School Fundraising Ideas That Work

Primary school fundraising ideas

It’s important when school fundraising to remember that students’ ages and abilities can vary widely. 

A primary school-aged child and a teenager won’t be able to do the same things, but that doesn’t mean you should be limited. 

Rather, you just need to tailor your fundraising for each age group. 

Below are some good fundraising ideas for school. 

1. Fancy dress day

Give children free 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 genre.

H2. 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 hassle, why not treat parents to 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 Ireland-style, consider a cake sale. 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 sweets 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. Sweeties tubes can hold coins and these can quickly top 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.

Secondary school fundraising ideas

Like primary school children, secondary school fundraising should be tailored to reflect the age of the students raising money and taking part. 

This should differ slightly to younger kids, as there’s more age appropriate things you can do. 

Here are some of the examples. 

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!

PTA school fundraising ideas

Parents and teachers can get involved together to help fundraise in schools. 

There’s plenty of ways both groups can collaborate together to raise funds – both in school and in the community. 

Here’s some of the easiest ways to do this. 

1. Clothes swap

Shopping environmentally is all the rage, so organising a clothes swap in the school gym with an entry fee is one of the best PTA fundraising ideas. Everybody brings clothes in good condition that they no longer want, browse the rails and take home the same number of clothes that they brought. If they want to take home more, charge a little extra per item. Spread the word with posters around the local area. Guests will be paying peanuts for a new wardrobe, meaning this event is bound to be popular.

2. Quiz time

Bit of a boffin when it comes to general knowledge? Used to winning big at your local pub? One of the most popular PTA fundraising ideas, parents will love showing off at a termly quiz night and might even be willing to buy a ticket for the privilege.

3. School cookbook

Source family recipes from staff and put together a cookbook, noting which recipe came from whom and the story behind it. Kids will love finding out more about their teachers and parents will welcome fresh inspiration for meal-times. It’s easy to find an online publisher to print books from digital pages that you can then sell to parents.

4. Pamper morning

Offer manicures and gentle head, neck and shoulder massages to weary parents for a small fee after the school drop-off. Make use of a classroom and supply some tea, coffee and pastries. Elevate your event by inviting local therapists to offer their services at a reduced fee in exchange for promotion among local mums.

5. PTA vs pupils football match

A sports match is a fantastic way to raise funds and engage the local community.

It’s a good chance to get lots of people involved. This can include teachers, parents, friends of the school and the wider community. 

You can also explore the idea of doing a teacher vs students fun match. 

Crowdfund your way to success

Crowdfunding is the perfect way to implement your chosen school fundraising idea. 

Here, we want to talk about the benefits of crowdfunding and why it works specifically for schools. 

There are many benefits of using GoFundMe to do this. We can be with you every step of the way while you fundraise. 

GoFundMe is a trusted leader in online fundraising. With simple pricing and a team of Trust & Safety experts in your corner, you can raise money or make a donation with peace of mind.

Here are some good examples of when people have used GoFundMe for school fundraising before. 

Little Hadham Primary School

This is a perfect example of tailoring fundraising to suit an age group. A primary school organised for the children to run around their school field with colour to raise funds for a good cause. 

Hundreds were raised as a result. 

Pupils in Baltydaniel National School

The community rallied together to raise thousands of Euros to purchase a Cubbie, an innovative solution that would be immensely beneficial to the children in the school. 

Appealing to the local community, parents and teachers alike were able to raise funds and keep people engaged. 

Mary Queen of angels 1 – autism class, sensory room upgrade.

Taking on the Dublin Marathon to raise money, this fundraiser had a school at the heart of its mission. 

Two runners took on the challenge in order to raise funds for sensory rooms and were able to uitlise their local network of teachers, friends and the school community.