The average cost of a trumpet purchased by band director Mr. Nick Scroggins is $3,000. A new tuba? 11 grand – and Scroggins says they need two new tubas this school year. 

“Fundraisers in general, are a good way for clubs, athletics, activities, a whole mess of different groups of people, to get money that they normally couldn’t get from the school,” social studies teacher and former swim coach Mr. Sean Kennedy said.

Kennedy has spent several years both donating and running fundraisers. In the years he has been in charge of fundraising, Mr. Kennedy says fundraising items closes your market compared to the newest trend of online donating.

“A lot of my family works over in Louisville,” Mr. Kennedy said. “If I were hypothetically donating online, I would have access to everyone in Louisville, not just the people in New Albany.”

Online donating is growing substantially, up 19% in the last year, according to Double the Donation. Senior Cheyenne Palmer plays two sports for the Bulldogs and is no stranger to fundraising. Palmer says she doesn’t believe door-to-door fundraising should go away.

“Whenever I do fundraising, I want to make sure they get something out of it, instead of just giving me money,” Palmer said. 

Palmer says even though donation programs should be a broader way of getting money, it usually gets the same amount of publicity as a door-to-door fundraiser.

Junior Ben Caufield say donations still outweigh door-to-door fundraising. Caufield plays the saxophone for the band and has fundraised for the group in the past. This year is the first year the band is trying to raise funds through direct donation rather than selling cookie dough.

“I do think plain donations are the better alternative… it’s going directly to the organization, and it’s easy for everyone who’s involved,” Caufield said. “I’m fine with talking to people, but going door-to-door trying to sell something is a really inefficient way of getting the word out.”

Band director Mr. Nick Scroggins says fundraising profit is important for the success of the band. 

“[At] my last job, we had this idea where we were selling sausages and cheese, and we were making money off it, but I felt like we could’ve been making more money,” Mr. Scroggins said. “I had conversations with parents, they were telling me ‘Can I just write a check to the band, instead of buying this waffle iron, or other crap on this brochure that I don’t want?’”

Mr. Scroggins says after talking to the choir teacher, they decided to scrap the fundraising event, in place of a donation drive, where he made four times the profit of his fundraiser.

“Sell a sausage for $20, our band would only get eight, because we only got to keep 40%,” Mr. Scroggins said. “If someone wasn’t willing to buy a $20 sausage, but they were willing to donate $10, then we would already be ahead from where we were from that one sausage.”

In a poll of 90 NAHS students, 22.2% said they’d rather donate money directly to the organization then purchase an item.

“The rewards definitely appeal to kids more,” Caufield said. “But adults are the ones with the money, so we should be targeting them.”

The proof is in the picture, Mr. Scroggins says last year, from door to door fundraising, the band earned $1,000. This year, with the donation event not even over, the band has raised over $5,000.