High School Fundraising Ideas
Schools need funds for their various development programs, which are not always met by government grants or tuition fees collected annually from the students. This is where a high school fundraising event comes in. Fundraising is acquiring money, by way of donations, charity or sales.
Organizing a fundraiser needs good and effective planning, for it to be successful. A successful fundraiser requires volunteers, supporters, time, venue, leadership, financial planning and most importantly ideas. Following are a few fundraising ideas for high schools:
Bakery Goodies
Bakery sales are the most common and also the most profitable way to raise funds. Schools can request help from PTA members and even the alumni to volunteer baking cakes, cookies, pies, other desserts and help set up booths to sell them. One can also sell the baked goodies door-to-door, but don't go on this campaign without adults accompanying you and go to safe and known neighborhood places. One can sell whole cakes, pies or just slices will also do.
Band Music
The school band can set up an attractive stage and offer to sing songs for a price. This needs very little investment, as the school band usually has all the musical instruments and singers. The band can offer to sing in chorus as well as solo. Adults and children should be encouraged to sing by themselves, all for a price though.
Raffles
Everybody loves to win something and raffles are a fun way to win. It is important to plan this well. Your gift cost should not exceed your raffle ticket sales. You can sell your tickets at inexpensive rates and have different amounts of prize money like $100, $50 or even $10. One could also have expensive tickets and expensive prizes, but the number of gifts should be limited. The thumb rule for any raffle fundraiser is, "better the prizes or gifts offered, more the funds raised".
Hand-Made Cards, Gifts and Recipes
Hand-Made Cards and gifts sales work great, if you time your sale close to festivals or special occasions like a mother or fathers day. Bring out the best artists from your school and have them volunteer to make unique cards and gifts. Collect recipes, old or new, short and easy and sell them individually or collectively.
School Concert
Turn your annual school concert into a fundraising event. Invite the neighborhood community and the alumni, besides families to attend the concert. Base and highlight the theme of your concert on your need for funds. One could also auction some old time school photographs, that could collect a huge amount from the alumni.
Yummy Ice-cream
This one would work out great for children and adults alike. A large tub of ice-cream should be bought at a discounted rate, with a variety of toppings. Small portions of the ice-cream should be sold, with 'as per choice' toppings. This would generate a good sum, as everybody loves ice-cream.
Food and Games
Set up booths for both food and games. Together, these two will generate a large revenue. People love to explore different food stands with a variety of eateries, so make sure you have quite a number of them. You can either make and serve the food yourself, or invite local vendors to set up and serve their food, charging them an entry fee or a part of the proceeds. Have simple and fair games. Since lots of children will be present, make sure to have little prizes on hand, like stickers or candies that are inexpensive, when bought in bulk. One can also organize a car wash service, for all the people who come to your food and games festival.
Fundraising is all about bringing the community together with the objective of raising funds to help the school. Personal networks and sincere personalized motivators like a compelling message that inspires the community to take immediate action to assist your school, always works.
