to think this fundraising idea is batshit?

[PlasticTatNemesis]

The school my child goes to has a fabulous summer fair, and much respect to the PTA who organise it each year. In the run up to it we get asked to donate a bottle for mufti one week, chocolate for mufti another, soft toy for mufti another (the mental load associated with this could be a whole other thread...)

This year there is a new request: money in an envelope for mufti, minimum 50p. The envelopes will then be used for a stall where you pay 50p to buy an envelope, not knowing what is inside, with the idea you might win more than 50p.

Another mum on the (notorious) WhatsApp group tried to clarify this as they didn't understand how this worked as a school fundraiser, as if you all put 50p into the envelopes and the summer fair charges 50p for each, the school makes 50p for each 50p donated. If you put £50 into your envelope, the school makes 50p for the £50 donated, so essentially £49.50 of your money is a donation to another parent instead of the school. It has been clarified that this is indeed how it works, but the hope is the person who won more would spend their winnings on other summer fair stalls.

AIBU in thinking this is batshit? Some parents who had initially thought the money in envelopes were for donations to the school rather than a crazy stall where you are guaranteed to get at least as much money as you paid back are somewhat cross as they would not have donated money to such a ridiculous scheme.

(for the avoidance of doubt, there are no empty envelopes as apparently else this would fall foul of gambling rules, so it is literally a stall to get the same amount of hard cash or more for the money you pay. My mind is boggling.)

I was bought up in Cumbria, never heard it there either.

Apparently we are in the minority 😂

I helped on the Christmas chocolate tombola a few times. Total madness for 30 minutes. All chocolate gone and £100s profit!

We do this at our school coffee morning too. A couple of weeks beforehand, the pupils have a dress as you please day (or mufti - who knew?) and have to bring something chocolatey. This can range from a single bar of chocolate to a nice big box so nobody feels under pressure to bring something expensive.
As PP said it sells out quickly and is 100% profit. I loved doing it!

Only ever heard the word mufti on here, and my husband was actually in the army

I agree that this could only work if there was a good chance that the contents of the envelope would be less than the cost to buy it e.g. each envelope costs £1 and could have a penny in it or a tenner or whatever. That said, if you could pick/see the envelopes before buying one, you'd just go for the lighter, crinkly ones - unless some wag put, say a £20 note AND a handful of coppers in their envelope.

I think the altruism factor would be low, though. Although everybody would hope to win more, there's no real incentive for anybody to put in more, when filling their envelope. It's not like the school will benefit any more, even if you do give generously, it's just going to another parent.

Would the envelope buyer take it away with them or would they have to open it at the stall, in front of everybody? If the latter, there would be the social pressure for those winning a decent amount (maybe even any amount) to just donate it straight back to the school. Even if they do go on to spend their winnings on other stalls, it's a win-win scenario for them, as they will invariably come away with essentially free goods (prizes, sweets, teddies, hotdogs, coffee etc.) that it cost the school/somebody to provide, which they kindly did expressly for the purpose of raising money for the school. Maybe it could just about work if the winnings were subsequently all spent on a 'for fun' stall such as 'throw a wet sponge at the geography teacher in the stocks', with no tangible prizes.

I agree with PP that this is very like the cake stall model. All the mums parents are expected to spend a lot on ingredients, then give a few hours of their time for baking, as well as bearing the cost of the gas/electricity for the oven. Then, the cake that probably all-told cost them at least a fiver (not including their precious time) is sold for 50p. It's a very common charity fundraising concept: they couldn't care less what it costs somebody else to make it happen; all that matters is how much they get in the end.

Even the 'themed' mufti days often follow the 'costs you much more than is raised' model. You have to spend a tenner on a Christmas jumper or book character outfit, or buy Pudsey-themed stuff, that your child will only wear on that one day, to comply with the school's request - then you have to pay a further £1/£2 for the 'privilege of being allowed to wear your X costume'!

Without wanting to sound joyless and moany, the themed days are also quite an insult to the parents on very low incomes, who have to struggle to afford uniform for their children - who are then told that they can wear (i.e. their parents are pressured to pay for) something 'fun', whilst the hard-gotten expensive uniform sits unused in the wardrobe for a day.

if the parents who thought up this daft "idea" have twigged yet that it makes no sense?

It was always called mufti day at my school in the 1980s in Bournemouth. You can’t get much further south than that.

Mufti day is widely used where I live. Home Counties.

Never heard of mufti in Scotland
Just called Dress as you please day here.

It isn’t gambling because there is no way to lose money. You pay 50p and you are guaranteed to get at least the same amount back in your envelope, so there is no gamble. It would be gambling if some of the envelopes has less than 50p in them, but it’s been agreed that none of them will.

@Blondey2023 I thought mufti was a southern thing. It's very famous five! We just call it non uniform day here.

Non-uniform = mufti in our house (Cumbria). Both parents used it as an expression but they were born during the war with fathers in the navy, so probably picked it up from them.

Reminds me of a school fair where I volunteered to make chutney for the chutney stall ... only they insisted you followed the exact same recipe because "everyone loves it and expects it to be the same".

The ingredients cost me £36. Made 9 jars. And they sold them for £2 each.

Now I just give the school £36 and my house doesn't smell of onions for 3 weeks afterwards.

Our school always does an Easter egg tombola. Bring in an Easter egg, in exchange for a non uniform day, and also bring some money to have a go on the Easter egg tombola. Your child could win an Easter egg!

Erm....

Was always called mufti when I was at school! (1990s West of Scotland)