50 Best Fundraisers for Schools

Find Winning Ideas for Elementary, Middle, and High School Fundraisers
Updated with Our Favorite School Fundraisers for COVID

The best fundraisers for schools not only raise much-needed funds but can provide students with leadership roles and learning opportunities. Valuable life skills are taught through hands-on learning experiences, including leadership and teamwork, community service, advertising, and managing a fundraising website.

Parent Teacher Organizations, Student Councils, service groups, school clubs, sports teams, and more can use these school fundraising ideas. So don’t just settle for the cookie dough fundraiser for your school this year; we’ve provided inspiration below for the best school fundraisers at all levels of education and the best virtual fundraising ideas for COVID.

Our Favorites Elementary School Middle School High School
Color Runs Zoo Walks Art Shows Serve-a-thons
Literacy Festivals Dress Down Days Walkathons Speech Contests
Fun Runs Disney Movies Zumba Fests Chalk Festivals
Chocolate Party Family Nights Dining Out Events Dance Marathon
Farm to Table Obstacle Courses School Spirit Sales Book Fairs
Golf Tournaments Firefighters Picnics Spelling Bees Art Sales
Yoga Classes Read-a-thons Lip Sync Competition Spin-a-thons
Adults Only Craft Fairs Car Washes Green Festivals
Dog Walks School Carnivals Community Clean-up Golf Marathons
Bike-a-thons Holiday Fundraising Film Festivals Concert Series

Our Favorite Fundraisers for Schools

Color Runs are among the best fundraisers for schools

Color Runs

School fundraising campaigns and Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTOs) can have great fundraising success with Color Run fundraisers. Splashes of vivacious hues of color powders being thrown throughout a walkathon or Fun Run is just one of the magical ingredients that make a color run fundraiser successful. The paint is safe for all ages, and everyone will remember the day. Add an after-party to bring the community together and offer event sponsors an opportunity to showcase their products and offer samples.

Hosting a Literacy Festival is a great fundraiser for schools

Literacy Festivals

Fundraising for education through literacy can be accomplished with a School Literacy Festival. Create a fun afternoon and raise money for school programs by holding student readings of classic literature, poetry, and short stories. Teachers can host story times and art projects for younger children. Create writing competitions and award prizes to winners. Celebrate literacy with your students!

Best Fundraisers for Schools - Fun Runs

Fun Runs

A Fun Run is a fabulous choice for a school fundraiser because competition is out of the race and fun is in. Fun Run websites create a gateway for planning and managing a fun run seamlessly and allow students and classrooms to easily raise money for your school via personal and team fundraising pages. Join in one of the biggest crazes in crowdfunding for schools that promotes teamwork and exercise. No cookie dough sales are required!

Best Fundraisers for Schools - Chocolate Party!

Chocolate Theme Fundraisers

Everyone loves chocolate! Here’s your chance to highlight chocolate and provide some education around a fun subject. How about featuring a local chocolate company, one that gives to charity with a portion of their sales, or one that promotes environmentalism? Adding an element of the greater good to your school fundraising campaign teaches your children further levels of responsibility. Add a marketplace or bake sale at the end to take home a chocolate candy bar or treat.

Farm-to-Table Events make great school fundraisers

Farm to Table Events

Some schools have an organic garden to teach kids important environmental science and social responsibility lessons, but most schools aren’t that fortunate. Farm-to-Table fundraisers can be a great opportunity to teach kids about organic farming. Farm-to-Table events can be held at a local farm or community center, with dinner served with all local and organic ingredients. Ask a local chef or restaurant to sponsor your event in support of your work.

Golf Tournaments are great fundraising events for some schools

Golf Tournaments

Golf tournaments are tried and true fundraising events! With golf tournament software, there is no guesswork in planning a golf event to raise money for your school. DoJiggy offers a complete set of golf tournament planning resources. Find a tournament planner and checklist, golf tournament budget, a set of five standard letter templates for fundraising golf tournaments, and event flyers. These tools offer all you’ll need to kick off your school fundraising tournament successfully.

Best Fundraisers for Schools - Yoga Classes

Yoga Classes

Yoga classes will spark an interest in many of your supporters and donors. Plan a day of varied yoga classes at all fitness levels and practice (Yoga Basics, Yoga for Children, Iyengar, Hatha Flow, Vinyasa, Restorative). Teach your children and community that yoga is for everyone by including something for everyone. Sell tickets at the door and on your fundraising event website. Invite food vendors and sponsors that promote healthy eating to advocate the importance of eating well for ourselves and our planet.

Parents Love Adults Only Nights

Adults Only Nights

Fundraisers for schools certainly don’t have to include students. Wine tasting events and charity poker tournaments can accomplish fundraising goals and give parents time to focus on networking and getting to know each other. Parents, teachers, and PTA members work together on school fundraising events, and knowing each other creates a more pleasurable experience for everyone.

Dog Walks work great for younger kids and middle schools

Dog Walks

Dog walks are spectacular school crowdfunding campaigns that everyone will enjoy. Award prizes to the top individual and classroom fundraisers, as well as the top canine costumes. Schools can partner with nonprofit shelters that help animals and share costs, advertising, and volunteer resources. Maybe some lucky pooches will even be adopted as part of the after-party celebration.

Bike-a-thons are popular school fundraisers

Bike-a-thons

School bike-a-thons are very popular and successful as fundraisers for schools. Not only do bike-a-thons work financially, but they also are a great way to bring the community together in crowdfunding. They encourage parents, students, faculty, and local businesses to participate in a healthy way to raise money for your school by combining exercise with your cause.

Holiday Fundraising

Holiday Fundraising Events

Christmas booths or decorated tables can be added to street corners, parking lots, and inside large businesses. Spread the merriment through your attitude and offer information about your school projects. When delivered with holiday cheer, the great work of your school will reach the hearts and minds of your donors and inspire them to give. Bring a holiday theme with costumes and decorations to any holiday fundraiser.

Zoo Walks are unique school fundraisers

Zoo Walks

A Zoo Walk allows your students to enjoy the zoo the entire day while they raise money for school projects. Everyone will like walking around the zoo with their family and friends, seeing lions, tigers, and bears, oh my! Make it an opportunity to talk specifics about why you need to raise money to keep high educational standards. Have a table for each subject outlaying the progressive work you’re doing in math, linguistics, and science. Create a vibrant peer-to-peer fundraising website with a Zoo theme.

Dress Down Day

Dress Down Days

A day without uniforms or a strict dress code is something kids and teachers will pay for. Charge a fee once per month or every Friday for those who crave a dress-down day. Use these funds to go on a field trip to a local museum or a neighboring city. Perhaps the local art museum will offer you a day of free or reduced-rate admission for the kids.

Disney Movies

Disney Movie Nights

Bring a little Disney magic into your elementary school fundraising by having Disney Movie Nights. Choose four movies and plan a month-long fundraising campaign to keep everyone excited about the next week’s show. Movie tickets, popcorn, fruit cups, and healthy snacks can be sold. End your movie series with a Costume Party. Give a prize to the best-dressed boy and girl. There may be more than one Moana at the party.

Family Fun Night

School Family Fun Nights

Have good old-fashioned fun at a Family Fun Night. These nights give school communities a chance to have fun on a Friday or Saturday night and enjoy dinner, games, and prizes for all ages. Each classroom sponsors a game or an activity booth, and the night is focused on community spirit and the pure enjoyment of each other. Tickets are sold on your fundraising event website, where you may also take donations for each grade level or classroom.

Obstacle Course

Obstacle Course Fundraisers

Popular fundraisers for schools that offer kids a chance to roll around in the mud are obstacle courses. Obstacle courses can include hurdling obstacles like walls, teeter-totters, tunnels, balance beams, a cargo climb, and a mud pit. Physical education teachers get involved in training kids ahead of the crowdfunding event as a fun way to get fit and prepare for the fundraiser. More difficult courses may be designed for adult and teen participants. Read more on how to organize an obstacle course fundraiser.

Firefighters Picnic

Firefighters Picnics

Becoming a firefighter is the dream of many elementary school children. Why not build on that dream? Hold a picnic in a beautiful city park and team up with your local fire department. Parks are the favorite playground for kids with all the best ways to swing and room to run. Yet this school fundraising event adds some education. Add a firetruck and fireman for them to experience and ask questions, and you pique their curiosity and educate them. Plant plenty of public education material about your school nearby and sell food of the old favorites of picnics.

Readathon

Readathons

A readathon fundraiser is a peer-to-peer fundraising event where students commit to reading to raise money for your school or PTO/PTA group. Reading Fundraisers promote children’s literacy and a love of reading; they offer an academic challenge or competition that kids enjoy. It’s easy to get everyone excited about a readathon because of its contribution to society. Be bold in your social media promotion, and you’ll be sure to exceed your fundraising goals.

Craft Fair

Arts & Craft Fairs

Arts & Crafts fairs are great holiday or Christmas fundraising events. If 20 arts and crafts artists pay $50 each to put a booth at your craft fair, your school makes $1,000. There are craft artists among your students, teachers, and PTA members who will want to participate and may donate a portion of their sales. Find popular local food vendors and a few musicians for extra fun.

Carnival & Auction

School Carnivals

A school carnival is an Elementary School PTO/PTA fundraising must! Many schools offer free admission to their carnivals so everyone can attend, with game tickets being sold. 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 just a few. Cotton candy, pizza, popcorn, and beverages bring in extra funds. Raffle donated goods at the event, and add a fundraising auction for extra allure.

Best Fundraisers for Schools – Middle School Fundraisers

Art Show

Art Shows

By middle school, some students are really into art. Watching local painters, sculptors, photographers, ceramicists, and textile designers working on their craft will fascinate these students and community donors. An Art Show fundraiser could include participants having a hands-on art experience if some of your artists can host a workshop. Sell tickets online and take donations on your event management website.

Walkathons are the best school fundraisers

Walkathons

School crowdfunding via walk-a-thons has become a top fundraising strategy in many schools. Perhaps it is because students, PTA members, teachers, parents, the community, and local businesses all join together that make these fundraisers so much fun and extremely lucrative. Don’t forget the prizes and incentives – perhaps a custom t-shirt to inspire your students. Get the kids walking and use a great walkathon website for online fundraising.

Zumba Fest

Zumba Fests

The Latin-inspired fitness dance of Zumba can be used as a unique fundraising idea for your school. Help to improve the self-confidence of your middle school kids and donors of all ages and motivate them to exercise. Zumba is a fun way to accomplish this; no previous dance experience is needed. Include a raffle or silent auction and a donation table with refreshments to boost income. Read our article on how to organize a Zumba fundraiser to get going.

Dining Out

Dining Out in the Community Events

One of the more scrumptious fundraisers for schools is an evening of dining out at local restaurants. Everyone in the community is invited to have dinner, eat well, and help raise funds for your school. The restaurant donates 10% of sales or a percentage of profits to the school. Advertise one or more restaurants with their menu on the school website and social media channels to attract attention.

School Spirit Sales

School Spirit Sales

Sell school spirit wear such as t-shirts and custom clothing, sports gear, backpacks, and cool school supplies on your school website as well as during School Spirit Day, at sports games, and pep rallies. Who doesn’t love a school hoodie or stainless steel coffee mug for those cool fall evenings? School clothing and gear sales are a great ongoing fundraiser to fund field trips, equipment purchases, and more. DoJiggy offers a free online store to get started!

Best Fundraisers for Schools: Spelling Bee

Spelling Bees

Middle school spelling bee contestants are generally only two to three years apart in age, making this a perfect choice for middle school fundraising. Work with your nearby Apple or Android stores to be recognized as sponsors on your website and throughout the process of advertising your event. The chance of winning a computer, smartphone, IPad, or other electronic device has the potential to make your students better spellers.

Lip Sync Competitions are unique school fundraising ideas

Lip Sync Competitions

A great twist on a talent show is a lip-sync competition. Kids needn’t have a fabulous voice, so everyone can get involved. Use recorded music and allow kids to pick their songs and costumes. Imagine what fun this will be while giving students a chance to build their confidence on stage. Give fun prizes for best costume, best female performance, best male performance, and best band. Have a real gas by adding a few teacher performances. An after-party is a must.

Car Wash Lunch

Car Washes

Classic car washes make great school fundraisers because they provide a much-needed service, and kids can have a lot of fun running them. Get your groove on in making this event a one-stop shop for busy parents and community members. Task your middle school students with making and selling deli sandwiches as well as washing cars. Ask a local café to set up shop to sell cappuccinos and create a convenient and delicious stop for busy adults to drive off in a clean car.

Community Clean-up

Community Clean-ups

Many middle school kids are passionate about the environment and want to participate in creating change. Perhaps an area in your community needs a cleanup, like an ignored park, land, or watershed. Fundraisers for schools involving the environment and conservation are smart events that teach students the value of the environment while raising funds with teams of fundraisers including students, parents, and teachers.

Best Fundraisers for Schools - Film Festivals

Film Festivals

Middle school students love watching movies! Why not host a Film Festival at your school where each classroom collectively picks a movie to be included in the festival? The students can arrive early and help set up the auditorium and classrooms for the event. Multiple shows will play throughout the day or weekend, and tickets can be sold per movie or for unlimited access. Be sure to choose age-appropriate films for your students and a group of movies for younger siblings and children. As with all movies, popcorn, sodas, and snacks can be sold for a high profit.

Serve-a-thons are the best school fundraisers

Community Serve-a-thons

Service to the community while raising money for the school makes this a special high school fundraiser. Each homeroom or grade level commits to a service area: nursing home care, park or beach clean-up, help for elderly homeowners, or feeding the hungry. For the weeks leading up to the serve-a-thon fundraiser, students solicit donations for their high school to support their efforts. Top fundraisers are rewarded with prizes.

Speech Contest

Speech Contests

Hold a Speech Contest in your school auditorium. The first round of speeches is voted on by the audience or judges, and the top contestants move to a final round. Sell tickets online and host an after-party. The anticipation created while interesting topics are presented will be great material for discussion at the celebration.

Chalk Festival

Chalk Festivals

Be the hippest in fundraisers for schools by creating murals in chalk displayed in public places and at your high school. Let your crowdfunding website do the work in taking donations and pledges. As community members donate to mural teams and individual artists, they’ll start getting excited about the upcoming chalk festival. Plan several blocks of chalk art and present maps on your school event flyers and website. Hold the event for an entire weekend ending in a celebration at your school.

Dance Marathon

Dance Marathons

One of the most fun high school fundraisers is a dance marathon. Dance your socks off for 8 hours on a Saturday. Sell lots of snacks, beverages, and pizza slices and rake in the profits for your school. Create a crowdfunding website where supporters make mobile donations. Donations can be made based on how many hours students dance or a simple donation. The fun part is to dance the night away for your school.

Book Fair

Book Fairs

Book fairs can be held in your local book store or online, making them perfect fundraisers for schools while promoting literacy. With the addition of online book sales on your school’s online fundraising store, supporters can reach out to family and friends anywhere. Add a book swap during your book fair campaign and make it more interesting. Bring your book fair to your school as an option.

Art Sale

Art Sales

Encourage the art students of your high school by planning an art sale. It may be their first public showing which is a big deal for budding artists. Add a section on your event floor for paintings donated from the community and raise more money for your school. Invite the donated art of artists in your community. The art forms at this fundraiser can vary with sculpture, paintings, photography, and more. Charge an admission fee and seek artful, gourmet food vendors to increase profits.

Best Fundraisers for Schools: Spin-a-thons

Spin-a-thons

Turn your spin-a-thon into a community party with a student spin doctor DJ, food and beverage vendors, and fun games and contests while people spin on stationary bikes to raise money for your high school. Ask your local spinning studio to either donate their studio for some advertisement or pay to rent it out for the day. This idea is an easy and low-cost fundraiser for schools, yet loaded with energy and potential for high profit.

Green Week

Green Festivals

Bring the entire community together for a weekend festival and lecture series on conservation and the environment. Invite guest speakers from local nonprofit organizations and groups, and give your students experience in public speaking and event management. Include daycare or fun environmental activities for the younger kids, so mom and dad can attend the lectures with high school students.

Best Fundraisers for Schools: Golf Marathons

Golf Marathons

Play into the hands of high school students with a golf crowdfunding event or Golf Marathon. They love technology, checking email, downloading iTunes, or updating their Facebook page. Use this attentive practice as the basis of a fundraising idea for your school. Golf marathon fundraising software tools allow students to personalize their page, upload photos or videos, set goals, and track their success against other students, making it a fun, interactive, and competitive environment.

Best Fundraisers for High Schools: Concert Series

Concert Series

Our final high school fundraising idea allows the music department to show off its talent. Hold a weekly concert of solo performers, trios, and duets. Add a night of choral music. Once the audience attends the first one, they’ll want more. Hosting a VIP party allows donors to speak to the performers afterward. Create a beautiful website with our event ticketing software, including videos of student performances.

Looking for School Fundraising Ideas During Covid?

Many schools and PTOs have been hit hard financially by canceled fundraising events due to COVID-19. There is a way forward. By reworking your fundraising strategies, your organization can continue fundraising during this global pandemic. To do this, you’ll need safe and effective virtual fundraising campaigns. We’ve put together this list of the best virtual fundraising ideas for schools.

 

Virtual Walkathons and Fun Runs

Virtual Walkathons and Fun Runs

Virtual walkathons are great fundraisers for schools that can raise a lot of money with few upfront costs. With parental involvement, these are fun and easy to organize.

Virtual Happy Hours and Performances

Virtual Happy Hours and Performances

Get your livestream ready! Virtual performances work great and can be used to highlight school music groups, marching bands, and choirs.

Online Product Sales with P2P Pages

Online Product Sales with P2P Pages

Virtual merchandise sales are a no-brainer for no/low contact fundraising. Our simple stores make it so easy, you can get set up and selling in no time.

Fundraising Raffles

Fundraising Raffles

Online raffles are the perfect way to raise money for many schools. We offer the ability to incorporate peer to peer fundraising in raffles, where students sell tickets via a personal fundraising page. Our raffle software can even randomly select and notify winners. Just find a prize and go!

Virtual Bikeathons

Virtual Bikeathons

Much like virtual walkathons, bikeathon fundraisers can be run virtually with just a few tweaks. Biking is a great socially distant sport, so some kids may even bike together. Students create a fundraising page and commit to biking in support of the school.

Virtual Reading Challenges

Virtual Reading Challenges

Readathons are a great way to keep kids busy during COVID and raise money for your school at the same time. All you need to do is set up the Athon website, where students can track the number of books or pages read. Donors make contributions based on the reading results and top fundraisers are highlighted.

Charity Auctions

Charity Auctions

All you need are some great auction items and our software. Simply create your fundraising auction website and add unlimited auction categories and items. Set the time for online bidding to start and begin advertising your auction. Bids are made online and via text to bid.

Food Delivery Campaigns

Food Delivery Campaigns

Since many people are staying in to promote social distancing, why not sell groceries or other items online and deliver them right to your supporters? Create and sell online food packages with a theme – for example Italian Night or Mexican Night. Get PTO members and supporters to volunteer and deliver the packages.

Virtual Watch Parties

Virtual Watch Parties

Select an educational movie or documentary to share with students. Supporters can register on your website to watch the movie and buy popcorn or other movie treats. You can launch the watch party with a live stream presentation, letting parents and kids know what to look for and discuss after the film. Generally, users watch the movie on their own streaming device.

Why do these events make the best fundraisers for schools?

How did we pick these events above others and why are they the absolute best fundraisers for schools? The best school fundraisers have certain criteria in common.school campaigns

  • First, these events are fun! Fundraisers should be enjoyable for kids and families alike. Why not enjoy raising money?
  • School fundraising campaigns should enforce the ideals and lessons that we want our children to learn. Parents and teachers know that children are like sponges, and every opportunity to teach them counts.
  • Building on that, fundraising events can be educational and culturally enriching. The spelling bee, film festival, and concert series are examples here.
  • School fundraisers should be healthy. Notice that there are no candy or cookie dough sales here. Why promote these types of unhealthy activities when so many of our children are already overweight and out of shape? Instead, many of our picks for best school fundraisers (such as walk-a-thons and spin-a-thons) are active events that promote exercise and healthy competition.
  • The best school fundraisers must allow schools to raise a significant amount of funds, to meet their fundraising goals. Of course, depending on the goals and available resources, some events will be more lucrative than others. Be sure to determine your fundraising goals as a place to start.


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