School Fundraising Ideas
A well-planned fundraising strategy creates excitement and pride for the school and gets the community to play a more active role in the student’s education. So, if you’re looking for new ways to reach a larger audience and boost your efforts, choose from these school fundraising ideas and make the most of your event.
1. Bake Sale
Who doesn’t love a bake sale? Bake sales are one of the most popular – and delicious – ways to raise much-needed funds for schools. It’s also a great opportunity to get the parents involved and to show off their baking skills.
To raise money for your cause, ask the parents at your school to prepare a yummy treat to sell. Children can participate by helping their parents bake these treats or by fundraising ideas for school selling baked products at lunch or during recess.
You can take it a step further with a raffle, where one prize winner can win a beautifully designed and baked cake of their choice from a local bakery that is willing to provide a voucher as a prize.
2. Talent Show
Showcase your school’s many talents with a talent show! Let there be various categories, such as singing, dancing, and comedy. Get local businesses to sponsor prizes for each category and the grand prize of the best winning act at the end of the night.
Prizes can range from:
- A local pizza restaurant sponsored a pizza for the winner and 2 of their friends
- Tickets to see a movie at the theater
- Mall vouchers
Charge a small participation fee and a spectator entry fee. And don’t forget to put together a panel of judges!
3. Guessing Jar
Guessing jars is a cost-effective and easy fundraising idea for schools. All you need is a clear jar and fill it with candy, beads, marbles, paper clips, or anything that will fit in the jar. To increase your potential fundraising opportunities, have several jars in various sizes to allow participants to pay to guess each jar’s contents.
For a few weeks, keep the jar in a busy area of the school, like the main office. Parents, teachers, and students should be encouraged to enter their estimates into the competition for a small cost.
Allow multiple entries per person, with each try costing them. Let participants pick up the jar and turn it around to get a closer look.
Ensure you have enough prizes for each winner and runners-up for each jar you have. The closest guesser receives the candy jar when the fundraiser ends.
4. Virtual Parents Party
Sometimes parents and guardians need adult time too! A virtual parent’s party involves virtual cooking classes, happy hour, or live streaming of a concert of a local musician. In addition, you can host an art party, such as painting with a twist. These events are hosted online via zoom, and parents purchase the tickets. You will mail the items to the attendee’s homes a couple of weeks before the event and have a scheduled itinerary.
Avoid the virtual parent party from getting too crowded. You can set up virtual rooms and divide the groups. After a certain amount of time, switch up the people in the room and keep the entertainment going.
5. Battle of the Bands
Battle of the bands takes high school fundraising ideas to the next level. There may be many talented students in your school who would love the opportunity to share their talents. This fundraising idea is easy because you have all the means to host the event. You have the PA system, venue, and teachers and volunteers can help.
Charge a small fee for each band to enter and an admission fee for attendees. Involve local celebrity to be judges for the event, such as the local weatherman or radio host, to participate. In addition, you could ask local business owners to be judges and help sponsor the event. There are countless opportunities to reach your fundraising goals.