PTO Fundraiser ideas - please help

[left210]

I am looking for ideas for PTO fundraisers. We currently do an annual fall festival and a live auction. We are hitting the pavement looking for donations and have done some online requests. Any recommendations on companies who typically donate? Also, we are looking into the scrip program to try this year. Any other successful fundraisers your school has done that you could share? Has anyone ever done a 5K run or anything like that? Do you charge an entry fee or how do you make money on those?

 

[zoemurr]

I am looking for ideas for PTO fundraisers. We currently do an annual fall festival and a live auction. We are hitting the pavement looking for donations and have done some online requests. Any recommendations on companies who typically donate? Also, we are looking into the scrip program to try this year. Any other successful fundraisers your school has done that you could share? Has anyone ever done a 5K run or anything like that? Do you charge an entry fee or how do you make money on those?

Is this for elementary school? Ours had a very cute one but it would really only work for younger kids. Each teacher donated something. For most it was time. Win a 30min bbgame with the principal and the gym teacher. Do a special project with the art teacher after school, have lunch and a game with a teacher, etc. Some gave baskets of books or small gift cards. Kids bought tickets for the items they wanted to win. It was very successful and didn't take a lot of time/energy to get donations or plan.

Also, my favorite fundraiser is, "If enough families donate $20 then we won't need another fundraiser."

 

[SLK1]

I'm a PTA President. We do a Silent Auction and make a lot from that - we have done it in conjunction with a Spring Carnival and once at a Fall Festival. This year we are toning things down and doing the auction with an outdoor Movie Night and I just hope we get people to come out and bid!

You have to use all the parent connections you have. You can also go door to door with your donation request letter and speak to managers of local restaurants and businesses. Do it early though because many have to go through corporate offices.

Here is a list I found recently which might help too. Two years ago we were able to get a Keurig donated from Green Mountain, but now they limit it to a certain geographical areas, so maybe you can try that too if you qualify.

http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/35-auctions/162275-2013-ultimate-donation-list

Another thing we do, which brings in a ton, is to have a Teacher Time auction. Each teacher donates lunch with students, or movies with students, or something like that (Teacher for a Day, Principal for a Day), or you can do reserved parking spots, tickets to an event, etc. and parents bid on that for their kids. Of course the popular teachers bring in the most!

Good luck!

 

[left210]

Is this for elementary school? Ours had a very cute one but it would really only work for younger kids. Each teacher donated something. For most it was time. Win a 30min bbgame with the principal and the gym teacher. Do a special project with the art teacher after school, have lunch and a game with a teacher, etc. Some gave baskets of books or small gift cards. Kids bought tickets for the items they wanted to win. It was very successful and didn't take a lot of time/energy to get donations or plan.

Also, my favorite fundraiser is, "If enough families donate $20 then we won't need another fundraiser."

The funds support all grades but the festival is targeted more towards elementary kids based on the current games we have. We do have a prinicpal for the day auction but could incorporate more things with teachers. Great idea. Unfortunately we live in a small community and also have a high low income family ratio so many cannot donate a set amount. Thanks for the ideas.

 

[Jedana]

Oiy, my son's school does a fund raiser every month, from September to May.

Some of the things they do:
cookie dough sales
wrapping paper sales
magazine sales
coupon book sales

School Carnival (each grade level ran a game; bouncy houses; they sold snacks, and dinner plates--one year was BBQ, another hamburger/hot dogs, last year was pizza) The PTA paid for everything, and recouped the money through ticket and dinner sales. They also do a silent auction with items donated from local businesses and families, and get the money from those.

McDonald's is less than 1/2 mile from the school, and one night a month, they do a fundraising night for us. Each month is a different grade level or special---for example, January is 6th grade, February is art class, etc. We get 1/2 proceeds from that night, no flier needed. Those funds go directly to whatever grade/special they are raised for, and help pay for supplies or field trips.

Movie night---One night in early December, the teachers come in and run this. The parents can drop off the kids 5pm-9pm. Pizza and salad for dinner, popcorn during the movie, and games before the movie. I think they charged $25 last year.

Fun Run--kids get sponsors and run laps.

 

[Pigeon]

Given that you are in a low income area, I would look to see if there are businesses that donate and do a drive to get your families (and their relatives) registered. For example, our local grocery chain makes a donation for people who have their loyalty card. You have to get the families to designate your school as the recipient. Target does something similar for their Red Card holders.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Our big fundraiser is our Fall Gala. It's an adults only night with a silent auction, DJ & food. It is a lot of work and we work a long time on getting donations. Two things to keep in mind about getting donations from companies - almost all have a 60 day+ out window and most do their donating early in the year. We start donation requests in January for our Gala in November.

We do a Lap-a-thon where students can either get per lap or flat rate donations. We've talked about possibly doing a 5K instead this coming year and yes, we would collect entry fees.

We do dine & donates with local restaurants. Those are easy and bring in a fair amount. Our local bowling alley & skate rink participate, as does Chuck E. Cheese and other restaurants.

We do the typical wrapping paper/cookie dough ones, but I hate those personally and find they don't bring in a lot of money.

We are a low income school for the most part, so I understand your struggle. We do have parents who will step up and help with their time though, so things like after school ice cream sales and tamale sales always do well.

 

[Wendy31]

I would contact some local restaurants & see if any do fund-raising nights.

I know our local Chuck-E-Cheese's sponsors fund-raising nights for local schools.

Also, our swim team hosted a pancake breakfast at Applebee's - all you can eat pancake breakfast for $5, & I think we got around $3.00 for every breakfast.

Some of our local gas stations also have "spirit pumps" for local schools - if you use that particular pump, then a portion goes to the school.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Just going to add my thoughts as a mom of 3 who is finally done with fundraising.

Believe me, in all those years, we've done all of them, cookie dough, book fairs, carnivals, popcorn, Christmas wrap, and on and on.

My all time favorites were the "No Fundraiser Fundraiser". We mailed/sent letters to all the students parents and said, "Instead of making you hit up all your relatives to purchase stuff that they don't need, at high cost, with minimal return to the school, we're just going to ask everyone to donate a cash sum. That way you know all that money is going to the group you want it to." I worked so well, we did it for the next 2 years.

I also liked the Carl's Jr coupon books that we sold a few years for the high school band.

 

[Pigeon]

One of our local shopping malls does something around the holidays where you can bring your shopping receipts to the mall office and they will contribute a percentage to the school of your choice.

 

[jam217]

The best fundraiser my son's elementary school did was selling grocery store gift cards. The purchasers got the full purchase price of the gift card and the school received a percentage of the total sales.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Walmart does community matching grants. You need to be familiar with the quarterly schedule of your local walmart and it is best to submit on the first day of their fiscal quarter. They match funds you raise up to $1000. Depending upon number of requests, you may get a full $1000 grand or a fraction of it (25
-50%).

For a 5K--you need to bring in a Running store that will loan the equipment you need and facilitate the event. Your job would then be to promote the event, get door prizes, trophies/medals, etc. The person who organized a fundraiser 5K for our church (to raise money for a veterans organization) was able to solicit enough prizes to use those as the awards for category and overall winners in lieu of hardware.

Make sure the course is officially measured. Courses too short or too long are irritating. ;-)

I think fundraisers that seek community involvement and provide a source of entertainment are better than the usual "go sell this or that".

Best of luck!

 

[Stephaniesue]

My kids' schools do Spaghetti night, they have local restaurants donate all the food and paper goods and charge 5 bucks per person to get in.

They had every class room donate items and they used them to put together huge baskets to raffle off. This particular fundraiser was used to help my son's 3rd grade teacher who was battling Colon Cancer. They did very well.

Our boy scout troop did a Flower Power fund raiser (you can find info online I am sure) they sold flower bulbs and made a killing off those.

They also did a Little Ceasar's pizza fund raiser where they sold pizza kits. We did pretty well on those too. I'm not sure if these are available in your area, but it's worth a few minutes to look into!

 

[tcufrog]

One our most popular fundraisers is Bingo Night. The PTO serves an inexpensive meal and solicits small items for prizes. A small amount pays for your meal and one Bingo card. You can pay extra for more Bingo cards. This fundraiser is very popular and the gym where it's held always fills up.

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

Two years ago our school brought in a program called Booster-thon.

Our school was very successful with the initial trail year and pulled in 23k.

Last spring, almost every other elem school in the district used the program. This spring our school pulled in over 28k.

It was so successful that the PTO cancelled all the other fundraisers planned, or had other groups host the fundraisers.

Our middle school, IMO, has the tackiest fundraiser of all.
They send home an envelope and ask each student to ask friends and family to just give cash, so that each student sends back at least $50.

 

[zoemurr]

Our middle school, IMO, has the tackiest fundraiser of all.
They send home an envelope and ask each student to ask friends and family to just give cash, so that each student sends back at least $50.

I don't think that is tacky at all. I would much rather that then buying $50 worth of crap I don't need and the school only nets $15. If every family did that then a few people wouldn't have to spend hours and hours planning these elaborate galas, 5Ks and auctions. I realize though that in OPs case that is not feasible. In my district I believe most every family could easily afford this, yet they keep pushing overpriced wrapping paper, coupon books and cookie dough. We just send in $.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I don't think that is tacky at all. I would much rather that then buying $50 worth of crap I don't need and the school only nets $15. If every family did that then a few people wouldn't have to spend hours and hours planning these elaborate galas, 5Ks and auctions. I realize though that in OPs case that is not feasible. In my district I believe most every family could easily afford this, yet they keep pushing overpriced wrapping paper, coupon books and cookie dough. We just send in $.

Yes. That's why I said that my all-time favorite fundraiser was the "No Fundraiser Fundraiser" my kid's elementary school did.

I don't mind giving cash, when I know the whole thing is going to the school, which is what I'm supporting. Not some random cheap wrapping paper company that makes a much larger profit than the small percentage they're kicking back to the school. And then I don't have bunch of cheap calendars, wrapping paper or cookie dough that no one really likes anyway.

 

[Pigeon]

I don't think that is tacky at all. I would much rather that then buying $50 worth of crap I don't need and the school only nets $15. If every family did that then a few people wouldn't have to spend hours and hours planning these elaborate galas, 5Ks and auctions. I realize though that in OPs case that is not feasible. In my district I believe most every family could easily afford this, yet they keep pushing overpriced wrapping paper, coupon books and cookie dough. We just send in $.

Amen

 

[JustineMarie]

Our PTA runs a "Parent's Night Out". They do it on a weeknight during the first or second week of December. The parents drop their kids off for up to 3 hours. It's 5$ an hour/per child that attends the school and 10$ an hour for kids that do not attend the school (younger siblings). They keep the ages at 3 - 13. The children must be potty trained. Our elementary school is grades 2-6. Small school, around 380 students.

Some parents go Christmas shopping, some go to the movies, some just go home to clean and decorate. It's always a great money maker.

They set up a projector screen in the all purpose room and show Christmas movies. All the kids get a bag of popcorn or carrot sticks and a bottle of water. They also have age appropriate games for the kids in separate classrooms. It's always a hit with the kids too.

You are able to drop the kids off throughout the night but they charge per hour whether you've been there 15 min or the whole hour. Parents pay at pick up. Hours last year were 6-9. They also sell candy, coloring books, and juice boxes. Some years they offered face painting but last year they did not. They also usually have a craft set up for the kids to make for their parents.

If I remember correctly they made close to $1,500 last year. Not bad for 3 hours.

 

[monsterkitty]

I teach in a very poor school district so any fundraiser that has kids selling items out of a magazine is not going to go well. What has worked well is a chili cook off and food trucks.

Anyone who wants to enter the chili cook off pays $100. Those who want to judge the chili pay $100. Those who just want to eat pay $10. We raised almost $10,000 in one night. It was a very cold night so that may have helped.

Google "food trucks" in your area. Many are either run by the same people or have formed a group. If they do fundraising for schools have them attend back to school night, conferences, etc. The trucks we had come to our school donated 10% back to us and the teachers and staff ate for free. Not a lot but is something.

My friend teaches at a wealthy school and they did a 5k. They charged $45/entry and sold every bib. I think there were 400 of us that did the race. They also had food trucks at the race who donated back. This is where I got the food truck idea.

Feed them but charge them and they will come!