Has anyone heard of this?

[tiredmommy]

I came across this online:

http://www.donorschoose.org/

It matches potential donors with teachers around the US. I was struck by how many teachers were seeking funding for basic items. One Special Education teacher needed chairs that weren't too small for her students! It makes me thankful for the district Duckie attends as there are basic resources and more for the students. How difficult it must be to teach students in crowded classrooms that are underfunded.

 

[TerryJ2]

Hmm. I initially thought it meant you could donate from one school to another. I see that's not it.
We are always getting hit up for fundraisers. It gets tiring, especially when I have nothing to say about it unless I want to be a board member, which involves way too many hrs and way too much politics.
It seems as though it doesn't matter whether it's a wealthy district or a poor one; they are always looking for something. Chairs on the internet is a new one, though.
Nothing is ever perfect.

 

[susiestar]

This has been around for a while and seems fairly reputable. Looking around it always makes me thankful we are in this school system. We have basic needs and a lot of other things designed to really reach kids.

Schools do have a LOT of fundraisers. Sadly, this is only going to get worse. I just wish they would stop selling the little overpriced trinkets and things of candy. I like the cookie dough sales (YUM!) and other things. I really like to see some value in the items that are sold. I can say that there ARE some fundraisers out there that are decent deals.

One that I really MISS from living in OH is Market Day. If you are in a state around OH and your school needs a fundraiser, I think this is a great one. Each month a list of foods goes out and families can order from it. They can even order and pay online. Then the food comes in on a certain day and the parents come pick it up. It is not the cheapest food, but it IS very good quality. A lot of the items are restaurant quality and very very good.

Just in my opinion.

 

[everywoman]

I use donor's choose frequently for sets of classroom reading material. With budget constraints I think they will probably become much more active.

 

[KTMom91]

When I'm subbing, sometimes I'm amazed at the things teachers DON'T have in their classrooms. I know the schools are on tight budgets, and the teachers can't buy everything themselves, but even so...

Miss KT's elementary school has a very strong parent group that does a lot of fundraising. The school does the Box Tops and the soup labels, along with the usual candy and cookie dough. They have Santa's Store at Christmas, so the kids can go shopping for presents, an annual carnival, and a silent auction. The parent club was able to replace the play equipment for both the kindergarten and main playgrounds while Miss KT was there, and have added benches and planted trees since then. They've also developed an amphitheater area in the back of the school.

 

[mom_to_3]

Our grandson is living with us and attends pre-k. I like what this school does for fundraising. Instead of the kids selling cookie dough, Christmas wrap, trinkets, magazines, etc. the school asked at the beginning of the year if parents wanted their children to sell items and only receive a portion of the profits, or if parents just wanted to make a cash donation and allow the school to have 100% of the profit. Overwhelmingly, parents chose to make a 100% cash donation to the school! I love it! There is NO selling by the children and the classrooms have everything they need. And to top it off, our school has been rated exemplary by the TEA!

 

[tiredmommy]

I'm glad so many of "our" SD's have active parent involvement and the tax base to provide at least for our kid's basic education. Looking through the entries, however, many of these classrooms are located in high or moderate poverty areas.

What about these kids?

While I don't want to see opportunity taken from one child to be given to another it seems there is way too much disparity in what is available to our children. It's no wonder there are often lower test scores and higher drop out rates in poorer areas.

 

[susiestar]

If your schools are doing Boxtops and Campbell's Soup labels, are they also doing Nestle water bottle labels and Tyson Project A+? Not sure how much Nestle gives, but Tyson gives 24 cents a label for the labels off of their frozen foods. It is not for chicken in the meat dept, just for frozen foods. But 24 cents is a LOT for 1 label.

If you are interested, just do a search for either Nestle Pure Life labels or Tyson Project A+.

 

[Hound dog]

I've done boxtops and soup lables for years and years. I assume I'll be doing them again once Darrin hits kindergarden next year. I don't mind.

We're getting alot of requests for donations from private schools on freecycle for the basics. Both the Christian and Catholic school. It surprised me with the cost of tuition. I've been watching to see if I have anything they need, but so far I don't.

 

[TerryJ2]

I just wish they would stop selling the little overpriced trinkets and things of candy. I like the cookie dough sales (YUM!) and other things. I really like to see some value in the items that are sold. I can say that there ARE some fundraisers out there that are decent deals.

Yes!

My difficult child's school negotiates with-local retailers and offers gift cards for fundraisers. You buy a giftcard from, say, Target, for $25. Target gets about $20 and the school gets $5.
That, to me, is real value. I would much rather do that than buy trinkets.
I'm not sure about the logistics but if anyonehere is into fundraising, you may want to pass this on.

 

[susiestar]

One of the things I hate MOST about fundraisers are those "prizes" the kids can earn. I totally HATE those. There is no real value in them. I did one fundraiser where the prize for the kids who sold ANYTHING was a little keychain flashlight. After we passed them out I had an emergency call from a parent who said that the flashlight was OFF and it CAUGHT ON FIRE! It actually self combusted and was very very scary.

I had ALL the kids who got one (almost every kid in school) throw them away with the battery OUT and I made the fundraising co give them all a new prize. I will no longer be involved with a fundraising co who gives anything electrical that is not UL listed. They just are not safe items.

One year when Pokemon was really hot I did my own prizes instead of using the fundraising co's. I spent less than we would have been charged and the kids got REAL items that they loved. For 10 items you could choose between a craft kit or Pokemon cards (1 pack). The cards were REALLY hard to find, and most places actually limited you to 5 packs where we lived. I talked a retailer into letting me buy the 200 I needed and giving me a discount on them. I have to say the kids were more motivated to sell things and the prizes were things they really LIKED.

This is an idea if you ever run a fundraiser. It really isn't hard to do a prize pkg yourself.