Marching Band Booster fundraising ideas

[3boymthr]

This one is really really old fashioned but the Lion's club a few town's over holds a penny sale (and has done so for about 75 years). 100's of people go and pay a penny a ticket to get items in a three hour long raffle. It takes a lot of effort to get the items donated, etc. but they make tons of money (10's of thousand of dollars).

For a lot less effort you could try a ball drop. People buy a golf ball for $10/ball. The ball is numbered and put in a bucket. The bucket of balls is dropped from the top of the ladder of the fire truck (you could also do the side of a building) and the one that lands nearest a golf T that's driven into the ground wins a prize (last year it was $1,000). The sponsors of that fund raiser sold 1,000 balls and made $9,000.

You could sponsor an entertainer. Our cub scout pack did this. We hired the entertainer - rented out the HS auditorium and advertised the event - tickets cost less than $5pp. We made $1,500 after the expense of the entertainer and paying for the use of the auditorium (had to cover the cost of the janitor and lights). We also held a bake sale in the lobby during intermission and before and after the show and probably made $500 from the bake sale - left over baked goods were donated to the fire department.

Depending upon where you live - a can and bottle drive - our band does this - but we have deposit bottles. Though if you get enough cans the cost of the metal might be worth the effort.

A yard sale. Our cub scout pack held one a couple of years ago and made $1,500 on the donated items and it there weren't many big ticket items - just a lot of traffic and a lot of stuff. We held the sale in our town public parking lot for which we paid no fee, members of the pack loaned tents and tarps and tables for display of items and our only expense was advertising in the paper. If you give the members of your organization enough warning you can easily do this as everyone will use this as an excuse to clear out their garages, etc. We received donations of christmas items, clothes, toys, baby gear, furniture, etc. We even had someone donate a 10' pool.

 

[3boymthr]

Can't believe I forgot this when I replied earlier...especially since I ate there twice last week - once for each son's music dept!!!

Every month, on a specific day (like the 1st Monday or 2nd Thursday), a local restaurant will give back 10% of food purchases - you eat, then sign a sheet. The restaurant does this for all the local elementaries, plus various middle school and high school groups (music dept or science club, etc). Each group has their set day and sometimes there will be 2 or 3 groups on the same night. I think that usually brings in 200-300 per month. One year, the middle school music dept actually got a bonus because they'd had the biggest fundraiser night ever.

Our Cub Scout Pack and our PTO have done this with Pizzeria UNO and with Friendly's. A regional pizza chain around here also does this. The requirements vary by restaurant. Some require you bring in a coupon and you get 10% of all the people who bring ina coupon. One restaurant we got 2% of all sales that night. For us these generally bring in about $300 - $500 and they require very little effort. Some chains will also allow take out orders to count toward the total.

 

[PlutosFriend]

Would love to hear of some great fundraising ideas. We only have about 60 members (including color guard) and our funding has been cut, so we really need to raise more money.

What have other booster clubs done? Thanks

I live in the St. Louis area, and Trivia Nights are huge for fund raisers. Not sure if these go on in other cities? They are loads of fun

 

[golfgal]

Can't believe I forgot this when I replied earlier...especially since I ate there twice last week - once for each son's music dept!!!

Every month, on a specific day (like the 1st Monday or 2nd Thursday), a local restaurant will give back 10% of food purchases - you eat, then sign a sheet. The restaurant does this for all the local elementaries, plus various middle school and high school groups (music dept or science club, etc). Each group has their set day and sometimes there will be 2 or 3 groups on the same night. I think that usually brings in 200-300 per month. One year, the middle school music dept actually got a bonus because they'd had the biggest fundraiser night ever.

Applebee's does this around here. They also will do pancake breakfast fundraisers.

 

[marcyinPA]

Our band requires that each student meet a quota each year ( "fair share"). On a non-trip year, it is usually $175 per student. On a trip year, it depends on the trip. They went to WDW in February, so the fair share was $1140 per student. They are going to Hawaii in November, and the fair share estimate is $2500 per student.

The fair share is met by fundraisers, direct payment, or both. When we do fundraisers, the student gets a portion of the profit into their fair share, and the band gets a portion into the general fund. So, when we sell flowers, for example, if the profit is $5 per hanging basket, the student will get $3.00 and the band gets $2.00.

We sell EVERYTHING. We make and sell hoagies once a month. We sell pizzas, pierogies, salsa, pies, spring, fall and Christmas flowers, bulbs, coupon books, ...the list goes on and on.

For my son, we are choosy about what we sell. We try to sell the items that give the most profit. And then, we scrimp and save and do without other stuff so we can make payments into his account monthly so he can participate in the trips.

For now, our school district still supports our music programs, and each school gets new uniforms on a rotating basis. I don't know how long that will last, because out district is in extreme financial trouble and has been for a while. But music is very big here, and parents will fight for it.

 

[marcyinPA]

Applebee's does this around here. They also will do pancake breakfast fundraisers.

A lot of restaurants do this...Five Guys, DQ Grill and Chill, Friendly's, and Applebee's too! The store Five Below also has fundraising nights for school groups.

 

[golfgal]

OP--if you haven't already, set up a formal booster club and apply for non-profit status. Many companies won't donate to the band without this because they can't write off the donation. It is pretty much adopting some by-laws, having 4 officers sign them and filing paperwork with your state. It takes some time though for the state to process this so I would start that, today.

 

[goofy4tink]

Have you considered Scrip?
http://www.glscrip.com/howscripworks/index.aspx

I've known of a few private schools and churches that use it as a fundraiser...the good thing about it, is unlike selling wrapping paper/cookie dough, etc, people arent' really spending any more money than they would have anyways. For example, if I know I usually spend $150/week at Albertson's Grocery Store, I can just buy $150 of Albertsons Scrip and use that to buy my groceries...I'm not "out" any money, yet my organization has earned $6!

Our school's fine arts dept does this...all the various groups benefit from it. I tend to buy hundreds of dollars in Disney gift cards each year...then pay for my trips with them....dd gets a good chunk of change in her SCRIP account this way. She can then use it for various fine arts stuff...trips, tee shirts, transportation costs.
We also do those restaurant fund raisers in our church. Uno's is a big one...they give something like 15% of the check to the group. That might be worth looking into.
The music dept does fruit sales, magazine sales..that sort of thing as well. We also did a band show the past two years. Those were a ton of fun. The involved parents made and sold concessions.

Thanks for all of the ideas!

Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of parental involvement (poor band director feels like he's just a babysitter sometimes). So the fundraising that we do has to get us a lot of money, because only a few will participate.

Golf isn't really the thing around here, but garage sales are! We'll look into that. Our history with the normal stuff (pizza, cheesecake, etc.) isn't very good at all, and our budget was cut last year, so we are in desperate need of some funds replenishing. And we don't really travel, just band camp, but we are in need of newer instruments (pit stuff).

All in all, with about 50-60 band and color guard members, we have about 8 active parents. And it doesn't help that a lot of kids don't bring some of the information home to their parents

Our group is about 75 strong..not big by any means. We are in NE...so not a big deal is made of marching band here. We also have about 6 parents who do all the 'stuff' for the kids. We set up bus chaperones, we ride the buses, we hand out the uniforms, we log them back in, we make the half time snacks and hand them out, we run the end of year banquet. It amazes me to see how many parents are not involved in any way with their chld's activities. Pretty much the same with the theater kids as well.

 

[Katy Belle]

We are new here, so im just learning about it all. Our band has 140 band and color guard members. They do MOST of the fundraisers mentioned. Band Boosters run the concession stands at all home football games, varsity, junior varsity and freshmen. Parents are required to work at least 2shifts. There has been at least 4 nights at local restaurants where Boosters get a % of profit. All of that goes to things like instruments, equipment, uniforms, contest fees, etc.

Then there are fundraisers that the kids can choose to do. Their profits go into their own account, to pay for the band trip. You can do zero individual fundraisers and just pay for the trip. This year's trip was $1000. The fundraisers were....sausage, bacon, chicken strips sale, candles, travel coffee cups, pre-packaged dips. I think there were more, but we didnt participate in all of them. Good luck!

 

[golfgal]

We are new here, so im just learning about it all. Our band has 140 band and color guard members. They do MOST of the fundraisers mentioned. Band Boosters run the concession stands at all home football games, varsity, junior varsity and freshmen. Parents are required to work at least 2shifts. There has been at least 4 nights at local restaurants where Boosters get a % of profit. All of that goes to things like instruments, equipment, uniforms, contest fees, etc.

Then there are fundraisers that the kids can choose to do. Their profits go into their own account, to pay for the band trip. You can do zero individual fundraisers and just pay for the trip. This year's trip was $1000. The fundraisers were....sausage, bacon, chicken strips sale, candles, travel coffee cups, pre-packaged dips. I think there were more, but we didnt participate in all of them. Good luck!

There are some really top notch bands in OK, you will have fun watching them.

 

[Papaka]

What may be interesting is to see what are the top features you want to see with a fund raising effort. Assuming money is the top benefit, what features do you want to see in your fundraising program? eg(easy, student or parent involvement etc)

 

[Frank Thomas]

Lots of great ideas for marching band boosters including:

1. Hold a car wash and ask for donations.
2. Have a community yard sale. This is perfect to hold as an event every spring.
3. Walk-a-thons are an opportunity to raise tens of thousands of dollars for the marching band. It promotes great exercise too! Simply find friends and family willing to donate for every mile you walk.
4. Team up with a fundraising company that gives you free brochures. You can sell popcorn, cookie dough, candles, coffee etc. Booster clubs keep up to 50% profit.
5. Go to your local donut shop. For instance Dunkin donuts or Krispy Kreme. They will give you a reduced price and your band members get to keep the spread. Have your volunteers sell donuts!
6. The old fashioned bake sale is ever popular and good for a few hundred dollars each year. Who can resist home mad goodies.
7. Offer to do yardwork for a donation or for a fixed fee. You could mow lawns and rake leaves. This could turn into a weekly way for kids to make money for the school band.

 

[Frank Thomas]

Would love to hear of some great fundraising ideas. We only have about 60 members (including color guard) and our funding has been cut, so we really need to raise more money.

What have other booster clubs done? Thanks

Great marching band fundraisers are all around us if we keep our eyes open. For instance...

1. Our local volunteer fire department has a raffle each year for a cord of firewood. Your marching band could do the same thing. They put it in the parking lot off the main street with a big sign advertising the raffle. At $5 a pop this adds up very fast and can be done annually.
2. Speaking of firewood many people need help getting firewood. The band members could chop wood and stack it for a donation. Even better they could build a list of people that need firewood and strike a deal with someone to provide the firewood each winter. They could be paid a percentage of sales generated.
3. Another idea is to team up with the local chamber of commerce and offer your services for "grand opening event". The business owner can make a donation in exchange for the publicity generated.
4. Local coupon books are usually a hit. Contact all the small businesses in the community and ask if they would like to donate a buy one get one free promotion in exchange for a chance at new customers. These can be printed and sold with the band players keeping the proceeds. This can also be done each year, It is a win win arrangement because local businesses like restaurants are always looking for new customers. You could also ask what the slowest day of the week is for business and you could stipulate what day the coupons must be used on.
5. More great ideas here fundraisingzone.com/high-school-group-fundraisers/best-way-to-raise-funds-for-school-marching-band/

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I wonder if @SydSim's kids are still in school. 11 years later I very much doubt it. Of course, they haven't been on the boards since 2017...

 

[Frank Thomas]

I wonder if @SydSim's kids are still in school. 11 years later I very much doubt it. Of course, they haven't been on the boards since 2017...

LOL - Very true, maybe will help someone else

 

[stitch'sgirl]

I haven't seen the Amazon Smile program mentioned which generates money without any work. Who doesn't have an Amazon account these days? My son has been out of band for 2 years and I still use that account so the money goes to his old band. Target is the same, have band families and everyone else they can get to sign up for community rewards with the band program as the recipient.

We did a Taste Fest annually. Local restaurants prepared sample size dishes and people would pay $10 for all you can eat at these sample booths. All the food was donated for free advertising so ticket sales were pure profit. We typically had about 20 restaurants come out - even chains like Jimmy John's, Panera Bread, etc.

 

[rowan1813]

I know this is an old thread but these ideas might help someone else. Our band works with our orchestra to put on a 5K run. Our school backs up to a trail along a river bank and it works perfectly. Finishers get a small medal and there are a few water stops along the way that the kids set up and man. We also get a banana and a granola bar at the end so the least amount of money is spent on the actual run. The kids are the ones who do the vast majority of the work which works if you have a small parent group.

Our band also has a day where the kids spend a few hours on the corners of a very busy intersection in town and have a "Fill the Drum" day. Kids hold signs, encourage people to donate money, etc. on the corners of the intersection and usually they make quite a bit of money.

 

[Colleen27]

With limited parental participation, selling fundraisers or anything too labor-intensive is probably going to be a bad idea because you aren't likely to have enough hands to make light work. Garage sales and traditional cheesecake/fruit/holiday greens sales are a lot of work when you only have a few parents taking on the whole load.

I'd look into local restaurants that do fundraiser nights. We've done Mod Pizza, Texas Roadhouse and Buffalo Wild Wings and they all went really well. The school sends the flyer home with all the students, not just the band, and posts it on their socials and the organizing group gets a percentage of the sales receipts from customers who mention/bring the flyer on the designated night. Easy-peasy. Even DD13's 8th grade class, which is all of 6 kids (and really, 3 parents and 1 grandparent doing all the organizing/work), has done those successfully.

A good one to enlist the students in that doesn't really need parental support is selling ads in performance programs. If the kids go in pairs to local businesses with a simple sales script, you're likely to find some supporters of the arts who will view a small ad in a school band concert program as a good cause that might bring in a new customer or two. And since the only cost is the layout and printing, which any reasonably tech savvy parent can handle, it is a high return for the amount of effort put in.

Scrip is great if you have a coordinator willing to put the time in, but it is a lot of work for one or two people and not a task that can be easily subdivided into less work for more people because of the accounting and security issues involved. The woman who handles it for DD13's school easily spends 15-20 hours a week on it; fortunately she's a retiree who sent 5 kids and 2 grandkids (so far) to the school and is dedicated enough to take that on.

Another one I saw that is probably too late to plan this year but might be worth keeping in mind for next year is "egging" yards for Easter. For a donation (I think it is $30 here), band members will come to your house on the evening before Easter and hide a dozen plastic eggs filled with individually wrapped candies and other little treats around the yard so your kids wake up to a pre-made Easter egg hunt. I thought that was a really cute idea and would have been all over it if I still had little kids.

 

[Skippy918]

One of the sports teams does a mulch fundraiser. They deliver the mulch as well and it’s reasonably priced. Lots of people buy from the sale.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Snacks like bags of chips, cookies, coffee and sodas at practices made a ton of money, those kids are starving and them plus parents with siblings will buy plenty.

Have the kids ready to do car washes the first sign of sun, because we did lacrosse our team was up and running in very early spring so we had a few weekends when it was only us and no competition.

Host an skill clinic event where younger kids can work with older kids and learn some moves etc with band parents overseeing the events. Little kids who want to join in a few years really look up to the older kids and parents will pay a donation to let their kids participate, to make it extra special see if your school would allow the younger kids a field walkon during halftime at some point. If you can have your families bring grills to make burgers and hotdogs for the event the money will roll into the club. If kids don't have instruments you can always just teach them moves they can copy at games, I think band has some choreography.

T-shirts for games are fairly cheap and kids will usually buy if you give enough time, we had dozens collected.

I did fundraising for years.