How does school fundraising work? What are the best school fundraisers? Below are some of the most popular school fundraising ideas, along with their pros and cons. Bake Sales Bake sales have long been one of the most popular fundraising ideas for schools because, like auctions, they rely on donated products.
Crowdfunding Crowdfunding has exploded in popularity and can be a great fundraising option for schools. Spirit Wear Fundraiser School spirit wear is one of the best ways to raise funds for schools and classrooms since participants get something in return for their contribution. Restaurant Nights Restaurant nights are a great school fundraising idea for bringing people together and involving the community while raising a lot of money for your school.
Car Wash A car wash is a win-win for the school and the community since donors receive a service in exchange for their donations. School fundraising best practices Making the most of a school fundraiser requires careful planning and execution. Below are some best practices for any school fundraising idea: Identify specific goals. As mentioned above, donors like to know where their money is going. If your school is looking to bring in major funds to support a large initiative or fund your entire budget, Boosterthon might be for you!
Align school fundraising ideas with your goals. For example, a DIY crowdfunding campaign generally works best for specific projects, whereas you may be able to use a spirit wear store for general funds.
Form a planning committee. Within each committee, assign roles and responsibilities carefully so that everyone knows their part. Determine how you will promote the fundraiser. Have a plan in place for how you will get the word out about your campaign or even, including brochures, social media, etc.
Evaluate the success of the fundraiser. The best way to improve your school fundraisers is to evaluate the successes and failures of past campaigns. The following tips can help you spread the word and maximize donations: Assign someone to head promotion efforts. Have a promotional plan. Part of the planning process of your fundraiser should include a specific timeline of your promotional efforts, such as how far in advance you will begin promotion, how often you will post on social media or send emails, etc.
Share on social media. What are the ultimate long-term financial goals of the school's fundraising efforts? Context is key. It's important to look beyond the specific event and consider what the school's financial needs are, both big and small, over the course of the entire school year and beyond. Are funds needed quickly for an emergency or for an unexpected school event or will the funds need to last throughout a quarter, semester, or entire year? Whether you can spend several days or weeks on a fundraising drive or need to complete an event in a day or over a weekend will likely be one of, if not the biggest, factor in choosing an event type.
A successful fundraising campaign requires effective leadership. Be sure to choose a chairman with the talent, time, and energy to see the campaign through. Great leadership is essential, but so is a solid supporting crew. Decide how many people will be needed to carry off a particular activity or event, and get them excited and involved as early as possible.
For example, create a list of art supplies, books, etc. This gives potential donors a stronger connection to your classroom and your cause. Effective leadership starts with organizational structure and delegation. Get a good team together and delegate responsibilities and tasks for each member. It may also be a good idea to have these responsibilities in writing so that everyone is clear on what they each have to do. And keep the written information to use in future fundraising campaigns.
Be sure to take a good hard look at both the school's and the community's events calendars. Nothing will ruin a fundraising event more quickly than scheduling conflicts with other events. Once the dates for your event are determined, be sure to inform school and community organizations immediately so that they do not schedule conflicting events afterward. Always do some research to estimate the amount of money reasonably expected to be raised from a specific activity or event.
Also, consider increasing the campaign's financial goals a little from years past. Doing so provides a good incentive to staff, parents, and students to go the extra mile. There are lots of professional consultants out there who specialize in school fundraising events.
Whether one is needed depends on a number of factors such as size and difficulty of the planned event, as well as experience of the campaign's leadership and support. Ask this question: Will hiring a professional consultant be cost-effective?
Can't think of a unique fundraising activity? Need help in planning and executing a successful event? There are plenty of great resources accessible online for free. Below is a list of suggestions to get you started:.
The AFRDS is a fundraising industry professional association that provides helpful resources such as a fundraising handbook and fundraising "report card" on their website.
Box Tops for Education. This program allows individuals to clip box tops from participating products, send them in to their school's program coordinator who in turn redeems them with the program for cash. Campus Fundraiser. Private company whose site offers programs for school organizations, particularly those for college fraternities and organizations. Ford Foundation. This Ford Foundation site offers information for the big picture regarding the need to promote educational efforts nationally and worldwide.
The Ford Foundation additionally provides grants to help promote its education initiatives. FundingFactory is a "fundraising-thru-recycling" company that offers their services to schools and nonprofit organizations throughout the contiguous United States.
Fundraiser Insight. Labels for Education. Another private company that allows schools to earn money, in this case by collecting UPCs and beverage and sauce caps from participating products to earn points that can be redeemed for art, athletics and academics merchandise. National PTA: Fundraising. Excellent site from the National PTA with links to fundraising event ideas and other associated resources. PTO Today is a media company and service provider dedicated to, "providing a full suite of products, programs, and services to the entire K-8 school parent group market.
There are a number of great organizations out there that provide financial support for their schools. There are also plenty of additional resources that exist for teachers looking for alternative fundraising activities outside of the more common school- and district-wide programs. Here are a number of resources designed specifically for teachers and their fundraising efforts:. ClassWallet is a website where funders can make donations and teachers can access those funds to purchase needed classroom materials from sponsoring businesses like Amazon, Scholastic, Office Depot and others.
Contributions through ClassWallet have the same tax deduction status as those made directly to the school. The ClassWish website allows teachers to create a "Wish List" of the materials needed for their classrooms. Supporters then contribute money designated for specific K schools or teachers. ClassWish then purchases the materials and has them shipped directly to the school. ClassWish is a nonprofit organization and donations are tax deductible.
Sponsored by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, Edutopia's website offers a clearinghouse of resources for K teachers including this page of information on funding opportunities of every size. Teachers can access fundraising-related blogs, videos and more. Fund for Teachers. Fund for Teachers provides grants to teachers that allow them to "pursue self-designed professional learning experiences. Fund My Classroom.
Similar to Classwish, Fund My Classroom's website allows teachers to register for a variety of supplies and other resources. Parents and others can then log in and purchase items needed in the classroom, with the items then sent directly to the school. National Science Foundation. This NSF website page offers information on, and links to, programs that provide either direct or indirect funding for K educators in areas such as curricula development, training and retention.
NEA Foundation. It is supported through educator contributions, corporate and foundation sponsorship, and other sources. Another listing site, TeacherLists provides a platform that allows teachers and schools to efficiently upload and manage supply lists throughout the school year. Parents and others can easily access up-to-date school supply lists at any time or place, helping to keep classrooms from suffering materials shortages.
Teaching Community. The Teaching Community website offers a wealth of information and resources to promote careers and opportunities in education, including the article linked to here on resources to find funding for the classroom.
United Federation of Teachers. Their website provides this helpful page on funding classroom projects that can be used by teachers everywhere seeking ideas and access to further resources. Thanks for the Internet and social media, people can reach out to others far beyond their classroom walls and even their surrounding community. Over the last few years, however, crowdfunding has expanded, with many focused on educational causes. There are more crowdfunding sites with programs for school fundraising than can be discussed here.
The following is a list of some of the best known and successful:. Adopt-A-Classroom is a nonprofit organization that pairs donors with teachers to raise money for their classroom needs. Teachers post project requests on the site. Donors can then contribute to those projects in amounts as small as one dollar.
Be sure to charge a small registration fee for students to join the tournament to capitalize on this fundraising idea! In a school-sleepover fundraiser, students can make a donation to gain access to an exclusive nighttime event. Then, you can host fun activities like a haunted classroom tour or a movie with popcorn. Hula-hoop contests get students up on their feet and exercising while they groove to their favorite songs.
Have participating students grab a hoop and start twirling. If you work at a private school or any other type of school with required uniforms, you know students are always eager for a chance to dress casually. In exchange for a donation, give students the chance to forgo their uniforms and wear an outfit of their choosing for a day.
Find out which of your high schoolers are going to be the next big music stars with a battle of the bands fundraiser. Student musicians get the perfect venue to share their passion with classmates and compete with other bands. Charge groups a fee to participate or audition , as well as an admission fee on the big night. Consider offering a grand prize to the winning band, such as the opportunity to represent your school and create the music for future events like a school theme song to play before morning announcements.
This fundraiser is sure to make a splash in your community. Set up a car wash in the high school parking lot or partner with a local business during a late-spring weekend, and have students take shifts cleaning cars. If you have an online donation page set up, you can accept card payments and text-to-give in addition to cash. Nobody wants to wash their own smelly pup, and groomers can get so expensive!
Offer a more affordable solution with a dog wash fundraiser. Encourage students, parents, teachers, and community members to bring their furry friends to be bathed by student volunteers for a reasonable price.
Shopping for a big dance can be intimidating. There are so many choices, and a nice dress can be quite pricey. Make the pre-prom season a blast for everyone with a prom dress drive. Whether you plan this fundraiser around homecoming or prom season or both! The classic walk-a-thon can work for all ages, but you can boost engagement with high school students when you add a little twist.
Consider taking your event to the next level with a theme, such as a color run or a zombie run great around Halloween! Using peer-to-peer fundraising strategies , students can invite friends, classmates, and relatives to sponsor them as they walk or jog a certain number of laps around the school track. Each student can use a unique online donation page to raise funds and build up a pre-jog buzz. This fundraising idea is perfect for parents who have a hard time persuading their busy teenagers to get their chores done.
Host an event and invite the whole community. During a live chore auction, your audience will bid on students to complete errands or other mundane chores. Teachers can task students with cleaning classrooms, parents can have their driveway shoveled, and classmates may enjoy seeing their friends clean their lockers—for a price! Student athletes love to share their hard-earned skills and expertise with their community. A summer sports camp gives them the chance to do so for a good cause.
They can teach younger kids a new skill and give parents some time to themselves during busy summer days. Have members of your high school sports teams donate their time to host a community sports camp during the summer. Children can pay a fee to learn from the greats, with all the money going back to your school.
Consider hosting a few camps throughout the summer so eager mini-athletes can practice football, basketball, and baseball. Partner with art classes to find student artists willing to donate their time and talents to support their school.
High schoolers dream of going viral on the internet. Start an online campaign encouraging students to film themselves partaking in a challenge such as eating a super hot pepper or being submerged in a bucket of freezing ice water. Students then post their videos to social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok, and nominate several friends to complete the challenge themselves.
The goal is for the challenge to spread rapidly throughout the internet— and that each participant makes a donation to your online fundraising page! High schoolers jump at the chance to send a sweet treat or flowers to their loved ones, romantic interests, and good friends alike! Hosting a powderpuff football game is a great way to get students excited about fundraising. In this twist on the classic American sport, cheerleaders make up the football teams, and the football players become cheerleaders rallying supporters from the sidelines.
Charge a small fee to play, sell team t-shirts, and sell tickets and concessions on the day of the big game. As a simple, sweet, syrupy breakfast item, pancakes have nearly-universal appeal.
Partner with a local restaurant to host a special pancake dinner. Invite families and community members to join you for this pancake party and sell plates for a chosen donation amount.
A delicious meal for the price of helping a good cause! Discount cards are popular product fundraisers for high schools because of the value they offer. High school students can sell these cards to their family members or neighbors.
In these fundraisers, you engage local business owners and residents alike in your efforts to help your school, creating a greater sense of community involvement. School dances give high school students the chance to let loose and create cherished memories with their friends.
In addition to your annual prom and homecoming dances, offer students the opportunity to attend a dance with a fundraising purpose, where their ticket funds are contributed right back to your school.
Give the dance an intriguing, yet simple, theme, like a Masquerade Ball, a glow-in-the-dark rave, or Winter Wonderland. Encourage students to decorate their dorms either the entire room or just the exterior , and compete against friends and neighbors for best decorated.
Have residents pay a small fee to enter their dorm in the contest. Choose a theme or let residents run wild with their imaginations. You can do this fundraiser several times a year, especially around major holidays!
Perfect for social clubs or fraternities, a beard challenge is a fun way for guys on campus to raise money for their organizations. Participants get sponsors to donate toward their beard-growing endeavor. The more money you raise, the longer they have to wait before shaving, and the bigger the beards!
Quite the opposite of the beard challenge, students raise funds towards a set goal. If they hit their target, they have to shave their heads! Encourage participants to take before and after pictures or videos of the endeavor to promote on social media to boost the cause.
For this fundraiser, students will have to get out of the dining hall and into their kitchens. Cooking in a dorm-sized kitchen only adds to the excitement of the challenge! Charge students a fee to enter their best dish in a themed cook-off think: chili, baked goods, or burgers. Consider charging a small fee to be a taster, and set a jar near each submission. Guests vote for their favorites with their wallets; the entry with the most donations wins!
Performers might not actually be singing or playing instruments, but this fundraiser still requires a lot of talent! Have the audience pick the winner by their applause, or ask esteemed members of your campus community to be the judges. Legacy-style fundraising ideas for colleges and universities give students and alumni the chance to have a lasting impact on their alma mater.
Offer students the opportunity to have their name and a short message engraved on a brick, to be placed in a prominent walkway or courtyard on campus.
You can charge per brick, per word, or per line of text. Time this fundraiser around graduation, so soon-to-be alumni have a way to leave a lasting mark. To get out of jail, the individual must match the initial donation. This is an exciting and interactive fundraiser that feels more like a game than a campaign. On the day of the event, you can choose to collect funds via an entry fee, a charge per bag, or by selling individual items for discounted prices.
We would love to know how your school has benefited from a fundraiser you ran recently. Share your ideas, pictures and videos with us. You can post them on our Facebook page or email them to us. Learn more about Original Works and why our school fundraisers are among the most effective and profitable available! Our Spring Sale Has Started.
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