MANKATO — At Franklin Elementary, the fruits of student fund raising are visible in every classroom.

Each has a television and VCR, paid for by the school’s parent-teacher organization. Outside the building, children play on new blue and yellow playground equipment, also purchased by the PTO.

Each year, local PTOs and PTAs (parent-teacher organizations and associations) earn thousands of dollars through student sales of candy bars, discount cards, pies and frozen pizzas. Those funds are put back into the schools, paying for many of the extras — outside the standard curriculum — for which the school district cannot or will not pay.

With students from more than a dozen public and private schools vying for community dollars, PTOs must plan fund-raisers carefully to guard against donor fatigue. They also know many students and their parents are busy fund raising for other organizations, too.

Arn Kind, a sixth-grade teacher at Franklin, said the dollars flowing from PTOs provide students with educational opportunities they may not have otherwise.

When Kind’s students participate in the state History Day program, they have thousands of dollars worth of video equipment available to them for making documentaries. The Franklin Elementary PTO purchased 35 mm cameras, digital video cameras and computer editing equipment.

PTO dollars also go toward more run-of-the-mill school activities, like the annual field trip to the state Capitol or a new set of atlases.

At a time when state budget cuts are limiting the dollars flowing to school districts, Kind said student fund raising plays an important role in schools.

“The PTO, they’re picking up the slack,” he said.

‘Burnout’

For many parents, the schools are just one group asking their children to raise money. Sporting programs, scouting organizations and many other groups hold their own fund-raisers.

Waiting for her son to finish hockey practice outside of All Seasons Arena Tuesday, Sherry Stagg said the fund-raising cycle can be hard on families.

Stagg’s son, a Garfield Elementary student, just finished selling butter braid bread for his fall fund-raiser. By signing up her son for hockey, Stagg also signed up for another round of fund-raisers.

“You go back to the grandparents how many times, the aunts and uncles how many times, your coworkers how many times,” she said. “You hit up the same people over and over.”

“I think a lot of families choose to do one or the other,” either fund raising for sports or school, she said.

Danielle Westerlund, another hockey mom, said much of the fund-raising duties fall on the parents. They often place the calls soliciting relatives or end up bringing the box of $1 candy bars to work.

Both women said they recognized the good done with fund-raising dollars, even if it can be tiring to raise them.

Lisa Haman, vice president of the Hoover Elementary PTA, said she was aware of the dangers of “burnout” — both for those raising the funds and the donors.

“Last year I had four different fund-raisers through the year,” Haman said. “This year I’m going to narrow it down to two.”

“You’ve got to be sensitive to the community. There’s a lot of us out there fund raising.”

Profits vary

The Association of Fund-Raising Distributors and Suppliers, based in Atlanta and representing more than 650 fund-raising companies, reported about $1.9 billion was netted by schools and other groups fund raising in 2002. (Efforts to get updated figures from an association representative were unsuccessful.)

Most sales were made by elementary schools, according to the association.

Roosevelt Elementary PTO fund-raising chairwoman Jeanne Fitterer said companies visit the PTO throughout the school year to pitch their fund-raising products.

PTOs are looking for products that will be easy to sell and provide a high return, but they have other concerns, too. They must choose between offering a magazine full of items or selling just a few things, for instance.

“At Roosevelt, we wanted to be as simple as possible,” Fitterer said.

This fall, Roosevelt students sold tubs of frozen cookie dough — eight flavors, priced $11 to $13 each.

Typically, Fitterer said, the school will keep 35 to 40 percent of the profit on a sale. But some fund-raisers offer more.

Franklin Elementary PTO President Vicki Peterson said their PTO keeps 50 percent of the profit from sales of Katherine Beich candy bars.

Peterson said last fall students sold $31,950 worth of candy bars at $1 each. The school kept about $15,000 after accounting for unsold candy bars.

Haman said the Hover Elementary PTA keeps only $2.75 for every $10 Bakers Square pie certificate students sell, or less than 30 percent. Timed for the holiday season, the pies sell fast, making up for the low profit ratio.

“It has been a tremendous fund-raiser for us,” she said.

In the classroom

Peterson said parents who want to learn more about the fund-raising process should sit in on a PTO meeting. It is during meetings that faculty bring their wish list, and fund-raising goals are set.

“Very seldom do we ever turn one of our teachers down,” she said. “If you’ve got valid reasons for wanting something, we do our best to get that to you.”

Arn Kind of Franklin Elementary said teachers are careful not to push students too hard.

“We make sure we let the kids know how they will benefit,” Kind said. At the same time, teachers “don’t cram it down their throats.”

“I never pressure kids,” he said.

Fitterer said school fund-raisers are always optional.

“If families choose to sell, that’s wonderful, and if families don’t choose to sell, that’s OK,” she said.

Fitterer said fund-raisers work because many people find it easier to donate when they get a product in return. And for some families, it is an easier way to help support their child’s school than writing a check, she added.

“Some families can’t afford to write the check, but they can certainly walk around the block and sell 10 tubs of cookie dough.”