We just had a fun(d) run at the end of september. We have 400+ kids in our school and raised 18,000. Our goal was $30,000 but its not bad either. The kids loved it, the teachers loved it, plus it promotes healthly living.
I had posted about this briefly in another location but thought I'd add here as well. Currently we are running a fall carnival, santa's workshop, and our new chess program. You mentioned losing candy sales, this is our first year with the 'Chess for Children' program and was actually intended to eliminate our need for soo many sucker and pizza sales. So far we make about $1100 per chess session, and are scheduled to run 2-3 more this year with no problems. Very easy turnaround, and the parents/kids are loving it!
We run a weekly spirit store on Friday during recess. We sell pencils, pens, erasers, pencil bags, etc. as well as a few toy items. The kids love it and we made around $3000 profit last year. Prices range from 5 cents to $2 so we have something for everyone. We even buy cheap pencil top erasers for the kids that show up with a penny, we don't want anyone to feel left out.
A word of caution, you need AT LEAST 2 people to run it. It can get a little crazy, especially with the younger grades.
