- Laying out a payment plan so that families only have to pay a bit each month over five months. We are good about holding families to the plan, because otherwise, the plan would be worthless. In addition, we offer modified payment plans to families who just can't do the $100 deposit at the beginning so that they can pay for the whole trip through our scholarships and the fundraising.
- Providing two $50 scholarships ($100 off the trip total) for each student that goes through each scholarship process, which included this year fasting from something during Lent, reading the Gospel of Luke during Lent, and writing response papers about each experience.
- Providing two fundraising opportunities (one in March and one in May) that students can participate in if they want to. This year, the two were selling coupons from a local auto shop and selling car wash coupons. Both have been really beneficial for those families who wanted/needed to pay for most of the trip through the scholarship and the fundraisers. I love these fundraisers because they are relatively simple for us (really, our amazing administrators) to manage. They are both fundraisers students do on their own, we set them up for success, and it's an effort-in/money-out deal, meaning there's no harping on families to show up for endless spaghetti fundraiser dinners.
Because we've provided so many opportunities for families to be able to raise money for the trip, we've decided not to provide any scholarships beyond what we've outlined above. It's hard to do when students say they have a hard time coming up with money, but when I do a little more asking, I find that they have not put in a whole lot of effort--if any--into the fundraising opportunities, and some didn't even take the initiative to participate in both the $50 scholarships (which have a time limit, since they had to be done during Lent).
I'm really a bleeding heart when it comes to making sure students get to go on trips and events regardless of their family's financial situation. But by being a bit more hard-nosed (which has been a hard change for me), I've found those whom I've had to talk to about getting up to date on their payments really had a different issue--namely they hadn't really put much effort into the opportunities we've already made available. If a legitimate need were to become known (an illness, unique family situation, etc.), we would certainly work something out. However, that hasn't been the case. In short, the problem wasn't money, it was effort. And no one has had to drop out of the trip because of money. When I've had to let a student know they were in danger of losing their spot (a couple of times this semester I've given a bit of extra time on a trip payment), they suddenly found their motivation and went out to sell auto coupons or car washes, and voila! They had great sudden success in raising money!
QUESTIONS: Are we being too harsh? What ways have you found that help families own their responsibility for trip costs while making trips open to all?
