(beginning letter)
We have three main concerns with the Boosterthon fundraiser. First, we think it emphasizes what the children get, rather than how the (school name) community benefits from the fundraiser. Second, it manipulates (rather than motivates) our children. Third, the children are missing valuable classroom time because they are in assemblies and these assemblies are not conveying any valuable information to them (they have no academic or personal value). Rather than just list these concerns, we thought it important to describe why we have these perceptions of the Boosterthon program.
First, almost all of the Boosterthon efforts are directed at emphasizing what the children individually get out of raising money (i.e., the prizes) rather than what the school community is getting. The issue is not that prizes are given to kids that raise more. Most fundraisers have this feature and it is done as an incentive. The issue is that the prizes are especially salient in this particular fundraiser. Children receive prizes right in front of other children. There is discussion each day about how much has been raised and which child or class has earned the most. Even the assemblies, which are supposed to emphasize positive qualities supported by this effort, emphasize the prizes. Clearly, we have not attended the assemblies, but we do know the outcome of the assemblies (i.e., what the children learn from them). Each day I ask my kids what they learned at the Boosterthon assembly and each day they can tell me nothing other than who got what prizes. I have asked their friends who visit the same question and I get the same kind of answers. I certainly believe the Boosterthon people make some attempt to promote the values they note in their paperwork, but clearly a strong enough effort in that regard is not made because all the children seem to be able to recall are the prizes. The problem with this is that the school is missing a great opportunity to get the kids excited about and motivated to help the school as opposed to just themselves. We would rather hear our kids talk about all the great things the raised money will buy for the school. That kind of focus would not only help raise money for the school, but also make the children feel even more invested in the school community.
Second, the children are being manipulated to get donations. There is a fine line between motivating someone and manipulating them. There certainly aren’t any known objective standards that can be used to determine when the line from motivation to manipulation has been crossed, but our own feeling is that Boosterthon tactics cross that line. What is troubling is the saliency of the prizes in all aspects of this fundraiser, in an effort to get kids to talk their parents into giving money. Some of what the children are even led to believe is not true. If I surveyed the children at (school name) today, I am quite certain most of them would indicate that the prizes they can earn through Boosterthon are not available anywhere else. Several children have run off the bus telling their parents this “fact.” Well, that’s untrue. We could go and buy any of those prizes right now off the Internet. Children are also being manipulated by repeatedly being reminded exactly how much they have to raise to gain specific prizes for themselves. We could go on to list several manipulation tactics that have been used by Boosterthon that we take issue with, but I I’m sure you get the point. We realize that such manipulation tactics are effective. We realize this is the biggest fundraiser for (school name) all year. Many unethical tactics would be very effective at raising money, but we would never even think to engage in them because they are wrong. In our opinion, the way Boosterthon is raising money is just as wrong. (school name) is better than this and does not need to resort to such extreme and inappropriate tactics. These same tactics are used on TV to sell products to our kids. While we have come to accept that as a fact of life, we would hope and expect our kids are not subjected to such crude manipulation attempts at school. (school name) is above supporting this type of behavior and we are disappointed it is being allowed.
Third, we are upset that class time is taken for an assembly every single day. If the children were getting something positive from attending the assembly, we would support it. But, the only thing children seem to walk away with is that some kids are getting very awesome prizes for raising money. If the goal is really to instill and emphasize certain positive personal qualities, then the assemblies should not even involve the prizes. The prizes should not be handed out or even mentioned during this time. The assemblies are further attempts to spread the propaganda and manipulate the students to raise money.
(end letter)
No to Fundraising in the Classroom 