Fund Raising Question (So What Happened Added)

A neighbor kid did a variety of stuff. One unique thing I remember is that at the holidays he did gift wrapping for people. That was one of his most profitable projects I think.

Let family know that for her birthday or any other holidays where gifts maybe given that she would rather have funds for the trip. Let her go through and sell some things she doesn't use on craigslist. Is she good at math or science? People are always looking for a tutor in those subjects. Is she willing to do with out trips to the movies and instead have you put that $20 or what not she would spend with friends towards the trip?

Assuming you have 11 months to pay for the trip, she needs to be making around 300 per month.

I'd add house cleaning to the list of jobs she can do. If she does it well, she could make more money than babysitting.

Summer babysitting around here is VERY lucrative for teenagers, as college sitters are usually gone and some of the school site day cares are closed. My kids made a lot of money doing this, more than minimum wage and no taxes! Even my youngest was able to get a $50 a week gig as a mother's helper when she was 13, and that was just two mornings.
I think that's her best bet. Also pet sitting/walking and taking care of neighbors' plants, mail, etc. while they travel, my kids have done that too, and I've used neighbor kids as well, it's easy money, especially if your daughter is well liked and does a good job, she'll be in high demand!

Love the gift wrapping idea below. She can pick up very inexpensive paper at the dollar store (ours here has surprisingly good quality paper!) and make that part of the deal, or she also can say "I'll wrap with your own paper, or you can choose from among my five holiday papers" etc.

A lot of suggestions here to babysit, which is lucrative IF there is work out there. In our area there wouldn't be! Most of the kids around us are our own daughter's age (14) and the set of younger siblings in the area/among all the families we know are all a bit too old for babysitters now. Think through with her whether babysitting is a realistic money-maker or not, for your particular area and for people you know. (Again, in our area, most folks aren't going to hire a teen they don't already know, at least a little, to babysit a young child or toddler.) If she wants to try the sitting route she will need to be pretty assertive about advertising her services somehow and should think about where families with younger kids hang out -- here it's the coffee shops where the stay at home parents go on many days.

Yard work would get her some good cash in my neighborhood. Again, she needs to be assertive and create and circulate flyers, list what she will do (for instance, will she bring her own mower or use the customer's mower; will she trim shrubs or not, mulch beds if customer provides mulch, etc.). Older folks are likely around here to not have a yard service or a kid or adult in the home who does the yard work, so she might want to find a way to pitch to older clients. She could also pitch this at your church if you go to one, or to parents of friends (who aren't also going on the same trip!).

McDonald's etc. are OK but as someone rightly noted below, by the time they take out taxes etc. she will not have much take-home pay. She might prefer being her own boss as a sitter, yard worker, gift wrapper, etc.

By the way, FYI, my husband is English so we go over there annually and it is expensive--a soda costs twice what it does here, etc. The exchange rate has been about $1.50 to $1.75 to the British pound for years now, meaning everything costs from half again as much to nearly twice as much as it does in the U.S., so basics like meals and coffees are pricey and things like tickets to plays very pricey. Whoever is telling them about what spending money to bring should check the exchange rate closer to the trip time, but I would assume she needs even more money than you're told when it comes to lunch, snacks, souvenirs, etc. Not trying to be discouraging here! Just realistic. I'd give her a gift of some extra money before she goes.

That is only 250 dollars a month, or 58 bucks a week. That is easy to raise babysitting. She could also call around, my daughter started working when she was 13 with a work permit.

That's a huge undertaking - you say it's for her spring break, so does that mean you need $3000 for one week or so?

If I understand you, it's a year away. So if you break it down systematically, and assuming you have to have a good chunk of the money ahead of time, start with a ballpark figure of $300 a month for 10 months. So what can she do to add to the piggy bank every month, with a heavy emphasis on the summer? People need a lot of help in the summer, so it's important for her to get a jump on the available jobs, and to develop a work ethic. She can be a camp counselor, a summer babysitter for working parents, a yard work person (lots of people need lawns mowed), and a vacation helper (covering homes for vacationing families, doing pet care and house sitting and mail coverage). My son worked every summer doing doggie care and watering flowers/shrubs and mowing lawns and emptying dehumidifiers on a rotating basis when people were away. That meant getting out flyers NOW so people can make their plans. If you're like most families, you can probably hold at least one massive yard sale with the proceeds to go to her trip. Some things can go into consignment shops - usually they sit there for 90 days before you get paid, but you have time for that. But many places have waiting lists for appointments, and they take things (especially clothes) in season only. The local nursing home and assisted living facility hires teens 15 and up to wait tables in the dining room. It's a limited number of hours, but she can work her lawn mowing and babysitting and housesitting and doggie care around hours like that.

The other thing is to look at things she (and you all) consider "essential" that you can do without. Does everyone need the most expensive cell phone package? Cable TV premium channels? Prepackaged snacks in the 100 calorie bags? Soda? The latest video games? New clothes? What could you save every month if you cut back to minimums, if the kids played outside instead of being glued to cable, if you shopped for like-new clothes at thrift shops and kids' resale shops (where a lot of stuff is new with tags still attached), if you got haircuts at hairdressing schools instead of salons, made coffee at home instead of buying at Starbucks, and so on. You know where you already economize and where you perhaps give in to the latest fads - so you're the best at finding wiggle room in the budget. Your daughter has to make the biggest sacrifice, setting aside her immediate desires to go to the movies at $11 a pop or buying name brand clothes - and I know there's a ton of peer pressure in these and other areas.

On the plus side, this sort of self-discipline is a great character-building exercise and something she can put on her "activity resume" that goes with her college applications. Colleges look favorably on applicants who have shown persistence and creativity in working towards a goal.

When I was a junior in high school, I had the opportunity to go on a trip to Spain. I needed to do some fundraising as well. Granted this was 1993-94 and times have changed, but here is what I did (in addition to babysitting).

I wrote letters to various local businesses and business people, including many lawyers and doctors, outlining the educational benefits of the trip (it was through school, teacher-led, so it wasn't like I was going on a Contiki trip for spring break or anything). I explained why I needed help raising the money and how I was earning some on my own in addition to asking for help. Believe it or not, I raised somewhere between $1000-1500, I forget exactly how much. I know I had $1800 total after my grandparents chipped in some too.

It can't hurt to send out letters asking for help. Maybe choose companies that have branches in England as well so there is a way to tie it back to the trip.

Everything else that you mentioned - babysitting, car washes, etc are all great ideas and she should definitely do them. Look into having a garage sale. See if she can find a couple of neighbors who want regular babysitting, almost like an after school nanny so she has set income every week.

Our neighbors did a joint garage sale/lemonade stand and raised a lot of money that way.

She could try to find some dog walking clients. If you're willing to help drive her around, she could run errands for an elderly, disabled or full-time working mom - things like getting groceries, picking up dry cleaning, going to the pharmacy, etc can be very helpful to people who lead busy lives or have difficulty getting around.

Since summer is coming, she can advertise housesitting services around the neighborhood. She can do things like water plants, feed pets, and pick up the mail while your neighbors are out of town.

I hope she gets to go. sounds like it'll be a great trip.

Given the amount of time your family has to pull together the funds, $3,000 isn't really that much. If you truly believe in the value of the trip for your daughter, the whole family should be willing to pitch in.

Please don't do any "fundraisers". This is something that your family should pay for out of pocket. Personally, I hate getting requests to donate to people's pet projects. It makes me feel put upon, because our family pays our own way or does without when it comes to anything above and beyond the necessities.

I'm not sure what your daughter will be doing in England, but if all she's doing is taking a class and maybe doing some sightseeing, getting a request to contribute funds for this would really not sit well with me.

Please tell me you totally changed your post because you got blasted for people thinking you were asking for handouts.

IMO babysitting is the best way to earn money for young kids. My daughter realized that when she did "extra" little things for the families e.g. washed dishes, picked up, wipe down table, etc, she got extra money, got asked to come back more often and got referrals.

My daughter is a soccer player. She held soccer "camps" for younger kids in our neighborhood. Moms were so happy to meet at the park for some social time while their kids did soccer drills and ran themselves ragged.

Is she good at art? Tutoring? Dog walk? House sit?

$3,000 IS a lot of money, so she needs to get started now. Best of luck

Babysitting can be quite lucrative. If she has a couple families she typically babysits for, she can tell them what she's saving for. Maybe they'd be willing to 'reserve' her once a week to help her towards her goal.

In lieu of birthday and Christmas gifts, she can ask for money (from parents or family members that typically give gifts).

She can get a part-time job in the fall. Even if she worked 8 hours a week (one day after school for 3 hours and 5 hours on the weekend) that would be around $160/month (figuring $5/hour after taxes).

Luckily you have several months to save! Also, if you don't have the $3000 to give her, maybe you can put some money away for 'extras'. Even if you put away $5 a week for her, you would have $200 in 40 weeks.

I went to Italy/Paris for 10 days my junior year of high school and I did a semester in London my senior year of college. BEST experiences EVER!!! Figure out a way to pay for it!!

P.S. PLEASE don't do any sort of 'fund-a-need'. I detest those sites. IF someone has to use it, it should be for a few select reasons (medical needs, house burned to the ground, father of 8 dies suddenly, etc), not for Prom or fun trips to Europe!

Being asked to participate in such a great trip is an honor, both of my girls have had opportunities that we've had to refuse due to finances. If your family is willing to put the whole families travel budget into one pocket next year, then go for it. Our youngest is going on a mission trip to El Salvador this summer with our church. We are fortunate because the church is sponsoring a large portion of the costs, but we are still responsible for passport,vaccines, background checks and all her personal expenses. All in all, it's only going to cost about $1000.
Last year, she could've gone to Scotland at about the same cost you are looking at. We decided, at that time, the enrichment wasn't worth that expense for us. Was she disappointed? Well yes, of course. But it wasn't the right time and cost for the family.
My point is, you have to weigh the pros and cons for the whole family, not just your daughter. If everyone in the family can come together to support this for her, it could be a beautiful thing for you all. Good Luck!

At 15, she can get a work permit & work at any local business.
Have her try McDonald's, a local mom & pop place, greeting card store,
trophy shop, donut shop etc.
At 16, I worked at greeting card store, an ice cream shop & a record store.
It's easy for kids her age to get a job. She should do that.
Kudos, hope she works towards the trip & enjoys it!
Remember to give her a "how to be safe" talk before she goes.

I think you are wrong about the working age. The national law is 14 (though there are job/hour restrictions). Look into finding a job? Fast food places, the mall, and summer tourist areas (amusement parks, water parks, etc) are all places to check out that may higher young.

I have a friend who's daughter is overseas now. She put out messages on her own Facebbok page letting friends know that her daughter was avail for dog walking, babysitting, yard work etc in order to raise funds for her trip. It worked pretty well for them because ppl are getting a service they need while helping her reach her goal.
My 11 year old approached the woman who just bought the house across the street offering to help with cleaning & painting (we knew her from school b4 she bought).
My kids are salivating because soccer refs get paid $14 an hour here and can start at 12 yrs. I LOVE the soccer clinic idea. I have a special kid who doesn't fit well with organized sports. I would be THRILLED if a teen offered an open gym or clinic type service. Or line dancing! I keep hoping the community center will offer line dancing classes because my kids love it (the hustle in my day but now they have dances where they pantomime money and what not-my kids know more about it than I do!)
I just recently allowed my kids to do school fundraisers (I'm not a fan). They were a huge hit with candy bars. The neighbors kept coming back asking for more carmello bars!

She should be able to get a summer job - if you are really in Idaho, the minimum work age is 14. In my state there aren't a ton of jobs for those under 16, and the kids have to get a work permit, which is kind of a pain, but they can bag groceries and the like.

As others have mentioned, baby-sitting might be the best bet at this age as it normally pays more than a regular job and no taxes are deducted.

People are lining up summer child care now so if that's the road she'll go down, find out where people in your area search for sitters and have her do the work to get her info added. There is a nanny-sitter-parent Facebook page for my town where people post help wanted and jobs needed - your area may have something similar.

Also if anyone you know owns a business, see if they might need some summer help. Some work is seasonal, and other businesses may have support staff who like to take summers off or work reduced summer hours due to kids being on summer vacation. My oldest son (17) has worked as a land surveyor for the past 2 summers and is starting his 3rd season with this job. His pay recently went up to $15 an hour and he works 40 hours a week when school is out. Don't forget about landscaping and farm work - girls can mow lawns as well as boys can, and we have a small organic farm in my town that pays summer help really well. There are limits to what those under 16 and under 18 can do, but this farm does hire teenagers to work the farmstand and do work that doesn't require the use of heavy equipment. It's hard work, but pays well.

I know locally McDonalds will hire 15 year olds. I'm not sure if the same is true in Idaho. I googled the hiring age and this is what was returned.

You need to be at least 15 years old to work at McDonald's, though the age requirements vary depending on the position. For example, you will need to be at least 18 to work in management

It's worth looking into.

I also know that the hiring age for farm jobs in PA is lower as well.

It's worth looking into since babysitting jobs can be irregular unless she lands a 'permanent' gig.

Good luck! It sounds like an awesome experience and a great lesson in sweat equity!

By the time I was 15 I had almost enough money saved to buy a cheap car...I worked at McDonald's starting at 14 and was a babysitter before and during that. 16 is not the legal working age in MOST states, but I have never been to ID, so I don't know there. She can surely babysit though. A summer babysitting job could bring in more than $3k if she is willing to do the work.

Also have her do date night babysitting, yard work, dog sitting, etc. Whatever to earn the money. Maybe you and your husband could match what she is able to save so she can bring home some memories, or help her out if she doesn't reach the goal.

Worst case scenario, take out a loan.

My kids were also invited to attend an educational trip to somewhere in Europe. They were not interested so I did not save the paper. They were invited because of their good grades. You have to be in a certain percentage of the student body for the grade level. They expect a large percent to not go mostly due to the cost. My husband's niece is 2 yrs ahead and was invited to go the summer between junior and senior year on a trip to Italy. She had to earn half the money herself. She tried to get a job (half heartedly anyway) and ended up not earning any money toward the trip. However, one of my girls has made money by doing odd jobs around the enighborhood. She walked one neighbors dog for a few weeks, she helped another neighbor with weeding. Since summer is almost here, there is plenty to be done . Small amounts add up. Your daughter could asked at local stores if she could sweep the floor for a few bucks. This would work for small mom-and-pop type stores. There was a kid in my son's class in 7th grade that did this. He wanted to get a new bike.

In IL, the legal working age is 16 though I could sign a permit available from the counselor at school so they could have started working younger. My kids are looking forward to working now that they are 16---though have not done anything to find a job so far and summer is only a month away. They don;t have a job means they do more around the house.

She works and earns the money. No fundraising. Where did the invite come from? If it is on the up and up, she earns and saves the money or she does not go. I personally would be embarrassed to Hold a fundraiser for the sole purpose of my kid going on a vacation. I know I sound harsh but that's what you want to do

Babysitting is probably the best option. At 15 yo she can get working papers but she will most likely only make minimum wage and with taxes taken out, her take home pay won't be great. Around here, kids make $10/hour babysitting.

I am baffled by parent that believe a trip like this an experience of a life time. Why can't your daughter make this trip when she can afford a trip like this. After I graduated from college I got a job and funded my own 10 day vacation to England. I went with one of my college room mates and we had a blast.

I guess if I thought it was that important for my daughter to go on this trip I would get a job or take out a loan to make it happen.

at 15 she can get a work permit. you have to go to the social security office for that. and then she can work. it allows her to work I think up to 15 hours a week and more on the weekends. especially with her being so close to 16. But better than that would be a good babysitting job.

You can also do a go fund me page. No reason not to. If you make one up for this trip and list it on your facebook page then people who want to can donate. (grandparents, god parents, aunts, uncles, close friends of the family) I have a good friend whos daughter has been on one of these trips each and every year since she hit 7th grade. And yes we donate every year because while $3000 sounds like a lot and it is a trip like that as an adult is hard to make happen.

I lived in Spain for several years as a teen. It's a great experience and broadened my view of everything. It also contributed to my love if travel and experiencing new things.

I think you've received lots if great suggestions. I don't really have a lot to add. I would think about having her write letters to people who normally send her presents throughout the year making them aware of this trip and letting them know she will be fund raising so if they would prefer to donate towards her trip, she would be most appreciative. Then after her trip she can include them in a small post party (cookies and punch) and highlight her trip thanking them for their support. In my opinion each note needs to be handwritten not email or Facebook.

If she can play an instrument well, she can maybe tutor on that. Maybe check with a local daycare to see if they need a hand. Our church is large and does an after school and summer program for kids of working parents. They put out a notice they needed both teen and adult positions. My oldest daughter volunteered at a veterinarian office. About 3 months into it they offered to pay her part time.

Blessings!
L.

Has she considered trying Kickstarter? I'm not sure it's ideal for this type of thing but for sure there are some services out there that let you crowd-source this type of initiative.

Pet sitting (make flyers and give them to all the neighbors you know)
Dog walking
Babysitting
Plant watering
Get the word out to everyone that she is looking to keep busy doing these kinds of jobs so that she can earn enough money to go.
And how about a job delivering newspapers? You can start doing that at age 12 I believe.
How about a job at a local pool? Our pool hires 14 and 15 year olds to run the snack bar.
A summer nanny job. We hired the girl next door to watch our kids part time one summer while I was at work 4 hours a day. So...she made $30 a day.
Yes, she can do it. She needs to have the ability to not spend the money she makes though!