Profitable PTA and PTO Fundraising Ideas for Schools

Discover the Best Ideas and Resources for PTO School Fundraising Initiatives
Get Started with Easy Online and Virtual Fundraising Campaigns for Your PTO

PTA Fundraising, PTA FundraisersPTA and PTO groups offer assistance to teachers and school staff, raise funds for supplemental educational materials and experiences, support school and family social interaction, and provide a forum for sharing information on issues that impact children and youth. 

While fundraising is an integral part of school PTOs, it can be difficult to determine the best ways to raise money. Fun, lucrative PTO fundraising ideas are needed to get families excited and accomplish your goals.

DoJiggy is here to make your PTO fundraising easy with the best, free fundraising platform for school and PTO fundraising campaigns.

Top 12 PTO and PTA Fundraising Ideas

Many PTAs and schools stick to the old standards – like candy bar sales and Box Tops 4 Education campaigns. While these campaigns can be lucrative, creative school and PTA fundraising ideas set your fundraising team apart from the crowd and help you raise more. That’s why we’ve created a whole page loaded with the best fundraisers for schools to help get your PTO organization started planning a successful fundraiser.

Here are 12+ of our favorite fundraising ideas that work great for PTAs and school crowdfunding events.

School PTO Walk-a-thons or Fun Runs

School Walk-a-thons or Fun Runs

Organize a school walk-a-thon or Fun Run – a healthy PTO fundraising idea! Fun Runs are one of the most common and successful PTO fundraising events we see. Kids love to run!

Color Run Fundraiser

Color Run Fundraisers

Make it even more fun for kids with a walkathon theme, such as a Color Run fundraiser. Color runs are a great way to get middle and high school students excited about the PTO fundraiser.

Reading Fundraisers are the best for PTO fundraising

Reading Fundraisers

Reading challenges or read-a-thons promote literacy and a love of reading in children. Top fundraisers can receive prizes or gift certificates from a local bookstore as an incentive for participating.

Serve-a-thons are awesome PTO fundraising experiences

Serve-a-thons

Serve-a-thons are community service events that get students to help out in the community. Plan an event that students can complete in one day – a painting project, helping in a homeless shelter, or reading to the elderly.

Just Ask Campaigns

Just Ask Campaigns

Just Ask Campaigns, utilizing our free donation websites with recurring donations, are a great way to easily raise money. With these programs, the PTO asks parents for a monthly donation, and donation software is key to your success.

School Carnivals

School Carnivals

School carnivals with outdoor games, bounce houses, refreshments, and live music are always a family hit for elementary PTO groups. These events build community and are a great way to recruit new parents and members to the PTO.

Car Washes

Car Washes

Car washes are a classic fundraising idea that everyone can participate in and enjoy. Some groups add an area to wash dogs at the same time. Have the kids prepare sandwiches, offer drinks, and include a bake sale to raise more money.

Obstacle Courses

Obstacle Courses

Older kids love obstacle courses. With the help of the school’s Physical Education teacher and willing parents (especially those with a military or veteran background), an obstacle course fundraiser can be created right in your school’s backyard.

Fundraising Raffles are popular for PTA fundraising

Fundraising Raffles

Fundraising raffles make great virtual fundraising campaigns for PTOs. With our online raffle platform, you can use peer-to-peer fundraising features to sell raffle tickets. This means you can create a competition for the top fundraising students and classes.

Dance-a-thon

Dance-a-thons

Try hosting a dance party or dance-a-thon for your PTO. Again, creating a theme and encouraging students and teachers to dress up for the event will add to the fun. Decorate the gym and bring on the DJ! Students raise money online to participate.

Fundraising Sales

Fundraising Sales

Ask students to sell frozen pizzas, spirit wear, coffee, treats, and virtually anything families need. Our peer to peer eCommerce stores allow PTOs to track fundraising sales by student or classroom and award prizes to top sellers.

Bike-a-thons are great PTA fundraisers

Bike-a-thons

Have the kids bring their bikes and zoom around having fun with a bike-a-thon fundraiser. Little kids can bring tricycles for a trike-a-thon. Family members will love to support the kids with donations for their biking efforts. 

Looking for Online or Virtual PTO Fundraising Ideas?

Of course, you are! Many PTOs have been hit hard financially by canceled fundraising events due to COVID-19. By reworking your fundraising strategies, your school organization can successfully raise money online. To do this, you’ll need safe and effective virtual fundraising campaigns.

We’ve compiled this list of the best virtual fundraising ideas for school PTO groups.

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 start selling in no time.

Fundraising Raffles

Online Raffles

Online raffles are the perfect way to raise money for many PTO groups. 50/50 cash raffles make it so easy, and you don’t even have to get prizes donated. Our raffle software can randomly select and notify winners. 

Virtual Bikeathons

Virtual Bikeathons

Bikeathon fundraisers can be run virtually with just a few tweaks. Biking is a great socially distant sport, so kids may even bike together. Students create a fundraising page for donations and commit to biking to support the school.

Virtual Reading Challenges

Virtual Reading Challenges

Readathons get kids reading and raising money for the PTO at the same time. All you need to do is set up the Athon website, where students 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 food packages online and deliver them to your supporters? Create and sell 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 register to watch the movie and buy popcorn or other treats on your website. You can launch the watch party with a live stream, letting parents and kids know what to look for and discuss after the film. Users watch the movie on their own streaming devices.

Our Online and Virtual Fundraising Platform Works for Schools and PTOs

Our virtual fundraising platform has the tools your group needs – for free! Whether you are planning a Fun Run, fundraising raffle, online product sales, charity fundraising auction, or a virtual movie watch party, we can do it with you. There are lots of innovative features included for school fundraising during COVID:

PTO Fundraising Ideas During COVID
  • A fundraising home page that links to all your school fundraising campaigns and events
  • A free Live Stream platform for virtual and hybrid fundraising events
  • Text to Donate (US organizations and phones only)
  • Ability to incorporate peer to peer fundraising with personal and team fundraising pages into more campaign types, such as online sales campaigns and raffles
  • Recurring donations integrated into the P2P and crowdfunding model
  • Donor perks can be given to crowdfunding donors at pre-defined levels (ie, donate $100 and get a free t-shirt)
  • Mobile giving support, like secure payments via digital wallets (ApplePay and GooglePay)

Important PTO Fundraising Considerations

Creating an annual fundraising plan is a great way to start the school year. Parents, teachers, and administrators should work together to determine goals, set budgets, manage timelines, and organize the details of PTO fundraising campaigns. Consider these factors in your planning efforts to help make your school’s fundraisers successful:

Important PTO Fundraising Considerations
  • What age are the students? Consider what students are interested in and capable of doing prior to selecting your fundraising events. You want to spark your children’s interest with a fundraising campaign.
  • What is your budget for producing a fundraiser? Is there a PTO fund that you can utilize? What are the upfront costs, and how will your organization cover these?
  • What are your fundraising goals? How will funds be used?
  • What resources do you have to work with, including parents, volunteers, local business and media relationships that can assist with sponsorships, advertising, and marketing of your PTO/PTA fundraising efforts?
  • What tools, including fundraising software, will your PTA use to collect donations and manage all the planning details of your PTA/PTO fundraising campaigns?
  • What fundraising ideas does your group have? What events have you tried before? Which campaigns have been successful, and what has failed?
  • When is the best time of year for PTO events? Hosting a large fall fundraiser to kick off the year when everyone is fresh is the most common for PTA groups. Determine if this timing works for your school calendar and find other campaigns you might include throughout the school year.
  • What are your plans for promoting your PTO/PTA fundraising events? Networking, social media, community relationships, local businesses, your school website, event calendars, email blasts, website links, school gatherings, and more can provide opportunities for sharing.
  • What message and skills are you teaching students through your fundraiser? Are you choosing healthy options or selling cookie dough? Kids notice these things.
  • How will you motivate participants? Will there be prizes or awards for top performers and classrooms? How much competition is your community comfortable with promoting?

Building a Sense of Community is Key to PTO and PTA Groups

Volunteering builds community for school groupsA morning coffee meeting is a great way to start the PTA fundraising year, as it brings parents together in a relaxed atmosphere where they can focus on raising money for a good cause. After dropping their children off at school, parents gather for coffee and a selection of artisan pastries. Discuss the importance of helping your school and community through PTO fundraising. Regular follow-up meetings (in the evenings) allow those who cannot attend the first meeting to contribute and get involved.

See this article for more ideas on how to engage parents in PTO fundraising campaigns.

While most schools and PTO fundraisers aim to raise funds for your school, fundraisers for a local nonprofit organization or cause are also a great way to get your school community working together. Your school can make a difference in your community while cementing a great team for future PTA fundraising. Community work teaches youth to be concerned citizens when parents and teachers encourage them to think about the struggles of others and get inspired to do something about it. Some charities will be happy to promote shared fundraising with PTA teams in that a percentage of the funds would go to your school. 

Is There a Difference Between PTO and PTA Groups and Fundraising Strategies?

Moms rock PTA fundraising campaignsThe mission of PTA (Parent-Teacher Association) and PTO (Parent-Teacher Organization) groups is to establish a connection between home and school by advancing the opportunity for parents to become involved in the fabric of their school community. These parent groups can also be called Parent Advisory Councils (PACs), especially in Canada.

School PTA and PTO organizations are both dedicated to enriching and supporting the lives of children, parents, and educators. The difference between PTO and PTA groups is determined by whether the group is affiliated with the National PTA or is an independent group (PTO). Nearly 75% of parent groups are independent PTOs. Local groups that choose to belong to the PTA must pay dues and abide by state and national group rules. In return, they get member benefits and a voice in the operations of the larger organization. PTO is a more generic term and represents groups independent of the National PTA. These groups typically concern themselves with what’s going on within their school or school district. 

School fundraising is a primary focus for these groups, though the California State PTA standards and others advise using the 3-to-1 Rule. That is, at least three non-fundraising programs should be aimed at helping children or advocating for school improvements for every fundraiser.

There is little difference between a PTO and a PTA organization as far as fundraising strategies. Both host similar fundraising events and provide resources, communication, and encouragement for school and community involvement. PTO and PTA organizations support and speak on behalf of children and youth in their schools and before government agencies and other organizations that make decisions affecting children.

More PTA and School Fundraising Resources

High School Fundraising IdeasLoads more great School Fundraising resources and ideas to boost PTO fundraising efforts for your school are available on our website. Whether you are a parent looking for elementary school fundraisers or high school fundraising ideas, a sports coach, or an art teacher, we have compiled a set of free resources to help support lucrative school fundraising campaigns. Our list of school fundraising ideas and resources has been developed from hands-on experience helping hundreds of schools across the US and Canada raise money through online fundraising.

If your school is looking for fundraisers that work, check out our school fundraising resources and fundraising software today.

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