Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This is similar to what schools in our upper-middle class area are doing: one flat requested amount per child, per school year, instead of fundraising. Well, 2 donations: one for PTA, one for the foundation.
In addition to that per child donation, this is what "fundraising" has looked like for us this year:
1. Oldest child's band dept sold frozen food from a catalog. We bought a bunch of desserts and keep them in the deep freezer to bring to various events. For example, my sister just had a baby and when we brought them dinner this week, I brought one of the cheesecakes. In years past we would've sold them food from the catalog, but I decided to simply things and just buy the items myself to share with friends and family.
2. Another child's girl scout troop decided to opt out of cookie sales--all the moms were onboard with that plan!
3. None of our children's other extracurricular activities have fundraisers. Travel soccer, AAU bball, Science team, competition dance, baseball, lacrosse...All the parents just write a check. We bought out of swim team volunteer hours and basketball volunteer hours.
I think most families around us prefer to just pay the fees, rather than sell stuff.
1. Our HS band has a "donation drive" where band students go door to door in uniform asking for donations. I always contribute if they hit me up when I'm home.
2. My daughter was a GS through senior year in HS (2002). As the girls got older, the leaders really downplayed the cookie sales. (I believe that the troops had to have a minimum level of participation. Don't know if this is still true.) The individual troops get to keep very little of the cookie money. There are other methods of fund-raising. The U of Colorado, for example, pays non-profit groups to pick up trash in its events center after events such as basketball games. Much bigger take!
GS cookie sales seem to have a different MO lately, more direct sales and less ordering. One enterprising little girl at church set up a booth in our fellowship hall after church for a couple of Sundays. I encountered a group at a grocery store one day during sales season. I bought a couple boxes there, too. I asked them what they were going to do with their cookie money and one little girl, about 10 years old, said "We're going on a trip to Mt. Rushmore"! Such enthusiasm! I hope they get to go.
3. Volunteer hours seem a little different to me. I've sold concessions at gymnastics meets, transported kids, done all sorts of things. It seems like time is something these activities need.
The lower class contribute as much to fund-raising as they do the economy as a whole. Practically nothing. Why? Simple. They assume that they will be given what they both need and want. Exceptions, there are always exceptions. However, they are well away if their little angel doesn't sell the cookies or the xmas cards that they are still going on the trip. No worries. There is no pride or sense of shame just the standard sense of entitlement.
I grew up lower class in blue collar neighborhood where median household income was $30K. Most of our family friends were in same income bracket. We tried fundraising but who do you go to & who do you sell these overprice items for school trip when no one has extra discretionary money. Our parents didn't want to contact their friends/family for the fundraise because that meant next time their friends/family's kids had fundraising they will come to our house. No body got money for that. So we skipped on those trips & extra curricular activities.
I work in white collar professional office now where most people are making $60K - $120K. I constantly see fundraising paper in our lunchroom. Many of these fundraising are for fancy trips that growing up we never considered attending or raising funds for it.
The people who make over $100K in my office don't seem to bring their kids stuff in. One guy did & most people got upset because he makes too much money compared to rest of us. But no one complains when people making below $100K raise funds for their kids at work.
In conclusion I have to say it is the parents making $50-$100K that raise the most fund.
Is there a particular socioeconomic class that sells the most for school fundraisers, like selling chocolate bunnies, wrapping paper, candy bars, etc?
Particular race? Economic level?
My feeling is that selling goods to raise money for schools is something that is more likely to be done by the lower income classes than by upper income classes. Wondering if anyone has any experience with this and if this is the case.
I am going to give you an example from Girl Scouts. When my kids were younger, we lived in a middle class area. When it came to selling Girl Scout cookies, we set up tables at stores, went door-to-door, etc. so we could raise the money to send the girls on various excursions/trips. I now live in an upper middle class/upper-class area and the troop doesn't even bother selling cookies. Whenever there's an excursion/trip, the moms just take out their checkbooks.
The same holds true for our church youth group experience. In our previous town's youth group, they fundraised all year long for the mission trip. At my current church, the kids are planning a mission trip (in an exotic overseas location), and again, there's minimal fundraising as the parents just write a check for whatever is needed. I am guilty of this myself.
For this thread, I'm only talking about the fundraisers where products (wrapping paper, popcorn, cookie dough, wrapping paper, magazines, etc) are sold by the students. I'm not referring to auctions, evening balls, or other activities that do not involve selling of goods.
I think you've nailed it.
The lower-income families have no one to sell the overpriced wrapping paper and cookie dough to, so that's that. Such schools have fundraising events like spaghetti dinners or selling snacks at ball games. My experience is that low-income as well as middle-income parents help with that.
When our kids went to a private school where most of the families were in the higher income bracket, the fundraisers were events -- Mardi Gras night and $50/plate dinners with silent auctions or items like a week's stay in someone's vacation home or air fare to France or ...
Middle-income folks don't have the resources to donate to the money to bid on it if they did, so they are stuck with the wrapping paper, cookie dough, boxes of oranges fundraisers.
Well-to-do families raise millions to fund science equipment, guest lecturers... The mothers in Bill Gate's school raised money to pay for a device that connected to a computer over the phone line. By 13, he was "hooked" on computers. It is difficult to imagine a low-income or even middle-income school having the ability to raise that kind of money.
The lower-income families have no one to sell the overpriced wrapping paper and cookie dough to, so that's that. Such schools have fundraising events like spaghetti dinners or selling snacks at ball games. My experience is that low-income as well as middle-income parents help with that.
When our kids went to a private school where most of the families were in the higher income bracket, the fundraisers were events -- Mardi Gras night and $50/plate dinners with silent auctions or items like a week's stay in someone's vacation home or air fare to France or ...
Middle-income folks don't have the resources to donate to the money to bid on it if they did, so they are stuck with the wrapping paper, cookie dough, boxes of oranges fundraisers.
Well-to-do families raise millions to fund science equipment, guest lecturers... The mothers in Bill Gate's school raised money to pay for a device that connected to a computer over the phone line. By 13, he was "hooked" on computers. It is difficult to imagine a low-income or even middle-income school having the ability to raise that kind of money.
I'm reading this thread and the amount of people that buy out volunteer hours or do the gala/auction thing is making me feel very poor.
The lower class contribute as much to fund-raising as they do the economy as a whole. Practically nothing. Why? Simple. They assume that they will be given what they both need and want. Exceptions, there are always exceptions. However, they are well away if their little angel doesn't sell the cookies or the xmas cards that they are still going on the trip. No worries. There is no pride or sense of shame just the standard sense of entitlement.
I hate everything you just posted here. Unfortunately, I agree with you.
The lower class contribute as much to fund-raising as they do the economy as a whole. Practically nothing. Why? Simple. They assume that they will be given what they both need and want. Exceptions, there are always exceptions. However, they are well away if their little angel doesn't sell the cookies or the xmas cards that they are still going on the trip. No worries. There is no pride or sense of shame just the standard sense of entitlement.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmgg
I hate everything you just posted here. Unfortunately, I agree with you.
It is what it is.
I'm guessing neither one of you spends time with people you consider "low class". My guess is you are perfectly ok with corporate entitlement also.
I'm guessing neither one of you spends time with people you consider "low class". My guess is you are perfectly ok with corporate entitlement also.
I have many "friends in low places". Lots of good people. That's why I'm confident of my assessment. While they may help other friends in need, in general most are NOT the volunteering type whether it be for a charity or for something school related.
Your comment on corporate entitlement makes no sense at all based on anything that was said in this thread.
Last edited by jmgg; 03-18-2016 at 07:59 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Unfortunately, I agree with you. 
