They always say, it was my kids school, I didn't pick or hey it is an easy fundraiser, etc. Despite their defense strategy, I heckle on. Here is why I hate those... Most of them are done by big ol' companies. Most give a tiny percentage back. Most of them are a major inconvenience and shame you into going.
Here is how the math works and a couple better suggestions.
Lets say you decide to support this local drama club at Hacienda. You take your family of four, you get food disguised as Mexican, you get free GFS chips (plus you know you don't need the carbs) and watery salsa. The bill with tip maybe comes to like $50 or more if you got drinks (which don't count for give back). Of that bill, your friendly local server got a few bucks which is nice, but your daughters drama club probably only gets like $2 and you got heart burn.
So how about instead... you take your family to a local taqueria, in a real Mexican neighborhood. There I bet your family of four can eat authentic food, chips made from real tortillas, and the bill comes to like $35. Your friendly local server still gets a tip, a local owner makes some profit, and then you go write a check for $10 to your daughters drama team.
You saved five bucks and BAM! You look like a hero donor, and more importantly you feel like a decent human being for supporting a great local business.
Or hey, if you really want to raise money? What happened to pasta fundraisers? I was just at one for a fraternity at IUSB (Delta Sigma Phi's Don't Stop the Pasta). The Drama team can develop their team work skills, cook pasta, and during the pasta dinner do a little play for us! Show us where the money is going, and keep 90% of the sales. And you didn't have to hassle all your friends to come to a restaurant super out of their way and spend money they don't have to support a cause they barely know about.
You're welcome... and if you want, La Casa will take the $5 you saved for our No Human Being is Illegal campaign and you just broke even. Think like an advocate when you spend money.
Don't you feel like an even better human being now?