Say "NO" to Boosterthon Fun Runs in our schools

Attn Parents! Boosterthon Fun Run is the hot new fundraiser in our schools. You need to be aware that this company retains 48% of the profits in addition to taking up your child's class time. Protect your child's curriclum time and tell your school and PTA "NO" to Boosterthon! Fundraising activities should not take place during the school day. Save that for the weekend or after school.

how much do you think the magazine, cookie dough, and wrapping paper companies keep? i can tell you it's the same if not more. these guys got my 3rd grader asking me how he could encourage me, be more respectful, and help others. We've started doing community outreach activities because of his insistence.

Not true. The Boosterthon folks have come to our school, and they do not retain 48% of "profit". The schools 52% is pure profit, and all expenses come out of Boosterthons portion--including salaries, prizes, printed materials, etc.

I would love an administrator or teacher from one of their schools to post something here, because at our school it was a huge hit! The kids loved the character traits taught, and classroom interruption was 5 min per day for 5 days! The school was so pumped and excited, someone suggested it would be worth these guys coming in even if they did not raise money! They turned our kids on to running and to education, and championed the school and teachers like no one else ever has.

Mom of 2, You must be misinformed as to the experience and positive impact that the Boosterthon has had on our school and especially my son. They are only in the classrooms for approx 5 minutes, i know because i had to come and see what all the excitement was all about. The positive character traits they teach while in the classroom were amazing and did impact my son and his friends.
They do take 48% which is lower than any i know of...most taking 50 to 60%...and the Boosterthon pays for all there costs up front before any of our money is raised. Our school netted 2 times as much as they ever raised before...you know what they say you cant spend a percentage.
I hope you will take another look as we cant wait for the Boosterthon Fun Run to come back next year!

At our school and others in the area, Boosterthon took 48%....we kept 52%. Yes the other fundraising companies take a similar cut but you get a product and you can opt-out if you don't want your child to participate. Our students are held captive to this program even if you are not contributing. Parents are outraged because this is something parents could coordinate outside of school time. I send my child to public school to learn not fundraise.

I should have mentioned in my previous message that I thought the "run" itself was a fun event...and the Boosterthon employees did a great job. I just wish it would be held outside of the school day and the percentage split was communicated to parents. Thanks for the others who responded...I appreciate your viewpoints.

We just had a Boosterthon in the school where I teach and it was great. The profit made was more than traditional sales and there was no product to hand out. The facilitation of handing out products takes more instructional time than the Fun Run will take. As a PE teacher I was happy to see an event where the kids could use physical fitness and positive personality traits in a fundraising event. Boosterthon was great and all schools should look into their services.

Dear Mom of 2

Yes...fundraising is a dirty word for most. I know, I am the PTO President for my children's school in Jupiter, FL. I will tell you that many, many, many things that go on in your school would not be happening if it weren't for fundraisers.

Our PTO gives monies directly to teachers, fine arts and many, many other causes within the school. Public Schools are awesome and I stand behind them 200%. My husband sits on the School Advisory Financial Board as well. I can assure you that the budgets are VERY tight.

Our principals and teachers are also given money to directly pay for continuing ed classes as well. We furnish books, labs, computers... All of this money comes from fundraising. Go to your PTO meetings, get on the Board, attend finance meetings within your school.

Until you have a broad knowledge of why we fundraise it is understandable that you dislike them. Quite frankly, I would love if we did not have to do them. But, in order to make my child's school the best it can be - we need them.

FUN RUN? Awesome. 52% profit?! Unheard of. That's all I have to say about that!

National PTA guidlines prohibit the use of children in fundraising activites.

Well, I wish they would keep it simple. I did not care for the boosterthon either. It took up class time, which WAS more than 5 minutes and made me have to dole out quite a bit of money to appease my 4th grader. We pay extremely high taxes here and I think more should should go into the schools so our children are not out hocking people wares or running for money. These fundraisers are very stressfull for my child and our bank accounts. I do not work so I can't take the forms in for people to order and I would never ask my husband to either. So now we are already tapped financially for rising living costs and high taxes and then we get all these fundraising pamplets throughout the year. There has to be a better way than turning our children into marketing tools. With the economy in mind and the safety of our children (who are not allowed to go door to door), our schools should be getting the money they need from the government we pay such high taxes to.

Well, Boosterthon just hit our school and it is a nightmare for us. My son has been in tears, the neighbors son in tears because of the pressure being put on them at the school to get the pledges and win the ridiculous prizes. Taking classroom time to show our kids how to be salesmen and using peer pressure against them is uncalled for. Our economy is very stressful right now and it's right before the holidays...and they want me to go hit up people on the brink of mortgage foreclosure or losing their jobs or just barely scrapping by so we can pay this company 48% of the money and the kids are getting nothing out of this but heartache?!?

It's fascinating to read this. I did some reading on the web and it sounds like a good return on any fund raiser is about 50%. Of course, that doesn't count all of the time and energy that the faculty puts into a fund raiser. I've had some exposure to Boosterthon although not directly through a Fund raiser. This prompted me to do some looking around.

The average Booster request is for ~$30. Even in this tight economy, that does not seem unreasonable, is it? They also give prizes based on the number of states represented and various stuff like that. Not just who gets the most dollars.

Boosterthon removes the workload from the faculty and the average school receives more money at the end of a Boosterthon FunRun than with any other fund raiser they have ever done. Sure the prizes are absurd, and there's lots of competition, but isn't that life? It's a great opportunity to teach your kids to do their best and know that's what truly matters. You can't look to the schools to teach your children self-respect and self-esteem. That comes from the home, and if they have that, then they'll be able to roll with not just this pressure and competition, but the real pressure and competition that comes with life.

A few additional thoughts to consider if your PTA utilizes Boosterthon as a fundraiser:

The National PTA policy cleary states that children should not be used as fundraisers and children should not take part in fundraising activities.

PTA policy states that: A PTA renders a greater service by working to secure adequate funding for programs that have an enduring benefit than by purchasing equipment for schools. The PTA should not contribute to the problem of inequities within a school district by excessive fundraising.

In response to John. I'd like to point out that Sally Foster for example clearly states their percentage split on marketing materials and their website. Sally Foster is an optional fundraiser. Some would argue that our children are held hostage to a program like Boosterthon where they have access to our children in the classroom on a daily basis during the fundraising drive.

Boosterthon does a great job marketing itself to busy parents. Boosterthon is disruptive to the school and the pressure put on the children to raise money is ridiculous. Their mantra about character education hypnotizes parents into believing that this is really great! But it isn't. Boosterthon's deception is clever when it comes to teaching the child to solicit at least a "$1.00 per lap" when the lap is only 1/6 of a mile and each child is encouraged to run 25 to 35 laps. Thus, your average donor is on the hook for $25.00 to $35.00 before they know what hit them. How about that for character education?

Correction. The lap is only 1/16 of a mile.

My daughters school used Boosterthon last year and had record participation and funds donated all the kids seemed to enjoy it. I think of ALL the fundraising we have done for other schools I preferred this and couldn't believe others haven't thought of this sooner. Everyone wants to support their kids school and having to purchase cookie dough, popcorn, wrapping paper and all that other junk for me is a waste. The kids really don't do that much of the "Fund Raising" activities and so it really is a Parent event and not much for the kids. This let's them at least have some roll in the 'fun'draising .

I didn't get to go to the fun run but my wife recorded it on video and all I saw was kids being encouraged to EXCERCISE and have fun doing it! During different laps they had the kids do different things to keep them encouraged (had had them drinking plenty of water!) What a horrible thing!:-)

My daughter this year was looking forward to it again, except the school went back to the other stuff. Turns out they didn't raise that much and are going to do Boosterthon again next year. Yeah!

As for the $1/lap my daughter told them she was going to do 20-24 laps so they all knew how much they would be donating.

Dad of 3- is your child in a public or private school?

The Boosterthon company only took 1% of the 48% in actual profit last year. There is a huge amount of money that goes into the organization and operations of such a program. I happen to think it is a great way to raise money for the school. There are many learning aspects to the program including character traits, fitness, and for the younger ones, money concepts and geography. Why shouldn't the kids participate during school? As a teacher, I see many positive academic and social aspects to the Boosterthon.

The materials clearly state that the average lap count is 30 with a cap of 35.

The "just the facts" statement above doesn't seem correct. If the Boosterthon only takes 1% of the 48% actual profit from donations, then on a school collection of $20,000, Boosterthon would net $96.00?($20,000 x 48%=$9,600). 1% of $9,600 is $96.00.