Get Movin' Blog

Sit back, relax, and let us tell you who we are and why we’re bloggin’

The Get Movin’ Crew (TGMC) is a company founded and operated by former PTA/PTO board members and we know firsthand how significant parent group volunteer positions are to each child’s experience at school. The main objective of the TGMC blog is to share ideas that are important, relevant to parent groups and, best of all, fun. We want our readers to know that what you do as volunteers, parents and teachers matters and is commendable. We’re here to help you continue what you’re doing! 

A Message from TGMC President, Wendy Tibus

At the time that I decided to take a risk and start a Fun Run business, it was unchartered territory in fundraising. Lots of schools held Fun Runs and did it themselves, but there was no company (that I knew of) that offered a Fun Run service.

As a sales rep for a junk food fundraising company I had firsthand experience helping schools raise money for their initiatives. Over the course of four years, I saw participation steadily decline and purchase orders get smaller and smaller. I often overheard parents grumble about needing to fundraise, requesting to opt out and just write a check instead.

Despite all the negativity, declining participation and lowered sales, I still had a boss demanding higher revenues. During that time I heard of many of our competitors going out of business in the fundraising industry and I became concerned. Something just didn’t feel right about what I was doing. You know how you just get a gut feeling sometimes? Well I had one and it turned out to be correct. In November of 2006 I was informed that as of January 1st, 2007 the company I was working for was closing its doors too.  

As a stay-at-home mom with a Direct Sales business when they were little, I always made time to volunteer in the classrooms, went on field trips and sparingly volunteered for PTA events (the Spring Fair was my favorite!).  When I transitioned into the fundraising business, I began to attend PTA meetings regularly. I wanted to learn more about my client’s point of view andunderstand their procedures in making decisions. That led to more PTA volunteering and a President nomination at the next round of elections. I thought, “Really? Me? That seems like way too big of a job for me!”

Then I was coaxed, a bit guilted and especially encouraged. So, I accepted the nomination. Since there was only one nominee, I (obviously) won the election and was soon inducted to the President position of the Country Oaks PTA. The first year I was President we were under contract with a candy and wrapping paper fundraising company, so we had to do that for the 9th year in a row. When looking over several past years budgets, I saw a decline in annual participation, which leads to a decline in funds raised, just like I was experiencing in my fundraising sales career. So, it was a trend in fundraising, not just junk food fundraising. I heard a lot of parents wanting to opt out and write a check. So we gave them that option.  The only problem was about 50% of them did not donate nor did they participate in the candy/wrapping paper sale and we didn’t generate the revenue we needed. 

I decided to send a parent survey home in our January 2006 PTA newsletter, asking parents their preferred method of fundraising:

1. Sell something (50% profit)
2. Cash Drive with a $75 minimum donation per student (100% profit)
3. A Fun Run: A kid-style walk/run-athon that is healthy and fun for everyone with a projected profit of 90-95% depending on all expenses associated with the event.

A majority of parents preferred Fun Runs. During this time there was a lot of focus on childhood obesity, inactive kids, the dangers of video games and the scary reality of fast food, so I was seeing a trend (and need!) to promote health and wellness to our youth.

As soon as the results were in we held a Fun Run meeting asking all parents to attend. Once again, parents said they would participate, but few actually did. But we had enough people attend to make it work. Lots of planning time, brainstorming and preparation went into that event. To make a long story short, we pulled off the highest revenue generating fundraiser that COE PTA had ever done: $27,000 was raised in 2 weeks by 700 students. To this day the COE PTA still holds their own DIY Fun Run, generating that same amount raised or more. 

Unknown to me at the time, this experience was going to put me on a journey that I will always remember and appreciate forever. 

TGMC was founded in 2007. We started out doing full-service Fun Runs for local schools in MI. As we continued to grow we began to reach out to schools all over the country. I decided that the best way to help schools outside of our area was to give them as much profit as possible, so coming and facilitating the Fun Runs was out of the question due to the expense to the client. Plus, Fun Runs are NOT ROCKET SCIENCE, so I could save schools lots of money by giving them everything we’ve learned over the years with a turnkey approach for them to use. 

Our National DIY service officially launched in 2013.  Since then we have grown exponentially and have hundreds of schools all over the USA using our online tools and raising millions to meet their budget goals.   

Our goal is always your goal. Whether you want to raise a small amount of money to fund a small project or you want to raise you entire budget in 1 fundraiser. The online student webpages are the driver of success. The share tools give moms and dads the ability to rally pledge support for their child’s pledge goals while helping the school be successful. It’s easy for parents and eliminates the need to go door-to-door asking for fundraising help. Plus, anyone in the world can support a child’s pledge goal, making it easy for friends and family all over the globe to click the Make a Pledge button. Our Personal Event Coaches are ready to help you get on the right track from start to finish with guidance and through the Event Toolbox.

TGMC is growing. Since launching our services nationally we have expanded our team and we have experienced an 85% retention rate on schools re-booking our program in the next school year. That is very exciting, as it means our clients find value and are very happy with our services, so much that they want to do it again. We are always striving to improve our services by making enhancements based on client feedback. This blog is one of the improvements we set to make for our clients and Parent Group board members in general. 

On our blog you will find articles that pertain to healthy fundraising, health trends, school stories, and helpful articles to make your volunteer work easier (not just fundraising related), because that is our expertise. As PTA/PTO board members we know what you’re doing, how it feels to be successful and the pitfalls to avoid along the way.

Enjoy! Feel free to comment and provide feedback anytime.