Dads, Dirt, and Donuts

This Saturday afternoon we're hosting "Dads, Dirt, and Donuts" (our Spanish translator turned that into "Padres, Plantas, y Pan Dulce" for our Latino families, which is so brilliant it makes my head hurt), a school beautification event that is embarrassingly split down gender lines. But in this case, I'm happy to set political correctness aside because it keeps me from having to dig around in the dirt. Dirt schmirt.

So...the Dads will bring their gardening tools along and plant the area between our Kindergarten playground and the parking lot. And we'll give them some donuts because we're nice like that.

Do you notice something about this event so far? It'll be an excellent community-builder, but as is...it's not raising money! Unable to let a ducat-producing opportunity pass by (if you're keeping up with California budget news, you know that we're still looking at some devastating education cuts), I've added another component. While the Dads do their thing, their parenting partners and kids will paint decorative portrait tiles that will be used to beautify the campus. Our local small business partner in this endeavor is All Fired Up: A Paint Your Own Pottery Place.


All Fired Up is providing all the supplies we need and firing the tiles for an amazingly reasonable price. I've marked the tiles up to turn a little profit of about $500.

I'm liking this type of small fundraiser more and more. They're invariably the kinds of things that the kids love, they require minimum planning, have virtually no overhead, and create a social opportunity for parents. Win, win.

Walk-A-Jog: It's Over

For an overview of this large Spring fundraiser, please click here. To learn how this fundraiser makes the big bucks, please click here.

Though I'm still fumbling around in a little bit of a post Walk-A-Jog stupor, I wanted to check in here to say that the event went off without a hitch. We haven't tallied our final take (the kids did not have to submit their sponsor money until today), but the preliminary numbers look good. I was remarkably close in estimating the money we would earn from our Silent Auction: I thought it would be $2,000, and it was...drum roll...$2,176. A few random notes about the day:

• Out of about 100 volunteers, only 2 failed to show and failed to call me. I think that's extraordinary, really.

• My little Volunteer Check-In desk turned into a general information booth, which makes me think...we should probably have a general information booth.

• I didn't work nearly as hard as the rest of the Committee. My co-horts were busting their busts at the food court, all around the carnival, working the course, and whatnot. I, meanwhile, sat in one spot checking folks in. SCORE! To assuage my guilt, I put in a solid chunk of time during set-up and clean-up.

• A cursory look at a few of the kids' sponsor envelopes reveals some crazy dollar amounts. One first grader earned $1,000! I just averaged the amount in the first 22 envelopes I grabbed, and it was $51. So we're feeling good about that revenue stream.

• We really need to ix-nay the cotton candy machines. Look at this poor volunteer (a kind-hearted, hardworking soul from a local high school). Click on the image to get a better look at his predicament:


Hahahahahahahaha! Seriously, who is going to want to do that next year? I say we double the snow cone machines instead.

• Things still left to do: order banner (showcasing our family and business sponsors), have our post-mortem, tally up the course cards to determine prizewinners, count the ducats.

In a few days I'll have a revenue report for you.

To Charge or Not To Charge?

I'm taking a brief break from my scintillating coverage of Walk-A-Jog to address an issue that we discussed at a recent parent volunteer meeting: should EVERY school event be viewed as an opportunity to raise money?

In recent years, the answer to this question was an unspoken, "Of course not." For events like our Holiday Craft Fair, International Day, and the annual Talent Show, we have often "swallowed" the expenses or charged a minimum that would only cover costs. We did this so that every family, regardless of income, could easily take part. Basically, we believed these events were opportunities for community-building, which is certainly one of the most important ways to create a positive school culture.

But with the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Budget Cuts coming, we need to re-evaluate this stance. On the positive side, people of every economic level seem eager to donate (we always have a donation box) at these particular events. After all, International Day offers an entire buffet of great food. The Talent Show makes everyone feel good, and feeling good inspires them to reach for their wallets. And at the Holiday Craft Fair, kids walk out the door with an armload of things they made for friends and families. It's easy to see the value there.

My gut feeling is that there will be no raised eyebrows if we charge for these events in the coming year, especially if we keep the message about the budget cuts in the spotlight.