School Halloween fundraising works best when spooky fun and community events bring people together while raising funds.
- Pumpkin patch fundraiser
- Trunk-or-Treat
- Spooky Fun Run
- Halloween Party Fundraiser
- Harvest Dinner Fundraiser
- Halloween Costume Sales
- Haunted House at School
- Fall Carnival or Festival
Plus more ideas and inspiration for schools wanting to explore further.
Halloween offers a perfect opportunity to plan a school fundraiser, since many young people embrace the fun, scary activities that come with the holiday. Yet Halloween seems to sneak up on us every year, along with all the other back-to-school activities and year-end giving campaigns.
Here are some fun Halloween-themed fundraisers to raise money for your school while making Halloween planning easier and less expensive for families.
The pumpkin patch fundraiser
Plan a Pumpkin Patch fundraiser where school community members can select their Halloween pumpkins and participate in other scary activities. Purchase bales of hay and pumpkins from a local farm, then decorate your school parking lot or recreation area. Include a pumpkin carving or Halloween coloring contest and a maze with bales of hay as part of the event.
Transform a trailer into a fun ride by adding bales of hay and raise additional revenue by offering hay rides. You can also sell hot chocolate, apple cider, caramel apples, popcorn, trick-or-treat bags, pumpkin-carving kits, and more.
A Pumpkin Patch is a great Halloween fundraising idea for an elementary school, as young children will enjoy the pumpkin patch and hay rides.
Trunk-or-treat fundraiser
Turn the school parking lot into a safe, festive trick-or-treating spot the whole community can enjoy. Invite families, staff, and local businesses to decorate their car trunks with a Halloween theme.
Charge a small entry fee per family, or keep entry free and sell raffle tickets, snacks, and hot cocoa on-site instead.
You can also offer “trunk sponsorships,” where local businesses pay a fee to decorate and staff a trunk, giving them a fun way to support the school while getting some community visibility.
Add a costume contest, a photo booth, and games between trunks to keep families lingering (and spending) longer.
Trunk-or-treats work especially well for elementary schools, since they offer a safer, more controlled trick-or-treating experience than going door-to-door in the neighborhood.
The spooky fun run
As parents and educators, we want to teach children how physical activity and a healthy lifestyle can support self-esteem, productivity, and enjoyment of life. In our society, there is a tendency for children to make unhealthy choices, and Halloween is certainly no exception. Why not get the kids out running with this Halloween fundraising idea instead of sitting around eating candy?
A school fun run gets even more fun with Halloween costumes. You could add an obstacle course with zombies and ghosts hiding out. Some schools also take the opportunity to make it a Dog Walk with contests for the best dog costumes. Now that sounds fun.
Many schools raise two to three times more by taking their school Fun Run online with us! Try out our peer-to-peer software for your school Fun Run fundraisers today.
Halloween party fundraiser
Plan a Halloween party at your school. Invite students, parents, and community members. Raise money by selling tickets in advance or at the door. Arrange for your school’s food service to supply dinner or work with a local pizzeria to donate pizzas. Offer a “witches’ brew” punch using dry ice to make it look like it’s smoking (or use the dry ice for scary fog effects).
Decorate with festive Halloween decorations and hire a DJ to provide spooky music. Encourage attendees to dress up and host a costume contest as part of this Halloween fundraiser. Get prizes donated from local businesses and reward attendees with the best Halloween costumes. Host a silent auction and fundraising raffle to raise more. This is a great way for students and families to celebrate together in a fun, safe environment while raising funds for your school.
Harvest dinner fundraiser
Fall is also harvest time. Why not organize a farm-to-table fundraiser for your school? Invite a local chef or restaurant focusing on local produce to prepare a special harvest meal for parents and families. Provide a child care center for the little ones so that the parents can enjoy themselves.
This fundraiser is a great way for parents to get to know each other and build PTO and school spirit, while also potentially raising a lot of money for your school. Add a Halloween theme with costumes and pumpkin pie for dessert.
Halloween costume sales
Turn your school into a pop-up costume shop! Weeks before Halloween, send out an announcement requesting people to donate old Halloween costumes. You may even want to do this immediately following Halloween the previous year when people have costumes easily accessible and then store these for your costume sale during the upcoming year. Plan a day or weekend where community members can come to your costume sale and browse and purchase Halloween costumes. This makes costume shopping easy and affordable for all.
You can also offer pumpkins and carving kits for sale, sell hot apple cider, trick-or-treat bags, bags of candy, Halloween decorations, and more.
Haunted house at the school
Turn your school gymnasium into a haunted house the weekend preceding Halloween. Charge an admission fee and promote the Haunted House throughout the community. Decorate the school with spider webs, ghosts, strobe lights, and other creepy creations. Have students volunteer to help create scary scenes like a ghost in a graveyard, a vampire cave with creepy coffins, and a witch stirring her pot.
Include a fundraising raffle as part of the event. Reach out to local businesses to donate raffle prizes (such as gift certificates, sporting event tickets, and a kid’s bike or scooter). Display the prizes at the ticket counter and invite people to purchase raffle tickets as they buy their admission to the haunted house. Announce raffle winners at the close of the event.
Fall carnival or festival
Halloween offers an excellent opportunity for school carnivals. Many schools offer free admission to their carnivals so everyone can attend, with game tickets being sold to earn money. Include all kinds of games for elementary kids and their families, including a bouncy house, win-a-fish, lucky duck, and soda toss ring games, to name a few. Cotton candy, pizza, popcorn, and beverages bring in extra funds. Raffle donated goods at the event, and add a silent auction for extra allure. By the end, everyone will have had a chance to meet a new friend.
Host your spookiest fundraiser yet
Halloween has a built-in advantage: everyone already wants to be part of it.
Families want something fun to do, local businesses love a chance to show up in the community, and kids will happily dress up for a good cause. Your job is simply to give that excitement a place to land.
The easiest way to choose is to match the event to your capacity.
Whichever you pick, start early, add one easy extra revenue stream like a raffle or sponsorships, and let the community see how their support helps your school.
With DoJiggy’s free fundraising tools handling donations, raffles, and student pages, you can spend less time on logistics and more time enjoying the fun.
FAQs on Halloween fundraising ideas for schools
Popular options include pumpkin patch fundraisers, trunk-or-treat events, costume-themed fun runs, Halloween parties with silent auctions, harvest dinners, costume sales, haunted houses, and fall carnivals. You can scale each option based on school size, budget, and volunteer availability.
Low-cost options include stickers, temporary tattoos, pencils, or small bags of individually wrapped candy bought in bulk. For school fundraisers specifically, printed raffle tickets or simple paper favors cost little while still giving attendees something tangible to take home.
Beyond candy, consider glow sticks, mini pumpkins, Halloween-themed erasers, or small toys as low-cost crowd-pleasers. For fundraising events, donated prizes from local businesses, like gift certificates or event tickets, work well as raffle or costume contest giveaways.
Try trunk sponsorships where local businesses decorate a trunk for visibility, a costume contest with donated prizes, or a photo booth for social sharing. Promoting events through school newsletters, flyers, and social media in the weeks leading up to Halloween also boosts turnout.
Current trends point to earlier planning (many start in September), heavier use of online search and social media for event discovery, and growing interest in sustainable decorations. Pop-culture-inspired costumes also remain popular, giving schools fresh, timely themes for costume contests and events.
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