and the whole name recognition thing is nice.

For the last two years our organization has run as a Booster Club. We have no fundraisers. Instead, we offer memberships starting at $75. The benefits of membership are: no fundraisers, a comprehensive school directory, voting privileges, lots of recognition.

Are there any other groups out there that function this way?

Our parents are thrilled to not have to sell anything anymore, and are happy to pay the $75 or $125 membership fee. We've also gotten many corporate sponsors that are usually businesses of school families. We allow them to underwrite assemblies, and we give them recognition on our school cable channel, newspaper, etc. Corporate sponsorships are anywhere from $400 - $2000.

Last year, in our second year, we raised an astounding $52,000, up almost $20,000 from our inception year.