Three Non-Traditional School Fundraisers that Really Work

My oldest daughter is currently in second grade. A couple years ago, when she first started kindergarten, her elementary school decided it needed to upgrade the playground equipment.

This project, which was designed to replace equipment that is more than 40-years-old, was estimated at $30,000. The school district couldn't afford this and, as a result, the entire cost had to be paid through fundraising efforts.

Our school already had regular fundraisers ranging from book fairs to collecting those box tops you can find on some grocery items. However, because of the cost of this project, the parents needed to do more. That's when I and the other parents organized three fundraising efforts that were both non-traditional and brought in a lot of money in a short amount of time.

The first thing we did was ask parents to turn in old cell phones any small electronics they weren't using. One of the parents at our school discovered The Funding Factory recycling program, a program that pays non-profit groups for these items. And, after some research, we were able to find a couple other places just like it.

At first, this fundraiser moved a bit slowly. However, after Christmas, it really started to take off because of people needing something to do with their old cell phones after receiving new ones as gifts. Between those, old ink cartridges and other electronics, our school was able to raise several hundred dollars in a very short time.

The second fundraiser our school came up with was a school clothing sale. We encouraged parents to donate their old kid clothes and, twice a year, set up a sale in the school gym selling the clothes for $5 per bag.

The parents love this both because we have a lot of low-income parents who can't afford to spend a fortune on clothes and because they can find clothes specific for the time of year (we sell fall and winter clothes in the first half of the school year and spring and summer clothes in the second half).

In fact, our third fundraiser, selling school supplies, was a direct result of the success we had with the clothing sale. When the class supply lists come out, our school gives parents the option to buy the supplies as a kit rather than shopping for each item individually. Despite the fact it is more expensive, a lot of our parents choose to do this both because it is helping the school and for the convenience.

As a result of these efforts, my daughter's elementary school is moving much closer to its goal than it would have been with more traditional fundraisers. The kids don't have their new playground yet. But, unlike before, my daughter will likely get to use it before she moves on to middle school.