Basics 101: Parent Participation in Fundraising Projects

In recent years, many of the fundraising products sold through sports and school fundraisers have become, in reality, parent participation projects rather than student fundraisers. Since door-to-door sales of candy, cookie dough, cheesecake fundraisers, etc. are no longer safe and acceptable unless accompanied by an adult, many parents choose to actually take the sales totally out of the hands of their children and market the fundraising products themselves.

Essentially, fundraising products are marketed in two basic ways. Either the products are sold by displaying the actual item(s), or they are sold from colorful fundraiser order-takers that show pictorial examples of the product(s). Offices, plants, sales agencies and clinics are all ideal business locations in which to market the child's fundraising products, whether they are for sports fundraising, school fundraisers, church/scouts fundraisers, etc. If the parent is an employee of the facility, or is a friend of the owner or supervisor, in most cases it is very easy to get the needed approval to set up a fundraising display with several order-takers for customers to use for sign-up. Having several cases of candy bars, lollipops, etc. sitting in a protected, highly visible area, along with a money collection box, will also work extremely well.

The flipside to excessive parental participation in each of the child's fundraising activities, is that a certain degree of responsibility and planning should be required of the child/student, or the individual initiative will be severely hampered. You do not want to foster a "You do it for me" mentality in your child's fundraising experience. Encouraging the child to help design signs, displays, etc. for the fundraiser will encourage input and participation, as well as define future attitudes affecting character and personal responsibility.

A fundraising setup in the foyer or outside of a major store or business location, is an ideal way to combine parental protection and guidance with child/student participation. Both the child and the parent are simultaneously cooperating in the fundraising experience, rather than projecting an "I'll do it for you" or "You can do it for me" approach. Whatever method is utilized for your sports, church or school fundraiser, the more people who are involved in the activity, the more effective, both financially and relationally, your fundraising project will be.