Oh...

I would suggest going towards the green/ sustainable route!
We've all had enough wrapping paper and junk food fundraisers.
Those "box top" fundraisers puts more money into the companies that feed our kids junk food, if you look at how much money you make from them, they get rich, you don't!

Check out these websites with non-food fundraising ideas: http://www.nojunkfood.org/fundraising/todo.html
http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/fundraisers.html
http://www.sfusdfood.org/pdfs/nonfood_fundraising.pdf
http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/DEPS/Student/Nutrit...

Whatever fundraising route you choose to go, please consider the environmental impact of your actions. It's more important than most of us realize. Take, for instance, those wrapping paper fundraisers! Do we need to cut down trees, bleach the paper with poisonous dioxins and dyes? There's gotta be a better way here!

Some schools have been selling Klean Kanteens (refillable water bottles that don't contain harmful chemicals), and coordinate it with a campaign to get kids back to the drinking fountains! Most tap water is of good quality. New Yorkers might be interested to find out that Dasani water ( a coca cola product) is just Queens tap water! Why pay 1000 times more for it?? Sigg Bottles are another option.

Equal Exchange has some great fundraisers for free trade coffee and chocolate. It's great to educate kids ( and parents) in the community about free trade issues. www.equalexchange.org

Also check out the National Gardening association. They have great bulb fundraisers that work well in container gardens as well as in the yard. http://www.kidsgardening.com/fundraising.asp

I finished Thomas Friedman's new book, 'Hot Flat and Crowded" this weekend. I'm convinced more than ever that each one of us needs to consider sustainability first and foremost! Check out the Green Schools Alliance www.greenschoolsalliance.org to learn more.

2 moms found this helpful

Hi C.,
:)
I'm the owner of Bloomin' Cosmetics, and although I started as a primarily pregnancy-focused business, it has grown to be a natural body/home care business that serves all ages. Our Organic Kids Foaming Handsoap is a great seller, because it's just like "Kandoo", but isn't filled with all kinds of chemicals our kids shouldn't be touching. :) I am currently working on my bloominbody.com site, but have a full list of available products. I can offer wholesale pricing on your school's order, and do either online-catalogues or in-print (for a fee).

I'm not local, but I do offer free shipping on orders over a certain (very attainable) number.:)

All of our products are handmade, vegan, all natural, pesticide free, SLS-Paraben free and some are made with organic components.

Please feel free to phone me to discuss options.:)

Sincerely,
M. Macari
Owner/Creator
Bloomin' Cosmetics
1-888-432-7171

1 mom found this helpful

I think that the best fundraisers are the ones that are easy. The ones we participate in most are the ones that involve local businesses. You can check wih some restaurants and Ice cream places and sometimes they will designate a night that a portion of the profits go to the school. I know Barnes & Noble does it too. Cataloges of junk are a pain in the butt. I think a box of fundraiser candy like the sports teams sell are even a good idea. They usually sell easily and quickly and some kids can probable sell more. I think the key is to do something that a 'customer" can have instantly and that they don't have to remember to bay for in 8 weeks wen it comes in or something they pay for now and don't get for 8 weeks. We have we all bought something just to buy it. Another thing that I have see a few times is a Vender Fair. You can find a Friday night that the school is available and ask any parents that do home demonstrations to set up a table in the gym and donate a portion of their profits. There are many different companies that are represented. Pampered Chef, PartyLite, Tastefully Simple, Disovery Toys. The"fake"Purses and many others. You could send a letter home to parents and see who does what and organize it from there. Many poeple are more comfortable purchasing from their friends that a srange copany. Good Luck. I didn't see what area you are from, but I am in Hamilton and I know demonstrators for many different things, let me know if you need any info.

1 mom found this helpful

I do fundraising frequently for many different organizations. I can send you sample forms of how it works. [It's a lot like the Girl Scout Cookies method. People make selections from catalogs; orders are processed quickly and 30% of the orders are donated to the organization. It can easily raise thousands of dollars for your organization.] I am an Executive Senior Director for Mary Kay, Inc. Just email me or call me and I will furnish you with details. I. Collins ###-###-#### ____@____.com

1 mom found this helpful

We have done tupperware catalogue sales .... if you'd like to discuss it please contact me directly. They've been pretty successful and it's an item everyone can use .... and not get fat from ;)

J.

1 mom found this helpful

My sorority use to hold bake sales. You could do this at all the sporting events. All the soccer games, basketball games, baseball games...set up a table and make it where all the mom's in the PTA donate items to sell. Another thing we did every Easter. We had a raffle. We filled about 400 easter eggs with candy and in a few (maybe 100) we entered raffle tickets that entered the finder in a chance to win something like baseball tickets or something along those lines. If someone in the council has a hubby with season tickets, see if he'd give up tickets to one of the games and then you raffle them off. Even season ticket holders don't use every one. We sold the eggs for a dollar or 2 and that was an easy way to get a couple hundred fast. We did this while I was in college and we always sold all the eggs. Another idea, have a casino night for the parents. Get betting wheels and such, which you can rent from a rent a center type place, have it catered and charge maybe $50 a couple. Make a black jack table or 2 and a poker table. And have some of the mom's or dad's volunteer to be dealers. During the casino night have a silent auction too. Lots of local business will donate items if you ask.

1 mom found this helpful

My husband & I have been very involved in our 10 yr olds school fundraisers and such. The most successful ones we can recall were the the candy sales. He would put them out on his counter at work and go through at least 2 cases a week. Not to mention how easy it was to turn in the money and get a few more cases. No sorting, bulky boxes that have to be sorted through. I'm not against the catalog fundraisers, I just think that some of the items break quickly or just don't seem like they are worth the money. Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

Bake sale, silent auction, fashion show, concert, pot luck, tag sale, casino night, flower sale, car wash, parent-child dance, my brain is much from night waking with my 9 month old. Sorry.

1 mom found this helpful

Scrip is the way to go. Parents purchase cards from the school at face value and the school makes a percentage of the sale. Parents can use these cards for their everyday purchases such as groceries. All it takes is planning on the parents part. If one knows they spent $400 per month at the grocery store why not give somne of that money to the school. All one has to do is purchase the $400 worth of cards in advance.They will be spending the same amount of money for everyday items and at the same time supporting the school

1 mom found this helpful

C.,

Congrats on your VP position. That's great. I, too, stongly beleive that parents should support their childs school PTO/PTA. I'm a member for the past 2 years (son in 2nd grade & daughter in K)and have really gotten myself involved. Last year, I started "Vendor Night". I'm an independent distributor for Premier Designs Jewelry and I thought that was a great way to get my name out there. We had a great turn out despite the (hurricane) storm we were having. Also, our school does "Candy Bingo Night". OMG, what a blast. Too many details, but please get in touch with me and I can fill you in on both. And, you better stop that boy from growing. I can't beleive how young and how tall. God Bless him. Have a wonderful year as VP and you'll do great.

Take care,
J. ###-###-#### cell
____@____.com

1 mom found this helpful

Hi C.!
If you think your school would be interested in earning money from their supporters,friends, and family from booking travel online,please let me know. It is so easy and is something that can create revenue year round. Simply tell people about the travel website (with prices found to be the same or LOWER than the other guys)and people book their travel and your school gets a cut of the commission! That's it! Any questions would be directed to me for help. The sky is the limit! Flights, cruises, car rentals, family vacations! Even if people are not comfortable booking online, I can help them book offline and the school would still get credit! Know any dads that travel for business? Why not have them support the school in the meantime! It is a simple way to keep money coming in. Please contact me via email if this interests you and we can discusss. Best wishes,
N. DeJesus

1 mom found this helpful

I love Square1Art. I am an art teacher and use them every Fall. My students do a drawing or painting and I send it to Square1. The parents get back a free magnet made with the drawing printed on it and a letter offering such things as T-Shirts, Clocks, Back Packs, pot holders, etc with the child's art printed on it. I do it before the Christmas/Hannukah season and suggest that parents use it to give gifts.
Last May I also worked with KIDSART Fairs (no apostrophe). They sent me special sized paper and the children drew, painted or pasted on it. I sent it all to them and they came in May and set up an art exhibit of framed (under glass) art made by every single child in the school. The parents could buy the frames. If not, the work was removed and returned to them. If they bought it, they walked out of the exhibit with it. I raised $1,200.00 and 40% of the parents purchased frames. I am repeating both fund raisers. If you have a cooperative art teacher it is even better. I raised my money for the art dept. If (s)he helps you raise money for the PTA, you should use some of that money to enrich the art program.

1 mom found this helpful

Congratulations! I am a former PTA president and District PTA co-chairperson. Its a big responsibility but it is so important. Here is an idea that I wished I could have used back then. Have the PTA get a free vacation voucher from one of the organizations out there. You can raffle the vacation vouchers off for a small fee $1. Get the 2 night/3day vouchers. It should help increase the attendance and bring some nice revenue.

If you don;t want to invest in an account of your own, then find a homebased travel agent with YTB out in your area and they can supply the certificate for free in exchange in giving a brief presentation.

Congrats again!

1 mom found this helpful

Hi C., Congratulations!! As a former PTA co-President I will tell you it is not an easy job but very necessary. I'm sure your kids will be proud. Fundraisers are usually the pictures, candy sales etc. We had one VP that brought in a book fair. Half of the sales came back to the school. for raising smaller amounts you can do cake sales and Holiday Botiques. The students love cupcakes for 50 cents after lunch, just make sure you advertise. If you can't get parents to bake you can go to a day old bakery and purchase cakes at half price and sell by the piece. Best wishes and have fun... Grandma Mary

1 mom found this helpful

C.,
I specialize in Fundraising nationwide with gourmet food and candles. I also offer fundraising parties, and would love to help.
Please take a look at my website and give me a call so we can discuss what your group is needing to raise and how to do it simply.
K.
http://www.hgpchic.com

1 mom found this helpful

I am in the same boat doing fundraising as a VP for a nursery school. Im using the Entertainment book, and its going great. Carrabas, and Giffys went well too.
Email me if you want more info...

1 mom found this helpful

innisbrook (sp?) gift wrap gives 50% back to school. they have gift wrap, bags, tags, bows, gifts, and chocolates. decent enough prices too.

1 mom found this helpful

I didn't see this idea. Our PTA got a local pizza place to pick a few days a year where they will donate half their proceeds that particular night to the school. It gets them extra business on a slow night, is great for advertising and even those strapped for cash sometimes like to get a pizza.

1 mom found this helpful

Aside from everyone collecting the Box Tops, our school does a plant sale. It's much more worth while then the cheap garbage candles, and expensive wrapping paper, and other gadgets.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi C.,

Wow, you've certainly gotten a lot of ideas. Fundraising is very time consuming and usually is a one time deal that has to be repeated over and over again. I have a slightly different idea for you. I purchase all of my household items...toiletries, cleaning supplies, first aid supplies, vitamins, etc. from a wonderful company(everything is non-toxic, environmentally friendly, safe for kids, and very affordable...comparable to discount store prices)...therefore I am a customer of theirs. Every customer is allowed to work with a non-profit agency...when I work with my non-profit, I tell others how they can shop with this company for their household items, when they become customers, they shop month after month because they need these items, and the non-profit gets a check each and every month. It's pretty remarkable, and very easy to do...and the kids don't have to go around selling anything! Feel free to contact me if you want to know more about it...just send me a personal email! Thanks and congrats on your new PTA position!

D.
mother to 5 wonderful children

1 mom found this helpful

Perhaps sign them up with
igive.com
and
goodsearch.com

you can also set up a giving works account with ebay

best of luck
E.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi C.,

The company I am affiliated with has a great fundraising program. Call me and we can talk.
You can contact me at: ###-###-####

C.

1 mom found this helpful

find a local AVON rep. they always have great fundraisers

1 mom found this helpful

C.,

Hello, one thing that my sons school has done the past few years is a thing they called Spring Fling and I was able to make it last school year. It was so much fun they had different activities for the kids and a bunch of venders and each vender donated a item to be raffled off. Best of luck.

J.

1 mom found this helpful

For our main fundraiser we do wrapping paper from Innisbrook simply because they give the largest portion/percentage back to the school. We also do a parents social night where we do lots of silent auctions - including things donated by the teachers such as "Lunch with Mrs. Smith" for 4 students and she will take them for pizza - but the parents bid big bucks for the special opportunity with the teacher. Some also do bowling, manicures, even breakfast with the principal. It costs you nothing and we get big bucks - though now that I am looking at your inquiry and realizing you have big kids, I'm not sure they want to hang with the teachers. Other additional things we have done are school logo planners, and eco friendly stuff such as Kleen Kanteen bottles and Wrap-n-mats.

Good Luck!

1 mom found this helpful

Hi C.- my daughter's school participates in the scrips program, they give us parents a 2 page list of gift certificates available and every 2 weeks and weekly closer to the holidays we can purchase these gift certificates and the school get 12% of the profit. I think it's great- it's gift certificates my family would buy anyway and I don't have to go selling to the grandparents. Good luck
A.

1 mom found this helpful

Congrats on being selected VP. My name is N., Independent Consultant with Arbonne International and I can do fundraising with you. Send an email to set things up. Wonderful success on whatever venture you decide.

1 mom found this helpful

I would suggest that whatever fundraising efforts you do that you make sure that your target audience knows exactly where the money is going. I know as a parent that I wont participate in fundraisers that do not explicitly tell me where the money is being spent. If I know, I will work like the devil! If I dont, I am suspicious as to where my money is going! Hope that helps!

1 mom found this helpful

I sell Tastefully Simple and I have seen other consultants do fundraisers for schools and they have worked great. I think that is true of any direct sales company. Find something that you think will sell well, like tupperware, candles, jewelry, or food (!!) and find a direct sales representative for that company in your area and use them. They usually give you a little larger percentage than the bigger companies because they are working with you personally. Good luck!!

1 mom found this helpful

Hi C., I was the VP at my daughters elementry school, and on Friday nights we had family movie night. We did not charge to see the movie but we charged for refreshments. We served franks & burgers, juice, candy & etc. Now we have to have heatlhy eating habits so do the carrots & celerly, stuff that is fun for kids. We did this once a month and the amount of dollars that we raised was great. This was done in the auditorium.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi C.,
I'm a Consultant with Home Interiors and we have an awesome Fundraising program where you are able to keep 50% of the profits - which is HUGE! The candles are beautiful and reasonably priced, I will provide all the selling materials and support that you need and shipping is free with a $1500 order - so it's a great opportunity for your organization to really pull in some money.
Now is the time for candles - they make great gifts for the holiday and everyone enjoys them in their homes throughout the fall & winter season - give me a call at ###-###-#### or email ____@____.com or you can check out my website at www.homeinteriors.com/heathergentry and I can answer your questions and give you some more information.
Good Luck and I look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
H.

1 mom found this helpful