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47 Easy and Profitable Fundraising Ideas For Schools

Explore our top list of fundraising ideas for schools to raise more.

As a student, parent, educator, volunteer, or staff member, you likely have your fair share of experience when it comes to fundraising ideas for schools. You might be pumped to get started with your school’s next campaign. But you also might be burnt out by the task. Either way, choosing the right school fundraising ideas can make a world of difference in terms of engagement and revenue.

At SchoolMoney, we’re all about helping you raise more money for your school. That’s why we put together this list of our favorite ideas—broken down into these six categories:

Keep your school—and its students, families, staff, and other supporters—in mind as you browse this resource and find your next brilliant fundraising idea. Let’s jump right in!

Corporate giving fundraising ideas for schools

Corporate Giving School Fundraising Ideas

We love corporate giving in particular because it allows institutions like yours to make the most of the resources in your network and begin crafting relationships with charitable-minded businesses in your community. Plus, many of these fundraising ideas don’t require a direct financial ask of parents and family members, which can be a welcome surprise for many.

Corporate donations as school fundraising ideas

Consider some of these easy and profitable ways to get involved with corporate fundraising:

1. Matching Gifts

Thousands of companies will match donations made by their employees to qualifying nonprofits and schools. Utilize these types of corporate matching gift programs for your school by informing donors of the opportunity and encouraging them to look into their own eligibility. If your donors are eligible to participate, be sure to guide them through the process by providing company-specific matching gift guidelines and instructions. Then, you’ll end up with two donations for the cost of soliciting one.

And even better, you can easily automate this fundraising idea⁠—especially if you utilize a fundraising platform with integrated matching gift software! These types of tools will enable your school to easily promote matching gifts to every donor.

This is especially critical when you realize that, despite 26 million people working for companies with matching gift programs, more than 78% of the group has never been made aware of the opportunity. And when people are knowledgeable about matching gifts, research shows that they’re significantly more likely to donate and to donate in larger quantities.

Bonus idea: Custom Matching Gift Programs!

For donors who may not qualify for a traditional matching gift, you may want to pursue other donation-matching avenues. For example, if a number of donors work for the same company that doesn’t currently match gifts, consider establishing a custom matching gift agreement with the business.

Instead of matching employee gifts to a wide range of nonprofit causes, your corporate partner could match donations its team members make only to your school. This would allow you to collect additional match funding for your community and enable the company to explore corporate matching at a beginner level.

2. Volunteer Grants

Similar to matching gifts, tons of philanthropic companies will offer volunteer grants as well. Instead of providing funds in response to employee donations, companies contributing volunteer grants offer funds based on hours their employees volunteer with nonprofit causes. This is an excellent way to collect increased corporate revenue while simultaneously engaging your school’s volunteers in new and unique ways.

3. Sponsored Event

Planning on hosting a school fundraising event (like the ones described below)? Reach out to local or national businesses to consider developing strategic corporate sponsorships. In these mutually beneficial nonprofit-business partnerships, participating companies offer support to your school, typically in the form of funding, in-kind contributions, or media efforts. In return, you provide unique value proposition⁠s—such as co-marketing opportunities⁠ or booth space at the event.

Plus, keep in mind that some of the best opportunities for corporate-sponsored fundraising events can come from existing relationships. For example, if a good deal of your donors work for a particular business, that can be an excellent prospective sponsor to reach out to.

Top tip! Make sure to keep track of the companies that your donors (such as students’ parents, alumni, and more) work for. When you have access to key employment data such as this, you can better target corporate fundraising opportunities such as sponsored events, workplace giving, and more.

4. Checkout Donation Jars

Checkout donation jars are one of the simplest ways to partner with businesses in your community. With a fundraiser like this, all you have to do is set up an area where the businesses’ customers can easily contribute to your school fundraiser. While the customers are paying the businesses for the goods and services they receive, they’re able to make the decision to contribute to a local school fundraiser. You might be surprised at how many people choose to give a few dollars here and there⁠—and those amounts can add up quickly!

5. Restaurant Percentage Night

Restaurant percentage nights are a favorite fundraising idea for schools and nonprofits everywhere. A school partners with a local restaurant in its community, which agrees to donate a portion of its sales or profits for a night. The school then encourages its students, families, and overall community to have a meal at the restaurant in question. Individuals are able to support their school while also receiving a delicious meal, restaurants see significantly increased sales, and organizations end up with substantial revenue from the partnership⁠—all in a single day!

6. Employee Stipends

Another form of employee giving program that can significantly benefit schools like yours is that of employee grant stipends. Companies that offer this type of corporate philanthropy provide their employees with set amounts of corporate funding that they can donate to a school or other nonprofit cause of their choice. In order to leverage this kind of giving program for your institution, be sure to look into the employing companies of your current students’ parents and alumni.

Event fundraising ideas for schools

School Fundraising Event Ideas

Events are a favorite choice because they offer supporters and attendees an engaging experience to go alongside their charitable contributions.

Fun runs as school fundraising ideas

Here are a few of our favorites:

7. Walk-a-Thon

Walk-a-thons are hugely popular fundraising ideas for schools for many reasons. For one, walk-a-thons typically take a peer-to-peer approach, where individuals raise money on behalf of the fundraising organization. This is typically in the form of pledged donation amounts per lap walked by the participant. And luckily, schools come with built-in fundraisers⁠—their students! Student walkers are encouraged to solicit donations from family members, friends, neighbors, and more. Not to mention, walk-a-thons (or similarly, bike-a-thons, run-a-thons, and more) encourage participants to get out and get moving for a good cause!

8. Themed Fun Run

Fun runs are similar to walks or run-a-thons⁠—the biggest difference being that there’s typically a set distance that participants are expected to run (think: 5K, mile run, etc.). Hosting a themed fun run brings your fundraising idea to the next level! Student fundraisers will still collect donations from their networks of supporters and ultimately will participate in a fundraising run event. Some popular themes include turkey trots, Halloween costume races, color runs, pajama runs, glow in the dark runs, Santa Claus runs, and more.

9. School Festival

Who doesn’t love a good school festival? It’s a fantastic way to draw a crowd in and offer an exceptional engagement experience. Perhaps your school already hosts a seasonal or annual festival⁠—but are you maximizing the event’s fundraising potential? The most effective festival fundraisers collect revenue with a combination of the following strategies⁠—admission sales, activity or game tickets, snack and drink sales, and more. Your attendees will have a great time and also know that the dollars they contribute are going to support your school overall.

10. Raffle

Raffles are a particularly fun and easy way to raise money for your school. Students, parents, and community members will be excited to partake, especially when the cost to get involved is affordable (typically only a dollar or two) and the potential is high (with valuable prizes that everyone would love to win). All you need to do is sell tickets at a low price and choose a winner at the end of the event.

Top tip! Raffles also pair well with other fundraising ideas and events, such as auctions!

11. Live Auction

Charity auctions are some of the most engaging and effective fundraising ideas for schools. They enable donors to support the causes they care about (such as your school) while also participating in an exciting experience and potentially walking away with a valuable item. Be sure to reach out to local businesses in your community to see which ones will be interested in donating items to your auction⁠—this will keep the costs down for your school and provide items your donors will want to receive.

12. Parents’ Night Out

Every parent needs a night off every once in a while, but babysitters can be costly and hard to locate when you need them. That’s why, for elementary schools, a parents’ night out, complete with responsible childcare offerings, can be one of the best fundraising ideas you can host. Be sure to have enough staff ready to supervise the children, as well as prepare games, meals, and other fun activities. Parents will be grateful for the opportunity for a night out on the town and willing to pay a reasonable fee or donation to the school in return.

13. Art Show

More than likely, your school offers some sort of art class. Make the most of it by enabling students to create masterpieces that you can then sell (or auction off) at your upcoming art show fundraiser. Be sure to encourage your up-and-coming artists to create using a range of mediums such as painting, drawing, sculpting, photographing, etc.

Top tip! Art shows can be particularly effective fundraising ideas for schools looking to raise money specifically for their art programs. When the fundraiser is in line with the ultimate goal of the funds being collected, people tend to be more willing to open up their wallets!

14. Sports Camp

Looking to raise money during the summer, prior to the back-to-school season⁠—or even during winter or spring breaks? Hosting a sports camp can be a fantastic way to engage with your community. Not to mention, this can be a particularly great option for high schools⁠—especially those fundraising for their athletic programs. Any varsity sports teams at the school can provide excellent players willing to function as camp coaches and assistants, and younger kids will be eager to learn from their local sports stars.

15. Dodgeball Tournament

Everybody enjoys playing dodgeball, and even more so when it’s for a good cause! For this fundraising idea, gather teams of dodgeball lovers to join in a multi-round tournament to determine the ultimate champion (and raise money for your school, of course). Collect funds by charging a small fee for entering the tournament and selling tickets to other students and community members who’d like to watch!

Top tip! Be sure to set aside some of the proceeds to procure a prize for the winning team, with the rest going toward your school and its fundraising needs.

16. Car Wash

A car wash is one of the most popular fundraisers for all sorts of organizations⁠—schools included! All you need to do to get started is choose a good-sized parking lot (it can even be your school’s own lot), equip your team with cleaning supplies, and get the word out about the date and time of your wash. Once cars start arriving, students (along with any teachers or volunteers helping out) can get to work on washing, and the car owners contribute either a set amount or a donation of their choice for the service.

17. Dog Wash

While you have all of your cleaning supplies out, consider expanding your school fundraiser to include dog-washing as well! When you combine this idea with your typical car wash, it’s as easy as can be. Just encourage your supporters to bring their furry friends at the same time as their cars⁠—and you can get both as good as new at the same time.

Sales fundraising ideas for schools

School Fundraising Sales Ideas

Students and parents have been selling various items to support their schools for decades. While we may not encourage students to go door-to-door on their own anymore, product sales fundraisers can be great choices for schools with a number of other strategies. Then, supporters receive a good or service in response to their contributions, which can be an added incentive to support your school.

Bake sales as school fundraising ideas

Not sure what to sell? Take a look at these suggestions:

18. Book Fair

Do you remember how exciting book fairs were as a child? They’re also some of the most effective fundraising ideas for schools across the globe! For this fundraising event, school libraries (or other large areas with ample space) are typically transformed into miniature bookstores for a period of time. Students and parents are given the opportunity to browse available books and other items and make their purchases⁠, the proceeds of which ultimately go toward the school.

Top tip! Keep in mind that most schools partner with a bookseller to host their book fair fundraisers. Though the bookseller will collect a portion of the fundraising revenue, it also ensures you aren’t left to deal with unsold items at the end of the event.

19. T-Shirt Sale

Everybody loves representing their school with branded apparel⁠—students, teachers, faculty, and parents alike. That’s why a t-shirt sale (or another item, such as a hat, lanyard, hoodie, etc.) can be an effective and favorite fundraising idea. To get started, you’ll want to come up with an idea for your apparel. Most schools will begin with their school colors to best represent the school and its student body. Then, perhaps you’ll include your school name, logo, mascot, saying, and more. In the end, you’ll have a visually appealing piece of clothing that your top supporters will be happy to buy and wear.

20. Snack Sales

More than likely, the students at your school are still growing. And growing kids need fuel from snacks! Thus, selling snacks can be an easy and profitable fundraising idea. All you need to do is purchase food items such as candy, granola bars, bags of chips, popcorn, cookies, danishes, and more. Then, place them for sale at school, extracurriculars, sporting events, and other activities at an increased price.

Top tip! As you price your items, keep in mind that you’d want to keep your snacks affordable while remembering that the upcharge is what goes toward your school’s fundraising revenue.

21. Cookie Dough

Just about everyone loves a freshly baked cookie, but not everyone has the time (or the skillset) to be making cookies from scratch whenever the desire arises. Enter⁠—premade cookie dough and school fundraisers that sell it! This is a great fundraising idea to host as the holiday season approaches, enabling buyers in your community to stock up on their favorite frozen sweets that can just be popped in the oven when needed. Be sure to offer a number of unique and mouthwatering flavors to help drive sales. Your community will thank you!

22. Candy Grams

Students love having the opportunity to gift their friends and significant others a sweet treat on a special occasion. That’s why candy grams are such a popular fundraising idea for schools! To get started, sell candy to students for a small fee. The purchasing student then provides the class schedule for the intended recipient, along with a personalized message. The candy gram is then delivered to the receiving student’s class at a later time in the day or week, allowing for an exciting surprise.

Top tip! You can even host multiple candy gram fundraisers for your school each year. Get students excited with themed offerings, too, and sell holiday-related candy grams leading up to Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and more.

23. Flowers

Flowers are a favorite gift item for parents, grandparents, significant others, and more. Thus, selling flowers as a school fundraiser can be a great way to go! For this idea, there are a few routes you can take. First, you might purchase a particular type of flower in bulk (carnations are a popular choice) and sell them by the stem to students and other individuals who are interested in giving a fully-bloomed flower. Alternatively, you can sell flower bulbs⁠—or ready-to-plant seed-like flower packages⁠—that can be planted and grown by the recipient.

Top tip! These can be especially popular fundraisers around big “flower-centered” holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or even Christmas.

24. Candles

Candles are another great gift that just about everybody would love. Candle-selling fundraisers, as a result, can be a fantastic way to earn money for your school while also providing buyers with an item that they can either keep for themselves or share with a loved one. Be sure to choose some good scents, and even consider seasonal options as well!

25. Coupon Books

Coupon book fundraisers offer a win-win situation for the schools (or other nonprofits) selling them as well as the supporters buying them. The school receives proceeds from the sales, while the buyers receive a bundle of valuable and often exclusive sale offers. In order to create a coupon book that’s worth the cost, be sure to partner with multiple local businesses in your community that are willing to provide free or reduced prices for coupon book users. In return, the businesses receive increased exposure, new customers, and boosted sales!

26. Bake Sale

When it comes to school fundraising ideas, a bake sale is a class choice. The premise is simple⁠—task volunteers (typically students, parents, and teachers) with baking cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and other sweets. Then, identify a day when you’ll sell those items to make a profit. In terms of location, you might decide to host the bake sale at your own school. However, getting set up at a prominent location in your community can help reach more potential customers, so you may want to consider a well-trafficked park or business (with the correct permits and permissions, of course).

27. Online Store

Why limit your school’s product-based fundraising efforts to a brick-and-mortar location? Open an online fundraising store to sell merchandise to expand your efforts, increase sales, and make the buying process as simple as possible for supporters. Then, you can either ship (if you choose to open up your fundraiser to surpass geographic boundaries) or deliver items locally or set a time and place for supporters to pick up their goods. And the best part? You can sell just about anything in your online store!

Online fundraising ideas for schools

Online School Fundraising Ideas

Virtual fundraising has taken precedent in the last few years, and its popularity (and convenience) remains high. After all, online fundraisers are not bound by geographic limitations, allowing supporters to give wherever and whenever they’d like.

Online giving as school fundraising ideas

Regardless of whether you’ve built out an online infrastructure for your school, check out these ideas that can be implemented by just about any school:

28. Text-to-Give

Text-to-give offers one of the simplest ways for donors to contribute to their favorite causes at any time, from anywhere. Here’s how it works⁠—your school partners with a text-to-give platform that provides you with a unique mobile giving number (typically a 5-digit “short-code” or a standard 10-digit phone number). Supporters text a pre-determined keyword to the school’s mobile giving number when they’d like to make a donation, and they’re met with an auto-responding text message directing them to a quick online donation form to complete their gift.

Top tip! Be sure to share your school’s mobile giving number and text-to-give keyword far and wide⁠—including on social media, physical displays, event materials, and more.

29. Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding leverages the power of the internet to collect (on average) small to mid-sized donations⁠ from a wide array of people⁠ in the hopes that they add up very quickly. This strategy is typically used to raise money for a particular project or campaign, such as a building expansion, upcoming field trip, extracurricular supplies, and more. And it can be very effective!

Top tip! Though it’s possible to embed a crowdfunding campaign on your own school website, most organizers utilize third-party websites with which to host their fundraisers.

30. Peer-to-Peer Campaign

Peer-to-peer fundraising shares many similarities with crowdfunding (e.g., the vitality of the internet and online campaign pages, the idea that large audiences come together to fund a need, etc.). One of the biggest differences between the two, however, is that peer-to-peer (also referred to as P2P, social, or even team fundraising) efforts empower individual fundraisers with personalized campaign pages. From there, they are able to solicit donations from their friends and families. Though the funds ultimately go to the same place (your school), fundraisers (who, for schools, are typically students) can track their own progress toward individualized goals.

31. Social Media

Social media is one of the most powerful fundraising assets for a wide range of causes. That includes schools! To get started, choose one or more of your favorite social media platforms. Then, you’re ready to launch your campaign. Luckily, sites like Facebook and Instagram come equipped with their own embedded fundraising tools. Depending on your strategy, you might collect funds directly through the social media site, or you may simply use the platform to direct traffic to an external fundraising campaign.

32. Virtual Auction

We’ve already discussed the benefits of an auction fundraiser to raise money for schools like yours. Traditionally, these events are held in person at a physical location, where auction attendees gather to participate and support your school. Now, thanks to continuously developing technology, you can enable supporters to participate in your fundraising auction from all over the world (or the comfort of their own homes) in a virtual auction. Rather than guests participating in the auction face-to-face, items are placed up for bid online (typically using an online auction platform), and attendees utilize their computers or mobile devices to place their bids. It’s easy, fun, and convenient for attendees⁠—and it can generate a ton of revenue for your school!

33. Online Wishlist

Schools are often in need of classroom supplies and other physical materials, which is, unsurprisingly, what many fundraising dollars end up going toward. However, some supporters prefer donating items directly rather than contributing funds that are then spent on supplies. That’s where an online wishlist fundraiser can come in handy! Think of it as a virtual school supplies drive. All you need to do is partner with an online wishlist platform (such as Amazon or DonorsChoose) and encourage teachers and faculty to make a list of items they need. Then, share the links to your online wishlist with your students’ families and other community members, who can begin purchasing the items you need.

34. Digital Boxtops

Box Tops for Education have long been a favorite fundraising idea for schools. This is largely because this fundraiser enables students and families to support their schools with the products they likely already purchase at the grocery store. But did you know that Box Tops fundraisers have recently had a complete makeover⁠—and they no longer require scissors to clip? Today, all participants have to do is scan their receipts using the Box Tops app. The app automatically identifies eligible items and instantly adds associated cash to their school’s Box Tops account!

Top tip! Make sure your students, parents, and community members are aware of the revamped way to get involved with Box Tops fundraisers so that they can begin scanning to collect money for your school.

Educational fundraising ideas for schools

Educational School Fundraising Ideas

What’s more fitting for a school fundraiser than one that is educational in nature? These fundraising ideas allow students to continue learning while also raising funds for their schools!

Mathlete competitions as school fundraising ideas

Here are a few examples:

35. Spelling Bee

Many schools host annual spelling bee events which allow students to showcase their competitive knowledge of the language. But what some don’t know is that a spelling bee can also be one of the greatest fundraising ideas available for schools. Families, friends, and other supporters love coming out to cheer on their students in a spelling bee competition⁠—so consider selling viewing tickets to the audience. You can even go the peer-to-peer route to earn more and have students enlist sponsors who agree to pay a certain dollar amount for every word they spell correctly!

36. Read-a-Thon

A read-a-thon functions similar to a walk-a-thon (or any other event-a-thon). Students solicit pledges from friends and family members who agree to donate a certain amount per page or book read. Instead of everyone reading at the same time, however (which is how a walk-a-thon typically works), participating fundraisers are given a set period in which they can read to their hearts’ desire. For example, a read-a-thon may take place over a week, a month, or a quarter! At the end of the campaign, the students tally the amount they’ve read and request the corresponding agreed-upon amounts from their sponsors (say, 25 cents per page or $5 per book).

37. Mathletes Competition

Similar to spelling bees, many schools offer “mathletes” as an extracurricular activity option for students who love to learn and get further involved in mathematics. While these teams may be competing in a structured competition against other groups in your area, you can also host a mathletes contest as a school fundraising idea. Again, encourage participants to seek sponsors for their teams and sell tickets to a live competition⁠—plus, you can even sell snacks to audience members watching the show!

38. Trivia Night

A trivia night fundraiser can be an engaging and educational fundraising idea that gets the whole community involved⁠—and learning⁠—rather than limiting the fun to the students. Consider hosting an after-hours trivia night to raise money for your school. Set a relatively low price of admission to encourage students, family members, friends, and more to participate. Then, go through a number of quiz-like questions from multiple categories (such as pop culture, sports, news, general knowledge, and more). In the end, you’ll want to provide the winner with a prize (and/or bragging rights!), and the rest of the funds go toward your school.

39. Jeopardy

As a game show fundraiser, hosting a Jeopardy event can be a great way to get your students, parents, donors, and more ready to show off their knowledge and take home the prize. In order to participate, all they’ll need to do is buy a ticket (and when they know the proceeds go to benefit your school, they’ll likely be happy to do so!). In a typical Jeopardy fashion, you’ll provide participants with the answers to various questions⁠—their job being to come up with the associated question.

Top tip! There are many free and paid online jeopardy game templates available to make the set-up process as easy as it can be.

Other Fantastic School Fundraising Ideas

And what about those out-of-the-box fundraising ideas that don’t fit neatly into any of the above categories? We’ve thought of those as well—and here are our favorites:

Penny wars as school fundraising ideas

40. Penny Wars

A penny war fundraiser is great for schools whose students come with a competitive edge. To get started, you’ll first need to decide how teams will be broken up. You might divide students by grade level, subject, or individual class, each of which is provided with a coin jar. When the competition begins, students are encouraged to bring pennies and dollar bills to contribute to their own team’s coin jar, which will add up in points (i.e., pennies are each worth 1 point, $1 bills are worth 100 points, $10 bills are worth 10,000 points, etc.). The twist is that placing nickels, dimes, and quarters in another team’s jar will count negatively toward their total. At the end of a set time period (perhaps a week), the jars are collected and points counted to determine a winner.

41. Day Off Challenge

As a middle or high school student, who wouldn’t enjoy a nice, relaxing day off from school? It’s an exciting prize for the typical student body and something they’d be willing to earn with successful fundraising efforts. That’s why the “day off challenge” fundraiser is a favorite for students, teachers, and faculty alike. All you need to do is set a lofty (yet realistic) fundraising goal and empower your students to collect donations in order to reach it. If they meet or surpass the objective, they’re rewarded with an extra day off school!

42. Letter Writing

Looking for a classic fundraising idea that tends to pay off particularly well? Good ol’ letter writing might be right for you and your school! A letter-writing campaign involves writing and sending tons of fundraising request letters to donors and prospective supporters. In the end, the goal is that the recipient reads the letter, decides to support the school, and sends in their corresponding donation.

Top tip! Get your students involved in the letter-writing aspect of a fundraising letter campaign. Not only can they help speed up the process, but it can also add significant value by incorporating a personal touch.

43. Envelope Wall

An envelope wall offers an easy and fairly passive form of fundraising. All you need to do is set up a display of empty envelopes marked 1-100. Each marked envelope corresponds with a donation amount. For example, Envelope #1 will be filled with $1. Envelope #10 will be filled with $10. And, of course, Envelope #100 will be filled with $100. In the end, if each envelope is filled by a donor, you’ll end up with $5,050!

44. Gift Wrapping

This is another great fundraising opportunity to host leading up to the holiday season. After all, you know students’ parents and other community members are likely making a ton of gift purchases. And perhaps they don’t have the time to wrap them all (or the skill to do so neatly). The solution? Purchase some fun holiday-themed wrapping paper, tape, and scissors, gather a group of volunteers (teachers, faculty members, parents, or even older students), and organize a gift-wrapping party! Gift-givers will be happy to have their presents nicely wrapped, all while supporting your school⁠ fundraising efforts.

45. Photo Shoot

Just about every parent would like professional-looking photos of their children and families. But the typical price tag on those types of photo shoots can be too much to justify sometimes. That’s why schools should consider hosting photo shoot fundraisers. Just get a professional⁠—or otherwise, an experienced amateur⁠—photographer on board, choose a picturesque location, and encourage families to join you at a set date and time for a miniature (and affordable) photo session. You can even sell the prints afterward for additional revenue!

46. Shoe Drive

You’ve probably heard the saying that one man’s trash is another’s treasure. That’s exactly what a shoe drive fundraiser is all about⁠—while also empowering your school to raise much-needed funding. All you need to do is encourage families (and others in your community) to clear out their closets of new and gently used shoes that will, in turn, turn a profit for your school. When you work with a shoe drive fundraising facilitator, the organization of such an idea is as easy as possible. The company may even provide collection materials, help promote the idea to your school, handle the pickup, and exchange the shoes for a check at the end of the fundraiser.

Top tip! Plan this fundraiser in the spring semester to coincide with annual spring cleaning.

47. Anti-Fundraiser

We’ve gone through a long list of fundraising ideas for schools⁠—but maybe what you’re looking for is an anti-fundraiser. And what is that exactly? Various institutions have made use of this unique and interesting non-fundraiser, including a Texas middle school that went viral for the campaign in 2015. One mom shared the creative fundraising letter, which read: “This fundraiser is in lieu of sending students home with the task of selling door-to-door, collecting money, and delivering goods. Please help us avoid that by supporting our PTA with your donation and helping us achieve our goals to support our students and faculty.” Following the introduction, the recipient is encouraged to mark one of several donation levels corresponding to their “appreciation for having nothing to buy, sell, or do except fill out this form.”


What’s Next?

Choose your favorite school fundraising ideas and get started! Any of these fundraisers offer impactful opportunities for increased funding to your institution. Just be sure to equip your fundraising team (of faculty, staff, volunteers, board members, and more) with the right tools to ensure success.

Find out how workplace giving opportunities can elevate any school fundraising ideas and drive revenue with our other guide at https://www.schoolmoney.org/workplace-giving-and-school-fundraising/.

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