Top 10 School Fundraising Ideas to Get Kids Involved

Find the best fundraisers that get kids involved in their community.

Regarding fundraising, it isn’t always easy getting kids involved. But as a parent, you want to encourage your child’s compassionate drive, even at a young age. When kids invest time in fundraising, they start developing essential skills.

They learn what they can achieve with hard work and the value of helping others. Finding the perfect fundraising idea to rally parents and kids around your cause is the trick.

If you want to appeal to kids, you must ensure your school fundraising ideas are exciting but easy enough to understand.

And if you want to appeal to parents, you must ensure your ideas are safe.

Fundraising Ideas That Kids & Parents Will Love

Acts of Kindness Scavenger Hunt

Organize a scavenger hunt of simple acts of kindness even kids can do. Advertise the fundraising event to children and their families, asking for a small donation to participate. To make it easy for participants, create a map and a checklist. That way, they can mark off their random acts of kindness. Examples may include writing their teachers thank-yous or smiling at five strangers.

Community Clean Up

You can teach kids the importance of keeping our environment healthy by showing them how they can help. If your local park, beach, or river is littered with trash, use it as a teaching moment. Host a fundraising event for kids and their families. Ask participants to pledge a specific dollar amount for each pound of trash they pick up.

Letter Writing

Inspire a letter-writing campaign for kids. Parents love this idea because it is easy to organize and teaches kids that they can make a difference through a little hard work. Kids can volunteer to write letters to local companies seeking donations for the charity of their choice. You only need to provide pens, paper, envelopes, and stamps.

Kid’s Art Exhibition

Organize an event for kids to unleash their creativity. Ask kids in your community to submit their artwork for a show. Encourage them to explore new mediums like paper-mâché or photography. Then advertise the event to the community, asking for a donation as an entrance fee. Ask local restaurants or businesses to provide refreshments and snacks for your fundraising event.

Any “A-Thon”

Hosting an “a-thon” is a sure way to get kids involved. Kids tend to get excited about participating in an event, from jogging to reading to dancing, especially with their friends. Ask kids to seek out sponsors that will donate a certain amount for each lap they run or for every 50 pages they read.

Bag Groceries

An easy fundraising idea for kids is to bag groceries at your local market for donations. It doesn’t take much to set up and requires no extra supplies except a jar to collect the funds. Ensure to get permission from the grocery store and pick a day to hold the event. Have the kids pick their favorite nonprofit to gift the funds to at the end of the day.

Go Green

A fun way to encourage kids to think green is to arrange a fundraising event to decorate reusable bags. Ask community members to bring their boring reusable bags when advertising for the event. Then with a small donation, they can watch the kids give their bags a whole new look.

Greeting Cards

Whether it’s a loved one’s birthday or you want to wish a friend well after surgery, there is always a need for greeting cards. And greeting cards made by kids tend to be cuter than store-bought cards. Make sure to provide card-making materials like markers and paper. Then, you can sell them for donations via your online fundraiser or in person at events like your local school sports game.

Make Pet Toys or Beds

Gather old clothes like blankets and jeans and reuse them for a new purpose. Have your kids and their friends make dog and cat toys out of whatever supplies you have. With some creativity, you can sew together a toy that any pet will love. Or make a comfy pet. Sell them for donations at a community event. This is the perfect idea for raising funds for a local animal shelter.

Garden Variety

Help your kids develop their green thumb. Purchase low-cost pots and seeds for your kids and their friends to plant. Show the kids how to water them daily and watch the flowers grow. Then, once the flowers are in full bloom, sell them as bouquets for donations to your fundraiser.

Use this list of kid-friendly fundraising ideas to enhance your crowdfunding campaign or boost your PTA fundraising efforts.

Guest Author Bio: Paige Kutilek is an associate content manager at YouCaring. Her writing is focused on the crowdfunding industry and other related topics. She strives to create content that helps people, especially during times of hardship.