Kids as Salespeople

God, I remember fundraiser time when I was younger and I hated it.

I hated making people feel obligated to buy something from me...And I could see it on their faces everytime! So, after awhile I just stopped doing it. My Mom normally bought something and maybe a few relatives that live in town but other than that there wasn't much anyone else.

Now, as I've worked in retail where at least half of the days sales were truly dependent on me, I know my hunch when I was younger was right. You catch more flies with honey...And making people feel as if they "have" to buy something or "should" buy something isn't the way to go at all.

As far as your daycare center sending that damn chocolate home and telling you to sell the whole box...WTF. As far as I knew fundraisers of any sort are optional. I'd send it back to his daycare with a note.

I honestly have no problem saying no to a child.  :-)  I do it to my own all day long..other people's aren't any different.  *shrug*  Maybe it's just me.

my daycare has alot of other activities to raise money theydo the candy thing but its not too big of a deal they have movie nights wich are where they make alot of money they open up the center on a friday night and for like 20 dollars they will feed the kids dinner and keep them from 5-930 so mom and dad can have nice night out. the kids love it they go in there jammies have popcorn watch movies and most are passed out asleep by the time the parrents get back. and about the price 20 may seem like alot to some people but most sitters in my area are getting 10-12 an hour so 20 is  very reasonable

Find out what the profit is on the box of candy and if you can afford it give them the $ in place of the selling of it. Just wondering but with the price of daycare why would they expect you to raise $ by selling candy?

Higherboundmom does what I do.  I figure most fundraisers are worth 50%  If they need to sell a box of candy I send in 25 bucks or more and call it a day.  I really don't want the responsiblity of it, especially when you work at a school, so they are constantly doing something too!

My littlest sons daycare does 1 or 2 a year for parents who have a difficult time with the fieldtrip fees.  Again, we just donate.

I hate fundraisers.  I have 2 girls in scouts and they both had to sell cookies and I refused to take them out.  I don't want my 6 and 8 year olds peddling goods for their club.  I didn't ask any friends or family to buy any either because I know no one has money right now.

I bought 6 boxes from each girl and my dad (who lives with us) bought 5 from each girl.  That was still a lot of money for both of us.  Neither girl sold enough to get their little patch (they had to sell 25 boxes for a patch).  On top of that we have to pay dues (I still owe $20 for each kid...$40 per year).  I'm not sure if they will do scouts next year because we can't afford it.

My kids go to a Catholic school and we are required to raise $500 in fund raising a year (well that's what it was the 1st year but we got some grant money and they lowered it to $250 for this year).  It is just added to our tuition along with $10 per hour of service we are supposed to do (20 hours total a year so another $200).  That's on top of the tuition.  Last year we also had to sell crap (which I refused to do) to the neighbors.  The school is always hitting us up for money.  It's crazy.

As a parent I do not feel comfortable with them selling stuff especially as toddlers. Fundraising should not be asked of any kid before the age 6, they just can't handle regardless of how its done.

However, as a teacher I understand, where I live because the economy is bad, well then less is paid to taxes, which in return means less money for the public schools. Teachers every year often by their students supplies because the school does not have enough in the budget for supplies. A lot of the big expensive things in classrooms, are usually bought by teachers or bought with fundraising monies or grant monies. There is a certain amount of supplies bought every year, however some districts quickly run out,or limit the amount of supplies for each teacher. It just depends on the school and the city and state it is in. Public Schools often fall short in  money and then thats how we lose are Art programs, music programs and any other class or program the does not focus on the core subjects such as math, or writing and etc.

If you are not that comfortable fundraising, I suggest asking what it is for, then decide if you will or will not be participating.

i guess i'm the weirdo here, i remember fundraising fondly as a child, granted i was older than preschool, i think i was about 7 or 8 when i started for little league, we sold tags and candy bars, i never felt bad about selling because i wasn't selling, i was asking for a donation to help support something and in return giving a candy bar,

to this day when i see a group doing fundraising if there are kids involved i only speak to the children, like girl scouts for example, i remember one year i had a lot of money saved up for cookies, as i walked into the supermarket they were outside and i thought ooooh here's my chance, so i walked up to the table and one of the mothers said to me how much they cost, i ignored her and asked one of the little girls playing nearby what was going on here, she shrugged and said we're selling cookies, and went back to playing, i said how much, she looked at her mom who answered for her, went back to playing, i said what are you using the money for, she said duh, girl scouts, and i said i know but what are you using it for in girl scouts, she looked at her mom, and her mom started to answer and i said no thank you, obviously this is mom scouts, the kids don't seem to care whether they are here or not, i'll go find some other group that cares what they are doing, they acted all offended but i'm sorry, if you are going to prostitute your child for an organization at least prepare them for it, give them answers and let them know what is expected of them,