Last month On Parenting in The Washington Post ran a column about those annoying third-party fundraisers by Darlena Cunha: the wrapping paper, the cookie dough, etc. Yes, I agree with her thesis: they are annoying and the fundraising companies take too much of a cut. I don’t like kids asking for money. I’m not in love with third-party fundraising companies myself.
As much as I agree, however, I ran out of patience.
She had to make several phone calls to get to the bottom of her school’s wrapping paper fundraiser before figuring out she should have just contacted the PTA president or fundraising chair to begin with. Or, hey, maybe she could have attended a PTA meeting—she might not have felt so blindsided. Them unsurprisingly, the fundraising vendor didn’t instantly leap to answer her phone call demanding info on the percentage the PTA got to keep. Oh, the horror! Oh, the lack of transparency!
She then goes on to say that it would be so much better if people would just donate money to the school/PTA so we wouldn’t have to have these stupid fundraisers and give the fundraising vendor their cut. I too think that would be awesome.
But for some reason I don’t understand, people just don’t give donations without some kind of…enticement. Not in my experience, anyway.
Full disclosure: I hate fundraising. If someone offered me the role of Fundraising Chair or Vice President for Fundraising, I would rather have a toenail pulled out. (Maybe my baby toe, not the big toe.) Our culture in general has a strange, roundabout approach to charity and raising money for causes in general. You can’t just donate money to cancer research, you have to ride a bike for hundreds of miles and get sponsors. You can’t just donate money to find a cure for ALS, you have to have ice water dumped on your head. You can’t just ask for money for your PTA, you have to sell cookie dough. People need an incentive or a gimmick to donate, and you have to work with that.
That’s where the dreaded third-party fundraisers come in. They offer a solution to a problem to a group of parent volunteers tight on time. For better or worse, they’re filling a gap. Can you blame them?
I don’t understand, but I’ll leave the “why” for a sociologist. I think it has something to do with building relationships, or community, or something. For now, all you need to know is that:
1) The biggest job of your parent volunteer group is fundraising for your school, whether it’s for extras or for basic supplies.
2) People won’t (necessarily) donate money just because you ask nicely, no matter how worthwhile your cause or how serious your needs are.
I’ve heard about a few schools that have had “non-fundraisers.” Sounds a little bit like protection money to me—donate or we’ll make your kids sell desserts! There’s another alternative: Fun Runs and “-athons.”
A fundraiser based on an event brings the community together much more than a gift wrap sale. And unlike the cookie dough sale, it’s based around a healthy activity. That’s sure to get the administration, staff, and families more excited. And it allows families to donate what they can, whether you go by a flat donation or a pledge system.
The downside…there’s a lot of organization involved. Much more than just sending out a catalog. And you have a big choice: use a third party organizer, or take care of the details yourself.
Next post I’ll do a case study of my own experience with a fun run fundraiser. For now, here’s my advice: get informed about your group’s fundraiser. Attend meetings and get involved in the decision-making process, and maybe you won’t feel so blindsided when you get a cookie dough catalog.
The Fearless Volunteer 