A lot of programs count on fundraising as a source of extra income.  However, fundraising can be tedious, time-consuming, and can frequently yield small amounts that don’t seem altogether worth the effort.

We now live at a time where there are whole companies dedicated to fundraising for small businesses.  They often take a pretty large cut of what is sold or auctioned off, but they do a lot of the work.  For 16 years I have been a party to many of these fundraising efforts from my children’s schools.  We have bought and sold cookie dough, wrapping paper, doughnuts, soft pretzels Cubs tickets, Bulls tickets, and Fire tickets.  I have stood outside on a cold Friday evening during playoff time in the fall and have collected money for Cubs parking.  I have sold advertising for calendars, phone directories, and auction booklets.  I have solicited friends, colleagues, and local businesses for goods and services that could then be auctioned off at an annual auction. I have bought tickets for and attended events that raised funds for education.  In short, I have pretty much done it all.

It is really too bad that the actual cost of caring for and educating our children costs far more than we have.  So we have to resort to extra fundraising efforts to make up the difference.  I would be interested to hear about what has worked for you and what hasn’t?  Do you have any great fundraising ideas to share?