This is a guide for K-12 schools to learn the basics of how to raise money and to help generate fundraising ideas. We want your school to be so good at fundraising that you can afford to gild your students’ chairs with the finest gold.

But, seriously, great fundraising opens up doors, and you want your kids sitting somewhere that inspires and prepares them to take advantage of all the opportunities that lay ahead.

WHAT IS K-12 FUNDRAISING?

K-12 schools educate children from kindergarten through twelfth grade. They require funding to support the school, various programs, and community initiatives. Fundraising is the process of raising money to pay for various school expenses.

Types of K-12 schools include:

• Public schools
• Private schools
• Boarding schools
• Charter schools
• Religiously affiliated schools
• Middle schools
• Elementary schools
• High schools

While some K-12 schools receive local, state, and federal funds, many require additional revenue to operate at full capacity.

Fundraising is how schools raise more money, and it can be conducted in many ways and for many reasons. It’s a process that involves teachers, administrators, students, parents, and the community.

WHY DO K-12 SCHOOLS FUNDRAISE?

While some kids might argue that schools exist solely to bore them to death, K-12 schools do much more than teach. Schools act as community centers, sports facilities, theaters, cafeterias, and more. Schools are necessary community fixtures that provide a bevy of services.

K-12 schools need money for:

• Sports teams
• Clubs
• Field trips
• Administrative expenses
• Facility maintenance
• Transportation costs
• Community programs

And there’s plenty more. There’s so much that schools could do with bigger budgets, and the best way to increase those budgets is through a dedicated approach to fundraising.

Another way that schools can use fundraising is to support charitable causes.

Many schools have Red Cross clubs, Habitat for Humanity clubs, and similar groups that associate with nonprofits. These clubs can partner with their respective nonprofits to raise money.

Students can also raise money to help the victims of natural disasters, war veterans, and other causes. Teachers should listen to what the kids care about and encourage them to pursue fundraising on behalf of those causes.

WHO IS INVOLVED?

Fundraising is a team endeavor. From organizers to fundraisers to donors, your community is full of people who will be part of your fundraising efforts.

TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS

You need fundraising organizers to make sure that work gets accomplished. Not that you can’t trust kindergartners to do their own fundraising, but…

Teachers and administrators help to:

• Manage budgets
• Ensure that fundraising actually takes place
• Teach and help the students to fundraise
• Ensure that the school is well-represented
• Chaperone fundraising activities
• Permit the use of school facilities

If a group of fundraisers are a team, then the teachers and administrators are the coaches. They ensure that the entire fundraising operation works like a well-oiled machine.

Don’t forget about internal giving, as teachers and other staff can be donors, too.

STUDENTS

No, most kids don’t go to school thinking that they’re going to be asked to be salespeople, but students need to be part of your fundraising team. Teachers and parents can help out at fundraising events, too, but nothing makes fundraising go quite like having actual students supporting and acting on behalf of the campaign.

Students should be the ones selling the cookies, handing out the raffle tickets, and helping out at your summer carnivals. Students are the primary fundraisers.

Students should not be obligated to help out – just because the money might be for them does not mean that they need to be the ones earning it. However, family and community members are more likely to be emotionally swayed to make donations when they’re either asked by a student or see students working hard to make a fundraising event a success.

Fundraising for K-12 schools is very much about putting the students who you’re helping front and center in order to increase donations.

PARENTS, FAMILIES, AND THE COMMUNITY

Someone has to buy the scented pencils, bid on the student art projects, and bet a little too much on the school poker tournament. Parents, family, and community friends are the donors who will make your fundraising campaign a success.

The community knows that schools matter, and they should want to help. Select creative, exciting fundraisers, and get the community involved. There are likely many philanthropically inclined people in your school district, and it’s up to you to reach out. Ultimately, it’s their money that will dictate if your efforts lead to success.

CREATIVE FUNDRAISING IDEAS FOR K-12 SCHOOLS

Fundraising doesn’t have to be all bake sales and car washes, although those typically yield good returns. It’s important to get creative with your fundraising to keep dedicated donors engaged and to attract new donors from the community at large.

EASY FUNDRAISING IDEAS

Sometimes it’s the simple fundraising ideas that produce the best results. Fundraising campaigns don’t have to be a pain to manage, and campaigns should naturally encourage people to participate.

Some simple fundraising ideas:

• Penny wars — Challenge each classroom to bring in their loose change and see who can collect the most. Pennies count for one point, but the fun is in sabotaging the other teams. Any coin worth more than a penny that finds its way into a team’s jar negates that many pennies. For example, a dime would cancel out 10 pennies and a quarter would negate 25 pennies. If a team is able to sneak non-penny coins into another team’s jar then they cannot be removed. Run a penny war for a week or a month, and the team with the most points wins. It’s not unusual for many or all teams to have negative scores, and for a negative score to be the winner. Penny wars can be great fun, and provide you with money that people might have left lying around unused for a long time.
• Mobile phone recycling — There are many companies that pay for old and even broken cell phones. Let people know that you run a cell phone recycling program, so that people donate when they choose to upgrade. Companies refurbish, resell, or use old cell phone parts to make other products. It’s a great way to keep trash off the ground and put money in your school’s wallet.
• Spelling bee — For students both young and old, spelling bees represent a fun way to test their knowledge against their peers. Offer prizes to the kids to incentivize their participation. You can monetize this event by selling refreshments to attending parents, having kids find sponsors who pay a certain amount for each word spelled correctly, allowing parents to buy a certain amount of lives or second chances for their kids, and you can try running a raffle, too.

BEST PEER-TO-PEER FUNDRAISING IDEAS

Fundraising gets easier when supporters fundraise on your behalf. Reach out to friends and family in order to leverage their extended networks to raise more money for your school.

Great peer-to-peer fundraising ideas include:

• Walk-a-thon — This profitable fundraiser can help raise money for a new gymnasium or better desks for the students. Kids, parents, and community members can all walk, and you should encourage them to reach out to the people who they know to sponsor them. These sponsorships will bring in money from sources that you otherwise might not have been able to reach.
• Team sports tournament — Your school’s basketball team can host a basketball tournament. The soccer team can host a soccer tournament. The cheer leading squad can host a dance-a-thon. All of these events can bring in friends and family from outside the school, which means that you’re tapping into new networks and acquiring more donors.
• Online software — Peer-to-peer fundraising software makes it easy for supporters to request donations from friends and family. Donations can be make quickly and conveniently online, and the links to fundraising pages can be shared via email, Facebook, Twitter, and more. Online fundraising makes payment simple and secure, which can help to set new donors at ease about making a donation.

Learn about Ignite, the only peer-to-peer fundraising tool you’ll ever need, available from NonProfitEasy.

UNIQUE PRODUCT BASED FUNDRAISING

Many companies provide free or discounted products that schools can sell for a profit. Selling desirable products from trusted brands can help entice increased fundraising participation, as people can purchase food they love and products they trust.

Profitable fundraising products include:

• Cookies — Why choose when you can indulge? Otis Spunkmeyer combines milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and white chocolate into one delicious Triple Chocolate Chunk cookie. Students can bake and sell these cookies at sports games and other events to raise money for clubs, field trips, and more. Otis Spunkmeyer offers a variety of flavors, along with baking instructions and nutrition facts.
• Smencils — When kids doze off in class, the strong whiff of a smencil might be just what they need to wake up. Sell the gift of aromatic writing to students, teachers, and parents who want to have a little more fun while scribbling down notes. Lil’ Shopper’s Shoppe lets you mix and match your own smencil case, or you can purchase a prearranged case of scents, such as their spring smencil collection.
• Gift cards — Certain credit cards let people earn rewards for every purchase. Wouldn’t it be nice if your school could pocket a little extra for every purchase that families make? Scrip fundraising allows schools to purchase gift cards at discounted rates and sell them at full value. Schools pocket the difference in price, and can earn hundreds to thousands of dollars per year from families dedicated to using the program.

Product based fundraising can be led by groups or individuals, and can raise money for schools, clubs, causes, and more. There are a ton of companies that run special promotions for fundraising. All you have to do is look.

SPECIAL EVENT FUNDRAISING IDEAS

From movies to amusement parks to concerts, people pay for entertainment. Your school can provide entertainment, and raise big money for the marching band, debate club, or other needs.

Great special event fundraising ideas include:

• School sleepover — You better believe that parents will pay a premium for a kid-free night. They love their kids, but the free time can be much appreciated. Also, kids will love the chance to stay up late with their friends, play games, and eat snacks at midnight. Just remember to follow the school’s child protection guidelines and make sure you have staff who are willing to put in the extra effort.
• Student art show — In order to attract as many parents as possible, try to incorporate as much student art as you can. Art shows raise money by auctioning off some of the better student works (ask students for their permission before doing this), requesting optional but suggested donations at the door, and selling refreshments. Your school can attempt to attract a larger audience by hosting the event at a town hall or other high-end location, as opposed to at the school.
• Wine tasting — This event is for the parents, of course. The best part is that wine tastings are fun, social events. The donations parents give are in the pursuit of pleasure, as opposed to giving out of obligation to support their kids. Be sure to use words like ‘amateur’ and ‘novice’ when promoting the event in order to make wine tasting newbies feel welcome. Charge for admission, run a raffle, and sell extra items on the side to raise money for prom, homecoming, and other big events.

Event management can be painless when you have the right tools to help.

MORE SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISING IDEAS

There’s a wide world of fundraising options, and it would be futile to try to list every possibility. There are fundraisers unique to elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and performing arts schools. There are fundraisers for the summer months, rainy days, and snow days. Certain fundraisers work better early in the school year, while some are best just before the kids are sent home for the summer.

Here are a few more fundraising ideas, but always remember that the possibilities are endless, so long as you have the creativity to find new ideas, the passion to make them realities, and the determination to see your fundraising campaigns through:

• Coupon book — People love to save money, and the classic way to save is with coupons. Kidstuff Coupons sells books full of family oriented coupons to schools, who sell the books to parents. Schools earn $12.50 or more per book sold, and schools rave about how this is one of their most successful annual fundraisers.
• Silent auction — Acquire items and vouchers from local businesses, as well as auction off old school items and things that parents want to get rid of. You can charge for admission and sell refreshments on the side. This is a fun, social night for parents, and a chance for them to score great stuff at a discounted price while giving your school much needed cash.
• Karaoke fundraiser — You can charge for admission, but it’s more fun to have people donate either to sing themselves or for other people to sing. Selling food and drinks, as well as running a raffle, can turn this into a fun, profitable night that you’ll want to run again and again.

K-12 fundraising allows schools to do more for their kids. Our future world leaders need the best educations possible, and schools can make great learning a reality by employing creativity and putting out the effort to host exciting, memorable events that let people know that K-12 schools are worth caring about.

If you’re new to school fundraising or want to learn how NonProfitEasy CRM can help you manage all of your fundraising campaigns, then schedule a demo with a member of our dedicated staff today.