Fundraising burnout

I am so over fundraising right now. Basically the school district provides the high school band with a teacher and a room and not a heck of a lot more. Fred and I represent almost a quarter of that organization known as "Band Boosters," a group that is called upon to bankroll everything from the cleaning of uniforms to the repair of instruments to the annual band trip (which probably won't even happen since all overnight trips have been canceled--word on the street is that somebody from another school had the misfortune of coming back from an overnight class trip . . . ahem, great with child).

So anyway Fred and I and this core team of band parents have busted our collective ass this fall working to raise money for the band. We shopped for and worked (in the cold, cold rain) the concession stand at the football games. There was one amazing game at which we earned several hundred dollars, but the rest of the games were a waste. It's that one amazing time though that achieves urban legend status and keeps us banging our heads against the wall, hoping some money might fall out.

This weekend was our big gift-wrapping fundraiser. The Enlisted Spouses Club "owns" the gift-wrap concession at the PX for the holiday season, and they rent out the table for $10 per 4-hour shift to organizations, whose members wrap for donations. Fred and I went for 2 hours on Friday night; we and one other mom brought in $19. The team that followed us brought in $6. Yesterday's 4-hour shift was worth another $25 or so. In the 4 hours I worked today (along with 2 other moms), we collected about $30 in donations. Let's assume that the second (and final--hallelujah!) shift brought in another $30--we will have grossed approximately $110. Subtract the $40 it cost us in booth rental and, well, it's just not a pretty picture.

Eight people gave up 16 hours of their holiday weekend for something in the neighborhood of $70. In the past, clubs have raised hundreds of dollars in a single day. But maybe that was on a payday weekend, or maybe people were doing more shopping for gifts and less for themselves. I don't know. I for one though will not be in a hurry to vote aye on any more fundraising plans for a while.