It is our position that traditional fundraising tactics used by school, sports, church and youth groups are losing their effectiveness. We are growing tired of being guilted by well-meaning children and their adult counterparts into buying twenty-dollar magazine subscriptions, thirty-dollar bags of popcorn and overpriced wrapping paper.

While the Girl Scouts are the clear victors in offering tasty cookies for an affordable $3.50 a box, consumers are getting less for their dollar due to the rising cost of production. Most members of the community are glad to donate a few dollars towards these causes. Lately, it seems that the real winners in the fundraising game are the manufacturers and publishers who also benefit from the sale of these items.

Even though many school PTO’s have listened and are now offering a one-time donation option, it seems that we are still constantly solicited to buy goods, trade-in box tops, and buy raffle tickets, just to name a few. Fundraising is only going to grow and it will likely become more challenging for these groups to cash in during this weakened economy. If these organizations could just spare us the “stuff,” they may get more cash in return, which would benefit their cause more efficiently.