I use Ecco Recycling. They will send you individual envelope sleeves for the cartridges to go in. This is beneficial in that I am able to send home the sleeves and they can drop them in the mail themselves b/c the postage is already on there!
We use Empties4Cash and have had a great experience with them. Like the others said...we have a drop box with a poster in the hallway & folks just drop them in. All we do is send 1 flyer out at the beginning of the year and people just drop them off all year long.
I second metzmom, recycling is the easiest fundraiser we do (besides boxtops and giant A+bonusbucks) I have run our program for 2 1/2 yrs now and we have earned probably $3000 in that time. I use funding factory because I love their customer service and they make it very easy, they send prepaid boxes, I don't have to weigh anything or wait for reimbursement, I can just fill up the box, take it to the ups store and drop it off. They let you order up to 1000 flyers at a time (once per month) and I usually send these home every 3 months. We have a box in the office for ink cartridges and people just drop them off. funding factory also takes cell phones. The one thing I would suggest if you do this program. take all the ink cartridges that people bring in, even if they aren't on the list. don't discourage people bringing them in. (funding factory does take pretty much anything including epson cartridges) It's a great program. maggie
We have several 'No Brainers', like General Mills BoxTops, Tyson Chicken Labels, grocery store 'Cash For Schools' programs, etc. One of my favorites is cartridge recycling. I think that you are putting too much thought into it by using the word 'structure'. It really is a 'No Brainer' fundraiser. Simply have a recycling receptacle for the whole school to use(remember, computers in the school use cartridges too). Ours is right inside the main doors of the school, plus we have smaller boxes throughout the school (some of the recyclers provide the cutest little boxes that you put together and then just close and mail). When you send home the notice that you are collecting the cartridges (which many vendors provide each year), tell them that you would appreciate them putting the empty cartridges in a zip-type baggie before sending them to school. We have NEVER had a problem with them coming to school without a baggie. You could even provide a baggie (with your request for them to send in those cartridges) to each family. Don't over analyze this 'No Brainer'. OH! And don't forget to send a request to your district office and to the businesses around town.
For those of you who run a printer cartridge recycling fundraiser program, can you let me know pros/cons and ideas for structuring? We are considering an opportunity to do this but have reservations. Most of our communcations back and forth with parents are through student backpacks. We are concerned students will wind up with them in their packs and teachers will have to handle them (not a favorable aspect to us). Another option is to make "drop boxes" for parents outside the school and concentrate this effort to either one week out of every month, or every 2 months--whatever might work. Any suggestions? We are a school of 700 students, 450 families. Have no idea what type of return to expect and if it's worth pursuing (one more thing for parents to collect--but again, it's recycling and garbage anyway). Thanks--
