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Great School Fund-Raising Ideas

Have you been called on to raise some cash for your kids’ school? With funding for everything from art supplies to athletic teams becoming nonexistent, parents of school-age kids are increasingly finding themselves asked to help raise money. So when it’s your turn to head out and drum up some much-needed financial help, what will you do? Sit in a dunk tank and wait to get soaked? Camp out in the parking lot with a few plates of brownies? Or are you looking for a few new — and lucrative — fund-raising ideas? Here are some of our favorite school moneymakers.

Car Wash: Pick a (hopefully) sunny weekend, camp out in the school’s parking lot, and stage a car wash. This is especially good for older kids (middle school and up) who are big enough to wash the cars themselves. Since there is virtually no outside cost except for some soap, sponges and buckets (perhaps some generous parents can donate these), whatever money is earned goes right to the cause at hand.

Dance: - a 30 minutes danced. (For example, if someone pledged $5 per ½ hour and the student danced for three hours, then that person would owe $30.) You’ll need a DJ for music and some lights and decorations for festive atmosphere. You can even add a theme — disco party, ’80s night, ’50s sock hop. Sell refreshments for a little extra money.

Flower Sales: An excellent spring-time fund-raiser, perfect for Mother’s Day! Work with a local grower to purchase flowers and other seasonal plants at a bulk discount. A few weeks before the sale, send kids home with order forms; have flowers ready for pickup at the school the week before Mother’s Day. (Another seasonal option: Pumpkin sales for Halloween.)

Candy Sales: This is an oldie-but-goodie that works for a reason: People just love sweets! Timing can be important when you’re trying to sell candy, especially if you’re going for fancier boxed confections rather than basic candy bars — this is a good fund-raiser to have at the beginning of the school year so people can get their sweets in time for the holidays.

Prize Raffle: Local businesses donate goods and services — everything from meals at local restaurants to clothing or sporting goods from area stores. Then volunteers sell tickets for a chance to win one of the various prizes. This idea also works as a silent auction, where all of the donated “prizes” are on display and people submit written bids for each item, with the item going to the person with the highest bid.

Earn money for your school by shopping at Big Y! When your school participates in our gift card fund-raising program, we’ll give 2% of the face value of each card purchased to your school. And in April and October, you’ll have the chance to earn 6%! Just call Big Y’s customer service hotline at 1-800-828-2688 or visit www.bigy.com/giftcard/fundraising.php for details.