We did a great fundraiser at Chuck E Cheese. If there is one in your area you pick a night and then you get I think it is 10 or 20 % of the profits from that night. The catch is people have to go to a designated cash register. We did this for one night and we made quite a bit of $$$$. Almost all the families came and we stood at the door and asked the people who were going in if they would mind going to our reigister no one minded at all. We had a great time! The kids loved it and we didnt have to do any work....the people at Chuck E Cheese did it all. We did it for our school and they let the teachers eat free and the kids all got a ticket for 10 free games. It was great! Call your local Chuck E Cheese and see if they do this. It is a great idea.
The second idea that the school did was buy some awful pink plastic flamingos from Oriental Trader. They then took orders from people who wanted to "Flamingo" their neighbors. The kids took the Flamingos over and put them on the lawn with a note telling the people they had been selected to be "Flamingoed" and the birds stayed there for 48 hours. The kids then went and got them and went to the next person's house. This was great fun but I could see problems happening if the people in town didnt know about the Flamingos (Trespassing) I think it cost $15.00 per trip. We are from a small town and the people LOVED it!
Also, Barnes and Noble will do an "in store bookfair" for you. You designate a week and tell people about it and when they purchase books they tell the clerk your name and B and N will keep track. I am unsure if you can only get books for this or if they give cash.....hmmm now that I think of it I think it is only books.
Near Valentines Day we ran a carnation sale....carnations were pre-ordered and then sent home with the children for Mom, sisters etc. We got a good deal on the carnations from
SAMS club and sold them for $1.00 a flower. They were wrapped in white tissue.
We also sold cans of Orange Crush with the message "Ive got a Crush on you" the kids loved those.
At Exam time we sold little Study Kits ( bottle of h20, raisins, granola bar, chips and cookies) the parents pre-ordered them for their kids and they were delivered to the kids the day before exams. They came with a little note of good luck.
When I was in College (many moons ago) the local High School band sent home notices to all the incoming Freshman parents. The note was an order form for a birthday cake. The cake was delivered to the dorm the week of your birthday (they only delivered once a week). I know the HS parents took a lot of time to set this up (had to check with the college, collect checks, organize ordering and delivering cakes etc) but it was a huge seller. The cakes were $25.00 and came with a card. I am sure they made quite a bit of $$$. I know it was so nice to get a cake for my birthday on my first time being away from home . My roomates really appreciated it too!! If you can set this up this would be a great money maker but as I said before it was a lot of work and quite a commitment. I am not even sure if colleges would let you do this now....security and all but you never know.
Contact a local sports team and ask if they will donate a game shirt or something. I know our Hockey team will occasionally donate a game jersey to raffle off.
We also had a golf tournament. I dont know much about this as I don't golf. They had teams and they golfed and they had to pay money to enter the tournament. Some parents sponsored holes etc. They also had a dinner after adn it did make money. I think it would be lots of work to pull this off though.
One of the local charities sponsors a "Duck Race". For $1.00 you can buy a duck with a number . On the day of the race the ducks are let go in the canal and the duck that travels the fastest wins $100. unfortunatly you need a river or canal for this one. We live on the Erie Canal so this was a big one
Good Luck!!