Do you have other officers? Have you met with them yet? Maybe one of them has more experience. Just sharing ideas can be a huge help. Also, I'd call a couple of nearby schools and see if they can put you in contact with their PTO or PTA presidents. Take them out for a cup of coffee and pick their brains! I'll bet they would be glad to help-the people who volunteer for things like this are almost alwasy glad to give advice. And I'll bet you know more than you think you do! While this won't help right now, see if you can attend one of the PTO Today conferences. You won't believe what a help they are, and you'll make greta contacts, too! Good luck.
On the fundraising: If it were me, I'd use a brochure sale first. They are easy to run: One assembly, show the kids the prizes they can win (paid for by the vendor and they usually do the assembly as well). Send the brochure and order form home via the BackPack Express. Mention the sale every morning in the morning announcements and send a couple reminders home. Collect, count, and bank the money on the final day(s). Write a check to the vendor for their amount. They send you the merchandise packed by classroom and by student. Pass it out. Depending on how long you run your sale (usually about 2 weeks), you can expect to make anywhere between $10K-$50K.
Another good one right now, before Christmas, would be See's Candy (but they usually make you buy by the case and that means the possibility of unsold merchandise). Or you can do what we've done in the past: Go to your local merchants. Ask them to donate boxes of candy canes. Tie a gift tag (To/From) to each one. Sell each candy cane individually for .50 or classroom quantity for $10 (covers every child and the teacher per classroom). Put your sales down on lined paper, using a To and From column. Sell them in the mornings before school. When you close up each morning, take your list and write the "To's" and "From's" on the tags that are attached to the candy canes. Have Santa deliver the sold canes to the classrooms the last day you have school before Christmas break. This sale traditionally brings in about $4000 for a school of 700 students. That is selling them each day, before school, for 7-10 days.
The nice thing about this sale is it only takes a few volunteers, each working about 1/2 hour each morning. The downside? The reason we no longer do this sale is because I find it heart wrenching when Santa visits a class and only a few students get a candy cane. It is hard for a small child to understand why Santa didn't bring them one. You can always "give" out small candy canes during Santa's visit, and use the larger canes to sell. Just don't let anyone know that each child will get a candy cane anyway or it will cost you sales.
Thank You for offering such a site!I was just elected last nite. It is so late in the year and I only have one semester to make a difference. There is no parent involvement at my son's school and that's why we had to vote at our Christmas program because most parents came. Our PTO meeting are very short and low in attendance My family and I moved to the neighborhood about a year and a half ago, so I know quite a few people. I am so not knowing of how this system works. I would appreciate any help. How do I start my first meeting and fundraiser? Please help!
