It’s started again. The forms are coming home. The color brochures. The samples. The friends throwing a party for the latest and greatest accessory/kitchen tool/plastic storage container. You name it. People are selling it “to raise money.”
I am officially opting out.
Unless it is something I need (not want), we are not going to participate. If it is something we believe in wholeheartedly, then we will give a check to the organization. If it isn’t… then we will recycle the opportunity or just decline.
And I hate to be mean, but most of the time, the answer will be ‘no.’
Why? Because if I buy a $5 can of gummy bears, you only get $2 of it. (And let’s be serious. A bag of gummy bears is about $1.50. The fundraiser has a serious over-pricing issue. I just can’t do it.) If I select a $24 set of candles, you get about $10. If I buy the Entertainment coupon book (last year’s is still sitting unused on my desk) you get some bucks from it, but not as much as if I just donated directly.
It goes beyond not wanting “stuff” though. I’m ethically not allowed to ask for donations at work. I’m philosophically opposed to asking my neighbors. And I’m simply NOT asking my church… we have a list of funding and capital repair needs that go far beyond the latest fundraiser for the soccer team/Scouts/music department tour.
There are times that we do participate. I can buy citrus from the band and donate it to the food pantry. That’s cool. Same for Girl Scout Cookies (not as nutritious… but the sentiment is good!) I haven’t yet met a food pantry, though, that wants candles or gourmet kitchen items or jewelry or purses. But they will always take cash or a grocery store gift card.
So I’m really, REALLY sorry… but my answer is still, ‘No.” And that’s the truth.
An Unfinished Symphony 
We always opted out, too…even though it meant our kids usually did not get to participate in the ‘rewards’ that went along with the fundraising. But I could see no purpose in purchasing stuff I didn’t need at exorbitant prices so the school could get a fraction of that back. Better to just write a donation check…which was usually large enough to be matched by my hubby’s company’s charitable giving program. Plus I didn’t have to hound my friends to buy stuff.
The only year we participated was the year the PTA had a fundraiser selling ‘green’ grocery bags and steel water bottles. I still use ’em. *That* was a great idea…but it only came ’round once…
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