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According to a school fundraising study, only 64% of parents, teachers, and administrators believe their school is well-funded. As a result, choosing the right school fundraising ideas to excite your school community is essential.
However, your school’s donor base comprises a diverse mix of parents, teachers, community leaders, and students—that’s a lot of different voices to listen to.
With the right fundraising ideas and tools, you can successfully raise money for your school while keeping your broader donor base engaged. This guide covers the following tips and school fundraising ideas to plan memorable and productive events and campaigns:
- Why host a school fundraiser?
- Most profitable school fundraisers
- Elementary school fundraising ideas
- Middle school fundraising ideas
- High school fundraising ideas
- School club fundraising ideas
- School fundraiser best practices
Why host a school fundraiser?
Implementing a well-organized and engaging fundraiser can yield numerous benefits for your school. Here are just a few:
- Fund extracurriculars and school supplies: One of the most obvious benefits of school fundraisers is the ability to fund programs and resources outside the standard curriculum—sports teams, arts programs, and classroom supplies—all of which contribute to a well-rounded education.
- Teach kids math and leadership skills: A recent study found that just 18% of high schoolers and 26% of college students said they have a “somewhat high” or “very high” knowledge of finance. Planning school fundraisers can make learning about finances fun and relatable. Students can apply classroom knowledge in practical ways by handling money, calculating profits, and tracking donations. Fundraisers also teach students responsibility and leadership skills by having them work as a team to earn money for their extracurriculars.
- Engage with the community: Engaging school fundraisers strengthen your bond with school families and other community members. They’re an opportunity to showcase your school’s achievements and build relationships that translate into broader community support for your educational goals. Plus, you can network with potential corporate partners interested in sponsoring events and campaigns.
Most profitable school fundraising ideas
Driving a high return on investment (ROI) with your fundraising efforts is crucial to earning money for your school while staying on budget. Here are our favorite ideas for the most profitable school fundraising campaigns that drive a high ROI:
1. Bake sales
A bake sale is a classic fundraiser for a reason. It’s a simple way to raise money, involving minimal costs and effort. Plus, who doesn’t love a good brownie?
Invite students and their families to create a variety of baked goods for sale. These may include cakes, cookies, brownies, bars, bread, and other sweet treats.
2. Candy grams
Selling candy grams around holidays or special occasions is a fantastic way to spread cheer and raise extra money. Holidays like Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and Christmas are particularly suited for this fundraising idea. Families can purchase candy grams to be delivered to their students during school hours.
3. Spirit days
Promoting school spirit through themed attire can boost morale and funds. Think pajama day, superhero day, or even a decade’s throwback theme. If your school requires students to wear uniforms, you can plan a dress-down day fundraiser where students wear casual clothes.
4. Merchandise
Selling school-branded merchandise is a great way to bring in funds while promoting school pride. Students and parents will love spreading school spirit with merchandise like fun t-shirts, hoodies, tote bags, and water bottles.
5. Fitness challenges
Challenges like an obstacle course or a jump rope contest encourage physical activity and a healthy competitive spirit among participants. Set up the competition in your school’s gym or outside on the playground. Charge students an entry fee to participate.
6. Fun runs
A twist on the typical 5K, fun runs often involve color, mud, or other themes that make the running experience unique and fun. Plan a short one- to three-mile course near your school or at a local park. Advertise the event with branded merchandise sales ahead of time to generate more sign-ups.
7. Raffles
You can host a raffle at any time and with almost any budget. Everyone will jump at the chance to win a 50/50 prize or a basket of donated goods. You can easily add a raffle to another fundraising event, such as an auction or 5K, to help raise even more. Sell tickets during school hours and around town at local businesses or libraries.
8. Wishlists
Donors love to give in-kind gifts because they know their donations will immediately impact your school. Creating and promoting a wishlist makes it easy for them to give directly to your school’s needs. Include much-needed items such as laptops, notebooks, pens, pencils, erasers, scissors, art supplies, and more.
9. Sports tournaments
If your school has a competitive spirit, a tournament can be a thrilling way to raise funds. Think basketball, volleyball, or dodgeball. You can even invite other schools to participate, creating a wider audience of potential donors. Charge an entry fee for the tournament and sell merchandise and concessions for additional revenue.
10. Product fundraisers
Product fundraisers are classic school fundraisers in which students sell specific items, such as candy bars, popcorn, or coffee. Equip students with product catalogs so they can go door-to-door in their neighborhoods or email the catalogs to family members.
Elementary school fundraising ideas
Different age levels may require different approaches to fundraising. Elementary-aged students will need more of a helping hand through the fundraising process than older students. Explore these top fundraising ideas that are tailored for younger students:
11. Read-a-thon
Encourage reading for a cause, with parents pledging donations for the number of books read by students. Offer prizes for most books read per grade or class. Allow students extra library time to ensure they can get all the books they need.
12. Handmade crafts
Have students create their own crafts to sell at a school event or for holidays. These could include painted pumpkins for fall, snowglobes or ornaments for winter, or watercolor painting for summer.
13. Field day
Host a fun-filled day of games and activities with a fundraising entry fee. Popular field-day events include three-legged races, egg and spoon races, water balloon tosses, and obstacle courses. Offer refreshments to keep students hydrated, such as lemonade and water. Make this a community event by hosting it on a weekend day and inviting families to participate.
14. Pajama day
Have parents donate so students can come to school in their pajamas for a day! Make this a week-long fundraiser, with every donation equaling one day of pajama wear.
15. Carnival
Host a carnival for your community and raise funds through entrance fees, games, and carnival food. Make your event memorable by inviting local jugglers, comedians, and magicians to perform.
16. Parent day
Allow parents and guardians to accompany their students for a special event at school, such as a pizza party or movie. Host this event on the weekends so it doesn’t disrupt learning time.
17. Lemonade stand
Get students excited for summer by hosting a refreshing lemonade stand to raise money. Give students lemons or lemonade mix, ice, cups, and other refreshments, such as chip bags or cookies. Teach students how to handle money so they can learn valuable life skills.
18. Book fair
Partner with a local bookstore or book company to raise money and interest in reading. Allow students to attend the book fair in different shifts during the school day.
19. Costume contest
Allow parents to donate to enter their students into a dress-up day contest with award prizes. You could host this competition around Halloween to help get students in a spooky spirit. Give awards for different categories, such as scariest or most creative.
20. Movie night
Host a themed movie night in your school’s gym or cafeteria with a small entry fee and concession sales. Play an age-appropriate movie like Frozen, Finding Nemo, or Shrek.
Middle school fundraising ideas
Students can take on more responsibility while fundraising in middle school. Here are school fundraising ideas perfect for tweens:
21. Science fair
Charge a small participant fee and offer prizes for the best science fair project. Alternatively, you could invite community members to attend and leave a donation at their favorite project’s booth. At the end of the event, the project with the highest donation amount wins!
22. School supply drive
Ask students to bring in extra school supplies to fulfill classroom needs. You can host this event at the beginning of the school year and ask parents to donate extra supplies. You can also host a supply drive at the end of the year when students move to a new grade level and may not need certain supplies, such as textbooks or novels.
23. T-shirt design competition
Hold a contest for students to design your school’s t-shirt for the year. Have community members donate to vote for their favorite design—the option with the most gifts wins! Award the winning designer a free merchandise bundle that includes the shirt and other branded items.
24. Spelling bee
Charge a small entry fee for students to participate and discover who the spelling champion is. You can partner with other schools in your area to invite a broader audience.
25. Board game night
Ask families to pay an entry fee for a fun board gaming night at your school. Offer plenty of classic games like Clue, Sorry, Jenga, and Yahtzee. You could turn this event into a tournament, where participants proceed through a bracket, and the top winners receive prizes.
26. Escape room challenge
Plan an intriguing escape room challenge using your school’s classrooms. Participants can sign up for one-hour time slots in which they must figure out how to solve the puzzle and escape the room before time is up.
27. Haunted house
Host a haunted house at your middle school to prepare your community for Halloween. Recruit students to help decorate and participate as actors in the haunted house. Charge an entry fee at the door and accept additional tips at the end of the haunted house.
28. Coupon fundraiser
Give students coupons to sell for discounts at local restaurants and businesses. Offer tips about the most effective ways to sell coupon books, such as a script students can use when going door to door. Provide an incentive for selling the most coupons, such as a prize basket or new technology.
29. Putt-putt
Host a mini-golf tournament where students and other community members can pay to compete. Partner with a local putt-putt course or amusement park to host the tournament. Offer prizes such as a gift card and trophy to winners.
30. Trivia contest
Plan a quiz night with students and families to answer the question “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” Questions can cover general trivia or specific facts about your school, community, or state. Teams can consist of students vs. parents or students vs. teachers.
High school fundraising ideas
High schoolers are perfectly capable of fundraising independently, but you’ll need to plan exciting and engaging fundraisers to capture their attention. Discover our top engaging and creative fundraising campaigns older students will love:
31. School dance
Sell tickets for a school dance, such as a homecoming dance, prom, or formal. Find a large venue for the experience, such as a local museum or your school’s gym. Make the night unforgettable by hiring a DJ, decorating the space according to a theme, and offering snacks and desserts.
32. Battle of the Bands
Invite local student bands to compete and charge an entry fee to watch the show. Allow the audience to vote for their favorite band or recruit a panel of judges to give the final verdict on the school’s best band. For additional revenue, you could even record the show and offer a digital version for a small fee later on!
33. Spirit week
Create a theme for every day of the week and encourage students to dress up to match the theme. Post students’ photos on social media or your school’s website and allow community members to “vote” for their favorite looks by contributing donations. The student whose apparel receives the most votes wins!
34. 5K race
Host a 5K for your whole community to participate in. Set up a course around your school, local park, or town square. Offer branded t-shirts for participants and prizes for winners, such as medals or trophies. Post race times on your school’s website so participants can view how they did. Include a link to your online donation form so participants can donate extra.
35. Class competitions
Create a fundraising competition between your high school’s freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior classes. Give each student the tools to set up a peer-to-peer fundraising page to collect online donations. Set a campaign timeframe, such as a month or two weeks.
Create a fundraising thermometer to display each class’s fundraising progress in a well-traveled area, such as your school’s main hallway. Award the winning class a prize, such as an afternoon-long pizza party or field day.
36. School play or musical
Plan a school musical or play to give your most theatrical students an outlet for their creativity. Sell tickets, refreshments, and gifts for the performers, such as flower bouquets. Record the play and offer digital copies for purchase online for additional revenue.
37. Dance-a-thon
In a dance-a-thon, students dance for as long as they can, usually over a 12 or 24-hour period. Sponsors can pledge to donate to students for each hour danced during the dance-a-thon. Make your event a smashing success by hiring a DJ or live band to help maintain high energy.
38. Valentine’s flower sale
Allow students to purchase roses to send to their crushes, significant others, or friends for Valentine’s Day. Students can add notes to their flowers or remain anonymous.
39. Brick fundraiser
Empower students to leave a mark on your school by hosting a brick engraving fundraiser. In this campaign, students and families will purchase bricks that will be added to a permanent fixture at your school, such as a wall or walkway. They can personalize the engraving on the brick with their names. Every time students return to your school after graduation, they can reminisce about their time in school by visiting the brick fixture.
40. School pageant
Host a pageant where students can show off their creativity by displaying homemade clothing or personally styled looks. Sell tickets at the door and additional refreshments, such as popcorn or chips.
41. Homecoming parade
Have students and community members build floats for a spectacular homecoming parade. Ask for donations from attendees and charge a participation fee for local businesses that wish to promote their products or services at the event. For extra revenue, you can also sell concessions during the parade, like hot chocolate, hot dogs, and hamburgers.
42. Spring picnic
Host a picnic on your school’s football field. Invite students as well as faculty, staff, and students’ families. Offer picnic baskets for sale, with a blanket, drinks, snacks, or a small lunch.
43. Car wash
Invite community members to get their cars cleaned at a weekend car wash held in your school’s parking lot. Recruit student volunteers to wash cars and collect payments from customers.
44. Prom dress drive
Partner with a local boutique to sell or rent used prom dresses and formal attire during prom season. Invite students to try on dresses at your school to find the perfect look. You can also sell accessories such as jewelry, ties, cummerbunds, corsages, and boutonnieres.
School club fundraising ideas
Club fundraisers offer a unique opportunity for smaller groups within the school to promote their organizations and raise funds for special events or programs. Use these club fundraising ideas to raise money for specific needs:
45. Tree sale
Perfect for garden or environmental clubs, a tree sale allows community members to browse trees and choose the right ones for their homes. Community members can purchase trees to plant themselves or have a student help them for an extra fee.
46. Teachers vs. students sporting events
Raise funds for your school’s sports teams or clubs through a teachers vs. students sports game or tournament. The event could include a basketball game, volleyball tournament, or flag football game. Sell tickets, concessions, and poster-making materials for attendees to cheer on their favorite team.
47. Photoshoot
To raise money for your school’s yearbook or photography club, you could offer community members the opportunity to have formal photos taken by club members. This is a win-win-win fundraiser: community members can receive high-quality photos at a cheaper rate than working with a professional photographer, students receive valuable experience, and your school’s clubs get much-needed funds.
Set up a photography studio in your school’s gym or yearbook classroom. Consider hosting this event around the winter holidays so attendees can receive photos for holiday cards.
48. Writing competition
Have your creative writing club or newspaper students compete in a writing contest to help fund their clubs’ needs. Set a theme for the contest, such as “Summer Poetry” or “Scary Short Stories.” Post entries on your school’s website and have community members “vote” for their favorites through a donation made in the name of that student’s work.
49. Pottery night
Host a creative pottery-making or painting event at your school. Partner with a local pottery studio to receive donated supplies and guidance from one of their employees. Sell tickets for entry to the event.
50. Cook-off
Showcase your students’ culinary skills in a cooking competition with entrants and attendees paying a fee to participate. Give the contest a theme, such as chili, mac ‘n’ cheese, or barbecue. This is a great fundraiser for cooking or baking clubs.
51. Chess competitions
Organize a chess tournament with an entry fee to compete for the prize. Invite students and community members to participate to recruit a wider pool of attendees.
52. Catalog fundraiser
Have students sell items from a catalog to raise money for their club. This fundraiser could include everything from candles to tumblers, flowers, and kitchen supplies. Give prizes to top sellers, such as a gift card or gift basket.
53. Tutoring services
Tutoring services are effective fundraising ideas for Honor Societies and other academic clubs. Recruit top students to offer instruction in different subjects, such as math, writing, and test prep.
54. Club-specific wishlist fundraiser
Create a wish list of items each club needs and share the list for supporters to purchase from. For example, a wishlist for a robotics club could include hand and power tools, computers, robotics kits, and safety equipment.
55. Garage sale
Collect donated items from community members and sell them at a club garage sale. Use social media, email, direct mail, and flyers to request donations to be dropped off at your school’s front office. Items may include furniture, toys, kitchen supplies, electronics, and lawn care equipment.
To attract more foot traffic to the garage sale, host it on a Saturday or Sunday in a month with good weather.
School fundraising best practices
Successful fundraisers are the result of careful planning and strategic execution. Here are some best practices to keep in mind when organizing your next school fundraiser:
Take advantage of fundraising tools
What is the quickest and easiest way to boost fundraising for your school? Creating intuitive, user-friendly online giving forms! Online giving forms make donating to your school easy for all your supporters.
Individuals can choose to give wherever and whenever is most convenient for them.
Incorporate these key features in your online giving form:
- Mobile optimization
- Donation suggestion buttons
- Fundraising thermometers
- Recurring gift opt-in suggestions
We recommend using a robust online fundraising tool like Qgiv by Bloomerang to easily create streamlined, customized, branded donation pages. With Qgiv, you can:
- Brand your online donation forms with your school’s logo, colors, and fonts.
- Leverage upgrade prompts, which can generate a 3x increase in recurring donations.
- Send automated donation receipts and thank-you emails to supporters.
- Use custom fields and conditional logic to collect any information you need from donors.
- View fundraising data and trends from a reporting dashboard.
Explore our educational case studies to understand how other educational organizations have used our tools to drive fundraising success and retain donors long-term.
Create email campaigns
Regular, informative emails can keep your fundraiser at the forefront of potential donors’ minds. Share success stories, event highlights, and the broader impact of contributions. Take advantage of donor management platforms, like Bloomerang, to easily track and reach out to your supporters about your fundraising campaigns.
Bloomerang’s donor management solution offers features such as:
- Engagement metrics
- Data segmentation
- Email templates
- Communication auditing tools
With the right software, reaching out to your school’s supporters is an easy way to boost your fundraising.
Encourage peer-to-peer fundraising
Peer-to-peer fundraising is another strategy that’s perfect for your school’s fundraising goals. In a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, you call on community members or students to set up fundraising pages on your behalf. These individuals then contact their personal networks and solicit donations for your school.
Your peer-to-peer fundraising tool should be equipped with features like:
- Team fundraising options
- Gamification tools
- Online store functionality
- Personalized registration pages
Encourage participants to share their fundraising pages via social media and email to reach a wider donor audience.
Use social media
Don’t rely on in-person or direct marketing efforts to spread the word about your fundraising campaigns! Use your school’s social media to create buzz and encourage community participation.
Share stories, event highlights, and interactive content to attract supporters and keep them engaged. You can also include challenges that students can compete in for engaging video content to share.
Seek sponsorships
Corporate sponsorships can provide significant financial and in-kind support for your school’s fundraising efforts. Local businesses looking to build relationships in the community may be eager to partner with your school, especially if they have children who have or will attend classes there! Sponsors can either provide a financial partnership or in-kind donations in return for advertising at different school events.
Ask for matching gifts
Did you know there’s a way to double (or even triple) the impact of your school’s supporters without asking them to give again? Matching gift programs are a form of corporate giving program in which an employer agrees to match their employees’ charitable donations.
Luckily, there’s an easy way for your school to boost matching gift revenue for your next fundraising campaign. Simply invest in matching gift tools, like Double the Donation, and add a matching gift search bar to your school’s donation form.
Then, promote matching gifts to your school’s community in newsletters, email blasts, and fundraising events. Your supporters will appreciate that there’s a way to get more from their gifts, and that might even be the push they need to give more often!
Final thoughts
School fundraising is not just about the money—it’s about building a community and shaping your students into future leaders. It can be a fun, collaborative experience for everyone involved, and with the right fundraiser, you can successfully meet your financial goals and leave a lasting impact on participants.
Remember, school fundraisers are not one-size-fits-all, and you should personalize these ideas and tips to your specific school and community. Bring your community together with a school fundraiser that they’ll never forget!
Additional resources
If you’re looking for more guidance on school fundraising, take a look at these resources:
- Simplify School Fundraising with Different Forms. Make school fundraising easy by using different forms.
- Make P2P Fundraising Elementary for Your School Group. Check out how you can use peer-to-peer fundraising at your elementary school.
- Fundraising Event Planning Template. Use this template to make event planning simple.
- Expanding Your Donor Network Through Fundraising Events. Learn how events can help you expand your donor network.
