NONE! I steadfastly refuse to do these!

The school gets pennies. The kids get junk "prizes". The unlucky put-upon buyers get junky overpriced product. Only the marketing company wins. Shysters I say!

^^^

Though the ones that involve an actual product, as opposed to a brochure and a product you get many moons later, are not all that bad. For example, a box of those really good but ever shrinking chocolate bars wrapped in an almost worthless McDonalds' coupon. Those are ok, at least.

I do not mind buying gift wrap for school fundraisers. I hate the food ones, since we never eat it.

Christmas tree/wreath and straight up Friends of - no crap coming just your donation 100% to the school.

I buy a tree every year anyway and a nice door wreath is great if you are into those things and the live ones are only good for a year. Don't mind buying those from the kids.

Our school simply comes out and asks for donations to run. You might get a sticker or something YOU WILL GET A THANK YOU and you do make a huge difference without some mediocre product firm making a mint in the middle and turning all our kids into over-competitive sales drones. Our school needs money, we take a variety of payments including cash, check, paypal, and VISA. Want to make a real difference for the future through our kids, PM me. I'll let you know where to send it

bnbsouthworth wrote:NONE! I steadfastly refuse to do these!

The school gets pennies. The kids get junk "prizes". The unlucky put-upon buyers get junky overpriced product. Only the marketing company wins. Shysters I say!

You said it all! I don't buy...instead I send a check for a donation to the school. I could buy junk I don't need or want and spend $25 and the school only gets a few $. This way they get more $ from my donation and I can use it on my taxes. When my boys where in school I allowed each to pick only one school sale for junk per year. How many times can you hit up the same friends and family a year? I also sent donations when asked to bake something for the bake sale.

Otis Spunkmeyer ready made Cooke dough. Kids always like fresh baked cookies!

This very evening I have been strong-armed into picking victims for the current sales pitch from my address book. Luckily for my friends, I'm a pretty terrible correspondent, so I have hardly anyone's actual address. That said, this particular sale is for magazines which, unlike virtually every other fundraising product, are not grossly overpriced. My first choice would really be a straight up donation, but for some reason, this year my kid has been fully assimilated into the Amway-esque collective, so I'm bound to helping him achieve some worthless prize. *sigh*

Heavy duty lawn/leaf bags.

None. That stuff is all junk.

bnbsouthworth wrote:NONE! I steadfastly refuse to do these!

The school gets pennies. The kids get junk "prizes". The unlucky put-upon buyers get junky overpriced product. Only the marketing company wins. Shysters I say!

Exactly!

A local elementary now does a raffle. You essentially donate a couple bucks to win prizes that were also donated. I fully support the raffle, where every red cent goes to the school. I detest all the rest.

I will buy gift wrap and pizza and those are the ones I will pimp out.

GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!!
Best cookies on earth with the best ingredients.
These "smart" cookies have enabled girls whose families would not otherwise be able to pay for things like camps, jewelry making, sewing, environment-changing, community building, product design & improvement, and leadership building.

There is an entire curriculum built around these cookies to produce "smart cookies" of every girl.

It is the only deliberate, sustaining (100 years strong!) leadership curriculum for young girls that begins at age 5.

GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!!
Best cookies on earth with the best ingredients.
These "smart" cookies have enabled girls whose families would not otherwise be able to pay for things like camps, jewelry making, sewing, environment-changing, community building, product design & improvement, and leadership building.

There is an entire curriculum built around these cookies to produce "smart cookies" of every girl.

It is the only deliberate, sustaining (100 years strong!) leadership curriculum for young girls that begins at age 5.

Deployed troops are sent 1000s of boxes, and cookie-share is the program in which the girls choose a program to donate cookies to. These cookies are paid for by diabetics and others who don't want the cookies for themselves.

We have donated to the local children's hospital (and dropped them off ourselves with cards & gifts) and the food bank (wrapped as holiday gifts).

Thank you for supporting Girl Scouts with your purchase and/or donation.

My daughters school does a fundraiser through Schwans. I'll buy a few tubs of ice cream and then let her hit up a few relatives that I know regularly order Schwans products anyways. I refuse to do any more than that.

I think the older kids at the school have a magazine fundraiser. I've had kids try to hit me up for that, but I always turn them down.

Entertainment books. Tons of savings at many places you actually go to.

We have a Little Ceasar's Pizza fund raiser every year. People FREAK out over it so all I have to do is bring the brochure to work and let everyone know it's happening. Easy as a pizza pie, and we don't have to do any hussling.

wrapping paper, its good quality stuff.

the annual raffle.

I'll buy wrapping paper, that's it, oh, and chocolate bars too.
We sell GS Cookies and Fall Products and BS popcorn and flags.

I would choose none.

The only fund raisers I like are the ones where the kids walk laps or jumprope. Then all the procedes go to the school.

I like others made a donation to the school. The products are garbage and not to mention its not just your kid selling its everyone's. In a neighborhood with 10 kids you can't buy from all of them so I don't buy from any of them.

I don't mind selling magazine subscriptions because you can renew the ones you already have that you would have gotten anyway.

Won't do them. Used to... felt like a slime for asking anyone, and to put the brochure out at work (in competition to the big boss' kid's one) was frowned upon.

Over the years I've done Candles, gift wrap, cookie dough, magazines and through scouts have done popcorn and cookies. (not to mention countless hours manning tables)

I'll help the school with box tops for education, the cake walk, the raffles, holiday store and even the "cover the gym floor in pennies" fundraisers, but no more brochures. No more forms to fill out.

Scrip program. Buy gift cards for face value and the school/program gets a percentage of the value. Great Lakes Scrip is awesome to work with.

Coupon books. Schools never get much from sales but the coupon books are the only item that isn't also a total rip off.

In high school I used to sell pies as a chorus fundraiser. I made so much money and wound up paying for most of a trip to Virginia Beach we went on during my senior year!

I will only buy if the kids are the ones doing the selling.

It's good for them to earn a reward, but it sends a terrible message when the grand prize winner is the child with the most aggressive parent/salesperson doing the work for them.