High School Fundraising

Interested in raising money for your school through high school fundraising? High school fundraising initiatives tend to be very successful and here's why.

When it comes to high school fundraising, students have a new awakening! Preschool and Elementary school kids are introduced to fundraising ideas and they embrace it with their energy and eagerness to try anything new, but it is their parents' enthusiasm to get involved that really makes fundraising happen.

When students reach high school, fundraising is a whole new game. Students have passions for sports or arts programs they are involved in, they join clubs with people sharing common interests, and they also begin to develop a strong belief system. They are eager to make a difference, support a cause, and therefore are more likely to embrace a fundraising initiative that supports their passions and beliefs. High school students also find benefit in the organizational and social skills they learn through fundraising efforts. Lastly, young adults no longer need their parents to actively help with the fundraiser, although parental encouragement is important to keep them positive and working hard to accomplish their goals.

Important Things to Consider with High School Fundraising

1. Time is of the essence
   High school students are busy with homework, sports, social engagement with friends, or all of the above. Making your high school fundraising activity easy for high school students to participate, without consuming too much time will make it much more appealing to students. This is one reason online fundraising has become so popular! When kids aren't at practice or running around with friends, chances are they are checking email, downloading iTunes, or updating their Facebook page. This is when they are most attentive. DoJiggy online fundraising software tools allow students to personalize their own page, upload a photo, set goals, and track their success against other students, making it a fun, interactive and competitive environment. Cool!


2. There are valuable skills and lessons to be learned
   A great benefit of high school fundraising is the age of the students. You are no longer dealing with children. You are dealing with young adults, who have ideas, who are creative, who have the ability to lead and inspire their peers, and are looking for an opportunity to test their abilities. Put the planning in their hands! What a great way for students to work together as a team, to help them learn organizational and management skills, manage budgets and logistics, establish goals and plans to accomplish them. These are all valuable lessons that they can take with them on to college and in their professional lives. Support and encourage their abilities to "take the reins", and make organizing the fundraising event part of the fun!

High School Fundraising Ideas

There are endless fundraising options for high school students. Remember to ask students for their input and ideas. They may provide some out-of-the-box, creative thinking, and possibly suggest options more relevant for the target audience.

High School Fundraising Ideas

• Sales Contests: Have students sell fundraising discount cards and provide incentives for top-sales to motivate and encourage competition
• Host a School Walkathon: This is a healthy alternative to selling candy or chocolate and encourages teamwork, health and wellness.
• Host a School "Serve-a-thon": This is a "Walk-a-thon" variation where students give back to the community. Make the theme relevant to the sports team, music/art group, or special-interest club.
• Encourage art students to showcase their work through an online silent auction or fundraising raffle! You'll likely want to include big-ticket items along with the students' work for a nice combination of offerings.
• Be creative! Host a talent show, a school carnival, or have the dance team host a "Dancing with the Stars" event that includes teachers, coaches or parents. For example, a popular talent pageant show in Oregon has ten senior boys, nominated by their class, competing against each other each year for the coveted "Mr. Irish" title. This original fundraiser has been so successful, it has spread to twenty other high schools in the region.
• Invite students to cook a dinner and host a gala event by selling seats. Along with the dinner include entertainment such as student poetry, student bands, a fundraising raffle or auction, etc.
• Golf tournaments are a great fundraising event, especially for the golf team. But even students who don't golf can get involved by being caddies.

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