School Fundraiser Ideas - Make Some Money for Your School!

Pizza and cookie dough can only make so much money, and if you have a smaller school the profits may be a little small after paying the corporation you are selling for. If you need some ideas on different fundraiser ideas, here are a few our school currently uses and ideas that have been suggested.

1. Fun Night
While it may not rake in hoards of money, it really gets all the parents and teachers involved in the fundraising. One night a year the PTO organizes a special night with games and prizes for the kids. Kids bring quarts to play games, and get tickets from the games (two if you win, one if you lose basically - some games have slightly different rules though). Prizes are given depending on the number of tickets you have.

Raffle baskets are also set up with items donated by parents, teachers, and other members in the community (for example, we have our own business and donated candles for a few of the baskets). Kids baskets are 50 cents per ticket and adult baskets are a dollar. Names are drawn at the end of the night. Trust me this is a HUGE deal too, and many stick around just to hear the winners names.

Over all Fun Night is an absolute blast for the kids, and the parents have fun as well. It doesn't come without some work though, but it's still a great tradition that earns the PTO good money every year.

2. Bake Sales
A pretty simple concept, but it can go a long ways. Bake sales can be done at small town events or craft shows even. Items should be donated by parents to sell. A very small cost that can go a long ways, since baked goods don't have to be expensive like normal fundraiser items. If your town has a farmers market, you can check in to getting your school a table for a few weeks. You'll of course need some volunteers to sit with the table, but it's a pretty easy job.

3. Different Fundraiser Items
Pizza with other items has become quite the norm around here, and people are growing a bit tired of the expensive prices knowing not a very large percent is going to the school. In fact, most of the items cost more than twice as much as they do in stores, with only 40% going to the school. The kids around here aren't exactly impressed with the "prizes" they get for selling certain amounts either.

Instead of going the "normal" amount, you may look into a wholesale company or company set up for fundraisers with decent prices. Make party plan companies like Tupperware are set up for school fundraisers, and offer products people will normally pay full price for anyway. Check with your local reps to see what type of plans are offered.

You can also do something like candy, which is very simple to sell anywhere you go. Just the other day there was a boy at my door selling chocolate bars for a $1. The profits were going to band I do believe, so I most certaintly bought a few. I'd be spending the same amount on a candy bar anyway, so why not? There are lots of different companies which offer decent prices and larger profits, so shop around!

Whenever you are looking into fundraiser ideas, be sure to keep the parents and families in mind. The goal is to make as much profit as possible, keep the prices as low as possible for parents and the profits as high as possible. In my sales experience, the lower your prices the more people will buy, giving you a higher profit!