I don’t know about you, but back when I was a kid (oof, that is dangerously close to “back in my day”), fundraisers were about going door to door with boxes of mid-level chocolate bars. These days, that’s not really doable, on account of the very real danger that idea presents. And that is something I totally get. But, according to one mom on TikTok by the name of Mollie, one of the fundraisers of today involves just asking for cash.
She explains in her TikTok video that her daughter texted her about getting contact information for relatives who she could call and ask for donations for sports for her school. Mollie’s daughter also told her it was mandatory and “for a grade.” Donations to support public schools are totally acceptable. But getting a contact list to essentially cold call for this purpose? Not so much.
A school fundraiser is straight up asking for cash.
@mollieogorman Newest form of fundraising for our public school.
♬ original sound – Sunny and Mollie
Mollie starts off her video by announcing that there is a new fundraiser that kids and parents will be dealing with. It’s possible that the one her daughter has isn’t the same as what kids across the board are going to face at school.
However, asking for donations rather than selling popcorn, candy bars, mums, or cookie dough could become the new norm.
“They give you a list and you put down everybody’s name, number, and e-mail that you can think of,” she says. “And then the kids, this was for athletics for my daughter, so instead of dressing out and doing athletics, they spent an hour calling, texting, and e-mailing people asking for pledges and donations.”
She then explains that the donation amount starts at $50 and goes up to $2,000.
People can also type in their own amount to donate. Mollie says in her video that she feels like her daughter was “hustled” into providing information to call family and friends for donations and pledges.
Most of the parents and even users who aren’t parents that left comments on the video were in agreement about the unfairness surrounding the fundraising system.
One user pointed out that, by providing names, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers, students are giving personal data to the company in charge of securing the donations for the school.
Someone else joked that students should provide that information for “School board members, city council members, and the state legislators who aren’t funding schools.”
Others couldn’t believe that, as Mollie says in her video, obtaining this information for her daughter is part of her daughter’s grade. That alone sounded alarm bells for some. But the idea of literally asking for money to find programs at public schools is wild to most of those who commented on the video on TikTok.
Sure, some parents might prefer to hand over cash instead of buying a dozen $2 chocolate bars they’ll never eat. But at least in those instances, the people who donate money feel as though they are getting something tangible in return instead of being hit up for money.
