School Approved Fundraising Ideas

There are various ways to raise money for schools and school related organizations. In addition to old fashioned methods such as candy and cookie sales, our local schools also do a Sally Foster Christmas fundraiser when students sell gift wrap, gift bags, and assorted Christmas tins filled with all sorts of Christmas goodies. The sales magazines include kitchen items such as kitchen scales and insulated casserole carriers. They also include a good variety of gift items such as mugs, calendars, and candles. The Sally Foster fund raiser has always been successful for our schools.

Another popular Christmas fund-raiser is fruit sales Our high school band always sells boxes of fruit just before the Christmas Holiday Season. Some boxes include oranges while other boxes contain apples, and still others might contain pears. Buyers may also choose from several mixed fruit options. The fruit has always been packaged fresh and delivered promptly. Students and parents must be prepared to be available when the fruit is delivered to the school or organization so that it can be delivered to buyers promptly.

One of our schools works with the Coca Cola Company every year.  The participating school gets a certain percentage of the sales.  Since soft drinks are purchased on a regular basis on regular trips to the grocery store, students are asking supporters to purchase something they would normally be purchasing anyway so the fundraiser is usually successful.  All Coca-Cola products are included so those who do not usually purchase soft drinks can purchase Dasani bottled water which is bottled by the Coca-Cola Company.

Individual organizations within a school can secure a booth at the town Fall Festival or other celebrations where booths are involved.  Organizations can determine what to sell and items can be handmade or purchased with the intent to sell for profit.  For example, the football team might secure a booth to sell spirit wear such as t-shirts, blankets, and stadium chairs for fans to use at the games.  The Literary Club might choose to collect new and used books from the community to sell. 

One elementary school recently held a Relay For Life Extravaganza.  Individuals or businesses could purchase a booth for either $25.00 or $50.00 depending on the space needed.  The booth fee served as the donation for Relay for Life, but the individual or business could keep any profits from the sales of their own goods.  Some individuals and business chose to donate a percentage of sales in addition to the booth fee, but that was optional.  Other members of the community purchased a booth in order to sell their yard sale items.  A few moms purchased a booth to sell their own craft items.  The Extravaganza was advertised in the newspaper and on local radio stations.  When community members came to the Extravaganza, they had a variety of items form which to choose.  This particular school chose this fundraiser to benefit Relay For Life, but this method can be used to benefit any organization.

My daughter's soccer team participated in a new kind of fundraiser.  Each player signed up for a time to bag groceries at the local Kroger store.  A large plastic jar, like the industrial sized mayonnaise jars, were washed, cleaned, and placed by the bagging area for tips.  The student athletes' tips were donated to the soccer team.  The Kroger store manager was contacted in advance and gave approval for the Grocery Bagging Fundraiser.  The amount of money raised to benefit the organization depends on the number of participants so organizations should highly encourage participation from all members.  Prior to the event, adults should take time to educate students on bagging practices so that fragile grocery items remain in good condition while being placed in the bags. 

A few printing companies purchase Tervis Tumblers wholesale and allow community organizations to purchase larger quantities to be sold as a fundraiser.  One soccer team purchased Tervis Tumblers from a printing company which placed an embroidered logo into the interior lining of the cup.  The team offered free hot chocolate refills at the concession stand during games if the buyer brought the tumbler to the games. This particular team chose to have the school logo embroidery instead of the soccer team logo so that buyers could use the tumblers at any school function, not just soccer games.  A few parents purchased the clear tumblers with the logo as "end of year" teacher appreciation gifts.  Candies were placed inside the cup and a ribbon tied around the top.  Tervis Tumbler sales proved to be another successful fundraiser.

Now here is a popular idea which has exploded in our community. Several schools have begun to use this fundraiser because the first few who tried it raised so much money from it. Our school is called North Hall High School so we call our event The Taste of North Hall. We invite a variety of restaurants to participate. The restaurant brings samples of their products to be placed on tables around the school gym. Community members purchase tickets from students and parents involved in the organization. Ticket sales benefit the school organization. During the event, ticket holders check in and receive a bracelet. Then, they go around the gym and obtain samples of foods from a huge variety of restaurants. Their bracelet assures restaurant booth attendees that the person has purchased the right to sample their products. The school organization keeps all funds raised from ticket sales, but the restaurants receive several forms of community advertisements in return. Their name and log appears on a large screen which scrolls throughout the duration of the event. Participants are given a booklet which lists every restaurant along with their location and contact information. Restaurant participants also bring any form of advertisements they choose such as business cards, fliers, and menus. The school also sponsors one night each year to promote their restaurant. For example, if O'Charley's participates in the Taste of North Hall, the school will announce the second Tuesday in November as North Hall night at O'Charley's. The community is encouraged to support the participating restaurant by dining in their restaurant on that particular night, which hopefully leads to more business for O'Charley's on a regular basis. Our high school band holds this fundraiser so they also offer live Jazz Band performances throughout the evening. Band parents also send in items to be auctioned off in a Silent Auction on the other side of the gym. This is a huge fundraiser. The community comes out and enjoys lots of great food from the community, live Jazz music, and an auction event to enjoy. The high school band raisers a large portion of funds from this event.