Care To Buy Some Wrapping Paper?
This week we started getting welcome packets for the schools the boys will be going to in the fall. Michael will be in preschool 2 mornings a week, and Matthew will be in a Mother's Morning Out program 1 morning a week.
It seems that school fundraising starts even at the youngest ages. Yes, 3 year old Michael will be recruited to sell wrapping paper as soon as school starts. (Hopefully they don't do it at Matthew's MMO program. How rediculous would it be to expect a <1 year old to do fundraising?)
Greg and I are totally against these wrapping paper sales. We've bought the stuff from neices and nephews in the past, so we've been hands-on with the products. Talk about overpriced! Normally I pay about $3 for a mega-roll of wrapping paper each year at WalMart. (Truthfully, I usually wait until the after-Christmas sale, and get that $3 mega-roll for 50% off!) But with these fundraisers, I can spend $14 to get half as much wrapping paper! What a bargain! HA!
Why not just buy my $3 mega-roll at WalMart, and give the other $11 to the school as a cash donation? It's certainly far more money than the school would have gotten from me buying that $14 fundraising roll.
Ah, but then the kids don't qualify for the rewards! Yes, that's right. Sell certain levels of product, and the kids get rewards! Let's be honest. The kids don't relate to selling wrapping paper to get new computers for their schools. But they do relate to getting to the "free Razor-Scooter reward level"!
And where is all the money for these $14 rolls of wrapping paper going? Surely it doesn't cost $14 to make the stuff, and the school isn't getting $14 for every roll sold. A good chunk of the money is going to the corporation. Think these wrapping paper companies are non-profit? Think again. They are corporations just like any other, with staff to pay and facilities to operate.
So really, I don't think it's about fundraising at all. Yes, the schools do get some money. But the corporations get a big chunk too. My 3 year old is not just being asked to help support his school. He is being asked to peddle products for a for-profit corporation.
How will we handle this? At this point, we are not participating in wrapping-paper fundraisers. However, we do want the schools to have the money they need. So we plan to contact the people one would normally peddle to (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.), and explain that we are doing things differently.
Rather than buy wrapping-paper, we will ask them to make a small monetary donation to the school. 100% of which will go directly to the school. And it will be tax deductable! We'll figure out what the reward structure is at the school, and we will reward our sons ourselves based on that model.
It used to be that you sent your kids to school to learn the 3 R's. I guess they've added another R to the formula now -- Rip-Offs.
It seems that school fundraising starts even at the youngest ages. Yes, 3 year old Michael will be recruited to sell wrapping paper as soon as school starts. (Hopefully they don't do it at Matthew's MMO program. How rediculous would it be to expect a <1 year old to do fundraising?)
Greg and I are totally against these wrapping paper sales. We've bought the stuff from neices and nephews in the past, so we've been hands-on with the products. Talk about overpriced! Normally I pay about $3 for a mega-roll of wrapping paper each year at WalMart. (Truthfully, I usually wait until the after-Christmas sale, and get that $3 mega-roll for 50% off!) But with these fundraisers, I can spend $14 to get half as much wrapping paper! What a bargain! HA!
Why not just buy my $3 mega-roll at WalMart, and give the other $11 to the school as a cash donation? It's certainly far more money than the school would have gotten from me buying that $14 fundraising roll.
Ah, but then the kids don't qualify for the rewards! Yes, that's right. Sell certain levels of product, and the kids get rewards! Let's be honest. The kids don't relate to selling wrapping paper to get new computers for their schools. But they do relate to getting to the "free Razor-Scooter reward level"!
And where is all the money for these $14 rolls of wrapping paper going? Surely it doesn't cost $14 to make the stuff, and the school isn't getting $14 for every roll sold. A good chunk of the money is going to the corporation. Think these wrapping paper companies are non-profit? Think again. They are corporations just like any other, with staff to pay and facilities to operate.
So really, I don't think it's about fundraising at all. Yes, the schools do get some money. But the corporations get a big chunk too. My 3 year old is not just being asked to help support his school. He is being asked to peddle products for a for-profit corporation.
How will we handle this? At this point, we are not participating in wrapping-paper fundraisers. However, we do want the schools to have the money they need. So we plan to contact the people one would normally peddle to (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.), and explain that we are doing things differently.
Rather than buy wrapping-paper, we will ask them to make a small monetary donation to the school. 100% of which will go directly to the school. And it will be tax deductable! We'll figure out what the reward structure is at the school, and we will reward our sons ourselves based on that model.
It used to be that you sent your kids to school to learn the 3 R's. I guess they've added another R to the formula now -- Rip-Offs.
posted by Susan | 3:21 PM
1 Comments:
I am so with you on this! Our scam is "Fundraiser Chocolates." I can by a Mars Bar at the shops for $1, but have to pay $2 for the priviledge of supporting the school. Its such a rip off, and the whole thing just points to incredibly poor budgeting by the schools and government!
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