At my kids school they do what they call "Fun Run" in early October after school starts and basically the kids , a class at a time do laps around the outside of the school (if it ra1ns they use the gym) and they collect pledges either as a flat rate or per lap and this has worked out so well that is the only fundraiser they use now. The parents all hated all the catalogs etc. coming home and hassling relatives ansd neighboirs to order stuff they dont need or want . I personally dont bother anyone with it and simply pledge a flat rate of 20.00 every October and dont have to think about it again all year.They figured it out and in our school which is made up of about 300 kids if each kid brought in even 20.00 and some bring in much more and some bring in nothing at all thats the only fundraiser they need. All the kids get to particiapte even if they dont have pledges and they all get a cheap little pin we mark on with sharpies as they do their laps. They wear them around school for weeks to show off how many times they did it. Usually the grocery store on the corner donates water and stuff to make pancakes for the kids . The next week the school cook comes in on her time and makes the whole school breakfast as a reward for a job well done.