Easy School Fundraising Ideas
10 Unique and Easy Fundraising Ideas
Looking for a fun, unique and easy fundraiser? Below you will find 10 fundraising ideas for your school, group or club. Fundraising is a fact of life in virtually every school. School budgets are typically lean, covering the most basic needs of a school. Educators and administrators must be creative when it comes to funding items outside of their budget’s scope. It’s common for schools to fundraise for extracurricular teams and clubs, technology, sports and playground equipment, and even classroom supplies.
Van Wyk Confections has provided a list of easy fundraising ideas to get you started. There can be many types of fundraisers to choose from and what might work best will depend on your group and goals.
1. School Chocolate Bar Fundraiser
With all the fundraising options available to schools to raise money, chocolate bar fundraising continues to remain one of the most popular easy fundraising choices. Chocolate bar fundraisers can generate huge profits quickly and easily! Usually sold at $1 and $2 each, chocolate bars are priced to sell quickly so that everyone can get in on the action.
Satisfy your fundraising cravings! Everyone loves chocolate and it appeals to children and adults alike. A chocolate bar fundraiser offers immediate gratification and is often coordinated by the elementary PTO or PTA.
The most successful chocolate bar fundraisers find innovative and fun ways to sell direct to customers, such as bringing the bars to family functions or parties, taking the bars to the office for coworkers to buy, setting up a table outside a local grocery store or coffee shop (with permission), utilizing social media and many more.
Get social! Download fun social media graphics here to help promote your sale on various social outlets like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Are you ready to plan a successful chocolate bar fundraiser? Contact the chocolate specialists. We can connect you with a fundraising specialist that can assist with designing the perfect fundraising program.
2. Book Fair Fundraising
A well-run book fair can motivate readers, restore the importance of reading books and raise money for your school at the same time! Reading is an essential tool for inspiring imagination, stimulating language, and can bring families together. Book fundraisers are typically done as part of either an online or on-site book fair, coordinated by volunteers within the PTO or PTA. Usually a portion of the profit from the book sales goes back to the elementary school. There are many vendors to choose from and the schools typically receive either books or cash for purchases made by students and staff.
3. Box Tops
General Mills Box Tops for Education fundraising has become a successful fundraising platform for enrolled K-8 schools nationwide. This fundraiser is coordinated through the school PTO or PTA. Working together, parents, kids and schools have earned millions in donations from General Mills . The money your group earns from Box Tops for Education and other clip-and-save programs can add up quickly. Collect box tops, clip, or scan logos from more than 330 General Mills products. The new Box Top app makes it easy to scan receipts and credit your school’s earnings online. Twice a year, your school will receive a check and can use that cash to buy whatever it needs.
4. School Carnival
A school carnival is a sure way to boost profits, increase turnout, and deliver more fun for everyone! This is often coordinated through the elementary school PTO or PTA. Consider seasonal treats, games and decorations for a festive fall carnival. The ideas and options are truly endless for this sort of event. Carnival games are the key to maximize revenues. There are many free or cheap carnival games for a low budget event that can provide fun and profit! You will be sure to have a hit activity anytime you can put a teacher in a funny situation. Think dunk tank or pie throwing, etc. Maybe the principal could get his head shaved if a certain level of money is raised that night. School carnivals have been a success for many years.
5. Bake Sale
The bake sale is almost synonymous with easy school fundraiser. Schools and PTOs/PTAs utilize parents and volunteers to bake cookies, pies, cakes and other desserts and setup booths and tables to sell the goodies. It is a good idea to schedule your bake sale school fundraiser to coincide with other activities that are expected at the school so that you can utilize the extra visitors. Successful bake sales are most often coordinated around the holidays. With family and friends coming to visit, everyone wants to offer their guests some yummy treats.
6. Food Truck Fundraiser
Socializing while eating your favorite food is a perfect way to raise money as well. Coordinating a food truck fundraiser requires virtually no planning and very little investment from your school. Many locally owned food truck owners are eager to participate in a school fundraising event. It’s a chance to give back to the community which enhances their corporate image. Profits from this type of school fundraiser can provide a steady source of income for your group with very little effort. If you could hold a food truck nonprofit fundraising event once a month during the school year, the money would definitely add up.
7. Community Yard Sale
Hosting a yard sale can be a great way to raise money and everyone likes to participate in this. Most families have things sitting around that they are more than happy to donate for a good cause. Proper set up, preparation, pricing, volunteers and location are key in making this event a success. Advertise early within the community and decide ahead of time what percentage of the proceeds will be reserved as donations to the school. Host your yard sale on a weekend morning and make sure you have plenty of volunteers on hand to assist.
8. Car Wash
A car wash fundraiser is a proven money maker. This type of fundraiser works well with sports teams in middle school and high school. Businesses will donate their location to help with local sports teams. Tools needed are big bright signs, hoses, cleaning supplies and towels. Car wash fundraisers are great team bonding events. Another added benefit of this type of team fundraiser is learning the importance of community and charity. Crank the music, turn on the sprayers, and splash! You’re looking at car wash cash.
9. Movie Night
There is nothing better than fresh popcorn, a comfy chair, and an entertaining movie! Everyone loves movies and combining it with fundraising just makes sense. There are a variety of easily incorporated fundraising opportunities. Selling tickets for the event. You can sell at the door or presale for a discounted price. Consider offering a group discount to encourage a large audience. Request donations and reach out to local businesses for sponsorships. To help raise money, sell raffle tickets or have a concession stand. A great fundraising opportunity for Elementary schools coordinated by PTOs or PTAs.
10. Charity Auction
While this PTO or PTA fundraising event may take a little extra effort and planning, it has the potential to bring in considerable revenue for your school. With any auction, attendees browse the items on display and place bids on what they want. Generally, this is done through writing on paper bid sheets or using a mobile software. When organizing your auction, it’s important to offer affordable auction items that your sponsorship partners can donate. Most popular auction items include food and drink bundles, sports or event packages, travel and outdoor items and gift baskets. Charity auction items are important because they appeal to a variety of people and can help bring in significant revenue.
Most importantly, have fun with your fundraising events.
Every year, school PTA or PTO groups, elementary schools, middle schools and high schools groups need to decide on their major fundraising events for the year. These easy fundraising ideas work great for groups within the school as well, such as bands, choirs, Key Club, FFA, FBLA, 4-H, FCCLA and Beta Club. Often sports teams are in the greatest need for easy fundraising ideas. Soccer, swim teams, football, baseball, basketball, gymnastics, dance, hockey, youth sports and league sports can all use help raising funds.
We understand there can be many types of fundraisers to choose from and can sometimes be overwhelming. Van Wyk Confections is here to help you success. Our chocolate bars, pretzel rods/twists, fortune cookies, gummies and popcorn are the top fundraising items for schools, groups and organizations nationwide. All our confectionery items provide top quality, fresh product that sells quickly and easily!
Contact us today and we will have a Van Wyk Confections sales representative discuss pricing, profit percentages, recommended quantities needed, minimums and other helpful tools. Thanks for your interest and happy fundraising!
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