Top 5 School Fund Raiser Ideas

By Dion Semeniuk

TOP FIVE SCHOOL FUNDRAISING IDEAS

Schools often look for ways to make money. Sometimes, new playground equipment is needed, or perhaps band equipment and uniforms, it might be that the football team is in need of uniforms, or that the debate team needs money to travel to a meet. Fundraising is quite common and an excellent way to make the money required while teaching students about good sales and marketing, as well as money management. You will also see schools using fundraising to help other people. For example, during the Tsunami, schools all around the country joined efforts to raise money that could be used for medicine, food, clothing, and other needs. As you will discover in this article, there are many innovative ways of making money.

Discount Cards

With discount cards, you can offer one particular type or a book that consists of several different cards. For example, three of the favorites are shopping cards, pizza cards, and prepaid phone cards. With the shopping card, you would choose from local and national merchants that provide nice savings at retail shops, grocery stores, florists, etc. For the pizza card, this is just what it sounds, a card that would offer a discount off the price

of food sold at major chain pizza restaurants. Many of these cards offer limited use but for a mere $10, the person might receive a discount 20 times, making this a real bargain. Finally, prepaid phone cards are always a great fundraising option, used by families that live across the country from one another or for college students. For this type of card, you can choose from a number of denominations of $10, $20, $24, and even $30.

Sweet Candy.

The second school fundraising idea is something just about everyone loves – candy. Most often, candy sales are associated with school clubs, sports groups, music departments, and church youth groups. Because this is a small dollar item, they sell well but a good marketing plan to increase sales must also be developed and implemented. Ideally, find low-priced candy suppliers, ones that support school fundraising projects, choose the type or types of candy you want to sell, determine your price, and then get started selling.

Rubber Ducky

Next on the list of school fundraising ideas is the rubber duck derby. In the past few years, this has become a very popular school fundraising idea. Not only is the rubber duck derby fun, but also a great way to involve the community while earning money. You could work with your local grocery stores to sell rubber ducks for $1, which gives the buyers a chance to win a valuable donated prize. Then on a specified date, the ducks are taken to a local park with a lake. All of the rubber ducks are emptied into the water at once and the first one to cross the finish line wins.

Car Washes

Next for successful school fundraising ideas is the car wash. Many companies will donate the water for car washes so all you have to do is bring garden hoses, towels, Windex and paper towels, and signs leading people in the right direction. You can set the price at $1 to $5 per car or establish the car wash fundraiser as a donation basis. Either way, you will find that you make quite a bit of money in exchange for some hard work and fun.

Bake Sales

Finally, one of the most popular and most successful school fundraising ideas is a good, old-fashioned bake sale. For this, students (and probably parents) would donate baked goodies to include brownies, cookies, cake, pie, and miscellaneous items. Then, the students would work outside a strip mall or grocery store, encouraging people to buy. Usually, people are very supportive of a bake sale and if the food is good the money is too.

About the author:

Dion Semeniuk is the proud father of 2 girls. He's actively looking at ways to be able to generate money for kids to be able to participate in special events. Learn about School Fund Raiser Ideas, visit http://www.school-fund-raiser-directory.com

Student Loans Repayment Options

By Michael Carter

Many college students and graduates are looking for a options for repaying their student loans. While borrowers may be having difficulty paying back loans, there is help available.

What causes difficulty in paying back student loans?

New college graduates may find that it takes them longer to find a job than they expected. While there's a six month grace period from the time students graduate until repayment begins, sometimes it takes six months or longer to find a job.

Many recent graduates who are employed are underemployed -- working part-time or temporary jobs until they find a permanent position. During this time they may need help in making loan payments.

New college graduates can use several strategies to help with student loan repayment. Taking on additional part-time jobs or freelancing may be an option.

It is also wise to keep living expenses low the first few years out of college. Graduates can live with a roommate, or downsize into a smaller apartment. If new graduates are still looking for a job, it may be a good idea not to move until permanent employment is found. Then it will be easier to move to an area closer to the job.

Applying for a forbearance may help during times of difficulty making loan payments. A forbearance is temporary period of suspension of payments on a federal or direct loan after repayment has begun, and if the student does not qualify for deferment.

This means that if a student has already started paying back loans, they can apply for a suspension of payments on the grounds of financial hardship. A forbearance must be applied for through the lender. Being able to hold off payments for a few months can be a big help during a time of financial hardship.

Another student loan debt strategy is to consolidate payments. Unless consolidated, each student loan is accounted for and paid separately. When a student graduates they will receive paperwork and payment slips for each loan. 2, 5, 12... no matter how many loans were taken out, they will be billed separately. Adding up all of these individual loan payments could total $300-$1000 per month or more! Not many students can afford such payments.

That's where consolidation comes in. Consolidation is a process that combines all of the student loans into one loan. Borrowers can dramatically reduce monthly payments of student loans by consolidating. Average monthly payments could be less than $100 to around $250 per month. This is just an estimate. The monthly payment depends on the total amount borrowed, the interest rate and the way that loans are consolidated.

Consolidating through The Income Contingent Repayment plan is designed to help make repaying student loans easier for students who intend to pursue jobs with lower salaries, such as careers in public service. The monthly payment amount is adjusted annually, based on changes in family size and annual income. This program is only available through the US Department of Education, not a lender or bank.

Finally, the Graduated Repayment Plan starts the payments at a low level (usually interest only) and gradually increases the payments until the balance is paid. This is helpful for graduates because payments are low when the first graduate, and increase as earning power increases over the years. This plan is available by consolidating through a bank or other lender.

It is important to note that according to current regulations student loans may only be consolidated once. So borrowers who have already graduated and consolidated with a standard plan cannot take advantage of the income contingent or graduated plans. For borrowers who have already consolidated, a forbearance may be the best option for temporary relief of student loan debt.

Use the student loan repayment calculator from finaid.org to find out what loan payments could be using different types of consolidation.

College graduates can find student debt relief using one of the strategies mentioned above. Discuss loan repayment options with your lender and see what can be done to help repay education loans.

About the author:

Michael Carter is a contributor at College Financial Aid Guide, an online informational resource for educational funding, scholarships and student loans. Learn more about paying back student loans:

http://www.collegefinancialaidguide.com/graduates/paying-loans.htm