I wish that PTA's would spend less time fundraising and more time writing grants to get real amounts of money. Selling wrapping paper will only get you so much. If the school NEEDS something, apply for it. My mom writes grants for her school and gets tons of money every year. The school my son attends doesnt even have someone who writes grants. They leave it up to a teacher who may or may not take the time to apply.

I remember the school fundraisers when I was a kid, and I have kids in school now. The same incentives were offered then as now, in that you received prizes for reaching certain quotas. I really don't know how anyone can suggest that these things are done fairly, even when there are several prize levels. These fundraisers have the same premise as the pyramid schemes that are so infamous among adults. Sell more, be rewarded. But the kids who sell more do so because their parents take the order form to work with them. My parents never would, and I always felt like the loser kid because of all the kids with packed order forms from their parents' coworkers. These days, I buy a couple of things from each kid's form and call it good. Fortunately, their school this year decided instead to have a carnival. Everyone in the school worked on different things or donated money in order to have items to auction and prizes for games. Then we all went and played. We gave to our own school, in a manner that gave something back to everyone.

It was a nightmare for me because my son has ADHD and kept losing all the carnival games, but I guess I prefer having him lose in a straightforward way (so that he can work on dealing with disappointment and keeping his temper) to having him come in last in an unfair sales competition. I don't grudge the schools the money, just the method.

This is such a pet peeve of mine. In our district we have a group of women that run the PTO and do not respond to the needs of the community. Then they wonder why it is difficult to get help?

Get aload of the fundraisers we are expected to participate in the efforts:
Candy/gift/wrapping paper sale from catalog
Harvest Festival where everyone must donate to a basket to be raffled
Market Day
Beach towels/bags sale at end of year
Pizza sale

It has reached the point that I wish they would just send me a bill in the beginning of the school year. The problem is that this is a high taxed district where the parents think money correlates with good education, that is not reality. To answer your question: I would discuss this with an Administrator if after discussing it with the parent's organization you do not reach a solution. A non profit's job is to respond to the needs of the people they serve. In this case and many others, the PTO does not respond to the communities needs, but the board's agenda. That is a problem. Most people do not mind an occassional fundraiser or incentives. However, when the fundraisers or incentives become excessive where children cannot control the outcome, the organization is not serving its members.

The schools have a budget, don't you think it's about time fundraising should have a budget set aside from you the taxpayer who pays taxes for the district your child attends. There are teachers who write grants for things your school needs. People are having it very very hard money wise with the economy as it is. Gas, food, electric, oil. Get the school the money by way of these areas instead of parents having to dig deeper into their pockets. Did this help?