Does anyone have an example form on what they used for the cash donations. Have been looking into this just don't know where to start on wording. Thanks
Our main fundraiser of the year is our pledge drive. We ask for $180 per child ($1 per day for each day we are in session). Parents who give at this level get a coupon book with coupons that they can turn in at fundraisers. Their child gets the lowest level prize automatically if they turn in the coupon and they don't have to feel obligated to buy anything at our fundraisers. The other good thing about pledges rather than just fundraisers is that many corporations will match funds their employees give. As long as you are a 501c3 you can get matching money from most of the big corporations.
We used to be a membership PTO where you had to join for $25. We got rid of the membership a couple of years ago and now every parent is a member, but we run our pledge drive instead. We also raised the amounts we ask for. We have found if you don't ask you don't receive. We have a school fof 900 kids and raised almost $40,000 in our pledge drive. One of the schools in our area raised $90,000 with the same amount of kids and didn't have to do any other fundraising all year.
We did have other fundraisers (our budget is almost $100,000 a year).
We started an "opt-out" program at our school three years ago. We do a flyer that goes out in our welcome packet. The parents have the choice to opt-out of the regular fundraisers (gift wrap, cookie dough) and give a tax-deductible donation. Last year we had about 20% participation but augmented it with the regular fundraisers which many parents still wanted and participated in. BTW, although we had 20% participation, opt-out represented over 25% of our income.
We find that with this option, we get donations from families that had not participated in the "traditional" fundraisers in prior years. We also send a note with the receipt letting parents know that they will still receive fundraising packets but can ignore them. Many, like me, still want their cookie dough!
Last year we gave our parents the option of giving a cash donation in lieu of fundraising for the whole year, not just per fundraiser. We asked for a minimum of $25, but we took whatever the parent sent in. Of course, there were a few families that said they wanted to donate but never sent their money in, even after our treasurer sent a letter reminding them of their decision.
The hardest part about doing this was making sure that the families who "opted out" didn't receive packets when the fundraisers stared.
I just conducted a survey of parents in our school. Several said they would participate in fund raisers if given a cash donation option. Many sited workplace policies on solicitation or few family members in the area to sell to. Or products are just junk.
I would like to know how other schools give the option of a cash donation and how you handle it. Do you send a form home? Is it done in conjunction with another fund raiser? One parent said that they would like an option of giving money to the school where the child still gets recognized but doesn't have to sell the stuff, most of which isn't needed. How would you handle that?
