They say “time is money”. And when you’re a parent of school-aged kids, EVERYONE seems to be vying for your time (well, and your money).
Sign up for this, volunteer for that. And if you can’t/don’t want to/aren’t the PTO type? Well, then, you can just add that to the list of things you feel guilty about.
Frankly, it’s exhausting.
With the underfunding of public schools, fundraising has become a necessary part of education.
Whether it’s your child calling Grandma to sell overpriced wrapping paper or school portrait packages that cost as much as a car payment, nobody is jumping for joy when that fundraising form comes home in the backpack.
Well, the PTO at Auburn High School in Alabama thinks there’s a better way. In an ingenious letter to parents that went viral on Facebook, the PTO provides three options on their fundraising form:
#1 For parents happy to volunteer and be emailed throughout the year, a $15 donation is requested.
#2 For parents who are “too busy or lazy” (love the brutal honesty here) to respond to fundraising requests, a $25 donation is requested.
And drumroll please for the BEST FUNDRAISING OPTION IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD . . .
#3 “Here’s $50 or more to forget my name and face and not ask me for anything else all year except to complete this form!”
Umm . . . quick, somebody grab me a pen, my checkbook, and my car keys, because I can’t get this form back to school fast enough.
No more stressing about what to make for the bake sale?
No more sending my kids over to the neighbors to sell expensive popcorn that their kid is also probably trying to sell?
No more Sign-Up Genius in my inbox?
No more jog-a-thon, read-a-thon, some-other-exhausing-a-thon?
TAKE MY MONEY, PLEASE!!
So props to you, Auburn PTO, for coming up with a creative and clever way to raise money for your school without bombarding overwhelmed parents with more to-dos. And giving them an option to do it guilt-free.
Honestly, I can think of a few other situations in which I’d happily pay $50 for people to forget my name and face and not ask me for anything ever again.
Maybe I should keep my checkbook handy…