– F U N D R A I S I N G C O M M I T T E E –
$20,000
FUNDRAISING GOAL
Monster mash dash
annual run-a-thon fUNDRAISER
It's a fun and healthy way to engage our students and families in supporting the fantastic opportunities, experiences, supplies, equipment and events at EPiC Elementary. We appreciate your support and partnership! Please share this opportunity with your family and friends. Remember that any contribution is appreciated!
At EPiC, we pride our PTA on being able to fund numerous activities, field trips, author visits, family events, classroom experiences, and so much more. The only way we can do that is by raising enough funds each year to cover all of our annual operating costs and, hopefully, a surplus so that we can continue to provide EXTRA equipment, grant EXTRA requests for teachers, continue enriching our EPiC students' educational and personal lives.
Q: Why is this year's personal goal higher than last year?
You may have noticed that this year's personal fundraising goal is higher than in years past — and here's why!
Prior to the inaugural Monster Mash Dash Run-a-thon in 2022, EPiC's only fundraiser of the year was asking for donations from Parents at the beginning of the school year – Every Parent Inspired to Contribute Donation Campaign. In 2022, the PTA started seeing a decreased response to this fundraising effort and decided to try something new that was both fun and engaging for the students, and the Monster Mash Dash Run-a-thon was born.
For the past two years, we have had funding from both
The Every Parent Inspired to Contribute Donation Campaign and
The Monster Mash Dash Run-a-thon
This year, we decided to forego asking/pushing for contributions and donations at the beginning of the year and rely on the contributions raised through the Monster Mash Dash fundraiser to fund the PTA in its entirety.
Last year, our individual student goals were $30. If every student met that goal, we would fundraise approximately $9,000, which is only about half of our annual operating budget. Increasing the students' individual goals this year to $70 reflects our school goal of $20,000, which will cover our annual operating budget and provide a generous teacher & staff grant fund which allows us to continue helping support our classrooms with additional new equipment and resources that enrich our kids' learning environments.
While we do earn additional funds through many of our passive fundraising efforts (like restaurant nights, Box Tops, Hy-Vee Dollars for Scholars, etc.), the majority of our budget will be funded through this single event.
In the last two years, we've raised over $19,000, which far exceeds the $30/student goal that was previously set. We feel confident that even though we're raising the individual goal to $70/student, fundraising efforts this year won't look much different from those in years past. We're so grateful for the amazing EPiC community at our school, and we're super excited to make this the best Monster Mash Dash year yet!
Want to share on socials?
Download this graphic to use on Facebook or Instagram to help you promote your fundraising efforts!
JOIN US FOR
10/21 – MUMMY MONDAY
Show us your best DIY Mummy outfit, or wear all white!
10/22 – TRICK OR TREAT TUESDAY
Wear your BEST Halloween-themed shirts and look forward to PTA visitors in your classroom for some tricks & treats!
10/23 – WITCHY WEDNESDAY
A magical day! Dress like a witch or warlock.
10/24 – TWINNING THURSDAY
Grab a friend and plan to twin with them!
10/25 – FREAKY FRIDAY!
Wear your FREAKIEST outfit today for the Monster Mash Dash Run-a-thon!
*** Please do not wear Halloween costumes ****
Tutus, Halloween Shirts, freaky hair, freaky socks/tights, accessories, etc., are all acceptable.
24-25 Running Schedule
8:05 - 8:20 AM drop off
8:20 - 9:00 AM event set up
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9:00 - 9:30 AM sTUDIO K RUN
9:45 - 10:15 AM STUDIO 2 RUN
10:20 - 10:50 AM STUDIO 1 RUN
11:15 - 11:45 AM STUDIO 5 RUN
12:00 - 12:30 PM STUDIO 3 RUN
1:00 - 1:30 PM STUDIO 4 RUN
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1:30 - 2:00 PM CLEAN up
SPECTATORS & VOLUNTEERS
If you're one of our parent volunteers or coming to cheer on your student(s), here is the event schedule for the day.
With our ongoing construction of the building this year, we'll be altering our running route slightly to avoid the sidewalk by the construction zone. This will be clearly marked with cones, but we'll be utilizing all of our parent volunteers and parent spectators to form safe barriers for our students.
If you haven't signed up to be a volunteer or a spectator yet, please do so on our volunteer page!
commonly asked questions
What is your annual operating budget?
As of the 2024-2025 school year, our annual operating budget is about $18,000.
We were able to increase that budget at the beginning of 2024 from about $13,000. Because our Run-a-thon Fundraising has been so successful, we were able to increase several of our committee budgets to help offset additional parent donation costs. We were able to increase the budgets on the following committees:
5th Grade Recognition +$1,000 ($2,000 budget)
Family Events +$500 ($1,000 budget)
Staff Appreciation +$500 ($1,500 budget)
Field Trips +$1,000 ($5,800 budget)
Additionally, we were able to create a NEW cooking budget for Studio 5 to help offset the cost of external parent donations. ($1,000 budget)
What does our money fund?
In short... EVERYTHING!
The PTA is a Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Our entire operating budget must be funded through our annual fundraiser. We do get small additional amounts from some of our other passive opportunities, like Restaurant Nights, BoxTops, Hy-Vee Receipts, etc., but the majority of our funding comes from this one event.
The PTA is responsible for funding:
Family Events – Movie Night, Bingo Night and the Spring Family Fun Night are all run 100% by our PTA members
Book Fairs – Usually 2 or 3 per school year
Visiting Authors – The school usually has several visiting authors that come to visit the students, any of these are fully or partially funded by the PTA
Field Trips and Transportation – many field trips and/or transportation is funded or partially funded by the PTA. We spend almost $5,000 per school year on field trips along.
Reflections Art Contest – This is fully hosted by the PTA and is a nationally recognized prestigious competition.
Field Day – Our PTA is responsible for funding, organizing and running Field Day every year
Staff Appreciation – The PTA is responsible for hosting several staff appreciation events throughout the school year along with a week-long celebration in May for Staff Appreciation Week
Used Book Exchange – Each year we hold a used Book Exchange for the students. Each student gets to take home a new-to-them book, free of charge to add to their home libraries.
Yearbook – Our PTA is 100% responsible for organizing, designing, and putting together our school yearbook each year.
Spirit Wear – The PTA is also responsible for providing new Spirit Wear options for our EPiC Community each year.
Supply Packs – The PTA Supply Packs Committee provides the opportunity to order students' school supplies and have them delivered straight to their classrooms each year. We work closely with the Staff and Administration at the school to make this opportunity available.
New Classroom Equipment – Five times a year, teachers and staff can request equipment purchases for their classrooms. In the last two years, the PTA has been able to provide over $8,000 worth of new equipment EACH YEAR for our EPiC teachers.
Restaurant & Spirit Nights – The PTA is responsible for organizing and hosting restaurant and spirit nights throughout the Northland throughout the school year.
Family Needs - Each year our PTA is able to help out students and parents in our EPiC Community and around the Liberty area.
What happens if you don't raise enough?
Historically, our EPiC community has always come through in our fundraising efforts. The PTA always keeps a one-year operating budget safety net so that if we ever have a "bad" fundraising year, we will be able to continue operating as expected for that school year. We would, however, likely need to adjust/reduce our committee operating budgets for the following school year to accommodate the budget discrepancies.
thank you to our event sponsors!
