I suggest that you survey your parents to find out their views of fundraising. Unfortunately, it is most necessary in every school district in the country. I live in Philly and we would be dead without our fundraisers. With that in mind, we also have our free events like DLF mentioned above. Parental involvement is critical to your existence, so having a few free Family Events each year would only help the cause. It is like the slogan says, "We do not exist to fundraise; we fundraise to exist!"
DLF is exactly right, people are a lot more accepting of a fundraiser with a published purpose. And I find people often like knowing what percentage the PTO/school keeps, not minding so much that the items are a bit pricey. (But you'll have to decide if that's information you want to disclose.)
When your fundraiser is an event that just happens to also raise funds, folk perceive that very differently.
My family gets hit with at least 20 fundraisers a year. (I have two kids involved in multiple organizations plus sports and then nieces/nephews, friends and neighbors who hit us up).
Even when I'm really sick of kids asking me to buy cookie dough and magazines and chocolate, I don't mind so much if it's something I'll actually use.
As a consumer - my favorite one is the Entertainment Passbook as I'll quickly recover my initial cost. Cookie dough (and we seem to do a lot) is okay. Pricey, but I'll at least use it. My least favorite is the typical catalog of overpriced trinkets, candy, giftwrap. Even for a "good cause", it's hard for me to justify buying that stuff.
You might want to figure our your own population's views, what else is being sold, and factor that into the selection of any sales type fundraisers.
Also--having a budget together that shows in black and white how much the events will cost helps a lot. Then some great ideas on some lasting enhancements you can do as your PTOs legacy to the children and the school. Then you have a tangible reason for doing the fundraising. We've taken on the philosophy I've first heard of hear -- doing 3 free events for every fundraiser (I think it is a PTA thing). That has a nice ring for me. I also like to specifically target a fundraiser. Now we are doing the 12 baskets of Christmas (yes we say Christmas) and showing that it will go toward adopt a classroom. I think folks don't mind as much if they know where their money is going. d
Is it the PTO leadership or the general population of parents that doesn't like fundraising? And is it all fundraising or sales activities?
If it's the general population, I'd survey them, explaining what programs are typically provided by the PTO and asking what direction they want to go in the future.
Our elementary school PTO (due to district request) has moved to a model where only the school has big fundraisers. They want to the PTO to focus on volunteerism,parent involvement, teacher appreciation. The school doesn't ask the PTO to fund things like field trips and equipment.
The PTO still needs some funds to operate. Their (net) budget now is probably less than $5000. Their funds come in from:
Membership fees ($5 per family)
School supply sales
T-shirt sales
School Directory
Breakfast with Santa (break even)
Spring Fling (Dance, auction, etc.)
Family Nights at local restaurants
The PTO doesn't have a lot of money and doesn't fund much now. But it's every bit as important and valuable in the way it contributes to the school.
My entire group views fundraising as this disgusting act of begging. It's really strange, our old school did it with good reputable companies and fun events. How do you change this culture and attitude? I'm a new prez and I'm sinking fast. The old prez is still around and very vocal about how we shouldn't have fundraisers...where the heck does she think all this $$ comes from?????? HELP
