Holding fee

[bri]

I have a family interested in a full time spot in my daycare but not till April and it is currently August. I normally ask for a two week deposit to hold the spot if it is more than two weeks away. This than gets credited to their second and third week of care and is non refundable if they choose to leave before than. Typically the longest I would hold a spot would be three months. I told the family that since April was so far away she would have to pay a monthly fee to hold the spot and that would not go towards anything other than holding the spot. If I decide to go ahead with this what should I charge her monthly? Any thoughts?

Thanks

[fruitloop]

I charge a $200/month holding fee. IMO, you want to make it substantial enough that they will think twice about loosing all that money they invested in your d/c if by chance they pull out. Some people charge half fees some people will make them pay full pop. I have been burnt a couple of times by only charging a 1 time fee and also to little of a holding fee...so I decided to do it monthly and up the fee. It also shows they are serious about enrolling with your daycare.

[apples and bananas]

This is a hard one, I've started a thread like this in the past. And every time I come accross this situation I always see it better if I don't hold the space. April is a long ways away! Can you imagion charging a holding fee... getting to the actual care and then having the child not work out? I think if you charge a holding fee the client has some sort of expectation that things are guarenteed to work.

I don't hold spaces anymore. I tell clients that if the spot is there when the they need it then we're good to go, but I don't take holding fees anymore. too much can happen in the few months they're waiting for the space.

[Momof4]

I would not hold a space that long. I would ask them to contact me again in Feb. to see if I have a space. If you do want to sign the family on, then get your signed contract, deposit, holding fees of at least $200/month and make sure it is stated on the contract that all of these funds are NON-refundable.

[Starshine]

I just had someone contact me looking for care for April, and I told them I wouldn't hold a space for that long. It's just too far off and so much can happen between now and then.

[Crayola kiddies]

I charge a holding fee of $250/month plus the two week deposit which is applied to their last two weeks of already commenced care. The longest I held a spot for so far has been from oct to feb.

[sunnydays]

Apples...that is a good point...I hadn't thought of it! I am considering holding a spot for someone as my daycare is relocating...I told them I wuold charge a holding fee, but I never thought about the feeling of obligation to make it work out. I will have to think about that before making my decision (I have 3-4 spaces to fill as I'm losing most of my kids...that's why I am even considering it).

[bright sparks]

I tell people 4-6 weeks is longest I hold. I take a 2 week deposit regardless and hold it as their last 2 weeks care. When I moved and set my daycare up again I purposly wanted a gradual build up of children so when someone enquired in the April for an October start I said it was fine but on the condition that she paided a 50% retainer to hold the spot. I explained why and that I get enquiries constantly and could very well get an enquiry tomorrow for a start the following week and if I held it for her I would lose a substantial amount of income. She paid the retainer becasue she wanted her child to come to me enough that it was worth it. In my town there is a real shortage of daycare so it is a little easier to make these kind of requests but generally this isn't something I do, I just tend to ask people to call back 4-6 weeks before returning to work.

[playfelt]

For a spot more than 6 months away I would just tell the family that basically they are looking too soon and that in our area at least there will always be people with spaces. Also because most parents are only required to give a 2-4 week notice many good caregivers won't even know yet that they will have spaces for April. They can safely wait until January to start the intensive interview phase of their daycare search so please feel free to contact me back in January to discuss your needs.

Too often they have second thoughts that they grabbed something too quickly and then over the next 6 months find out they had other alternatives and rethink. Which leaves us having taken a hit in the pocketbook and still having to readvertise when we should have just kept advertising and trying to fill the space when it was available.

The only time I would seriously consider this is if I knew I had a space such as a maternity leave coming up or in the summer for kids starting school.

[Sandbox Sally]

I used to charge 40% of weekly fees as a holding fee. Now I charge 60%. Parents can take it or leave it. This is our livelihood.