I was at the PTO Expo too and was approched by reps from Learn2Earn. While I like that all of the questions are going to be educational, there is no guarantee that any students or the school itself will win anything. The way they explained it to me was that the kids answer questions for points, and they can then use the points to enter raffles for various items.
My concern is that it's just one more way for the kids to stay sedentary instead of being outside running around and riding bikes. At least in my house, things like this tend to get "addictive" and I'm pulling junior away from the computer and forcing him to do some other activity.
I plan on looking into it further, especially when it launches, to get a better handle on what it's all about.
We have not been able to have a "garage sale" on campus BUT my church has bee very sucessful with theirs for ten years! A volunteer takes donations (with the understanding that anything that doesn't sell will be donated) and takes about a week to sort and label items. What has been fun, she offers her volunteers a "sneek peek" the day before and whatever we can fit in a copy paper box she asks for a nominal donation. With a couple kids needing community service, I love this and feel good about the $25 I give her.
I have read (take JHB's advise and research this thread topic) much success with offering tables for so much etc. The key is communication in the neighboorhod!
**thinking faster than I can type! sorry for typos!**
I don't have time to post a long message right now, but be sure and use search to look at the older threads on this. We had some great discussions in the past with some good tips.
One quick one...we've done this several times at our elementary. We arrange for a Goodwill or Salvation Army truck to come the day before and be parked on the far end of the parking lot. The PTO space is right next to it. Some people close up earlier than our end time. If they choose, they can donate their leftovers to the PTO space (and get a tax deduction). Then at the end, the PTO loads all it's unsold items into the truck along with everyone else staying to the end. People love this option!
I am not currently on our P.T.O. board, but have served on several. I have found when trying to raise funds that "nonfundraising fundraisers" work brilliantly. One of our most successful was a Turkey Trot. Our Turkey Trot was a school wide walk. We held it on a 1/2 day, in November, and everyone loved it. We made several thousand dollars off of this event and spent virtually nothing. We found a local insurance company that was willing to donate money towards t-shirts. In order to get a t-shirt students had to donate a minimum of $5.00, but regardless of donations, everyone in the school joined in the walk. We also got a DJ to play outside on the playground, which really pumped the kids up. This type of fundraiser could be done in the fall or the spring and it really does not take much to set it up.
We have done Mom-to-Mom type sales at our school over the years where we have rented tables to people. We have never really make more than a couple of hundred dollars with them. This year our P.T.O. is holding a "garage sale." They are asking for donations. Hopefully it will be very successful for them and I hope yours is for you as well. Good luck!
You may want to consider offering an early bird fee to many stores that are on the lookout for jewelry, silver, etc. The early bird shopper may arrive sixty to ninety minutes prior to the general public for an entrance fee of $10-$15.
