Read below to hear how much we raised with our FIRST fundraiser!
After leaving my last school, my husband and I decided to change schools for my oldest son. In fact, he was going to attend my old elementary school that I was at from 3-6th grade, and I even did my student teaching their! I was excited to be back, and wanted to get involved with the Pa
rent Teacher Organization.
I signed up – provided my name, number and email address. At the time, he was in 1st grade, and I was so eager to go on their field trip. Fast forward, and 1st grade was over. I heard nothing from PTO – no flyers about meetings, no opportunities to support, nothing. For 2nd grade, I signed up again – name, number and email address. Luckily, his 2nd grade teacher knew me and sent me information about PTO meetings and we attended together. I finally got a call, asking to help with something, and I jumped on it. I showed up the next day, did what was asked, and shared that I was excited to actually hear about an opportunity, only to be looked at weird and told, “We never had your information!”
This wasn’t the last time I got a weird look from “the old” PTO ladies. We finished up 2nd grade with minimal interactions, and they finally decided to dissolve the PTO at the end of the year. Unfortunately, they didn’t finish all the paperwork until the middle of 3rd grade year. Lucky for me, I connected with an amazing person, now one of my BEST friends, that was on board and we decided to create a whole new PTO!
We became official in April and knew we needed to fundraise immediately in order to start the year off with something! After paying for all the prizes and incentives, we profited $12,860.81 with our FIRST fundraiser! This allowed us so many opportunities, and have been able to start an annual “Welcome Back” breakfast for teachers and staff, as well as provide gift baskets for all the teachers (40+) and raffle prizes during pre-service.
Annually, we support or organize:
- Almost $2,000/year for transportation costs for grade level field trips
- Parent Teacher Conference Meals for teachers and translators 2x a year
- Christmas Family Sponsorship for 25 families in need
- Teacher reimbursement for holiday crafts done in class (over 800 students)
- Spring Fling Carnival
- Scholastic Book Fairs 3x a year
My oldest is now in 5th grade, and with just over a year and a half as an official PTO, we have raised almost $40,000! Since I’ve also got a 2nd grader and preschooler, it looks like I’m going to be around for a while. We continue to learn more ways to not just fundraiser, but get donations, and engage the community!
If you’re looking for support with your current PTO/PTA, or even where to begin, let me know!
Contact ETDnow!
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