5 Easy and Profitable School Fundraising Ideas

Unique ways to fundraise for your school.

Organizing a fundraiser for your school can seem like a monstrous task to undertake. It doesn't have to be. Whether you outsource the planning and coordination through a school fundraiser company or manage it yourself, your campaign can be profitable and easy. In truth, the most challenging part of the process is searching through many school fundraising ideas and finding something that will work for you.

In this article, we discuss five simple yet effective school fundraisers in hopes that you will be ready to start when you're done reading.

1. Book Sale

Host a book sale to raise funds for your school and enhance your community. Students, parents, faculty, and other community members donate gently used books to the cause. The books are then affordably priced and resold. Schools love this fundraiser as it aligns with their mission of providing educational opportunities accessible to all.

Donors clear space on their shelves for new books, readers can purchase almost new books at a discount, and your school gains capital.

Don't stop with just books. This fundraiser can include crafts, baked goods, art, clothes, and home goods.

2. School Spirit Merchandise Sale

Selling gear and repping your school's name, logo, or mascot is a fantastic way to raise funds. T-shirts, Hoodies, window decals, notebooks, phone cases, and water bottles are just a few examples of merchandise items.

Have a sales table or kiosk between classes or before and after school. You can rent a space at a local farmers market or other events in the community. Ask local businesses for space in their shops for a commission. You may even set up an online marketplace for additional sales.

This fundraiser works anytime, but a school spirit merchandise sale is most profitable around big events such as the start of the year, homecoming, a big football game, or graduation. A student-run spirit sale is a learning opportunity and a funding opportunity!

3. School Fundraisers Online

Take advantage of the technology of the day. The easiest, and sometimes the most profitable, to manage, these simple school fundraisers consist of putting the information out there and then waiting for the response. Here are five proven online fundraising platforms for schools. Or, if you only want to accept donations, you can make a donation page on a fundraising platform or social media site. It helps to post updates occasionally, thank you notes, photos, and progress reports.

Donors will text a keyword to a text-to-give phone number for text donations. This will lead to an online donation form. If the donor is already registered, you can allow them to text to confirm a new donation. Once set up, online and text fundraisers take little effort and time to manage.

4. Email Campaign

This fundraiser takes some time and effort to get up and running, but once it is set up, it is easier than ever. Curate a weekly newsletter to share highlights and updates with your community members and the most prominent stakeholders- parents, students, faculty, and donors. Add a link to a donor portal in each weekly newsletter, along with occasional requests for donations.

Build your contact list by collecting emails at student registration, events, and any point-of-sale. Advertise your newsletter on social media and the school's website. For high schools and colleges, consider a student-run email campaign.

5. Community Picnic

An example of a unique school fundraiser is a community picnic. Similar to the book sale idea, this fundraiser engages the community while raising needed funds for the school. To host a profitable community picnic, Charge guests a small fee to attend the event. Ask local shops and restaurants to donate food and beverages. Other organizations can offer to donate merchandise and other goodies as giveaways. This is a great advertising opportunity for local businesses.

Parents and faculty can set up games such as beanbags, horseshoes, bag races, water balloon fights, and more. For older student bodies, you can invite school bands to play music or dance/cheer groups to perform. The important thing about hosting a community picnic is it can be as involved or laid-back as you desire.

Choose the fundraiser above that best suits your school's strengths, needs, and interests. Keep in mind fundraisers can even be mixed and matched! For example, consider setting up a book sale at the community picnic.

Author Bio

Clay Boggess has been designing fundraising programs for schools and various nonprofit organizations throughout the US since 1999. He’s helped administrators, teachers, and outside support entities such as PTAs and PTOs raise millions of dollars. Clay is an owner and partner at Big Fundraising Ideas.