Safety First Fundraising for Schools

By: Marsha Hinde
Submitted: 2008-11-28 13:54:41
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Given the rising crime statistics, safety needs to be paramount when considering a school fundraiser. Going alone, door-to-door, to visit the neighbors is no longer safe. And door-to-door soliciting isn’t the only time problems have been reported. Bake Sales, Car Washes and Craft Festivals have all been problematic for school fundraisers. In fact, school fundraising should never occur outside a building in which there are many, many adult supervisors.

This being the case, what are a school’s options? For raising moderate amounts of money, a school bake sale every Friday is a good option. What student doesn’t look forward to a special dessert every Friday - with lunch or as a snack? Another good option is to have booths selling food and snacks at every home sporting event. Booths, supervised by adults and run by students, begin to be anticipated and can generate considerable cash.

If your school isn’t interested in running a fundraising event every week, and values the safety of your students, your best option is to sell products via the "home shopping network". Throughout history, parents have marketed popcorn and candy, cards and gift wrapping paper through their social network – selling to grandparents, aunts and uncles, neighbors and friends. The benefit of these fundraising efforts is that they are safe, short lived (generally two to six weeks in length – and no longer) and, depending on the product, can raise considerable cash. Parents, family and friends all feel good about having helped their student’s school – and they usually have something they will use to show for it.

A new wrinkle in fundraising is gifts and gift baskets. Every family has a huge list of people to buy for during Hanukkah and Christmas – grandparents, nieces and nephews, friends and co-workers. This makes the holiday season the ideal time to launch a gift-giving fundraising campaign. And gift-giving fundraisers are safe; most return a substantial amount of cash to the school.

Gift baskets as fundraising implements are relatively new to the scene. They are ideal for fundraising because they eliminate the time, gas and hassle of driving around town looking for that perfect gift, then wrapping the gift and mailing it. All this is eliminated with a gift basket fundraiser. With the enormous number of gift baskets on the market today, your gift basket fundraiser is sure to have a unique gift basket for each and every person on your list. The hassle of holiday shopping is eliminated and your school parents can focus on the more important meaning of Hanukkah and Christmas. All in a perfectly safe environment - while helping students raise necessary capital for essential or optional school programs.

Regardless of the method you choose to raise funds for your school, remember – safety first. Never allow students to:

• Sell door-to-door
• Sell in any location that is not inside a building and well supervised by adults
• Sell via cold-calls using the Internet or their email address
• Run a car wash in a public parking lot
• Host a table at an outdoor flea market

Maintaining control of the selling location is of ultimate importance when students sell products for a school fundraiser. Safety beats profit each and every time. Next time your school plans a fundraiser, not only make sure there is profit to be had – make sure everyone involved will be safe. And have a fun time raising funds for your school!

Article source: Expert Articles