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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, September 8, 2003

AT WORK
Oh, no — not another fund-raiser by your co-workers' little darlings

By Chad Graham
Des Moines Register

What's the difference between a door-to-door salesman and a co-worker who hocks candy bars for a school fund-raiser?

You can slam your door on the salesman.

Cookies, cheesecake, greeting cards, beef sticks, wristbands, aromatherapy candles, cookbooks, personalized water bottles — the list of what parents will sell for their kids during the workday is endless.

Call me heartless — I turned down a Girl Scout and her Thin Mints last year — but workplaces should ban these sales attempts.

Yes, there are many worthy causes. Yes, children should have opportunities to take a school trip or win prizes. Yes, they should learn lessons in social interaction and finance by asking for donations.

But a line should be drawn when high-pressure sales parents — gripping multicolored lists — ask the office, "Who wants to buy some cookie dough so (insert name here) and the band can go to Nashville?"

No, thanks. I can buy the same cookie dough for half the price at the grocery store. The absolute worst product has got to be those books featuring such coupons as $1 off a fast-food value meal.

The office twentysomethings are usually dirt-poor from paychecks drained by the government, a newly setup 401(k) plan, student loans, car repairs and trying to keep some semblance of a savings account. Leftover cash is usually reserved for beer.

It puts us in the awkward spot of having to refuse your precious offspring.

The problem of high-pressure sales parents might get worse.

As a safety precaution, schools and companies have basically stopped telling kids to sell door-to-door unaccompanied by an adult. That increases pressure on busy parents to take the lists to work after extended family members have been tapped.

Meanwhile, school districts and groups are being squeezed by state and federal budget cuts, increasing the need for fund-raisers, according to the Association of Fund-Raising Distributors and Suppliers in Atlanta.

The average product fund-raiser generated nearly $6,000 in retail sales last year, according to the group.

Fund-raising money paid for nearly $2 billion worth of band equipment, athletic team uniforms, field trips and playground equipment in 2002. Five years ago, that figure was $1.7 billion.

Here are some suggestions from the fund-raising association for parents who sell items at work:

  • Don't make broad announcements about the project via e-mail. Company equipment should be used for company business.
  • Focus on interested colleagues and past supporters.
  • Make in-person appeals during the least hectic time of the day, such as breaks or lunch hours.
  • Be aware that the higher you are on the corporate ladder, the more pressure people are going to feel to buy something.
  • Thank supporters, particularly those without children, whose generosity is seldom reciprocated. Perhaps you could treat supporters to doughnuts or bagels. Let them know how much money your office contributed to the child's project.
  • Thank-you notes written by the child go a long way.

Three years ago, parents and officials at Urbandale Middle School in Iowa were fed up with fund-raisers of candy, candles and cream pies. Parents with children in Scout organization or sports were getting double- and triple-whammied with fund-raisers.

The Parent-Teacher Organization started the "un-fund-raiser." Parents are asked to consider a donation to the group — suggested at $15 for each child attending the school, said associate principal John Casebolt. "The goal is to raise $7,500, and they've come close to achieving that the past couple of years."

Casebolt said that as long as the program works, the school won't go back to fund raising.

"A lot of parents really like the idea of the un-fund-raiser, and a lot of them give more than what the suggested amount is," he said.

Kudos to Urbandale Middle School for finding a solution to the nagging fund-raising problem.