My daughter came home from school last Friday with her first fundraiser packet of the year. She was so excited to tell me about the plastic stacking cards you can win if you sell enough items.

I looked through the catalogs - mostly the same old sweets, popcorn, etc. But, I was also surprised that they offer local goods as well such as Owensboro's own Moonlite BBQ and Old Hickory BBQ sauce, and Berry Plastics leaf bags. I thought, there all my friends and family will get BBQ sauce and oversized trash bags for Christmas this year. Problem solved... then I wondered, how much does the school actually raise off this? It can't be more than a couple of dollars. So, I decided to forgo the obscure kitchen gadgets, skip the BBQ sauce that I'll forget to send, and honestly we don't bag our leaves so that's a waste too, and donate money to the school directly. But, how much should I give?

I put the question on Facebook. One friend said $50. Is that the average of profit schools make from fundraisers? These kids must do a way better job than me at sales. One friend said to find an item I'd like to have and donate that amount. One said to use the honest parents' guide to fundraising. 

So, what do you think? Fifteen, fifty, or should I stop overthinking it and buy the BBQ?

 

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