Boston Gal's Open Wallet

I've had magazines fold. I received a letter with the option to transfer the subscription to a similar title or a refund.

 

Aww, I used to have a subscription to Cottage Living (I live in a really small cottage). I really liked the magazine but I let it lapse because I'm trying to stay away from magazines in general. I find they make me envious and want to spend loads of money on decorating. I hope they either refund your money or offer a substitute.

 

My kids are constantly bring home those worthless fund raising efforts (magazines, candy, wrapping paper, etc), which result in only a fraction of the cost as a donation. I sometimes wish the Parent Teacher Organization would just tell me how much of a donation they'd like at the beginning of the school year, and be done with it. These days nobody lets their kids go dor to door to solicit, so it falls to friends and family.

Better to just write one check at the beginning of the year, and not have to worry that Aunt Boston Girl gets the pecan tutles and Uncle Frugal Guy gets the train themed wrapping paper. When I was a kid we never had these fund raisers, and I managed to get a perfectly acceptable public school education and a graduate degree to boot.

My advice would be to simply write a check to your niece/nephew's school and forego the subscription that will wind up cluttering some landfill. They likely have a equally informative website you can subscribe to.

 

There are other more profitable fund raising tools out there. If you can, support a Krispy Kreme donut drive. The company offers a larger than usual profit sharing program to schools that are interested. Plus, the product is an easier sell amongst the "school" audience.

Caleb @ blueprinteconomics.com

 

Caleb, obviously there are far fewer sugar Nazis among your PTO than ours. :)

 

I'm with genomeboy, and generally opposed to fundraisers asking me to pay a premium for a product I don't really want. I'd be more than happy to reach into my pocket and make a donation if asked, however.

 

There are some magazines I like enough to purchase a subscription. And there have been some pretty good deals recently as they beg to keep print readers.

But I'm not going to sign up for any multiple year extended subscription offers. That industry is just too iffy.

And yes, one of my favorites went out of business a couple of years ago ... the timing on that one just happened to coincide with the end of my term.

 

I will miss Cottage Living.

When high school kids that we know come around doing a fundraiser for their team, we ask how much their team gets for the fundraiser, and then we give them that amount straight.

Our elementary school always makes it clear that the fundraisers are voluntary. They now have four main fundraisers. The school asked for feedback a couple of years ago and cut out some, keeping a coupon book and wrapping paper fundraiser that a number of parents apparently liked to purchase for themselves. But I really like the third and fourth ones--a fitness walk, where the kids run laps around a measured playground course get pledges for the number of laps they do; and a spring carnival that is a fun family outing and includes a silent auction, using items donated by local businesses.

The very best part of the silent auction is the kids' art. Artistic parents and the school art specialist have each class make some kind of project--collage, ceramics, frames, game boards, quilts, etc. They are all very artistic and have all the life of kids' art. They also have the children do one art session where each child paints one or two notecards. These are also sold at the carnival, and they are truly wonderful.

 

I hate school fundraising.

I am just not of the mindset to schlep around to sell stuff no one really needs at high costs to make a few pennies on th dollar for field trips or whatever.

So far this year, my two kids in school have brought home fliers to sell: cookie dough, Entertainment Books, magazines, wrapping paper, Avon, and "gift items" (which to me was just junk no one would even consider at a garage sale). My kids, by the way, do not participate in any extracuricular activity through the school either--- this is just PTA and class field trip selling!

At parent teacher conferences this week, we told our kids teachers that we would be happy to contribute our children's costs towards field trips- and a few more dollars too- but we would not be selling anything.

My kids do participate in Scouts (Boy and Girl) and I do have them sell the popcorn for Boy Scouts and the cookies for Girl Scouts. Much more of the money goes to scouting and the troop--- and the sales are more straightforward.

 

Yep I don't like fundraisers where you buy a product. That just seems like a waste.

Better is a fundraiser where you pay for some action they perform, like a carwash, or even stuff like sponsoring them for a walk-a-thons (pay $2/mile or whatever). That way it's pretty much 100% charity.

For some reason, there are very few school-wide activities like those though. They tend to be done by smaller school clubs, whereas school-wide programs default to selling products. Weird.

 

My 8th grade fundraiser was selling cartons of oranges and grapefruits picked in Florida less than a week before delivery. As a kid, I thought it was dumb. As an adult, I'd happily buy - especially since it was equal in quality but a lot lower in price than Harry & David at the time.