School Fundraising Ideas That Work

1. Fancy dress day

Give children rein on what they choose to dress up as, or come up with a theme once a term. Examples could include Disney, ‘What I Want To Be When I Grow Up’, and Halloween in autumn. A classic of the primary school fundraising ideas in the UK genre.

2. Sponsored bounce

Few things get children more excited than a huge bouncy castle. Hire one and run a sponsored non-stop bounce, with the kids taking turns to keep the bouncing going. Before the bounce, give the children sponsor forms to collect as many sponsors as they can in a bid to win a prize for the most sponsors.

Make sure parents sign forms stating that the school will not accept responsibility for injury and obtain an insurance certificate from the bouncy castle operators. If this sounds like too much faff, please parents with a sponsored silence.

3. Carol singing

Christmas is a smart time to ramp up your school fundraising as the festive spirit in the air may encourage people to give more generously. Take a group of cute school children carol singing in the local community and the donations are sure to roll in. Consider selling mince pies and hot chocolate, or tree decorations and cards made by the kids, to passers-by. Print out some spare song sheets so they can join in.

4. Cake sale

For some school fundraising UK-style, consider a cake sale. The Great British Bake Off has inspired many an amateur baker, so give parents the chance to show off their skills (or hit the local supermarket!) with a classic cake sale.

Children will enjoy getting involved with making and decorating cakes. Less so with the washing up.

5. Smarties challenge

Give every child a tube of Smarties and ask them to bring it back empty of smarties, but full of loose change (that they’ve asked their parents for first, of course) if they can. Smarties tubes can hold £12-worth of 20p pieces, but even tubes full of 5ps, 10ps and pennies will quickly tot up.

Don’t make this a competition to raise the most money, as that puts too much pressure on parents, especially those with multiple children at the school. One alternative, suggested on mumsnet, is to offer a prize for the best-decorated tube. Or you could give children a fortnight to ‘earn’ as many coins as they could by doing jobs around the house.

6. Crowdfund your way to success

One of the easiest ways to harness the power of your primary school fundraising community is through starting a GoFundMe. There’s no greater example of parent power than in school WhatsApp groups, which are a great place to share your GoFundMe campaign.

Parents have even used GoFundMe to raise money for teachers, like at Rugby Primary who raised £36,000 to help a teacher struck by a mystery illness walk again.

1. Fundraising contest

Spark interest and excitement for fundraising among students by getting them to join forces with some friends, come up with a team name, settle on a school fundraising project and compete with other groups to raise the most money possible and win a prize.

2. Get revenge on teacher

Teachers can play a big role in any school fundraising efforts by being good sports willing to do silly things for money! Set a fundraising target which, if met, means a teacher has to follow through on a promise. Promises could include getting a crazy haircut or having a cream pie rubbed into their face.

3. Disco

Pupils from the younger years will enjoy the chance to dress up and party with their friends, albeit with some parents or teachers lurking in the background. School gyms are big enough to invite everybody – and maybe even a guest school or two.

Get hold of some disco lights and speakers and make your own Spotify playlist to save money on a DJ. Enlist some sixth-formers to help sell reduced-price tickets in advance, full-price tickets on the door and sell soft drinks and sweets on the night.

4. Book swap

Fundraising ideas that also serve educational purposes are win-win for schools. Encourage pupils to keep reading by asking them to bring in books they’ve read or no longer want. If they bring in a small donation, they can choose a ‘new’ one from the table to take home.

5. Spy ring

Every student pays to enter and receive the name of the student they have to ‘catch’. Once caught, that student hands over the name of the student they were trying to catch. This continues until there is only one spy standing, who is proclaimed the winner! Spy ring works particularly well in big schools where detective work is involved to find out who your target is. Teachers getting involved makes for some amusing teacher-pupil lunch-time chases through the corridors, but you might want to put a ban on dining room chases or mid-lesson catches!

6. Start a GoFundMe

You can help your school out with funding through a GoFundMe page. That’s what parents at Woodrush school in Birmingham did when their boiler broke, leaving the school threatened with closure.