The ABC’s of Raising Class Cash

Plugging the holes left in public schools by budget cuts has become a preoccupation for many North County parents and students.

Through organizations such as the PTA, they are raising money to pay for science class materials, to keep an aide in the school media center, to fund a language class or even paint the school.

As they compete for dollars with other fund-raising groups--the Girl Scouts, Boys Club, churches, charities--they are doing everything from hosting carnivals, selling candy bars and pushing gift wrap to starting educational foundations capitalized with hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“There is nobody left to complain to about things. We either do it or it doesn’t get done. We have finally figured that out,” said Teri McHugh, president of the Parent Staff Organization in Cardiff.

“Our generation of parents is dedicated to making sure our kids get at least as good an education as we got,” McHugh said.

While increased parental involvement is good news for a number of North County’s schools, there is concern about its ultimate impact. Concern that by stepping in to fill the void, parents may be placed in the position of permanently funding programs more appropriately financed by the state. And concern that long-term inequities will develop between schools in neighborhoods where parents can kick in extra dollars and those where they can’t.

Undaunted--and more concerned with seeing immediate needs met--many North County parents have rolled up their sleeves, heaved a sigh, and gone into business.

Joining in the effort are a school-aged sales force, private businesses and the community at large. From candy sales to selling stock in the neighborhood school, here are some ways North County is raising cash for its schools:

Product Sales

School fund-raising through product sales has become a billion-dollar business.

The Assn. of Fund Raisers and Direct Sellers, a national trade group for firms that supply the products schools and other groups sell, says that schools nationwide market about $2.5 billion worth of chocolate bars, tulip bulbs, frozen pizzas and the like every year.

In North County, the amounts of money involved are significant.

For example, the PTAs in the Encinitas school district have taken in about $400,000 in gross receipts, said Carol Siljan, president of North Coastal PTA board of directors.

“Some of that will be taken up with the costs of fund-raising,” she said, “but that is the kind of money that goes through treasuries.”

In North County, schools have sold the gamut of goods. These days, gift wrap is especially popular and, say school officials and parent organizations, a very successful enticement for buyers.

Robin Deryckere loves that. Five years ago, Deryckere, a sales manager for San Diego-based Germaine packaging, saw the need for schools to raise more money. Germaine allowed her to start a separate division called RobinWrap.

“I have hundreds and hundreds of schools now,” she said.

In 1991, RobinWrap sold 324,000 rolls of gift wrap in California. At a wholesale price of $3, that amounted to nearly $1 million for the firm. Schools then sold the paper for $6, a markup that earned schools another $1 million.

San Diego County schools earned approximately $250,000 from RobinWrap sales last year, and RobinWrap is not the only wrap firm doing business with county schools.

Another key fund-raising vehicle many North County schools are using is grocery store script or gift certificates.

Major chains such as Ralph’s, Lucky and Vons allow organizations to purchase certificates in bulk, for example $5,000 worth, at a discount ranging from 5 to 7 percent off face value.

The script is then sold to parents or members of the community at face value in various denominations. The school keeps the difference.

“Our PSO has been very active in selling market script,” said Joel Fazio, the superintendent of schools in Cardiff. “We expect to raise about $20,000 this year.”

In some communities, stopping by the school to pick up $100 worth of grocery story script is as routine as filling the gas tank.

Ralph’s also runs a Be Cool to Your School program that allows accumulated tape totals to be traded for school books or sports equipment.

In Vista, it has become something of a tradition for people to order magazines only from the middle schools. Some schools hold neighborhood-wide garage sales. And good old-fashioned candy sales remain popular throughout North County.

Auctions are another new trend. Although these often require serious advance planning and the cooperation of firms willing to donate goods, auctions can raise a large amount of money in one night. In some cases, rather than auctioning goods, it is the volunteer services of parents--say for baby-sitting--that are being sold.

Finally, subgroups in schools are becoming more active in an effort to fund programs targeted for their own constituency. One North County school has a Latino parents group that sells Mexican food at events. The money earned goes toward language instruction and bilingual materials.

The Direct Pitch

One drawback from product sales is that somehow, schools have to buy the products in the first place. The person buying a $6 roll of gift wrap, for instance, may not understand that just $3 will wind up at the school.

Typically, product fund-raisers result in similar 50-50 splits, and they take time to organize and maintain with services such as bookkeeping.

Also, many parents say selling door-to-door is no occupation for a child. And, increasingly, workplaces have formal or unwritten codes that prevent parents from soliciting co-workers to order cookies, calendars or whatever is being sold this month.

Some schools are simply dropping the pretense.

“In some communities, the straight solicitation letter is working especially well,” said Kathy Cates, president of the PTA 9th District, which includes all of San Diego and Imperial counties. Cates said some schools and funding groups are telling potential donors, “We aren’t even going to send you anything, we just want your check.”

Carlsbad’s Magnolia School has taken this direct approach and added a twist: It offers “investors” the chance to buy “stock” in their child’s future.

“We wanted to abolish altogether sending the kids out into the street,” said Magnolia PTA President Susan Beckman. “We sent out a questionnaire to our parents (about fund-raising), and 97% sent them back saying ‘Save us!’ ”

Last year, the PTA began selling the ersatz stock certificates and asked for $50 per family. In the first week the new program raised $8,000.

This year, Magnolia asked for $100 from each family and raised $11,000. Stock purchasers receive a certificate and are made members of the PTA. And, since the stock comes in denominations starting at $20, many families can take part even if not at the suggested level of $100.

Beckman said one of the reasons for the success of the program is that parents are told upfront exactly what their money will buy. For example, this year’s fund drive financed a multicultural program to supplement social studies instruction in each grade. Last year’s money paid for a resource aide to help science teachers.

“In elementary school in particular, parents are seeing so many negative things about budgets,” Beckman said. “We said that is baloney. We parents are finding that when we put our money in and know what it is doing we are happier and so are our kids.”

Foundations

Educational foundations, once the territory of colleges and universities, are becoming increasingly popular with local public schools.

North County districts or individual schools in communities including Cardiff, Encinitas, Fallbrook and Vista, have begun or are planning to start foundations.

The foundation concept arrived in the county about five years ago when PTAs began looking for ways to reduce their emphasis on fund-raising. By having foundations take responsibility for raising money, the PTAs can focus their efforts on curriculum and classroom activities.

Some of these may vary slightly in structure from traditional models, but the idea remains the same: to provide some reliable money stream from a permanent source rather than relying on sporadic fund-raising events.

Encinitas began its foundation a year ago in an effort to reinstate a computer center aide who had been the victim of budget cuts. So far, the fund has raised about $50,000.

The Cardiff Educational Foundation started just this year in an effort to add stability and raise larger amounts of money.

Teri McHugh, one of the founders of the Cardiff foundation, said parents recruited area professionals who had not been very involved in the school’s PSO so they would have another vehicle for participation.

“We just put out a public call,” she said.

Like other foundations, the Cardiff group incorporated as a nonprofit corporation. So far, the foundation has raised $20,000 through direct solicitation and grocery script sales on its way to an ambitious goal of raising $500,000 in the next three years.

If the group’s capitalization plan meets expectations, the foundation will invest its capital base and use earnings to supply needed funds. It is possible the foundation will join with other North County educational foundations in a pool in order to achieve a higher return.

Corporate Sponsorship

A number of schools have been “adopted” by local companies as part of their fund-raising strategy.

The Fieldstone Co., a major home builder in the area, adopted Vista High School. And, Vista’s Casita science magnet school works with Bank of America. Casita also has won a grant from Pacific Telesis for $250,000. Frazee paint donated $600 to help the school spruce up.

These corporate solicitations are in addition to candy sales, wrap sales, book fairs, jogathons and other creative ways parents have found for donating smaller amounts.

“We also have parents who go out to different local businesses,” school Principal Ollie Matos said. “We have gotten $17,000 worth of equipment for our science lab and for our telephone system. . . . It is just part of parents taking ownership of their schools.”

And that could be a problem, warn PTA officials and parent activists, because parents do not own schools, the community at large owns schools and has always funded schools through tax dollars.

“There is always a danger when you take over funding a program of how you are going to do it year after year,” said Siljan. “We try to remind people to not put themselves in the position of having to do that because then you take responsibility away from those who should have it, which is the state and federal government.”