Why schools have fundraisers

It teaches the kids how to give back, which is way better than selling wrapping paper or cookie dough where nothing is learned. My personal belief about why we fundraise is for school improvement and the opportunity to provide all students with the very BEST educational experiences.

When you partner with Boosterthon, you won't have to do another fundraiser for your school — you can earn what you need in one event while having fun and teaching students great character traits too. Are you looking for a fundraiser that can help give your students the best educational experience possible? Check out a few Boosterthon case studies to see why we fundraise and what schools have been able to provide through our fun, hassle-free fundraisers.

At a basic level, why do schools need to fundraise? What are you able to purchase with the extra funds raised? How do those resources benefit your students and in what ways? What do you look for when deciding on a fundraiser? Why do we need to do it again? More equal societies have lower homicide rates, lower rates of imprisonment, fewer high school dropouts, lower rates of mental illness, higher math and literary attainment, better health and higher-quality social relationships than less equal societies.

Fundraising can also undermine efforts to build inclusive schools in which diversity is embraced and everyone feels safe, accepted and valued.

While advocates argue fundraising is a good way to build and strengthen school communities, it can also have the opposite effect. Parents who cannot or do not want to participate in fundraising may be discouraged from joining committees that also have decision-making functions.

Thus, they miss out on opportunities to have their voices heard. In Ontario, these committees are often school councils : majority-parent, legislated advisory bodies who are also allowed to fundraise.

While their main purpose is supposedly to increase accountability of the education system and improve student achievement, fundraising is one of the main activities of school councils. Read more: Too busy for the PTA, but working-class parents care. Although principals have final approval, parents who raise money and decide how to spend it influence the resources and opportunities available to the school in ways that reflect their own interests — interests that might not be shared by all caregivers of children in the school.

This happens through initiatives that ask kids to sell magazines, cookie dough or other products and then reward those who do. However, using fundraising to fill gaps actually perpetuates the problem and creates new ones. Second, school fundraising shifts responsibility of providing high-quality education to private actors, including parents, other caregivers, community members, civil society organizations and even businesses.

How much money do the students need to raise? What is the average that each student will need to sell? Half way through the fundraiser, calculate the percentage that has been sold. Creating posters or developing letters to send home that promote the fundraiser can also be great ways to tap into the educational component of the fundraiser, while also keeping the kids engaged. We would love to know how your school has benefited from a fundraiser you ran recently.

Share your ideas, pictures and videos with us. You can post them on our Facebook page or email them to us.