Dealing with Upset Parents in School Fundraisers | Tips and Strategies

[ChefBeckyD]

All the respones are great.

I've been the president of two school PTO/PTA's for the last 5 years and there is always one parent who has something negitive to say about every fundraiser.
Talking to the principal and the chair of the fundraiser is enough. I wouldn't respond to her at all. She will feed off of it and possible twist your attemp to make peace with something else.

I would have the chair put in the monthly newletter how your fundraiser went and how much money was raised. If this crazy lady needs to complain more she will to the chairperson and the chairperson should be able to calm her down or "rope" crazy lady into another fundraiser. I would put CrazyLady in charge of a fundraiser and get a taste of her own med.

I agree. This is the best advice - if someone has made up their mind that they don't like what you are doing - you won't be able to make peace......and she sounds like someone who is (to quote others on this board ) one of the "perpetually offended".

 

[bsaxman]

It's hard to say really -- It seems like where the cost of living is so much lower so are the salaries. Depending on your line of work it seems to just balance out... sometimes.

Yeah normally where cost of living is lower, pay would be lower as well... except my husband is employed by a company with locations across the country and for him to transfer it would be a lateral move, so pay would stay the same... great for us, if that's what we end up doing

 

[jcsmilez]

Yeah normally where cost of living is lower, pay would be lower as well... except my husband is employed by a company with locations across the country and for him to transfer it would be a lateral move, so pay would stay the same... great for us, if that's what we end up doing

That's wonderful! This is a great time to do it too - especially if you are looking to buy a house since the prices have plummeted so much. You can get a nice brand new house with good land in Northern CA right now for under $200,000 -- the comparison is crazy!

 

[roxylady]

I am in the midst of a High School Boy's Soccer Team fundraiser and at the parent meeting one father told me he is NOT going to send HIS son door to door to sell ANY kitchen product. So, I invited his wife to host a party in her home and the team would still get $3 toward their efforts and if she would be so generous as to donate the free product value I would see to it that the team would receive an additional 10-15% of the sales as well. This seemed to work, her party was just at $620 and I placed all orders on the fundraiser. Then I gave her her choice of stoneware FREE. I did this by adding it to another hostess' of mine order at 30% off so I only spent $16 on the stoneware and the team made an additional $623 toward the total sale of the fundraiser. Now, the fundraiser has not ended as of yet but I hope it will help greatly in meeting my $6000 goal for Nov. The father is happy because his wife sold the products and not his son, the wife is happy because she got a free piece of stoneware, I am happy because I got $620 in sales and 2 bookings for $16. ALL is well.

I just wanted you to know that sometimes, it isn't all bad.

 

[jcsmilez]

. The father is happy because his wife sold the products and not his son, the wife is happy because she got a free piece of stoneware, I am happy because I got $620 in sales and 2 bookings for $16. ALL is well.I just wanted you to know that sometimes, it isn't all bad.

That's great to hear! I'm hoping that mine will turn out positive. I have not heard back from this parent so we'll see. I did invite her to do a show though... again, we'll see!

 

[amomoftwo]

That is really uncalled for. If I wasn't such a nice calm mother, I would go to her house and give her a beating. I live in a small town and I have several people like that but once they realized that most of my commission goes to the sponser of my fund-raiser they aplogize and normally buy twice as much, out of guilt. Is there any way you can email me a sample of your packet or at least your flyer. email me it at [email protected]

 

[cat]

I was gonna say something and then noticed the dates of these posts and that this occurence took place 2 months ago!! Must have just missed the drama...

 

[peggyscookin]

Just my quick 2 cents! I just did a FR for our school band! It was fantastic!! They sold $8500 in products and that's with just 65 kids out of a possible
200+ band members!! I had so many Mom's call me and thank me for giving them something practical to sell!!! Everyone is tired of the candy bars, over-priced food (that su**s!!), and even candles from other home-based businesses.
I had a few that told me outright that they weren't interested. That was fine, since I hated selling the over-priced crap in the past. Like others, I just told them that we have products from $.75 and up, and I'm sure that everyone could afford $.75!!!
As much as you would like to be rude right back , just kill her with kindness!! That way there won't possibly be anything bad she could say about you or PC.

 

[byrd1956]

I agree w/Coleen, (don’t forward w/o permission) & w/Debbie (maybe giving her a chance to open her home to friends and family that would like to support the school). As legacypc46 said, it is community service on your part; you are donating your time and money to help. If your child also attends the school, you have the connection of being supportive parents . The whole student body benefits from any fund-raisers the school has whether the individual student participate or not. (If they are raising money for a guest speaker, dance, etc. will the parent of the non-participating student want their child excluded from the benefits? So, respond to her e-mail with a phone call. Don’t ignore her . Although I hate having to talk directly w/someone so negative it would be better than an e-mail. Write out a script and keep the tone of your voice positive. Make it short and sweet. Robyn

 

[byrd1956]

I agree w/Coleen, (don’t forward w/o permission) & w/Debbie (maybe giving her a chance to open her home to friends and family that would like to support the school). As legacypc46 said, it is community service on your part; you are donating your time and money to help. If your child also attends the school, you have the connection of being supportive parents . The whole student body benefits from any fund-raisers the school has whether the individual student participate or not. (If they are raising money for a guest speaker, dance, etc. will the parent of the non-participating student want their child excluded from the benefits? So, respond to her e-mail with a phone call. Don’t ignore her . Although I hate having to talk directly w/someone so negative it would be better than an e-mail. Write out a script and keep the tone of your voice positive. Make it short and sweet. Robyn

 

[byrd1956]

I agree w/Coleen, (don’t forward w/o permission) & w/Debbie (maybe giving her a chance to open her home to friends and family that would like to support the school). As legacypc46 said, it is community service on your part; you are donating your time and money to help. If your child also attends the school, you have the connection of being supportive parents . The whole student body benefits from any fund-raisers the school has whether the individual student participate or not. (If they are raising money for a guest speaker, dance, etc. will the parent of the non-participating student want their child excluded from the benefits? So, respond to her e-mail with a phone call. Don’t ignore her . Although I hate having to talk directly w/someone so negative it would be better than an e-mail. Write out a script and keep the tone of your voice positive. Make it short and sweet. robyn

 

[byrd1956]

I agree w/Coleen, (don’t forward w/o permission) & w/Debbie (maybe giving her a chance to open her home to friends and family that would like to support the school). As legacypc46 said, it is community service on your part; you are donating your time and money to help. If your child also attends the school, you have the connection of being supportive parents . The whole student body benefits from any fund-raisers the school has whether the individual student participates or not. (If they are raising money for a guest speaker, dance, etc. will the parent of the non-participating student want their child excluded from the benefits? So, respond to her e-mail with a phone call. Don’t ignore her . Although I hate having to talk directly w/someone so negative it would be better than an e-mail. Write out a script and keep the tone of your voice positive. Make it short and sweet. robyn
whoops! just realized I had been away from my computer too long and didn't realize there were 2 other pages to this! If you get the e-mail returned, try calling.