High School Band Fundraising Ideas That Actually Work

Too often, a thriving school music program can fall victim to financial pressures. If your school is lucky enough to have a music teacher and a band, you’ll likely still need to raise funds to pay for instruments, uniforms, concerts, travel, and more. The good news is that it’s easy for band members to quickly assemble a fundraising team. With the power of band members’ combined social networks and crowdfunding, you can join forces to raise the funds you need. If you haven’t already, create a fundraiser for your school band. Add in some band t-shirts, a fundraising event, and other fun and effective high school band fundraising ideas, and you’ll be ready to rock.

Start a high school band fundraiser

Fundraising for band is its own form of enrichment

Instead of approaching fundraising as a necessary chore, make it fun—bring the same spirit to fundraising that you do to band. Use your fundraising fundraiser as an opportunity to bring band members closer, and to bring the student body closer to the band. Fundraising can also offer students valuable lessons.

  • Learning how to raise funds for a cause is a valuable skill that band members can take with them and use long after graduation.
  • Working with other students to create and effectively run a fundraiser is an opportunity to learn people skills and teamwork.
  • Band members will develop a greater appreciation for opportunities when they know how much effort it took to make them happen.

Five ideas for high school band fundraisers

1. Fundraising concert

You already have a band and you’re ready to play, right? Throw a fundraising concert at the school.

  • The cost of admission is a donation to your fundraiser. (The GoFundMe app makes it easy to accept donations at the concert on any smartphone or tablet.)
  • Play fun songs and serve refreshments and treats.
  • Invite students, parents, faculty, and the local community to join in.
  • Some school districts raise money for each year’s music programs by hosting annual outdoor concerts in the summer or early fall.

2. Community yard sale

Reach out to students, parents, neighbors, neighborhood associations, and your local community.

  • Ask everyone to clean out their garages and closets and donate items to your band fundraiser.
  • Gather everything up and hold your yard sale at school, or at a park or community center—even someone’s house.
  • All payments for goods can be made as donations to your fundraiser, in cash or directly through GoFundMe on a mobile device.

3. Benefit picnic

A benefit picnic is a fun way for your supporters to relax and enjoy a nice meal while raising funds for the band.

  • With help from parents and faculty, each member of the band can bring a different food or drink item to the picnic.
  • Ask for donations as the price of admission.
  • This idea is easy to combine with an outdoor concert—see our suggestions above.

4. Music-themed movie night

Host a movie night in the school gymnasium or auditorium. The school is likely to have a projector, screen, and sound system available.

  • Invite students, siblings, and parents to attend.
  • Accept donations as the price of admission.
  • To increase your take, charge more for drinks, popcorn, and candy.

Show a movie about music like The Sound of Music, School of Rock, West Side Story, or Sing!

5. Community sports event

Baseball, basketball, soccer, and other team tournaments are popular sports fundraising event options.

  • Promote the event by posting and handing out flyers at school, the local community center, cafés, and other community hubs.
  • Have the band form a team and participate, or play music during the tournament.
  • Have players and/or teams raise pledges—commitments to donate a certain amount for, say, points scored.
  • Ask for donations as the prices of admission. Sell concessions for additional donations.
  • To raise even more, ask a local business to sponsor the event and match your total donations.

Get ready to start the music

Whatever fundraising ideas your band embraces, share your fundraiser on social media and email—you can do so right from your GoFundMe fundraiser. Promote your fundraiser to your local community by adding your fundraiser URL and event info to community calendars and bulletin boards, as well as posting announcements on your school or band website.

For more great suggestions, check out our fundraising ideas page. If you haven’t already started a fundraiser, create one now—you can begin withdrawing funds as soon as you start receiving donations. Start your fundraiser today.