We catagorize events as 1)a service that we lose money on, 2)a service that we need to try to break even on, or 3) a fundraiser. If, for some reason we make money on #2, it is usually luck or high attendance and we adjust according so the the next year we just break even. I sometimes think people who try to make money on everything are too worried about the money. We had a big to do about all of this last year and so we try not to do activities that fall in the #2 catagory. Instead we do the #1s and have a donation jar or ask for donations ahead of time. This seems to keep people happier all the way around. So maybe instead of charging for concessions, you could get parents to donate them for the sake of keeping cost down. Good luck.
The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating-in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life. --Anne Morris
I agree with Bertha and Serendipity, but understand that on occasion you'll have those services that end up making a pittance(as with jrzgirl). It's not that you intended it to go there, but that's just how it ended up.
Myself--a fundraiser is an event or sale where you have a mark-up with the intent to make money. Some are more profitable than others, but the intent is still to make money.
Dealing with people who are not rational but are in power is incredibly frustrating. I'm thinking getting a posse together to join some of our meetings would be fun. Sort of an eye opener to my group that the rest of the world --YES, girls, there IS an world outside the little microcosm we live in--is what's normal, not their warped interpretation of it.
THANK YOU Serendipity!! That's what I've been telling Kma all along. Break even or lose a little- that's a service. To make $2500 on your book fair and call it a service, that's just wrong!or to have your Holiday Shop make over $2000 and call that a service-
I'd like to know what kind of drugs these women are on because I want to see the world through rosey colored glasses too! Service my butt!!
We do categorize a few things as services even though we do make some $ on them. Our Pumpkin Patch in the fall & flower sale in May are considered services. We don't expect to make money on them but they are fit into the budget to bring in $100 each. We price the pumpkins/plants just above what we paid for them (by less than a dollar) so that it makes up for the kids that come with no money. When the little ones come with a quarter to buy mommy a mother's day plant, of course we sell it for that price. Last year, we lost money on our plant sale. This past fall, we made $200 on our pumpkin sale.
It's a tricky question. I think if you expect to make a profit, then it's considered a fundraiser. If your just looking to at least break even and unexpectedly make a little money, then it's a service.
LOL Kmamom! I am with you that if you are raising money doing it then you are in fact raising funds and that would be a fundraiser. If it is truly a service then you break even or lose money.
I had this debate a few years ago when we started to run our own holiday store. Someone was trying to defend handing all the money over to a vendor saying it is a service they provide and not a fundraiser. I said no...if you only make $200 and the vendor makes $2000 it is a fundraiser, it is just a lousy one. So instead of handing all the money over to a vendor and having a lousy fundraiser we are going to run our own store and have a great fundraiser. Somebody is making the money either way so it might as well be the PTO and not the outside vendor.
It seems easy enough--is an event a fundraiser or not?
Not so fast....
According to my officers it's only a fundraiser if it is LABELED as such.
Let's say you're providing a service for your school. The intent is to provide a service for the kids/parents--not to make money. BUT--you decidedly mark up the cost of the goods sold to make a profit. Not a HUGE profit, but a sizable one nonetheless (>$1,000). Is this a fundraiser?
You're hosting an event as an evening for the parents. You figure out all your associated costs, then go to figure out how much to charge for the event. You have it clearly laid out that if you charge $X and # of people come you make ___ much. If this # of people come you make ___much. Your goal is to make as much money as possible on the event. Is this a fundraiser?
Feel free to comment--if I'm out of line in my way of thinking I'd like to know.
I'm thinking getting a posse together to join some of our meetings would be fun. Sort of an eye opener to my group that the rest of the world --YES, girls, there IS an world outside the little microcosm we live in--is what's normal, not their warped interpretation of it. 
