Private nursery fundraising concern

[SuperGaGa]

My dd's private nursery has a Parent's Committee and one of thier main functions seems to be fundraising. Only 20% of funds raised goes to charity and the rest going back into the nursery. I find this a bit odd as it's a profit making company and not a charity. Funds going back into the nursery are to pay for items 'over and above what a normal nursery provides' i.e. a forest school for pre-school children.
I queried this decision as I feel uneasy that the nursery are using fundraising to improve the facilities of their nursery rather then spending the money out of their profits.
Anyway I raised my concerns at the last meeting and was made to feel so uncomfortable that I have never returned. I was made to feel that suggesting fundraising should be just for charity, that I was in some way depriving the children which is crazy.
I just wondered if any other nurseries did this and how it works. Thank you!

[annh]

Surely every nursery and school (primary and secondary) in the country has a parents' committee whose primary aim seems to be to raise money for the school? Education budgets are being cut all the time and costs (salaries, utilities, training etc) rising so fundraising is very important to make up the shortfall and provide money for "extras", some of which are probably nice-to-have things and some of which are probably almost essential. DS's are both at secondary school now but I remember primary was always fundraising and some of the money was used for, e.g., playground furniture and markings for games in the yard, money for a shed to store lunchtime games, library books, Christmas treats for the pupils (theatre visit in school/disco), a yearbook for Yr 6 etc.

As long as your committee is being upfront about what they are fundraising for, I don't see a problem.

[SuperGaGa]

Good to have some feedback, thanks!
I think the difference is that a fee-paying private independent nursery is not the same as a school, it is profit making business. It is not affiliated in any way to a school. I wholeheartedly ageee with what you are saying about schools however, and 100% support parents raising funds for schools (I am invovled in my ds's school committee) that have set budgets and therefore need parents contributuons or else things simply don't happen i.e. clubs, trips or garden improvements, but I feel that private company fundraising is a different matter.
Cheers :-)

[insancerre]

Resources are so important for a nursery but so expensive because they get used every day that fundraising is the only way that some nurseries can keep up.
Paper, paint, craft stuff is expensive and in constant use.
Most nurseries have such a small budget for resources that they need to raise extra cash. The only other way is to raise the fees, or cut corners on food, staff wages (hard to do if you only get minimum wage).

[TiggyD]

This is an OP I posted on a childcare site very recently:
"I used to work for a private day nursery. It was owned by the manager. We used to have to do fund raising activities to buy toys. I used to find it really embarassing. We weren't a charity, we were totally owned by the manager which meant any money or toys we bought with the money were the property of the boss. Shouldn't fees cover everything without having to resort to asking for extra money?"
I totally agree with you OP. It's wrong.

[botandhothered]

I also worked for a private nursery. They held fund raising days. Nursery nurses on very close to minimum wage were made to make cakes, at home at their own expense to sell. Also bring things for a raffle etc also to work the afternoon with no pay. The owners lived in a massive new house, frequent holidays and drove top of the range cars, designer clothes etc. Sickening..

[botandhothered]

Nothing went to charity...no idea where the money went!

[ShiftyFades]

My DS went to a nursery that was part of the YMCA. Because this is a charity they were allowed to fundraise and used the money to improve the nursery (garden and toys)
This was legally fine as they are a charity (although it's a bit cheeky given the fees were higher than most local nurseries).

DS now goes to a private company nursery, one of the first things I asked was "do you do any fund raising?". I was sadden that they said no (I really liked some of the events the previous nursery did), they can't do it as they are not a charity.

Makes sense, you don't hear of private companies fund raising: M&S holding a raffle to refurb the lift, Local Printing co doing a sponsored run to buy new equipment.... It doesn't happen, because they can't, it's not legal (I believe).

So your nursery needs to be very careful.

[SuperGaGa]

Thanks for all the feedback. Great to get some independent views.
I especially liked the M&S raffle comment! That made me LOL!
I was making similar comparisons with a private gym raising funds for money to get better towels, towels that would be over and above those of a "normal" gym. Can you imagine......??

[MariaMandarin]

The nursery is basically asking that those parents who are happy to pay more, do so, as I expect most of the money raised comes from parents of children at the nursery. It's very dubious practice. The money raised is income, and should therefore be on the balance sheet and subject to tax etc. I would bet they don't do this.

[ShiftyFades]

Might suggest my local Burger King raises money for new loos... They are absolutely vile....
Of course, I only go in to use the loo, the onion rings don't tempt me at all

[jelliebelly]

I wouldn't be happy with this at all - The private nursery my dcs went to did loads of fundraising but all for childrens charities - a different one each year. They might as well just increase the fees and not bother with the hassle!!

[jelliebelly]

I wouldn't be happy with this at all - The private nursery my dcs went to did loads of fundraising but all for childrens charities - a different one each year. They might as well just increase the fees and not bother with the hassle!!

[frankie4]

This is interesting, I have never thought of it like this before. My friend has dc's at a private school and they have a large very well organised PTA with big fundraising events like a ball!! Are parents happy to contribute to this because they believe the school is not making a big enough profit to pay for extra things like new swimming pool etc. Is it only ok if the school is just breaking even after salaries??

My dc are at state school but went to a private nursery, where the owners seemed to be doing very well. I think most parents were active in the PTA there as they wanted to make a good impression to the teachers who would be writing their dc's references for private prep schools.