Would you participate in this school fundraiser?

ashleyaugust7

Outdoor photo session at the school grounds (beautiful, lots of trees, the actual school wouldn't be in the photos), 20-30 digital images, can include family as well as the student, with 2/3 of the fee going to the school to replace the aging playground for the Spring of 2012.

The school does not offer traditional school photos.

debs1018

How much is it? They are doing something similar at my daughter's pre-school. You can donate $25 or more and you get a couple of shots and the photographer emails you the pics and you can print out as many as you want. I say yes!

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Zenya

totally depends on the actual cost.l

AnnapolisLari

Depends on the cost, but it's definitely more interesting than selling pizzas or Yankee Candles.

 

superslug

Depending on how much, I would!

ashleyaugust7

$75

Mrs Manners

Yes. But only if I could visit the photographers site and verify their work and shooting style prior to signing up. Also, I'd want to know if they were going to be edited/corrected/touched up in any way.

AnnapolisLari

For that price, absolutely. And I am one of the most frugal people you will ever meet. :-)

JellymanKelly

Yeah, I would. I'd pay that much for a regular mini photo session, so it would be a huge bonus to me if 2/3 was going to the school.

AndiG

Yes, I would.  It seems very reasonable to me.

happy_momma

No. Photography is not something I'm willing to spend much money on. I'm one who does the specials where you get a package of a bunch of prints from the same pose for $10-$15. And beyond that, we are happy enough with the pictures we take ourselves.

JenGK

I'd need to see the photographer's website/work.  I know some folks who hold themselves out as being professional, family photographers, and I really don't think their work is of professional quality.  If I liked what I saw, I would.

Rebekah1021

Depends on how much, but I would do it if the price was right.

Angela814

It would depend on how much I like the photographer's style. We usually spend around $50 at Sears, so really that's a great deal. I'd have to convince DH who is much stingier than me.

penguingrrl

Provided I liked the photographers work absolutely. I hate studio shots, so that would be far more to my taste than "school pictures." And I'd rather that than some overpriced wrapping paper!

sunnyday016

Yes, if I could see the photographer's site first. If not, then I'd need some sort of money-back guarantee in the case they weren't good.

Jodi&Joe

I LOVE that overpriced wrapping paper.  I freaked out last year when I ran out of it and had to use regular store wrapping paper (which is a freaking waste!)!  Hate it.

Anyway....

our school is doing this but it's $20 for the sitting.  Which I thought was cheap.  $75 is reaching the "Eh, I don't know if I would!" category for me.  Heck, I'm not even doing it for $20!  LOL But that's because everyone that does it has access to ALL the photos AND they didn't even tell us WHO the photographer is!?! 

AnnapolisLari

Seriously? Money back guarantees and whatever over what amounts to a $25 session? Most of the money goes to the school. 20-30 shots for $25 sounds like a deal to me. There are bound to be at least a couple of decent shots out of that.

ashleyaugust7

Jodi&Joe:

I LOVE that overpriced wrapping paper.  I freaked out last year when I ran out of it and had to use regular store wrapping paper (which is a freaking waste!)!  Hate it.

Anyway....

our school is doing this but it's $20 for the sitting.  Which I thought was cheap.  $75 is reaching the "Eh, I don't know if I would!" category for me.  Heck, I'm not even doing it for $20!  LOL But that's because everyone that does it has access to ALL the photos AND they didn't even tell us WHO the photographer is!?! 

$20?  Seems like next to nothing for the school to earn, and absolutely nothing for the photographers time!

JenGK

See, I wouldn't spend even $25 for a session with a photographer whose work was crappy.  So I'd still want to see his/her work beforehand.

jessica1080

AnnapolisLari:

Seriously? Money back guarantees and whatever over what amounts to a $25 session? Most of the money goes to the school. 20-30 shots for $25 sounds like a deal to me. There are bound to be at least a couple of decent shots out of that.

Totally agree.  It is $75 with $50 of that going to the school.  It is definitely worth the risk in my opinion.  An amateur with a nice camera could do well enough to justify that cost.  Surely there would be at least one or two you like and you would have a nice family photo and have contributed to the school.  They are outside so no need to worry about a cheesy/cheap looking background.  I would do it without a second thought.

Jodi&Joe

Lari - I missed that part. Your right - $25 is NOTHING.  Heck, I spend $100 on the crappy school photos!  LOL

Ash - I thought the same thing!  $20 is peanuts.  The photographer has to be donating their time (I'm guessing)!?!?!

Rebekah1021

AnnapolisLari:

Seriously? Money back guarantees and whatever over what amounts to a $25 session? Most of the money goes to the school. 20-30 shots for $25 sounds like a deal to me. There are bound to be at least a couple of decent shots out of that.

I was thinking the same thing...

jettagurl

I'd definitely do it.  

And, ironically, we're doing fundraisers (trash bags and cookbooks) for a  new playground as well.

 

joseysbride

I think 20-30 shots is way too many.  I would give 10 on a disk and have more of the proceeds go to the school.  You could make the cost a little lower then.  The COG's will be super low for you, so you could afford to lower the cost and then hopefully more families would participate.  I think you could get a good turn out from something like this.

ETA:  I'd do a session with my own kids or a friends beforhand and put together a simple and cheap marketing piece to be sent home with all the kids.  You could even refer them to your blog so they could see the full session (ie what they would get).

august06mom

No, I wouldn't because spending $75 on photography isn't in my budget. However, I think it's a great idea and definitely better than wrapping paper or the usual junky sales.

Zenya

I would definitely do that!

femmegem

I would totally do that.

happy_momma

AnnapolisLari:

Seriously? Money back guarantees and whatever over what amounts to a $25 session? Most of the money goes to the school. 20-30 shots for $25 sounds like a deal to me. There are bound to be at least a couple of decent shots out of that.

 Well, but it's not $25. It's still $75 being spent out of a family's budget and that's a big chunk of money for a lot of families. 

I think the success will depend a lot of the demographics of the school, to be honest.  If it's a situation where most of the families are fairly affluent, then they are going to see this as something really great - $75 doesn't break the bank, they've made a nice donation to the school, and they get some photos out of it.

But for a lot of families, $75 is a lot of money to spend - even if it's a great deal overall and a lot goes back to the school. It's still $75.  Some families would be more likely to participate if the package were cheaper with a smaller split going to the school - like $50 total with half to the school.

So what's the goal?  Fewer families but a larger chunk of money from each one? Or maximizing participation?  And be clear about what's included - is this a mini-session where each family might be getting 15 minutes of the photographer's time?  Or is the photographer spending 45 minutes with each family and making only half to a third as much money per package?  Will there be post-processing or will photos be provided as straight out of the camera shots?

(I'm not at all saying that $75 is not a good deal. But I'm saying that it is a lot of money for a family that typically spends $15 on pictures and for whom paying the school tuition is a stretch.  So just consider the market at this particular school.  It would not be very successful at my childrens' schools. But it would be a huge success at others.)

MrsStubbs

YEs I would depending on the cost.

ashleyaugust7

I am the photographer. 

Money is not an issue for the most part in the area (us excluded )

Joseys- I would never be able to just deliver 10- I would say it and then go over, like I always do!  There was already a flyer with info and images that went home with students.

Happy_Momma- 30 min (approx, prob will go over!) sessions, post-processsing and also B&W conversion.

AnnapolisLari

If you have been on this board for any length of time you would know that I am pretty much the most frugal person here. And $75 is a chunk of change out of the budget for us. I am well aware of how that amount can affect a family.

That being said, I would much, much rather have a fundraiser that has something useful for my family (photos that we would do anyway) than have to hit up family, friends and coworkers for something like those vile Joe Corbi pizzas. We had a minimum amount that we were responsible for anyway, whether we sold the stupid pizza or not, and it was well over the $50 that the school would be getting from this fundraiser.

mom2one

Absolutely.

happy_momma

AnnapolisLari:

That being said, I would much, much rather have a fundraiser that has something useful for my family (photos that we would do anyway) than have to hit up family, friends and coworkers for something like those vile Joe Corbi pizzas. We had a minimum amount that we were responsible for anyway, whether we sold the stupid pizza or not, and it was well over the $50 that the school would be getting from this fundraiser.

Oh I agree that I'd much rather spend money on photos than random crap.  And selling random crap to other people - that's the worst!  That type of mandatory fundraiser would never fly at my kids' schools, though. So I'm coming at it from a different perspective.  If I was required to spend a certain amount on school fundraisers, then by all means, sign me up for this photo deal! 

I do think $75 is a great deal for what is being offered, and it's a great idea for the right school.  

joy143dh

I'd totally do that.  Sounds like a great deal and think it's special to have the pictures on school grounds.

stacynikki

Yes, I would do it. Sounds likes great deal.

Jinsy80

Not for $75...I would if it was cheaper though...$25-30.

AggieCouple

Is this a private school?  Then no, especially if it's the Montessori.  Seriously, our Montessori tuition is our biggest bill every month.  I expect them to use that money to provide my children with a safe environment, with no additional cost to me.

 Public school?  Totally. 

ashleyaugust7

AggieCouple:

Is this a private school?  Then no, especially if it's the Montessori.  Seriously, our Montessori tuition is our biggest bill every month.  I expect them to use that money to provide my children with a safe environment, with no additional cost to me.

 Public school?  Totally. 

Yes.  It's not so much a 'the playground is old and unsafe' as 'the playground is old and could be more fun and a tree fell on the other small playground during the rainstorms so there is only the older one'.  But I totally understand the not liking a fundraiser for a private school standpoint.

FormerlyAK

For $75, heck yes. I just had to do the wrapping paper fundraiser ... hate that I paid $8 for a roll I could have purchased at Target for $2 and only a small precent of that $8 goes to my kid's school. I'd rather just give cash to the school!