4 Profitable School Fundraisers Any Campus Can Host

As a school leader, you know your institution's duty is to fund students’ learning opportunities so they can grow. However, it can be difficult to find unique, engaging fundraising opportunities that appeal to your specific school community.

Whether you’re educating aspiring artists, engineers, or entrepreneurial trailblazers, you need profitable school fundraising ideas that are easy to implement and participate in. This guide will explore several fundraisers you can add to your strategy to boost revenue and fuel your educational programming.

1. Auctions

Your school is part of a broader local community. Leveraging this community can make your fundraising efforts more cost-effective and profitable—especially if you source local donations for exciting fundraising auctions.

By auctioning off items tied to your local area, your school will provide more relevant opportunities for school families and community members that encourage them to get involved. For example, you may incorporate the following items into your next auction:

Discounts. Partner with local businesses and establishments to auction off items like discount cards (physical cards that offer various discounts to local vendors) or gift certificates for specific services. These deal-related items entice winning bidders to visit and support local entities, presenting a win for your school and the community at large.
Tutoring services. Whether you have young students struggling to memorize multiplication tables or older students preparing for college, tutoring services can be an extremely valuable auction item for school families. Additionally, you can support local tutors by connecting them with winners and other interested students.
Experiences. Tickets to local events or experiences can also encourage families to get more involved in their community. For example, the hosts of an upcoming fall festival in your town may donate four tickets to your auction to promote their event.

As you prepare for your auction, consider how to streamline the experience. You may offer mobile bidding so participants can place bids from anywhere and easily keep track of each item they’re interested in.

2. Product Fundraisers

Instead of simply collecting money from school families and community members, product fundraisers involve selling products in exchange for donations. Not only does your school raise funds, but participants also receive tangible items they can use (or eat!).

This type of fundraiser allows your school to get creative, selling various enticing products like:

Branded merchandise. Sell t-shirts, hats, water bottles, and tote bags featuring your school’s logo to spread school spirit. Make this fundraiser even more fun by hosting a contest where students can submit their own designs, and the winning student receives a prize.
Food. Candy, cookie dough, pretzels, popcorn, and many other snack ideas appeal to almost anyone—especially hungry students! Sell these snacks at school lunches and during sports games to maximize funds for your cause. Alternatively, invite students to participate in the fundraising by selling food to their families and neighbors.
Seasonal items. Help students, families, and friends prepare for different seasons with relevant items, such as wrapping paper in the winter and flowers in the spring. They’ll appreciate securing the items they need while simultaneously helping your school.

To ensure your products appeal to your target audience, survey them beforehand. ABC Fundraising’s school fundraiser guide recommends creating a parent fundraising committee to receive regular input from school families and assistance with the fundraising process.

Once you’ve chosen your product, work with a product fundraising provider to create an online store to streamline sales and increase your reach. Promote the fundraiser on social media with photos and videos that showcase your products and stir up excitement.

3. A-Thon Events

Encourage student participation by hosting a fun event that puts them at the center of the action. A-thon fundraisers engage students by inviting them to complete a challenge in exchange for pledged donations from friends and family.

Popular a-thon fundraising ideas include:

Read-a-thons. Have students collect donations based on the total minutes, pages, chapters, or books they read. 99Pledges’ read-a-thon fundraising guide explains that this type of fundraiser not only generates revenue but also improves reading comprehension and builds a love of reading among students.
Dance-a-thons. During a dance-a-thon, donors pledge a certain amount of money for each half-hour or hour that a student dances. Then, your students will dance until they can’t anymore! For example, Pennsylvania State University hosts an annual dance-a-thon called THON. This 46-hour student-run dance marathon has raised more than $236 million since 1977 to support children and families impacted by childhood cancer.
Bike-a-thons. Students who enjoy an athletic challenge might want to show off their skills in a bike-a-thon. Like a dance-a-thon, they’ll collect donations for each mile biked and challenge themselves to ride as far as possible.

Create an event landing page on your website to provide more information about the event for interested participants and donors. This page can also streamline donations by accepting donors’ payment information online for pledges and automatically charging their cards based on students’ participation.

4. Competitions

Leverage the thrill of a challenge by hosting a competition fundraiser. After all, the most effective fundraising ideas make participants eager to get involved, and there’s no better way to do that than by appealing to their competitive spirit. For example, you might host a:

Trivia night. Quiz participants on their favorite topics and offer a prize to the winning trivia team. You might raise money through registration fees, snacks at the event, or local sponsorships.
Sports game. Invite students to play a game, like soccer or basketball, or participate in a tournament. They’ll donate to play and be placed on a team, or they can make a larger donation and coordinate their own teams. You can raise additional funds by selling tickets and concessions to audience members.
Talent show. Encourage students to show off their unique talents in a show. Find volunteers to serve as your panel of judges and sell tickets to audience members. Consider adopting volunteer management software to inform volunteers of their roles and provide a centralized place to take notes.

You might also host competitions relevant to your fundraising goal. For example, a fundraiser to build a new playground might raise money through a scavenger hunt around the old playground where families pay to participate.

Any campus can host a profitable fundraiser when it chooses an idea that engages its audience. Bring variety to your campaigns and revitalize your fundraising efforts with creative ideas.

Special thanks to Debbie Salat for the expert advice. Debbie is the director of fundraising activities and product development at ABC Fundraising(r) - Debbie joined ABC Fundraising(r) in 2010 and is responsible for launching over 6500 fundraising campaigns for schools, churches, youth sports teams and non-profit organizations all across the USA. With over 20 years of fundraising experience, Debbie knows the path to success for fundraisers which she shares with groups on a daily basis so they can achieve their fundraising goals.