CRES PTO Fundraising

Fundraising is one of the PTO's key responsibilities since it allows Colvin Run parents to ensure our children have access to educational enrichment programs and opportunities that positively impact their education. Many of these programs and opportunities are unique to Colvin Run Elementary School because of the ongoing collaboration between our CRES staff and PTO.

One of our values as a school community has been to avoid many of the fundraising events often found at other schools. Unlike many schools, we do not encourage our children to sell products (wrapping paper, candles, cheese and sausage, candy, etc.) that cost parents much more than the proceeds they yield to the school. Through our direct-donation fundraiser, 100% of the money raised is used to support our school and various PTO family events. The direct-donation fundraiser is our primary fundraising event and involves making a one-time direct donation to the PTO and nothing else....No selling, no wrapping paper, no "thons".

The PTO continues to find innovative ways to supplement membership fees and direct donations from parents with a variety of campaigns that earn commissions on value added services for our community or take advantage of third-party donation and grant programs. The most impactful supplemental programs are found below. Take time to explore them to find out how these programs provide "free money" to Colvin Run Elementary.

Where Your Money Goes

The CRES PTO annual operating budget directly enhances our children's learning experience and enriches our school community. Just a few of the educational and community-building programs and services made possible by the CRES PTO include:

Curriculum Enhancement (Violins for ALL 3rd graders, William and Mary Advanced Academics Curriculum for ALL students, expanded classroom resources, online student programs (Reflex Math, No Red Ink, Kahoot, etc)
Support for STEAM Lab and Computer Lab
Teacher support programs
Support for Academic Competition teams, e.g. Science Olympiad and Odyssey of the Mind
Investment in Technology to be used in classroom
Student Cultural Assemblies
Character Education Program: Project Shape the Future
School Musical put on by the 5th and 6th graders
Support for grade-level events and academic enrichment activities
Art Plus- PTO funded art enrichment program each quarter for ALL grades
Fun Family Events (Movie night, Bingo night, Talent Show, STEAM night, Culturama, Skate Night)
PTO website and bi-weekly newsletters

Fundraising Programs: Innovative Ways CRES PTO Raises Money

PTO Family Membership

Your $25 family membership enables the PTO to produce a fantastic year of community events like the Family Science Night, Talent Show, Culturama, and Family Movie Night. Your membership also helps support the PTO website and biweekly newsletter, and the school directory (a must for organizing play dates and birthday parties! Sign up here.

Membership bonus: Each member family gets a printed copy of the school directory.

Direct Donation Drive

Many of CRES's award-winning programs and services are made possible only through the funding from our PTO operating budget. Direct donations are our major source of revenue. The Direct Donation Drive allows 100% of each family's donation to directly and immediately benefit your children and our school community. Your tax deductible donation of $125 per student directly supports the PTO-funded enrichment programs. We understand that every family's situation is different and we warmly accept donations of any size.

Donate online here. Thank you for your generous support!

Double the Donation - Check to see if your employer will match!

Double the Donation is a corporate giving program that offers corporations the chance to match employee's giving to charitable causes. When you donate to CRES PTO using the Double the Donation program, you can simply search for your employer's name and offer them the chance to match your charitable gift!

Click to see if your employer has opted into this amazing program!

Corporate Donation Matching Programs

Don't forget to talk to your HR department or check our database to see if your company will match your donation to CRES PTO. Some companies even offer school grants! If you need more information to submit to your company or if you have any questions you can email the VP of Fundraising at fundraising@crespto.org for more information. (If you need our EIN# you can find it here or in the "Our PTO" section of the main menu.)

Become a School Sponsor

Do you own a business? There are many ways we can work with you to advertise your business. For business owners, this is a wonderful opportunity to get your brand exposed to the hundreds of families at CRES. For CRES families, it's a great opportunity to learn about and support the local businesses that make our community so vibrant. Contact VP of Fundraising at fundraising@crespto.org to learn more about opportunities to help support our school while promoting your business.

Store Rewards Programs

To learn about earning free money to our school while shopping, click here Store Rewards

Harris Teeter VIC card (CRES school code is 5378)
Box Tops for Education
Shutterfly Rewards Program
Minted (cards & gifts) CRES Promo code
Office Depot Rewards (Colvin Run ID # 71025124, mention at check out)

Vendor Sponsorships

Whenever possible and appropriate, we try to defray the cost of events by working with vendors who provide both value added services for our members and support for the PTO.