I'm not sure I follow - are you on the task force to run this thing at the school, or you just want to send out the information to your friends and family so they can support the kids' school?
Sounds like the site crashed when they were about to do a test run or it went live and it crashed. If it goes on for a long time, they will I'm sure extend the fundraiser. They will have an agreement with the school based on length of time their website is up and will have to honor that. Or most companies do.
Two weeks is plenty. That's usually what we're given. And they will extend if they didn't hit their goal.
I'll be honest - in alllll the years we've done these (we have seen it all, catalogs, websites, chocolate bars, gift wraps, wreaths, bulbs, flower baskets, etc.) our family (and it's big - both sides) never really gets anything. I think the grandparents do out of duty. Like they'll buy gift wrap. I am sure they dread it. It's usually way over priced and as I said, they'll buy something they don't really need. They decide within a day. Sometimes they do it while we're visiting. It's not complicated and there will so few things they want it's quick.
I bet if you leave it, the school will put out a notice about it next week. They likely aren't because they don't have a firm date when the website will be up and working. But they won't jeopardize their chance to make sales. You can be sure of that. So no rush :)
Good luck! Happy weekend :)