I guess I should have written down our Carnival as a fundraiser, but I never see it that way. IT is the reason why we need money. Well, that and the 8th grade dance.
I am looking into McTeacher night. I know our elementary school does that. I hadn't heard of Pizza Hut doing it, I will contact a parent who works there.
I started doing a garage sale at the elementary school. I guess I could do it for middle school too.
Is it better to do one large, or several small fundraisers during the year? I don't want to raise a lot,I mean I do, but I am not counting on it. We are a low income school with almost zero participation.
First off are...you looking to make big money or just looking for little painless ways to bring in more money? If you are looking for big money then you would need to do some of the things already suggested: Carnival, Tricky Tray, Auction, walk-a-thon, garage sale.
We do Yankee Candles each year in the spring and we do well with them. If you want to do candles I highly reccomend them as people love Yankee Candles.
We also did candy grams this year (We did heart lollipops). We made about $600 with that in our school of 300 kids. This was very simple for the money and the parents loved it as it was $1 fundraiser, so they were not breaking the bank to support it.
We also held a raffle for one of those huge inflatable holiday lawn snowmen. We did a snowman so it wasn't christmas specific. It was simple and not a lot of effort and we made like $400. We sold tickets for $1 each or 6 for $5...again the parents loved it as it was cheap and did not cost them a lot to participate.
Restaraunts like Pizzeria Uno's & Pizza Hut do fundraising nights. These are great because they require next to no work. You just let people know the dates and you get a % of whatever people order. Chuck E Cheese also does one...we did one with them this year and it was a disaster. They ran out of pizza 45 minutes into our being there, they were understaffed, and the manager was no help at all. Someone else I know also had a disaster with a chuck e cheese fundraising night, so I can't reccomend doing one of those. We always do Pizzeria Uno's a few times a year and do well with them. They give you two days in a row from open to close and you get 20% of the sales.
We also do Holiday/Family portraits on a saturday or sunday in November in the gym. We have a local photographer who comes and takes family photos with either a holiday or plain background. Then you can order picture packages or holiday photo cards. Everyone gets a 15 seating time so it is far more convenient then going to the mall at that time of year to have photos done. We made $500 and again it was painless and easy and we made that just off the people who came. Their are people who do it every year and they love it and look forward to it.
What about Family Dinners, carnivals, and game nights? These are the types of fundraisers that bring your families into the school, give your group a lot of goodwill, and can make some big dollars.
Also, don't forget to look for grants, donations and matching funds for businesses and other organizations in your community. In a couple of hours one afternoon I made some phone calls and did some faxing and e-mailing to some of the large companies in our community and have already received $650 in donations. They respond best to specific programs, so look at some of the things your group does and target one or two for fundraising efforts. Having a specific program to support will help your fundraisers do better too. People like to know where their money is going!
I think there are still plenty of fundraisers worth considering that can bring in the big bucks...
Here's a quick list of things we've either done or at least considered:
Carnival
Silent Auction
Raffles
Walk-a-thons
Craft Fairs
Huge School Garage Sale
Personally, I prefer these event-type fundraisers over your typical sales-type.
Good luck!
Kelley Kirkpatrick-Berg
Madison PTO
Mount Vernon, WA
My school has a lock on the traditional fundraisers. They do several catalogs, ink cartridge, and Box Tops. This leaves me to think of alternatives for us. They want us to pay for all this stuff, but don't allow us to get a well paying fundraiser to do it! I have some ideas, but would welcome more!
Here is what I have thought of:
Candles
Mary Kay
Valentine Grams (have a feeling it will be voted down)
Office Depot (won't do well because it's on the opposite side of town, and most of our parents don't go there)
Soup Labels (hearing it isn't worth it)
