Parent Teacher Organizations are usually given the task of fundraising for their children's school. There are lots of things these organizations can do to raise money, from bake sales to door-to-door fundraisers, but what are some easy, simple, relatively "painless" ways that parents can contribute without spending any extra money? Here are a few ideas.
Box Tops 4 Education Helps With Fundraising Efforts
General Mills' Box Tops 4 Education is a program that has been around for years. All that is required is for parents (or other contributors) to clip the box tops off their packages before throwing them away. PTO collects the box tops and sends them off. Most Box Tops are worth ten cents each.
Box Tops can be found on most General Mills cereals, but they can also be found on other products, such as Kleenex facial tissues, Scott toilet paper, and Betty Crocker instant potatoes.
Box Tops are easy - parents don't need to buy any special products; rather, they simply clip Box Tops on products they would purchase anyway. They can also contact friends and relatives and ask them to clip them as well. Schools need only to mail the Box Tops in to collect money.
Tyson has a similar program. Its "Project A+" program allows parents to collect and turn in those labels to the school. Tyson's labels are worth 24 cents each.
Recycling Products Can Help Schools Earn Money
Schools can earn money by recycling printer cartridges, cell phones, and other similar products through various companies. Walmart also has its Kids Recycling Challenge. Elementary schools collect and recycle plastic shopping bags with Walmart to earn money for their school. Capri Sun also has a recycling program called the Drink Pouch Brigade. Schools collect Capri Sun drink pouches and send them in to earn money. Schools in larger areas can also recycle other items such as aluminum cans, newspapers, glass, and plastic bottles.
The nice thing about fundraising by recycling is that schools can earn money while saving the environment.
Target Cards Take Charge of Education Program
Target stores have their "Take Charge of Education" program. When a customer signs up his or her card under a particular school, the school earns one percent of those card purchases. The purchases can be at the actual store or online.
Other regional stores (such as some Krogers supermarkets with their CARES program) offer card programs whereby schools can earn a percentage of what a shopper purchases. Organizations will want to check with stores in their area to see if they have any similar programs.
Creative Fundraising for Schools
The great thing about the kind of fundraising programs listed here is that parents can feel good about contributing to their children's schools, but they don't have to actually donate cash. Schools (and sometimes even the environment) benefit, and parents don't need to do anything they wouldn't ordinarily do.
Cynthia Jones-Shoeman - Cynthia (“Cindy”) Jones-Shoeman earned her MA in English from Colorado State University in 2007; her thesis was "Toni ...
