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A Babysitting Training Course can be offered as a fundraiser or as an enrichment program at your school. It teaches the student responsibility, child care and interaction, basic first aid skills, interviewing skills, and tips on how to be safe. Every parent should encourage his/her children to take a course like this! - which is exactly why it's a great fundraiser!
Planning a Babysitter's Training Course
COURSE CONTENTS
Parents are looking for responsible, loyal, and trustworthy teens to watch their children. A babysitter's class can better prepare young adults (ages 11-15) to care for a baby or young child of family and friends. The course should teach the basics to help the babysitter:
- Interview with parents
- Learn infant & toddler care - diapering and feeding techniques, creative reading, activities for young children, and appropriate snacks.
- Handle bedtime issues
- Choose safe and age-appropriate toys and games
- Perform basic First Aid - choking, cuts, puncture wounds, bruises, eye injuries, nosebleeds, tooth injuries, burns, seizures, poisoning, bites (insects, ticks, animal, human),
- Learn tips for having a safe babysitting experience - including setting up a "code" with your parents in case of an emergency.
Keep in mind that the same course contents can also be offered as an Enrichment Program for a larger group. Choose which topics you'd like to cover or ask that the course contents be broken down into 2-hour sessions for 2 or 3 consecutive weeks. The course instructor can assist by customizing the contents based on the age of the students.
PRICING & POTENTIAL PROFIT
As a Fundraiser, a babysitting course has the potential to raise an average of $900 - estimating a class size of 40 students, a course fee of $30 per student, and an average instructor fee of $300. Many organizations offer these types of programs and charge $50-$65 per participant. Research the programs offered in your area and then price your fundraiser considerably lower per participant to ensure maximum enrollment.
| # of Participants |
Fee per Participant |
Instructor Fee |
Potential Profit! |
| 40 | $20 | $300 | $500 |
| 40 | $25 | $300 | $700 |
| 40 | $30 | $300 | $900 |
| 40 | $35 | $300 | $1100 |
INSTRUCTOR
Although there is no certifying body to teach babysitting classes, you will want to ensure that the course manual and instructor is highly qualified to teach the proper techniques and procedures. You may even want to confirm that regulations have not changed and been implemented within your own state.
To find a qualified instructor in your area, check with your local:
- Boys & Girls Clubs or YMCA
- Recreation Department
- American Red Cross (www.redcross.org): Offers babysitter's classes for $50-65 per person. They also offer instructor training ($225). An adult may choose to become Red Cross certified and then teach classes. They then can go back to their school and teach as many people as they want and charge nothing if they wanted to. However, they would still need to pay the Red Cross $7 per person for certification cards and the cost of any books.*
- Yellow Pages / Phone Book
- Day Care Provider Network
DEBBIE LAFLAMME is a Babysittter's Training Course Instructor serving Eastern & Central Massachusetts and other locations within New England. Nonprofit organizations have earned hundreds of dollars by offering her course as a fundraiser which covers all of the points mentioned above (see Course Contents) and incorporates real-world, practical examples. All manuals are included in her $300 fee (max. 40 students). To contact Debbie LaFlamme regarding her babysitter's course, BABYSITTING 101, and to receive $10 off (Promotional Code: PTO IDEAS), Click Here and type "babysitting 101" in the subject line.
LOCATION & TIME
Most courses last a total of 5 to 6 hours. When planning a time to offer the course consider other events that may be taking place at the same time (sports, church, etc.). For instance, if Fall soccer is a popular sport on Saturday mornings in September and October, consider offering the course on a Sunday morning or a Saturday in November instead. Some suggestions for course times include:
- Weekday after school 3pm-6pm for two consecutive weeks
- Friday evening 6pm-9pm for two consecutive weeks
- Saturday 9am-3pm
- Sunday 10am-4pm.
The course can be held in a classroom, cafeteria, function hall, or a large conference room. Chairs and tables should be available. Your school may be available, but you will likely incur a custodial fee to open the school. As an option, ask a local church or club (i.e. Knights of Columbus, Moose Club, etc.) if they could donate a function hall. Or, your local police department may have a room available for free if you run the program in conjunction with a DARE program.
ADVERTISING
The success of your event will depend upon the number of people you can draw to your event. Focus your attention on reaching the students and parents of all local schools (Grades 5-10). Advertising suggestions include:
- Email: Email the principal of all local schools and ask him/her to post an announcement in their weekly/monthly school newsletter for several consecutive weeks.
- Flyers to Schools: Distribute flyers to parents of all local schools. Be sure to contact the principal or PTO president for prior approval and request that they hand the flyers out to the students for you.
- Flyers to Girl/Boy Scout Troops: Distribute flyers to the leaders of all local troops for distribution to the girls/boys and parents.
- School Newsletters
- School Website
- Email: See our Increase Participation page for information on emailing.
- Churches Bulletins: Ask churches to announce the course and place a notice in the weekly bulletin.
- Boys & Girls Clubs: Ask the Club to hang a flyer or place them on the front desk.
"Advertising costs were minimal for us. All we did was to email the school principals and ask them to post announcements in the school newsletters for about 6 consecutive weeks and we placed registration cards at the local Boys & Girls Club. We raised over $1,000. We easily reached our goal of 40 registrants and even had to turn people away!" (Vicki B., Mass.)
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Ask each participant to pack a drink and snack for a 3-hour session and a drink, snack, and lunch for longer sessions. However, you will find that not every participant arrives with a snack and drink so you may want to provide bottled water and a few snack items (preferrably peanut-free). As they check-in, be sure to ask if any of the participants have food allergies.
CHECK-IN
Prior to the event confirm that each registration card received is properly completed. Make a list of all registrants. If any registrants need to pay as they arrive on the day of the event, clearly note this. The list should also include a space for the parent/guardian to sign as they drop off their child showing they've arrived.
You will find that registrants begin arriving approximately 15 minutes prior to the scheduled Course time and seem to arrive all at the same time! Set up a Check-In Table near the entrance and have two people checking in registrants. Having two people means you'll need two copies of the registrant list. As you check-in, confirm that you have their registration card or they've brought it with them, it's properly filled out with emergency phone numbers and a parent/guardian signature, and that they've paid. Also ask the parent/guardian if the child has any food allergies.
At the completion of the Course, announce to the students that they should not leave the room without a parent/guardian. Stand by the door and confirm that each child safely leaves with their parent/guardian.
INSURANCE
If you are planning this course as a school event, speak to your head of school to confirm that the event is covered under the school. One event that was hosted by a Girl Scout Troop meant that any registered Girl Scout was covered under the Girl Scouts, but additional insurance hasd to be purchased through the Girl Scouts for non-members for a minimal fee (i.e $5 or $10 for the group).
THANK YOUR SPONSORS, VOLUNTEERS AND PARTICIPANTS
Other than asking for a hall to be donated for the classroom location, it's not necessary to obtain several sponsorships. Please remember to send a thank you note to the organization that was kind enough to donate the hall. If you'd like to make this an annual event, you can also let them know the date of next year's event and ask that they support your fundraiser in the future.
A letter can also be written to your local newspaper, along with photos, thanking the organization that donated the hall, the participants, and volunteers for a successful fundraiser. This will serve as additional publicity for the hall sponsor as well as publicity for your event. Remember to take pictures throughout the event.
MAINTAIN A DATABASE
By planning a Babysitter's Training Course Fundraiser (or Enrichment Program) you have just gathered invaluable information for next year's event. Rather than start from scratch each year, keep a database of your hall sponsor, volunteers, parents, and any other valuable information. You will want to know which parent was the contact in obtaining the hall so that you can easily approach them next year for assistance. Keep track of the instructor's name and contact information. And, place a copy of this PTO Ideas webpage in the file for easy planning reference each year.
Remember...IT'S ALL ABOUT THE KIDS!
PTO Ideas has provided you with ideas for a Babysitter's Training Course Fundraiser. This information should not be used as a legal reference and may not be all-inclusive. We suggest consulting with the head of your school, an accountant, or any other essential professional.
Information pertaining to the American Red Cross has been provided by the American Red Cross, should be confirmed by the American Red Cross, and is subject to change.
Promotional codes to be redeemed through the individual vendors. Please present promotional code at time of purchase. One coupon per customer. Not valid for prior sales.
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