Free List of 37 Successful Fundraiser Ideas For Schools
It’s no secret that schools and school programs are seriously underfunded. Oftentimes, parents, staff, and students step up to provide extra cash for general resources, clubs, and sports.
That’s why we’ve reached out to the FunAttic community to create the ultimate list of successful fundraiser ideas for schools.
The best fundraisers are affordable and get the community excited to participate. Every single one of our ideas do just that – so read on!
Art Contest Fundraiser
Have the students that would like to participate start making a work of art that could be exhibited. Set up a date for them to be finished (no more than three weeks time). Select a jury of community members that would be responsible for choosing 10 – 20 top finalists for the last phase of the contest. Those art finalists will have their work on display in school for about 2-4 days.
If at all possible, try to schedule the last day at the same time as the school’s open house or conference time when adults/parents will have the opportunity to view and also vote. While on display, the students’ parents and faculty will vote on their favorite exhibit by depositing money into a locked box that contains numbered slots that coincide with the numbered exhibits.
To incentivize lots of participation, you could give the contest winners a percentage of their personal votes. Maybe 50% for the top voted exhibit, then 30% for 2nd and 10% for third place. You could also choose awards for various topics you deem appropriate.
Hopefully this will create a new source of revenue for the arts department, and many gifted artists will receive the exposure and recognition for their talents and abilities.
Created by R. Scheel, Fun-Attic, Inc.
Ball-a-thon Fundraiser
This event requires a partnership with the school’s basketball team. Get pledges for foul shots, 3-point shots, and half courts (for the higher grades).
Submitted by PJ Gailor – Cortland Alternative High School, Cortland, NY
Bake Sale Fundraiser
They still work! The fourth graders in our school go to camp every year supported by these events.
Betty Crocker/Campbell Soup Points Collection Fundraiser
Throughout the school year, you can collect Betty Crocker/Campbell Soup points to benefit the school – and repeat every year!
Send out a list of all the items that contain Betty Crocker/Campbell Soup points to the parents through a flyer sent home or in a monthly community newsletter.
You’ll want to have someone in charge of clipping the cut out points down to the correct size and tallying the points. Make sure you pay attention to the expiration date, because they are only valid for a period of time.
Cash the points once or twice a year, and you’ll receive items that will be helpful for your school.
Calendars Fundraiser
Find a way to have calendars printed up at a reasonable price. Sell the dates of the calendars for $5 – $25 dollars. People can pay for their birthdays, anniversaries, or other special events. Nobody will forget little Timmy’s birthday if every parent and faculty member has it on their calendar!
Set up sections for businesses to advertise in the calendar and determine advertising fees as well.
You may want to limit how many names can be on one date. You could have names printed in light florescent colors so that calendars can still be written on for personal scheduling.
There are lots of ways to make this fun for the school! One way is to combine this fundraiser with the art contest fundraiser mentioned above. You can make the top 12 art designs the art on the calendar!
Take orders ahead of time for the calendar masterpiece and keep them inexpensive. Once you have collected enough money to cover the printing cost and make a profit, have them printed.
Car Wash Fundraiser
This is a fun activity to do even for the smallest clubs. Ask your local gas station for permission, and bring your own hose and buckets. They usually oblige because it draws positive attention to their business.
Charge anywhere from 3-5 dollars. This draws in the same amount of money that a bake sale would.
Submitted by Susan Jones, President of Luzerne County Community college Circle K Club
Carnival Fundraiser
It takes a lot of volunteers to pull this off but once set up, you can successfully have this be your annual money making event. You can sell food and snacks like hot dogs, pop, popcorn, chips, cotton candy, and even the walking taco is a hit.
What is a walking taco? Buy in bulk, small bags of Fritos or Doritos. Cook up hamburger with taco seasoning. Cut up lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. Once you have the supplies, you just put a couple spoons of warm taco meat into a small bag of chips along with additional items and you have a walking taco. You can even have a table where walking taco customers can add the additional items, once you have added the meat.
See the Carnival Games page for carnival game ideas. One fun, unique idea for a carnival activity is button making, if you have a button assembler. Kids draw a design or write their name on small circles of paper, and then they have a cool self-designed button to wear.
The carnival that we do has a two-ticket system. One ticket is purchased, which is used to play the games or buy food. The other ticket, which is a different color, is earned upon winning a game. Players will earn these tickets throughout the day, and then once they’re ready to leave, they cash in their tickets for prizes. One room is designated for this purpose. Prizes can be pencils, erasers, donated items, small safe toys, up to large items for higher accumulated tickets. Prizes can be purchased in bulk and stored until the next carnival.
Coin Challenge Fundraiser
The Coin Challenge works great in a school setting where classrooms can compete against each other.
Have a set time table as to how long you will be collecting loose change such as 3-4 weeks. You can limit the collection to nickels and up if you choose to.
Send out flyers for all the kids to take home, and if you have a monthly school newsletter that goes to the community, advertise the event so that you’ll get better results.
At the end of each week, post a running total so that each classroom knows the current standings. This will make for a stronger competition. The classroom that collects the most change might get an ice cream social or pizza party. The money can go towards needed school expenses, or you can donate the proceeds to a local or national charity that means the most to the community.
Created by R. Scheel, Fun-Attic, Inc.
Cow Patty Fundraiser
This fundraising event will be the talk of the town for at least a month!
Seek approval to allow a cow to come onto a protected gym floor or set up a staked-out field area. Find a farmer willing to bring in a calf or calm cow to your event.
Once you’ve figured out where the event will take place, sell squares for the area that the cow will be contained in. You can use large cardboard boxes-flatten, tape together that are number. In a field, you could use line chalk or some type of safe quick-drying spray paint to mark off squares and number each square.
Sell the marked-off squares for a set dollar amount. You could even let people pick their own lucky squares. If there were more than one person on a winning square, the money allotted for the winner would be split among the owners of that square. And what does it take to be the winner of this event? The first person that receives a fresh cow patty from Betsy is the winner.
Cow Poke Buffet & Auction Fundraiser
Get donations of food items from local grocery stores for volunteer cooks to prepare into dinners for an All-you-can-eat Country Cooking Buffet.
To get a headcount, we sold tickets in advance for $7/$5 each. After the buffet, we held an auction of the free donations from local merchants such as free oil changes, gifts, dry cleaning, meals, motel stay, golf packages, and more.
Attendees dressed in western or country attire. Prizes were given to ‘best dressed’ male and female adult and child. Dinner lasted for about three hours; our profit totaled $1800/2000 with approximately 100 in attendance. This was our third year of the Cow Poke fundraiser; each year yields more profit.
Submitted by Robyn Morgan
Cutie Pie Fundraiser:
We asked our staff to bring in their baby pictures and then color copied them onto photo paper. We had the school children make pockets to put the pictures on.
For 10 days before Valentine’s Day, we displayed the pictures in the hall and asked everyone to vote for the cutest baby by dropping money in the folders/lockbox. We encouraged change, bills, & checks. We raised $320! The top boy & girl won a gift certificate to go out to eat.
We also added an additional contest of guessing who the babies were. We put the participants names all over the display but not in any order. To vote, they filled out a sheet guessing who each one was and dropped it into a Valentine box with $1.00. The person who guessed the most correct names won 1/2 the money.
We had so much fun that we are thinking about doing it with Graduation pictures in June! It was fun and a great success.
Submitted by Barbara Claudel
Children’s Clothes & Used Toys Fundraiser
Take donations of children’s clothing, baby equipment, and toys, and then have a sale once a year. Check with radio stations, they will quite often advertise your event for free if it’s a non-profit organization.
Submitted by Robyn Morgan – St. Marys, GA
Doorway Sponsor Fundraiser
Contact area businesses to be sponsors of a classroom doorway. Set a dollar amount for sponsorship of $50-$200. Each sponsor will have their name across the doorway of the sponsored room and the walls decorated to depict that business.
Use different colors of construction paper to simulate the company logo or color theme. The best time to do this is before and during student conferences to ensure the most exposure for the advertiser.
You could even offer the sponsor to be added to the next month school newsletter as an added benefit and a way of thanking sponsors. Great way for students to learn about their neighborhood and to become familiar with it.
Duck Derby Fundraiser
Gather together (by scrounging) a lot of rubber ducks. Then you have to get lots of prizes – well 1st, 2nd and 3rd at least. (make them really good prizes!!) Oh yeah, you need a river to let the ducks swim in!! (seek proper legal authorization for this)
When you’ve got all the prizes and the required number of rubber ducks, all you have to do is get people to sponsor a duck. You can do this by again approaching local businesses, friends, and family members. Maybe $5 per duck, or more if you need it!! On the big day, you can organize other stalls, like a cake stall, hot food bar – even a bouncy castle!!
You will have all the ducks numbered with PERMANENT MARKER (so it doesn’t come off in the water) and let the ducks go at the same time. Whoever’s duck gets to the finish line wins first prize and so on!! It really is hilarious seeing about 1000 yellow rubber ducks coming round the bend of a river!! You’ll have everyone in ruptures, never mind the money you’ve made!!! Good luck!!
Submitted by Winifred Dougherty
Exam Care Packages Fundraiser
Show your students some love AND make money by selling exam care packages. They can include things like:
- blue light glasses (to protect their eyes from screens)
- cute pencils/pens/erasers/highlighters
- sticky notes
- plenty of candy
- apples, oranges, grapes, etc
- weekly planner
First, figure out what is allowed during exam week in your school. Offer two package choices: one that costs about $11.00, and one that costs $20.00. Have the packages pre-ordered before exam week by mailing home order forms – and don’t forget to advertise in the local school paper and through announcements prior to exam week.
Submitted by Robin Scheel – Fun-Attic Inc.
Father Daughter Dance Fundraiser
What a wonderful way for a little girl to experience what a date should be like than with her own Father. This fundraiser works great around Valentine’s Day!
You can sell tickets in advance and take corsage orders as well, which could be picked up after work or receive them at the door. You might want to have pictures taken for a small charge by a volunteer photographer.
Flower Bulb Sale Fundraiser
Okay I was tired of the cookie dough sales, as well as the candy and jewelry that was very disappointing to sell, let alone bothering one more neighbor to purchase. So I tried something new that the neighbors all liked.
Flower Bulbs for our crew team with a 50% profit margin. In one week, with only half the team helping, we made over $700, which was great. You have two seasons to choose from: Spring Bulbs or Fall Bulbs. And the place that had the best deal was the Dutch Bulb Company. It all came in one box with many packages, but was truly worth the time sorting. Their products are guaranteed so you can’t go wrong.
Submitted by Robin Scheel – Fun-Attic Inc.
Free Throw Fundraiser
If you don’t have a team utilizing the court during half time at a high school varsity basketball game, and they allow observers to be on the court floor, here’s an idea that should make you some money. For a small fee of $1.00, kids and adults can come up to shoot the basketball from the free throw line.
If they make it, they get a 2-liter of pop. Have at least one person taking the tickets; one person making sure the person is standing in the correct spot, one-person retrieving the ball for each basket, and one person to hand out the pop on the sidelines when a basket is made (a total of 4 people).
You can have both basketball hoops going and there’s usually a long line until the players return. You can quite often get 2-liter pops on sale for $.60 to $.80, but check and see if your local store will give you a discount or donate the pop for the fundraiser.
Each home game, you’ll see the same kids and adults coming out to try to make that free throw in front of their peers. I’ve seen where other schools were giving candy bars away instead of the 2-liter pops. Make sure you have a floor broom ready to clean the court for the players’ second half of the game.
Submitted by R. Scheel – Fun-Attic Inc.
Golf Outing Fundraiser
You can make this an annual event once you’ve set up a game plan. Find a company or a few businesses to underwrite the event. Charge a fee in the range of $50.00 per person or $90.00 per couple, which could include a 9-hole scramble, golf cart, picnic, prizes and contests.
You could also offer the picnic dinner only (for people who don’t want to golf) at a price of $8.00 to $12.00. Contact businesses that would donate items, meals, or services to be auctioned at the picnic.
Maybe within the group, individuals might have something to donate that could be auctioned. You could also have a 50/50 raffle with plenty of great prizes. You could find sponsors for the golf carts and display their posters on them.
Holiday Child Care Fundraiser
Set up child care service on a night or two for parents of young children. This could be done around the holidays to give parents time to do Christmas shopping. You can charge parents per child at a rate slightly lower than what they normally pay.
Try to determine what age limit, quantity, and length your group is able to handle. Make sure parents sign release forms, notify of any allergies or health concerns, and approximate area they will be going. Provide some type of nutritious snack and creative entertainment (use Fun-Attic’s Fun Indoor Activities for Kids list for ideas).
Karaoke Dinner Showcase Fundraiser
Hosted at the Nanoose hall, we’d charge a flat cost-per-plate such as $10 and would serve a tasty but simple meal consisting of salad, main course (best bet is pasta), and dessert with coffee or tea. Then, following the dinner, we’d have what I now call “The Loonie-Twoonie Karaoke Night” [here in Canada our one Karaoke dollar coin is called a “Loonie”, and we call our $2 a “Twoonie”. I know, it’s nuts!!].
What we’d do is have a sort-of auction way of getting people to get up and sing. Goes like this: Gord (our ‘auctioneer’) has a list of songs we’ve got on disc (particularly goofy songs preferred), and anyone and everyone who’s in the hall that night has had their name secretly put in the ‘draw’.
Gord pulls out a name and asks, for example, “what am I bid to hear Roger sing “Feelings”?” Then people begin to call out what they’ll put into the ‘pot’ to hear him sing it; those bids being only $1 or $2. Unlike a true auction, no one person gets stuck footing the whole amount, but rather the youth runs around taking the change from the people and we watch the pot grow and the pressure build for Roger to get up and sing his rendition of “Feelings.”
The only way he can get out of doing it is to match the amount in the pot. Hopefully the folks attending the dinner/karaoke night will go away having enjoyed a thoroughly entertaining and funny evening, and will have been glad to help the youth raise the money.
Submitted by Kirsty Chaignon – Jubilee Christian Centre, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada
Local Restaurant Night Fundraiser
Several of those national chain restaurants (like Burger King or McDonald’s) in our area help out our groups by holding a fundraiser night.
During a period of time like 6-9 PM, usually on a weeknight, they offer a percentage of sales that goes to the group. Flyers are sent out to all the various levels in the school district to remind them to show up with their family to pick up food or eat that the sponsors’ restaurant.
The program has been very helpful to large groups such as the Band Teachers in all grade levels.
Submitted by R. Scheel – Fun-Attic Inc.
Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser
Cook pancakes and sausages on rented outdoor grills (if you don’t have ample cooking space indoors).
Reservations can be made in advance, and also set up an area for non-reservation customers.
Serve juices, coffee and tea, charge $3.00 per person, $2.00 for children 4 – 10, and under are free.
Penny Quest Fundraiser
The object is to collect as many pennies as possible with no silver.
With a jug in each homeroom, students put pennies in their homeroom jug but drop silver in all other jugs throughout the day. For each silver coin found in your jug, you deduct pennies. 25 cents =25 pennies deducted, 10 cents =10 pennies deducted, and so on.
Remember the object is to collect the most amount of pennies. At the end, we count and deduct, and the homeroom who has the most pennies gets donuts.
Pop Can Drive Fundraiser
Several states require deposit fees on pop cans. There are people that hate returning the cans, they pile the cans up in their garage and are willing to give them to any great cause. If you have a group such as boy/girl scouts, sports team, or group that needs funds for an event, then try this great moneymaker.
First, it’s helpful if you send out flyers, if possible several days ahead of time telling them about the Can Drive. It helps letting donors know that you’ll be in the area collecting cans, at what time and for what cause. But you really don’t have to do that. Donors can leave designated bags out for pickup between certain times. If you have a monthly school newsletter that goes out to the community, this is another way to make donors aware of the Can Drive by stating the date and time.
Set up teams with designated residential areas that they will work in. Try to pick a time when you are not waking people up but when they will most likely be home and receptive to your visit. Each team will need a driver with at least 3-4 people. Drop off one set of fundraiser helpers at the top of the street to collect and the other set at the other end, having them meet at the center. Have a fundraiser helper on each side of the street. It’s helpful if they wear something that identifies that they are with the group such as a uniform or shirt.
If you have a large amount of teams, you may need to have certain teams go to different locations to cash in the pop cans. It’s helpful if they work in their own neighborhoods where someone knows them. Use caution by not entering a house, only stay outside by the door with a partner parallel across the street. You can collect between $400-$1100 in one day, which is very helpful when you need funds. A great time to collect is in May/June, due to graduation parties being held with many happy returns.
Submitted by Robin Scheel – Fun-Attic Inc.
Printer Cartridge Recycling Fundraiser
If you are a school that needs help with expenses, you can collect used printer cartridges, old cell phones, or other items that many office supply places will take in exchange for reams of paper or other supplies. Check with your local office supply locations to see what they are willing to take and what you’ll get for them.
Let your students’ parents know in the community newsletter that you are collecting certain items that have a value.
Submitted by Robin Scheel – Fun-Attic Inc.
Read-a-thon Fundraiser
Get sponsors to pay for each book or chapter read. Set a date and time for participates to gather and read. You can host a book fair to make additional money while the Read-a-thon is in process.
Invite parents, grandparents, politicians, school board members, authors, local celebrities and anyone willing to donate time.
Rent a Flamingo Fundraiser
Get 6 to 10 lawn Flamingos, paint them in your school colors, and have a sign up sheet to have people receive a Flamingo in their yard for the day. You can charge $10 – $50 a day depending on the area, weekends would be premium time. Let’s see- 6 Flamingo’s X $25 X 14 Days is $2100.00, not bad.
Note: You might want to tag your Flamingos for safekeeping.
This sale doesn’t have to be limited to just taking orders within the school. Teach kids to market this by contacting businesses, radio stations, and other groups.
You can also paint them with VERY obnoxious colors and people will sign up their neighbors, teachers, or anywhere but their own yard.
Script Program Fundraiser
Once a month, send home an order form for certificates to be redeemed at stores, restaurants, and companies. We have started doing this at our school and the school receives 3% – 15%, depending what certificates is purchased.
Check with major stores, gas stations, pizza parlors, restaurants, and even home vendors like health professionals or toy distributors.
Silent Auction Fundraiser
On the parents night at our school each year, I have a silent auction. I call local businesses and ask if they would be interested in donating an item which we could use to auction off during our annual Open House and tell them the date and what the funds raised will benefit.
The night of the open house, I set up in the school cafeteria. Parents, visitors, and teachers come through and bid on any item that they would like to purchase. If someone else comes behind them and is willing to pay more for the same item, they simply write down a higher bid. At the end of the evening, the highest bidder is allowed to purchase the item for that amount. I usually raise well over $1000.00 in one evening.
Submitted by Dawn – Ruston, LA
Sports Event Fundraiser
If you have a minor or a major league sports team in your town, a sporting event is a great platform to capitalize on. Contact those teams to see if they offer discount tickets – or even discount tickets with donations per ticket to your group.
The teams that might have something to offer you are baseball teams, hockey teams, indoor arena football teams, basketball teams, or whatever your area has to offer.
If you’re a school, send home flyers for several weeks advertising a special day that was selected for your group to observe a sports event. Make sure that you collect the money in advance for the tickets with a no refund policy.
Not only can you make some money for your group, but it gives you a chance to bond with your own community.
Submitted by R. Scheel – Fun-Attic Inc.
The 6th Man Fundraiser
The basketball team sells a school spirit t-shirt every year to help support their team. The shirt has the #6 on the back and on the front states that they are the “6th Man” on the team. These would be very popular if your school has a lot of team spirit, and the shirts sell for about $8.00.
This has worked at our school for several years, and for some reason every year the kids want the new shirt. So you’ll have to change the color or restyle it to get those repeat sales.
Submitted by R. Scheel – Fun-Attic Inc.
Toy Sale Fundraiser
Advertise for a toy sale and have vendors of antique toys, educational toys, and great product lines to be sold in assigned spaces.
Used Bike Sale Fundraiser
Advertise a bike sale at your organization (many families have bikes that the kids have outgrown).
You can give people four choices, donated, sell at asking price, selling price then to auction, or auction off at end of sale. You keep 20% of each sale.
You might want to include selling refreshments or baked goods.
Valentine Message & Flower Fundraiser
Around Valentine’s Day, sell Valentine’s flowers. Students can purchase them for someone they like, a friend, a favorite teacher, etc, and decide whether they want their affections to be anonymous or not. The flower will get delivered while the recipient is in class.
You can include chocolates or cookies as well and charge more, if you’d like.
On the order form, have them give you as much information as they can to find the recipient on the given date, along with a message field for them to write the important message that will be sent to the receiver.
Submitted by R. Scheel – Fun-Attic Inc.
Walk-a-thon Fundraiser
Have kids get donations for a Walk-a-Thon. Have collection sheets made up for each child that participates. You may consider donating 10-20% to a child related illness, disease or Special Olympics.
Have a day planned out for event and backup date in case of inclement weather. The time could be 2 hours before the end of a school day. Plan it with shifts walking at an easy pace, resting, and refreshments. Have a smaller area designated for kids with disabilities so they can participate as well. In large schools, different grades can walk on different days.
Have Fun! ?
We hope that your fundraising efforts are fruitful and that you meet all of your fundraising goals. We would love to hear about your experiences, so leave us a comment!
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