High school band programs are an important part of the school curriculum, bringing students together through music and school spirit. But keeping a school band program running can be expensive, with costs ranging from instruments and uniforms to competition fees, travel, and band camp.
That’s why fundraising is an important part of supporting many high school and marching band programs. The right fundraiser can help cover essential expenses while giving students an opportunity to work together toward a shared goal. Are your band fundraisers exciting and successful each year?
In this blog, we’ll explore some of the best high school band fundraising ideas, from march-a-thons to community fundraisers and product sales. We’ll also review how to plan successful band fundraisers and find creative fundraising ideas for high school and other marching bands.
How to Choose the Best Marching Band Fundraisers
The success of band fundraisers lies first and foremost with your chosen fundraising campaign. You can incorporate music into various fundraising campaigns and invite the color guard, choir, and music boosters to join in the fun.
Asking a few key questions with your committee can help your band choose the best fundraisers for your school and community.
Who Will Participate?
Consider your students’ ages and what they are interested in doing. A fundraiser that gets younger students excited may not appeal to high school students. Tying your marching band fundraisers to music – what band members are so passionate about is always helpful and inspiring.
What Are Your Band’s Fundraising Goals?
Start with a clear overall fundraising goal and determine what the money raised will fund. Whether you’re raising money for competitions, travel, or special programs, knowing how much you need to raise will help you choose an appropriate fundraising strategy.
What Is Your Fundraising Budget?
Consider how much your marching band can spend upfront and whether you have funds available to cover those costs. Compare the potential expenses, including products, event supplies, marketing, and other fees, with the amount you expect to raise. Low-cost or free fundraisers are a good choice when your organization has limited up-front resources.
What Resources Do You Have?
Beyond funding, consider the people and community connections you can depend on. How many parents are band boosters or volunteers? Do you have or can you build relationships with local music stores or related businesses that could provide sponsorships or in-kind donations? Consider any other resources that can help make the fundraiser a success.
What Has Worked in the Past?
Review previous band fundraisers before starting something new. Which campaigns generated the most participation and revenue over the last few years? Which ones were difficult to organize or didn’t get much support? If a march-a-thon worked well last year, you can draw on that success to make it even bigger this year.
What Are You Teaching Your Students?
Consider whether your fundraiser reinforces the values and skills you want students to develop. Fundraisers can teach participants about teamwork, goal-setting, responsibility, and community involvement. Choose activities that give band members an opportunity to participate rather than simply asking adults to do all the work
Our Top Band Fundraising Idea: March-a-thons
Host a March-a-thon fundraiser for your band. A march-a-thon is held on a designated course (such as the school track or your downtown’s Main Street). From a fundraising perspective, a march-a-thon is similar to a walk-a-thon, but instead of just walking, band members march and play songs. Band boosters and community members can participate and march alongside band members as they play popular tunes and raise money for a great cause. Reach out to the cheerleading or dance team to see if they want to participate with your band, and make the march-a-thon a parade.
Band members raise funds by asking relatives, friends, and neighbors to donate. Make the ask and fundraising goal specific so your supporters know where their money goes. You can calculate donations per mile marched, or contributors can donate a fixed amount, like $25.
The easiest way to get donations is through our peer-to-peer fundraising platform. Band members create personal fundraising pages where they upload photos and videos, explain their commitment to the band, and ask people to donate securely online. Fundraising pages include donor comments, a fundraising thermometer, and links to social media sites. Participants can email to request a donation and include a link to the online donation page.
5+ More Community Fundraising Events for Bands
Community fundraising events are another great option for bands, as they encourage team-building and cooperation. Involvement from students, families, band boosters, and community members provides an opportunity to practice in front of an audience. One great advantage bands and choirs have over other groups when planning a fundraising event is the built-in entertainment. Whatever the event may be – a community picnic, concert, yard sale, or even car wash – band members can take turns playing tunes to entertain guests.
Some ideas for band community fundraising events include:
- Community Picnics and Bake Sales: Have band and family members prepare baked goods or other prepared foods to sell. Tie the event to in-season foods, such as pumpkin bread and apple pies, for a Fall fundraiser.
- Community Concerts: Have your high school band throw a fundraising concert at the school and sell tickets online. Add refreshments and treats, and invite students, parents, teachers, and local supporters to showcase your marching band’s talent while raising funds for a worthy cause. You can also do this event virtually with a live-streamed presentation.
- Car Washes: This traditional fundraiser is straightforward. Set up the fundraiser right in the parking lot of your school or recreation center, but choose a location with good traffic flow. Charge a fee ($10) or ask for donations in exchange for a car wash. Offer lemonade and snacks for sale while guests wait for their cars to get cleaned.
- Community Yard Sales: Have band members reach out to families, friends, band boosters, and neighbors to see if they have any items they’d like to donate to a good cause. Gather all donated items and host a large community garage sale at a convenient local establishment such as a school cafeteria or recreation center.
- Fundraising Raffles: Consider adding a fundraising raffle to your event to raise even more. Local businesses are often happy to donate in-kind contributions (such as gift certificates to their store) for your band to raffle off to event attendees, which can be another great revenue source.
Marching Band Fundraising Sales
Another proven option for marching band fundraisers is hosting a sales drive. Taking merchandise sales online will simplify reporting and help extend your reach. Here are some popular marching band sales fundraising ideas.
Fundraising Card Sales
Many school groups achieve success with sales fundraising using discount cards and scratch cards. These options work well because they appeal to a broad audience. Both options also offer value to cardholders. The discount card is sold for a fee (i.e., $10) and provides savings from local businesses. It’s an easy sell as purchasers will likely save much more than the $10 spent on the card. Scratch cards also provide savings for donors, as they receive a coupon sheet for participating, and add fun and excitement. Participants ask donors to scratch off a dot on their scratch card to determine the amount they will donate. Often, contributors will scratch off multiple dots.
Holiday Sale Items
Selling wreaths, poinsettias, holiday wrapping paper, chocolates, and candles during Christmas can be a very successful holiday fundraiser for the band. These items typically have a 40-50% profit margin, which can make for quite a lucrative fundraiser. Holiday fundraisers are held in late fall, an opportune time for high school bands, as they coincide with their season. Band members are excited about the new season and often prepare for Holiday concerts and performances. What better way to ramp up ticket sales and support for the upcoming performance than with a fundraiser? Seasonal sales typically require delivery, so start early and allow a two-week delivery window.
Run Successful Marching Band Fundraisers with Our Free Fundraising Platform
Your band members can sell and track fundraising product sales with our crowdfunding software. Add our peer-to-peer functionality to stores so each band member has their own fundraising page. Offer incentives for top performers to motivate band members to sell more and add some healthy competition.
The Importance of Band Fundraisers for Schools
Band fundraising campaigns help fund music and band programs in high schools, middle schools, and universities.
Marching bands and color guards are essential to schools. They are the epicenter of school spirit and make many school moments unforgettable. Marching bands perform at football games, and high school bands excite students at pep rallies and homecoming celebrations. Band concerts entertain students, parents, and faculty.
Band practice instills a love of music and musical skills, and some students who don’t normally excel academically can do so through marching band. These talents are as important to students’ development as academic skills, and they need support and nurturing. Your students can also learn valuable leadership and financial skills by raising money for their high school band program.
Promoting Band Fundraisers
Whatever fundraising strategy you choose for your marching band fundraiser, promote it widely throughout your school and the local community. Your advertising and promotion of the fundraising event or campaign will also be a primary factor in the initiative’s success. Be sure to allow your group plenty of time and promote the event in the following ways:
- Add your event to online community calendars
- Post announcements on bulletin boards at your school and local businesses
- Include an announcement on your school and band websites
- Post on Facebook and other social media pages – ask band members to do this as well as doing it on the band’s page
- Email to your listserv or mailing list and ask the PTO, booster club, and school to email their mailing list as well
Still looking for band fundraising ideas?
See our 50 best fundraisers for schools and high school fundraising ideas.
FAQ’s on Band Fundraisers
High school bands can raise money through fundraisers such as concerts, raffles, auctions, merchandise sales, sponsorships, and peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns.
Popular band fundraising ideas include car washes, restaurant nights, raffles, auctions, concerts, product sales, and sponsored events.
Students can create personal fundraising pages and share them with friends, family, and community members to collect donations for their high school band.
Easy options include online donation campaigns, car washes, bake sales, restaurant fundraisers, raffles, and sponsored challenges.
Parents can volunteer at events, contact local businesses for sponsorships and donations, promote fundraisers, and help students reach their fundraising goals.
Ask local businesses and community organizations for financial sponsorships, donated products, or services. Offer recognition through event signage, social media, and promotional materials.
Use a combination of donations, sponsorships, ticketed events, raffles, merchandise sales, and student fundraising pages to help cover band trip expenses.
Set clear fundraising goals, involve students and parents, offer multiple ways to give, promote campaigns consistently, and make online donations easy.
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