I know that a lot of homeschool groups follow in the footsteps of other nonprofit organizations when it comes to fund raising. They sell the same things and they even succumb to the pressure to set up individual fund raising accounts and “reward” those who do the most work.
I discourage setting up individual fund raising accounts and I have written about them here:
The IRS’s Word on Fundraising Do’s and Don’ts
Individual fundraisers and homeschool groups
I have a great story to share with you about one homeschool leader that did her fund raising right and it benefited many people:
Hi Carol,
I have to tell you that since reading your comment on my homeschool blog last week I spent some time perusing your advice on Fundraisers. I am a candlemaker who runs fundraisers, originally for young people raising money for mission trips and this year for a Homeschool organization who wanted to partially subsidize the Formal. These tickets are so often cost prohibitive…Anyway…as we began the process I had several parents come to me and basically plead for the money to be designated to those who sold the most. Without knowing that it would have been legally wrong, I felt that it was just a bad idea and said that I believed the right encouragements and positive input would bring a good result for all. I was right! The class did well and was able to drastically reduce the ticket prices for all.
Thanks for the legal back-up in case this comes up again in the future. I will gladly refer anyone to your website.
Keep up the great work!
Becky K.
I was so glad to hear that Becky did the right thing and the entire class was blesses by the fundraiser, not just a few families. I love the spirit of cooperation and teamwork!
Carol Topp, CPA
