Changes to 2017 Dawg Walk raise questions about future of fundraiser

BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com

Mahomet, Ill. – Raising between $80,000 and $100,000 in a week’s time, the Dawg Walk has been a fundraiser that is envied by surrounding school districts.

And for Mahomet-Seymour Elementary students, the Dawg Walk celebration, which includes a walk, dancing and popsicles, is one of the highlights of the school year.

Mahomet-Seymour PTO President Michelle Grindley said the PTO first sets aside money for PTO programs like Hands Around the World, Science Day, Engineering in the Classroom, PBIS Incentive at Lincoln Trail and the STEM Committee.

Then the PTO divides the leftover money between the three elementary schools based off of the six-day student population. In recent years, the total donation has equaled approximately $60,000.

Schools use the funds per their discretion, but Grindley said the money has been used to fund technology in the school through Chromebook purchases, iPads, SMARTBOARDS and online subscriptions to learning platforms.

Additionally, each school’s allocation includes a teacher stipend that can be used to help teachers curb classroom costs.

But this donation to the schools through the PTO is only viable with the help of students who, at the beginning of each school year, solicit family, friends and neighbors for donations.

Many students work to reach the $50 benchmark to ensure that they will receive a Dawg Walk t-shirt while other students go above and beyond the $50 mark to attend a pizza party, to win a stuffed animal, to ride on a float in the Homecoming Parade or be announced at halftime of the MSHS Homecoming game.

This mechanism has ensured that the PTO raised tens-of-thousands of dollars each year.

But with changes made to the 2017 Dawg Walk, PTO board members are now questioning how they can continue to raise money for the elementary schools.

In Spring of 2017, as a result of many conversations with teachers and principals, the PTO Board agreed to lower the minimum t-shirt amount to $30. Many teachers, as well as the building principals, felt the $50 was too high for a good majority of families, especially those with multiple children.

The PTO Board wanted to be sensitive to that.

Then, as the PTO prepared to released donation information to the students at the beginning of fall, K-5 Principals Jeff and Wendy Starwalt insisted that all elementary students receive a t-shirt regardless of the amount the child raised through donations.

Even with the change in minimum fundraising dollars to get a Dawg Walk t-shirt, the PTO raised $91,300 for the 2017-2018 school year.

But, two issues are concerning for PTO board members.

First, the PTO hopes that parents or those who gave to the PTO with the assumption that they had to raise $30 for their child to get a t-shirt do not feel slighted.

PTO Treasurer Ken Keefe, who has worked on the Dawg Walk committee for fours years and will take over the Dawg Walk reigns in 2018 said, “because of the 11th-hour demands from the administration, I am seriously concerned that trust was eroded with our parents. We said that students had to raise $30 in order to get a shirt, and in the end, everyone got a shirt even if they raised nothing.”

Secondly, because of the reduction of the minimum donation amount, the PTO saw student fundraising dollars drop. In 2017 students raised $83,398.47 whereas in 2016, when donations were at an all-time high, students raised $92,858.87. In 2015, students raised $88,079.53.

Former PTO President Meghan Hennesy, who helped change the way the Dawg Walk was viewed by parents and students, said that although parents generally write a check for the minimum amount needed for their child to get a t-shirt, that $50 amount was set for a specific reason.

“There were a lot of metrics that went into deciding this amount,” Hennesy said. “Minimum donations were set at $50 because when looking at the programs the PTO wanted to run and the level of support we were hoping to provide directly to the classrooms and other school needs,  a net of $50 per child was the amount we targeted to do that.”

She also said that incentives at the range of $125 included a Dawg Walk t-shirt and a sweatshirt because $25 covered the cost of the prize and $100 went back to the schools.

Another change the PTO made under Hennesy’s leadership was to discreetly pass out incentive prizes by bagging the prizes and putting them in student’s lockers as opposed to handing them out the day of the Dawg Walk in front of the class.

“It was great,” she said. “Teachers said students didn’t know who received a t-shirt, sweatshirt or teddy bear. This helped to reinforce the message that the Dawg Walk wasn’t about the prizes, but rather the help the funds would provide across all the schools and kids”

Grindley said because the PTO ran out of time last year, t-shirts were not distributed in bags.

But the biggest change the PTO made in recent years was getting the word out to parents and kids about what the Dawg Walk fundraiser is really about: helping schools purchase tools teachers and students need. 

“We tried to emphasize to the kids during our kickoff assemblies that the prizes were nice, but the real effects would be felt by everyone throughout the year, that raising money helped everyone in the school.”

The PTO wanted to make the Dawg Walk more about supporting the community than a piece of merchandise.

The Dawg Walk committee encouraged all students to wear orange and blue on the day of the Dawg Walk and included all students, no matter how much they raised, to participate in the Dawg Walk Celebration.

“Kids are easy; a popsicle and a dance party is a great day for kids.  So the celebration is fun for everyone, as is the benefit of the programs and tools that are purchased throughout the year.” she said.

Then, the PTO tried to cut back on costs associated with the Dawg Walk.

“We were trying to be good stewards of the money,” Hennesy said.  “We sold it to parents that all of the money was going into the schools, so we were trying to put all of the money into the schools where all the students could benefit from it.”

By cutting the minimum fundraising amount from $50 to $30 this year, the PTO had to get creative to make up for the deficit so that elementary school still received the money they received in years past.

Additionally, the PTO had to make up for the additional $3,500 it cost to purchase all elementary students t-shirts.

“We really have to thank the outstanding work of Dawg Walk Chair, Connie Panagakis, for securing so much local business support, and of course, the generosity of those businesses that helped us push through the shortfall,” Keefe said.

Seeing the numbers and fearing that parents may not give anything if their child will receive a t-shirt no matter what they donate, the PTO is preparing to re-exam the way the Dawg Walk is run in 2018.

“Yes, some families will make a donation regardless of incentive levels because the money goes directly back to the schools,” Grindley said. “However, the t-shirt was a major incentive for some to make a small donation, so if everyone gets a shirt as part of the Dawg Walk, we will need to come up with other incentives for the kids.”

“This fundraiser gives our schools resources they wouldn’t otherwise have to supplement curriculum,” Grindley said. “Hands Around the World at Lincoln Trail is funded through this, Science Day at Middletown, teacher stipends are funded through this.”

“A lot of teachers in other districts don’t get that,” she continued. “Without this fundraiser, you’re hitting parents up three, four, five times a year to sell wrapping paper and cookie dough. But we decided to do this one-time big fundraiser and be done with it. So we don’t have to hit people up multiple times a year.”