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I am planing a feild trip and wonder what to charge...It will cost$ 4.00 to get in and we will be eating at this spot as well so lunch will be $10.00 do I ask for 14.00 or do you include a fee for gas and driving as well say $18 per child? what do some of you do?
When I worked in centre care it was normal to charge for the entrance fee, the food and the cost of transportation so field trips could cost parents upward of $25 plus easily ... but they were also a PITA to plan and implement because we had to get 'consent' from all parents, deal with what to do if a parent did not consent and so forth or a client claimed they could not 'afford' the cost so did not want their kid going on it and so forth.
Personally after some really poor experiences when I worked in 'centre care' I have decided that I do not charge clients extra for field trips because I do not want to deal with the issue of a client saying they cannot afford to send their child on the trip I have planned or dealing with a client who does not want their kid to 'go' to the place I have chosen and than feels I should 'refund' the childcare fee for that day if we do go making the trip cost me even more if I actually do it or risk loosing client if I do not cause they are mad at having to find alternative care AND pay me and so forth ~ just adds way to much 'stress' to the business!
For me the fact that we go on field trips is consented to upon enrollment so I do not than need to worry about further 'consent' .... there is a list of places we 'go' within the community and I am free to go there at anytime spontaneously and the cost of them are included in my fee and than I am free to budget where to go based on what I can 'afford' ... aka I try to keep to FREE things and pack lunches and so forth and only do things with an entrance fee as a special occasion when I am low or really motivated to pay extra due to the benefit of the trip on the program.
I would probably charge the admission fee but meals are already part of the childcare fee so either plan to take a picnic lunch for the kids from home or be prepared to pay for the cost of the food yourself. As far as gas goes I assume for that too you have a certain budget already set for the program. Remember that you will be claiming the fees, gas, etc. on your taxes minus what you charge the parents if that helps. If you are not prepared to absorb most of the cost of the trip then you may want to reconsider if the trip fits into the daycare program or not. If you are charging I would keep it under $10 max and more likely charge $5-7 at most and be prepared for as reggio said a family choosing to stay home with their child rather than pay the additional fee but since you are unable to provide care that day because you are not home you would need to reimburse them for the day since they did not sign on to have to pay extra fees for care.
Big Hearts, this is all tax deductible if you pay the entire amount of course, but if you send out a little note to all your clients and ask them to maybe split the cost with you and pay $7 I don't think they would find that unreasonable.