AES - if you wanted to get some people fired up, you've come to the right place. I'm not expert at this site YET, but . . . .

"I work full time and unlike
the "career pto" moms who have time to sit around and come up with every different fundraiser"

I, too, work full time, outside of the home. I have learned that those who do not necessarily bring in a paycheck - those "stay at home moms" - work harder than I could ever hope to.

That said, I still recognize that without PTO and people who organize it - my school wouldn't have much computer software, equipment like an Ellison Die Cut Machine, extra swings (like more than 8 for a 550 student elementary school) teacher appreciation events, cultural arts assemblies, a DARE program, transportation to/from field trips, or many of the other "luxuries" that they have become accustomed too. For those reasons and the two that I kiss goodnight every night - I get up early to research the best fundraisers, meet late with committees to discuss such things as fundraisers and upcoming events. Spend lunch hours cooridnating scheduling of school property with the principal and our park district who co-own our gymnasium for things like the mom/daughter, father/son events, the cafeteria for Market Day and the library for Book Fair. Some of my free time is spent on the school's school improvement team and technology committee.

Lest you think I am complaining - nothing could be further from the truth - while it is not my religion (Catholic, thanks for asking and I manage to squeeze that in at least once a week as well!) it is something of great concern to me. The opportunity for my children to have the best education possible, and for me to play a part in that, is important to me.

If you don't want to sell the cookie dough, THEN DON'T. Just call the coordinator of the event, ask what they are projecting each child will sell, ask the profit on it and write a check. You can now take a deduction on your taxes as you've made a contribution to an organization and not received goods or services for that donation.

As for the "one more way that the PTO can benefit" comment - I would let you know that I have a box the size of a copy paper box full of folders for PTO (and no, I don't worship it every day as you might think). There are so many opportunities out there that sound like "no brainers" that if we did them all I would have a room full. My suggestion, however, since you believe so strongly in seeking out these no brainers instead of selling things, is that you attend the next PTO meeting at your school, raise your hand, and volunteer to do the research, set up, and manage just a few of them. Don't worry, you won't be part of the "inner circle" unless you want to be, but be careful - you might find that the good you do for the students of that school is something that you can't help yourself - you'll keep doing more and more.

Thanks to all who let me vent. I'll probably come back and read this later and just delete it - but I get MAD when people use the defense mechanism of "I work" or the "inner circle" as their reasons (scratch that - EXCUSES) for not being involved. Maybe YOU think your kids don't care that you are not always there to help because YOU WORK, but I'll bet if they were honest with you they will tell you differently. I'm NOT criticizing ANYONE for working outside of the home, I am saying that if you believe in it you can do both and if you don't, that's fine, too, but don't criticize those of us who do!

Sorry for the sarcasm.

Cathie

[ 06-08-2002: Message edited by: IMovePeople ]

[ 06-08-2002: Message edited by: IMovePeople ]

[ 06-08-2002: Message edited by: IMovePeople ]</p>

Thank you for your support, Tim. Good job catching the link. If travelmom is truly a PTO member then I would like to share a little perspective on this "elite" fundraising idea. All of our PTO's plans take into consideration the needs and wants of all of our ENTIRE school community. Although we are a predominately middle class neighborhood, our student body also includes children who are temporarily residing at a women's crisis center. As most PTO groups, our primary goal is to support and enhance the school environment for ALL the children at our school. So as you may guess, cruises are not even an option for a small number of our children. We do not require families to participate in fundraising and do not discriminate against those who cannot. However, we do "sit around" dreaming up fundraising programs that are appropriate FOR EVERYONE. We also "sit around" dreaming about each and every one of the students being happy and safe in school, well educated and given every opportunity we can afford to give them. If those opportunities arise in part because a little kid clutching a single boxtop proudly hands it in every week, then its fine with us. To our PTO, that boxtop is just as important as the 100 tubs of cookie dough another student may have sold. Thanks for letting me express my feelings.

AES -

If you come to a message board and ask for opinions (aes=travelmom), you really shouldn't get upset if those opinions aren't what you were looking for.

I can tell you that name-calling regarding PTO moms (some of the hardest-working, most-dedicated, most well-intentioned people I've ever met) will not make a cruise fundraiser any more popular.

Tim

I love this idea!
To tell you the truth, I work full time and unlike
the "career pto" moms who have time to sit around and come up with every different fundraiser - that requires me to sell unwanted items such as cheap(quality)catalog items or tubs of cookie dough that gets freezer burnt,etc,etc. - to my family and coworkers, I would much rather have the OPTION of contributing to my childrens school by their PTO making a profit on the cruise that I did take last fall - and the fact that they could have also profited from my parents and childrens portion of the cruise price. I know several families who have taken cruises recently, it's not like its something nobody is doing.
For the record I do participate in our PTO program but I get really annoyed - as I know many,many parents who are not in the "inner PTO
circles" of their childrens schools do, when members assume that everybody shares the same excitement of selling coupons books.
I am signed up with KMart and Target and feel good about a portion of my purchases going to our school - I would feel the same about a cruise purchase or any other purchase that I'm going to make anyway - Why not benefit anyway we can?
I will continue to participate, all I'm saying is, for those of you who do this PTO thing as a religion, you need to realize, the more options available, the more parents will contribute!

The cruise fundraiser almost sounds identical to a home security company in our area that offered the school something like $10 for each installation. We had no takers, of course. Luckily, the company provided the flyers so we didn't lose anything.
As for the internet shopping, it only works if you have dedicated internet shoppers. I'm the only one at our school that goes that route, and the school received a check for over $60 last quarter from Schoolcash.com (it usually pays higher percentages than Schoolpop.com) for my shopping. You have to remember to start your shopping from their home page, and that's the hardest thing to get other people to do.

Sounds like a travel company trying to cut back their advertising budget! What about donating a cruise for a raffle? Now, that sounds like a good idea.

As for the internet shopping, that could be interesting for us! Living in South America and having little access to products we actually want to buy shopping via internet is definitely our best friend. Has this worked for anybody out there??