Spirit Day

Spirit Day Fundraiser

Thank you for taking this on. It’s a great way to make money for our class trip scholarships.

Approximately once a month Marquez has Spirit Day. All the students wear a Marquez T-shirt and they can bring a dollar or two to school to buy a treat after school. Each 4th and 5th grade classroom is responsible for organizing one of these fundraisers, and all proceeds from the sale go towards that grade’s fund to help pay for the class trips.

2009 – 2010 Schedule

• September 18, 2009 – 5th - Conn
• October 16, 2009 - 4th - Palo
• November 13, 2009 - 5th - Smith
• December 18, 2009 - Spirit Day – wear T-Shirt - No fundraiser
• January 15, 2010 - 4th - Wilkinson
• February 19, 2010 - 5th - Keller
• March 12, 2010 - 4th - Chaides
• April 16, 2010 - 5th - Lantos
• May 14, 2010 - 4th - Jacobs
• June 4, 2010 – PTA

Planning:

• The snacks are sold after school only:  1:30 for the Kindergarten and 3:00 for grades 1-5 (note early out days – 1:55).
• Price:  Everything usually is $1.
• Get kids and parents to volunteer to help with the event.
• Set up at least two sale spots: the courtyard and lower yard, possibly also at the flagpole. See Ms. Miller the day before about borrowing tables. You should have at least one adult per table and the children from your class can help sell. (They love to sell!)
• Decide what you want to sell. Popular items include: Krispy Kreme donuts, homemade baked goods, snacks (chips & granola bars, etc.), popcorn and pizza.
  • Krispy Kreme donuts - 
    • Santa Monica store (Krispy Kreme)– 1231 Wilshire Blvd, (310)393-8319
      • FOM tax I.D.# is on file with them
      • Contact – Jim, Sherry or Gene they need two days’ notice
    • Quantity – Typical amounts are 70 to 80 dozen. 
    • Cost - $5.00 per dozen
    • Payment – they take cash or credit card only, no checks
    • Delivery-   they do not deliver.  You will need a mini van or SUV to pick them up.  There is a lot in the back of the store they share with the post office and it’s pretty open in the morning.
    • Ask for napkins – they will supply you with someIf you are selling popcorn, we suggest going to Smart & Final, Costco, or similar place to purchase popcorn in bulk and bag it yourself. You will need small paper bags which can be purchased at Smart & Final. There may be leftover supplies in the Friends cupboards in the room behind the teacher’s lounge (check the cupboards first). You need to start early to bag enough popcorn for all the kids.
  • Drinks -  Smart & Final or Costco are good sources.  Please note that selling drinks is not as profitable as selling Krispy Kreme donuts, so many classes choose not to sell drinks.
  • If you are selling pizza, you can either preorder from Costco and have someone pick it up, or call Dominoes and negotiate a discount for a school fundraiser/ large order. Have the pizza cut into 1/2 sized slices to make it cost effective.
  • Homemade baked goods – soliciting contributions from your class. This will probably make you the most money, but each person in class will have to bring in at least 2 -4 dozen items to sell (depending on if you are selling 2/$1 or 1/$1,) if you want to have enough for the whole school.
  • Store bought snacks – Have each person in the class donate a box of granola bars, pre-packaged chips, or other snack. You will have to supplement with a Costco run in order to meet the demand of around 640 students, but you can make a decent profit if you sell everything for $1. Have the class bring the snacks in a week or two early, so that you can see what you need to go and buy. You may have a strange assortment left over, which can be sold at the next Spirit Day fundraiser for your grade, or purchased back by a willing volunteer. If purchases are unopened, you can return them.

Advertise Spirit Day!

• 1-2 weeks before your Spirit Day, Contact FOM’s VP Communications, Mary Wlodek at mary@proactive-mktg.com or (310) 454-5356 to customize the email announcement for your Spirit Day. 

Volunteers:   You will probably want to recruit 6 parents: 

• (2) to sell to kinder at 1:30
• (4) at least, to sell after school (2 to sell by the flag pole and 2 for the lower yard)
• Kids usually like to walk up and down the car pool line to sell.

Set Up:

• Tables and Carts – available through Ms. Miller, grounds manager.  Kids can decorate signs to hang on the tables advertising items being sold and prices.
• Drinks – Bring some coolers or tubs & ice, so you can cool the drinks.
• Cash Box – You will need it to collect the money.   
• Money - You supply the initial money for the box, maybe $10 to $20 in one dollar bills for each change box.  Parents have found that a fanny pack or similar pouch worked nicely too to handle the money and once filled up they  would transfer the money to a shoe box or cash box.
• You might want to arrive 20 min before selling time (1:30 for Kinder; 3 pm for rest) in order to move the tables down, get the donuts and drinks to each location.

Selling:

• Protective Gloves – in the teachers’ lounge with the signs; please have anyone handling the donuts wear them!
• Don’t forget about selling to the Kindergarten, at 1:30.
• The carpool lane is also a successful place to sell

Clean Up: 

• Please clean up after the sale. The children should help you.
• All trash needs to be disposed of in the large dumpsters in the teacher’s parking lot.  The trash cans around campus do not get emptied over the weekend and the overflowing cans have become a problem with the neighbors.

Counting the Money:

• Count all the cash, take out your expenses and your “change bank.”
• Collate the bills, with all bills facing the same direction.
• Bundle the $1 in sets of 25 with rubberbands or paperclips.
• Count the change and put in plastic bags with a note stating the amount.  If time allows, count the quarters and bag in $5.00 increments.
• Give the cash, with the accounting, to your class treasurer. 
• Alternatively, write a check for the amount of the profit made out to “4th Grade Fund” or “5th Grade Fund” and give it to your class treasurer to deposit.