Basics 101: The Economy And Fundraising

The consequences of very questionable corporate and governmental practices that greatly contributed to the economic "bust" that began around 2008, have had a profoundly negative effect on almost all areas of public education. School fundraisers, designed to earn additional monies for some of the extras that were not funded by school district budgets, have become necessities, since most non-curricular school clubs and organizations have been forced to fundraise in order to remain operational.

Almost every state in the U.S. has experienced extremely drastic reductions in funding for school programs. Often the cuts are across the board, affecting all areas of school operations including sports, band, choir, physical education and vocational programs.

Billions of dollars of state and federal funding seem to be drying up, leaving a forboding anticipation of even more uncertainty in the various school districts of most states. In some of the most populated states such as Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, California and Illinois, tens of thousands of teachers and school employees either have already lost, or face the prospect of losing their jobs. In order to try and cope with the deficits, many states are drastically having to increase the class sizes to make up for teachers that had to be terminated due to budget restraints.

Since there are currently very few viable solutions available, particularly at the local and city levels, many school organizations, including PTA's, PTO's and parent booster clubs have turned to concentrated school fundraising projects in order to raise needed funds. Some of these school fundraisers have even gone so far as to provide funds to try and save as many threatened faculty jobs as possible. Although raising funds through various school fundraising projects may seem by some to be a diversion from the purposes of education, at such a time as this, the majority of school administrators welcome all of the help and support the community is willing to provide. For schools and school districts to effectively operate without undue elimination of school related activities, it is imperative that wise and effective fundraisers be properly utilized during the current economic upheaval.