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On Friday my husband and I are looking forward to a rare early evening date, thanks to a package we purchased at the school auction in March. The fourth grade teachers at my son’s school are hosting an arcade-movie-pizza outing for eight fourth graders. Cost for each student was $50. It was basically a donation to the school Foundation (which pays for our full-time librarian, among other staff positions), with the added bonus of a great experience for our son and a date night for Mom and Dad.
Last Thursday my son’s school participated in Run for the Arts. On Saturday we ate at Laughing Planet on SE Belmont, where they generously donated 20 percent of sales for the day to our school. On Sunday, we bought some books on Amazon.com, with a portion of the sale going to the school as an Amazon affiliate. On Monday, we ate at Pastini Pastaria for yet another school fundraiser.
However entertaining, delicious and painless it all is, I can’t help but feel like we’re constantly raising funds for our son’s school. And I’m constantly amazed at the amount of energy, commitment and hard work the parents at our school devote to all this fundraising. I’m also constantly amazed at the cavalcade of new and creative fundraisers we come up with month after month and year after year. From selling Chinook Books and Scrip to collecting box tops to setting up our Amazon affiliate program to hosting an auction and myriad parties and events, it’s a huge ongoing effort that requires countless volunteers and supporters. We’re fortunate to have so many parents with time and talent to spare. I know there are plenty of schools that don’t.
And still, like most parents we’re always on the lookout for the next big fundraising idea. What innovative fundraisers has your child’s school hosted? What’s your favorite fundraiser? Which ones do you hate? (Be honest!)
We hope you’ll share your creative fundraising ideas with us in the comments section below. After all, it takes a village to support a school these days!
April 21st, 2010 | Category: Charitable Giving
The last one our school did was simply a donation request form omitting the commission split and expense. All donations went straight to the school and the kids didn’t have to sell anything~ though I wouldn’t call it ‘fun’.
If your school would like to do an earth-friendly fundraiser, take a look at my website. Chartreuse is an eco-chic company that sells fashionable green products such as shopping bags, organic personal care and household cleaning products as well as recycled paper products. It would do well as a fundraiser for an earth-conscious school.
I dread the cookie dough / wrapping paper / gift garbage sales. I can’t justify giving 60% of my money to a company who makes money off of having little kids sell things.
We just did a BOGO sale from Scholastic yesterday where a portion of the proceeds goes to the school. We’re Scholastic addicts
Our school did a basket raffle, silent auction and party night this fall. It was such fun! Each class decided on a theme and brought a small item to contribute to the basket (Legos, art, games, gift cards). The kids were as wild for those as they were for the hula hoop contest! The silent auction was for time with the teachers / staff which was already mentioned. Those kind of things are priceless, and can be quite lucrative for schools. My boys had lunch at Red Robin with the principal and counsellor. Other ideas are popcorn & movie with a teacher(afterschool in the classroom), ice cream with a teacher, a teacher coming to your house to read a bedtime story, one on one music lessons, chess challenge afternoon, principal (or librarian) for a day, science experiment afternoon with a teacher…the list goes on!
I’m excited to see what other schools are doing.
These are great ideas! Here’s another: A very easy fundraiser is selling the Chinook Book. Particularly in our eco-friendly area, this coupon book sells itself…