Fundraising in Daycare?

lulu8109 · September 2013

Our friends have a 3 year old who goes to daycare at a center. Her mom sent out a Yankee Candle fundraiser for the daycare center. She said this is the first of many fundraisers.

Is this common for daycare centers? I have never heard of this before. DS goes to an in-home daycare.

Is anyone's toddler fundraising for school already?

ChicagoBroad26 · September 2013

Ava has started a 2 yo preschool program and I cannot believe how many mandatory fundraisers and volunteer things we have to do. It's ri-freaking-diculous. I don't mind volunteering. But when it's "mandatory" volunteering and "mandatory" donations, I get angry. I'd rather they raise the tuition than get bogged down by this crap.

EMOmamma · September 2013

We don't at our daycare center but my cousin's kid's center does a few per year (butter braids, flower bulbs, wrapping paper) Sorry, I'm already paying a lot for my kid's daycare, not paying for yours too.

Smores730 · September 2013

Wondering if this is a regional thing because I've never heard of this!

lulu8109 · September 2013

@chicagobroad26 & @emo-mamma I hadn't even thought of it that way. It's crazy, considering how expensive daycare already is, that they need to do additional fundraisers or "donations."

Serendipity117 · September 2013

Seems normal to me. We've done them at every center I've worked at and know of others that have too. I think it's more common with smaller centers as opposed to bigger, chain centers.

We've had them so we could help staff do additional training that would have been $100+ oop per staff member. We did a fundraiser last year when licensing changed some rules and we needed new cribs for the infant room. We've also done them so we could get some new things for the center; playground equipment, toys, teaching materials, etc.

DC IS expensive but unless it is a huge center or chain, the profit isn't that much after staff gets paid and different bills each month. I'm friends with our director and she was telling me their expenses every month and it was outrageous. Sometimes the fundraiser are needed if we want the kids to have a little extra. That said, the fundraiser a aren't mandatory. If you participate great, if not oh well.

EMOmamma · September 2013

@Serendipity117
I should clarify - I have no problem with it for special things. Like my nephew had a trike-a-thon to help offset the costs of the new bikes/trikes and some concrete replacement to ride on.

It's the constant, expected, fundraising that bugs me.

JoJoMama730 · September 2013

Our daycare center does one a year, and the money goes toward center improvements, new books/toys, etc. I don't mind fundraising, but I'm annoyed they keep picking the Little Caesar pizza kits. How am I supposed to sell the crap out of these things at work and then need a buttload of fridge and freezer space to store the stuff???? Somebody is not thinking clearly about this arrangement.

bumpuser260585 · September 2013

Our dc does the holiday giftwrap fundraiser every year. We actually just got it yesterday.
Twice a year we do a Krispy Kreme fundraiser too. Our last day at that center is next Friday. I'm curious to see if the new dc does them.

theuntaggablek · September 2013

Our DC has multiple ones per year. We're asked to help with one. Many of my coworkers use the same daycare, so I have yet to try to peddle that stuff. I did bake cookies for the BBQ.

lrn327 · September 2013

I've heard of this but I think it's not very common here unless the DC is run by a non-profit. DS goes to a private DC so while we do different donation things and occasional small fundraisers, the money only goes to the non-profits that the DC supports (a low-income reading program and the Children's Miracle Network). I think I'd be upset if my privately-run daycare was asking me to pay for additional items on top of tuition. I manage large budgets daily or my line of work so to me that signals they are not running there business as it should be, even for one-time expenses. Even one-time expenses are "expected" and should be planned for.

lrn327 · September 2013

Sorry, hope my comment didn't offend anyone. Apparently I feel strongly about this!

bumpuser260585 · September 2013

I'm not offended. Our dc is in a church and the tuition is very reasonable. The first time i was asked to do a fundraiser ds was only 4 months old. I was shocked that it was asked of us. Now, after getting to know the staff, and knowing how much the asst director makes a year, i'm okay with doing them. I do think it would be better to just raise tuition though.

dee12807 · September 2013

Our DC has done 2 in the last 1.5 years, but they were for very specific new things for the center (a 5 station listening center and an interactive board - smart board???). They do a boom fair once a year also, but the center gets it's 'funds raised' in new books (all through scholastic) so I feel l

lrn327 · September 2013

SpitsNGiggles said:

I'm not offended. Our dc is in a church and the tuition is very reasonable. The first time i was asked to do a fundraiser ds was only 4 months old. I was shocked that it was asked of us. Now, after getting to know the staff, and knowing how much the asst director makes a year, i'm okay with doing them. I do think it would be better to just raise tuition though.

Church-affiliated DC I totally get. It's really hard to get extra stuff otherwise and I'm sure the budget is pretty limited. Our DC is a large, corporate-back franchise so pretty different.

kat81again2 · September 2013

they do fundraising at our daycare but it's all optional and I just ignore it most of the time.

ETA: our tuition is exceedingly high (over $1600/mo for toddlers, now $1400/mo for "pre-school prep," DS's current classroom).

OhSewCrafty · September 2013

ChicagoBroad26 said:

Ava has started a 2 yo preschool program and I cannot believe how many mandatory fundraisers and volunteer things we have to do. It's ri-freaking-diculous. I don't mind volunteering. But when it's "mandatory" volunteering and "mandatory" donations, I get angry. I'd rather they raise the tuition than get bogged down by this crap.

I believe that's called "voluntolding." Haha

OhSewCrafty · September 2013

Most of the daycare centers around here are run through churches, so their funding is different than a private center. Ours does the occasional fundraiser and works through the local grocery store chain to link bonus cards to kick backs. They always tell us exactly what the money is going for, which is nice.

stephy1221 · September 2013

Ours does. They use it to raise money for special events for the kids to enjoy at the center. At times I wish they'd just tack it on to the tuition because they never sell anything good.

Edited to add: ours is a church based center

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