4 School Fundraising Ideas That Make Raising Money Fun
Fundraisers bring your school revenue and can be memorable, skillbuilding experiences for your students. From fundraisers that are just fun like carnivals to ones designed to build responsibility and self-confidence (such as peer-to-peer fundraisers), the right school fundraising idea can provide resources for future opportunities and be an opportunity itself.
To get your school inspired and eager to participate, here are four fundraising ideas aimed at creating unique experiences for your high school students.
1. Form a restaurant partnership
Partnering with local businesses can provide your school with long-term sponsors, unique resources, and lucrative event opportunities. Look for businesses with corporate philanthropy and social responsibility programs whose goals align with supporting education, or reach out to a local business to form a brand new partnership.
Local restaurants are popular partners for schools as many of them will appreciate the potential business students and their families can bring both during and after the fundraiser. Try getting in touch with a local restaurant your students love to form a restaurant partnership.
This partnership can take several forms, from sponsoring events or providing gift cards as prizes to catering other events at a reduced cost. You can also host a restaurant partnership night wherein your school encourages students and their families to eat out at the restaurant on a particular night. Then, a portion of the proceeds from that night will be donated to your school.
To make a restaurant partnership night successful, create event flyers you can post around the school, send messages to your community supporters, and encourage students to invite their personal networks to dine with them.
2. Offer special classes
During the year, your school does everything possible to educate your students. Of course, there are only so many days in a school year, and likely, more ambitious students want to continue learning year-round. You can raise funds and give students a productive way to spend their summers by offering special classes for a moderate entry fee.
These courses can be taught by your staff or community members willing to donate a few hours of their time or work at a reduced rate each week. The content of these classes should vary based on interest, but popular topics often include:
Art. Art classes that focus on specific skills such as oil painting, sculpting, and photography can be exciting for artistic students interested in exploring a new medium or growing their skills.
Life skills. Many students express interest in learning life essentials in high school, and you can provide specialized courses focused on exactly that. Topics can range from financial literacy and basic budgeting to cooking and auto repair.
Career training. Students want to feel prepared entering college or the workforce after graduation. You can give them a stronger start with career-oriented courses, such as skills like coding or job hunting essentials like building a resume or being interviewed.
Along with students, open up these classes to your community. For example, it might be useful for students to learn a few cooking basics for their future. It might be an even more fun opportunity if they take it alongside a family member eager to support them.
3. Sell branded t-shirts
Creating branded merchandise like t-shirts, hats, sweaters, water bottles, and other items is a fundraising staple for schools. In exchange for helping your school by making a financial contribution, supporters receive something tangible they can use in their daily lives. Plus, if that item is apparel, every time they wear it, they’ll show off their school spirit and potentially persuade others to buy merchandise as well.
Provide supporters with several ways to purchase your merchandise, including:
An online store. Once you’ve created your merchandise, you can keep selling it to supporters year-round with an online store. If your customer merchandise provider has a print-on-demand model, your school won’t even need to worry about ordering and storing stock as each order will be processed individually once it’s created.
Events. If you already have a large group of parents and community members assembled in one place for an event, you can earn extra revenue by setting up a place to sell your t-shirts. Most commonly, this can be an effective way to monetize sports events and encourage your community to show off their school spirit. Not to mention, you’ll provide student athletes an easy way to help fundraise while maintaining their school-activities balance.
Peer-to-peer sales. Your students can actively participate in your t-shirt sales with a peer-to-peer campaign. During a peer-to-peer t-shirt campaign, students will fundraise on behalf of your school to their friends and family, who will support them by buying a t-shirt. You can make these t-shirts even more personal for students by allowing them to custom design the t-shirts they sell, bringing their network closer together in their unified support for their loved ones.
When creating merchandise, consider who your target audience will be. For instance, if you intend to sell your merchandise primarily at sporting events, you will probably want to create jerseys, hats, and light sports jackets that people can easily slip on as soon as they finish making their purchase.
4. Host a read-a-thon
Read-a-thons are popular among elementary schools but can easily be translated into a high school environment to potentially even greater effect.
For younger students, simply encouraging a love of reading is well worth the effort. At the high school level, a read-a-thon can also be used to emphasize the importance of supporting libraries, learning outside the classroom, and discovering the importance of making time for reading among their day-to-day responsibilities. Plus, read-a-thons are a fun, relaxing fundraiser that is relatively easy for students to participate in, especially if your school sets time aside during the day for students to read.
You can further entice older students to join your read-a-thon with various themes, such as:
Celebrating other cultures
Banned books
Own voices authors
Nonfiction narratives
Base your theme on what will most likely interest your students and what your library has available for students to check out. Then, make logging their reading and collecting pledges easy using take-home pledge forms or an online read-a-thon software solution.
Final Thoughts on School Fundraising
School fundraising ideas are more than just strategies for raising money—they’re chances to enhance your students’ education and give them a better school experience. Get started with these ideas and explore more options online to find school fundraisers that will inspire your students.
About the Author
Kevin Penney has been working in digital media for over ten years, and he enjoys strategizing, working closely with his team, and hockey … exactly in that order. He’s the CMO and co-founder of Bonfire, an online platform that’s reinventing the way people create, sell and purchase custom apparel. Bonfire has long helped schools and other community-focused organizations use custom merch to raise funds for their cause.