By Miriam G. Aw
As I was sweeping my living room floor one lovely dry hot sunny August morning, I begun to think how wonderful an experience I had as the Chairperson of the PTO Fundraising Committee at St. James-Gaillard Elementary School located in Eutawville, S.C., and as elected President of the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) a few short months later.
One of things I believe whole-heartedly about school fundraising is that it should be ’independently run’ by the school itself, and/or students!
Selling candy, for example, has become a traditional staple for many schools to engage in when seeking to raise revenue for any particular project, activity, or event. Instead of selling candy (or anything else for that matter) for a company that only pay-out small percentages plus offering low-cost prizes, which in my opinion is insulting to say the least, the school should start their own fundraising projects (i.e., bake sales, carnival, bazaars), just to name a few.
By doing so will allow all funds to remain in-house with internal revenue that can be used for whatever purpose, and the beauty of it is that it remains internal.
In addition, the monies that are generated through independent endeavors allows the students to learn networking business skills, to include sharpening their mathematic computations, develop work ethics, and it will help them to observe statistical patterns of sales versus non-sales in any given week, month, or year.
It is time to teach our youngsters the value of independent enterprise by giving them a chance to explore various options to help increase revenue for any given cause relating to their school. Parents, guardians, teachers, and faculty, need to understand that today’s market demand customer-based products and services that will benefit consumers. After all, like adults, youngsters of all ages use cell phones, have satellite dishes in their homes, and they all are seeking ways to cut costs, and save money in every way they can.
The bottom line is simple: You’ve got to give the people want they want, so why not have your school (and students) offer what the people want, and in most cases, need?
The truth of the matter is that your basic school fundraisers, such as selling candy that most people do not need due to health reasons, lack creativity, innovation, and are down-right boring, despite the great efforts made by parents, guardians, neighbors, friends, etc., who support their child[ren], and the school, as it should be!
Writing about this brings me to mind about an animation program called “Boondocks,“ by creator, Aaron McGruder, who illustrates what I’ve been saying for decades about schools using the students to sell many of these companies products, thus receiving so little in return with prizes that are far less in cost than the amount of [their] products being sold.
The second episode “The Fundraiser” on Disk 2 of the Third Season of Boondocks points out how Riley Freeman, a feisty rebellious provocative-thinking young eight-year old, who is the grandson of Robert Jebediah Freeman, his legal guardian, accurately depict the phrase “Pimping these children” in the context that a school, which is ran by the State is receiving 5% revenue from a candy company by allowing the students to candy sell candy on their behalf. And in return, these same children are offered cheesy prizes with a value that is far less than what the candy actually cost to buy.
The sad thing about it is that it took an animated program that is riddled with profane language, but articulated in a shrewd and perceptive tone, to bring the truthful reality about these school fundraiser tactics.
Whether you choose to agree, or not, this topic is evident enough to bring such an issue in the forefront, in spite of how it was presented.
Undoubtedly, once you begin to take the initiative of taking control of your school’s fundraising projects independently that will benefit the students and the school, you will receive skepticism at first.
Believe me, I know. I’ve been there. And as a result of it, every event that took place on an independent basis turned out very well, thanks to the efforts of the people who had served on the fundraising committee, and the elected co-members (Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, etc.) of the PTO who, too, saw my vision.
One of the biggest fundraising achievements was when I started a ‘gift store’ inside the school, so that the elementary students could be able to buy holiday gifts for their loved ones without them knowing what it is because I offered free gift wrapping to the students. They loved it! In fact, these same children are now all grown up, and whenever they see me, they tell me how much they loved the idea of the gift store inside their school!
And let me point out that those candy and pizza companies, for example, who’ve relied on your schools’ participation for decades to sell their items will not like you, not one bit! But hey, they’ll get over it!
And the parents & guardians will love it so much, you’ll see an increase in school meetings!
Copyright 2011 by mgaw. All rights reserved.
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