PTO fundraising ideas?

[princess lovers mom]

our elementary school has some big projects coming up that the PTO has pledged to help with...wondering if anyone had any ideas on new/different/successful fundraising that you have done...
thanks...
denise

 

[jamsmom]

They did Sally Foster one year, I bought a lot, but really am not sure how well it went.

 

[princess lovers mom]

what does Saly foster sell?

 

[powellrj]

If you want quick and easy you can't go wrong with $1 candy bars. Thats what we always did when I was hot and heavy in parents club. I am not involved anymore and they do booklet fund-raisers. Candles and wrapping paper etc.... I would suggest that you work with a fundraiser company because they can give you an idea about how much you can make with each kind of funraiser and will also give you a better deal with your candy(if thats what you use). These companies send out ads to schools all the time , so just check your school mail.

 

[cart-mom]

They have wonderful candles and will do fund raisers for you. Check their website to see if there is a distributor in your area.
I can never say no to their candles.

 

[mom2boys]

I second the $1 candy bar suggestion. I was co-chair of the "fall fundraiser" last year. We did a combination of $1 Hershey bars and wrapping paper/gift catalog. The kids grossed over $50,000 with about 80% coming from the candybars. We felt that brand recognition was a tremendous help with the candy bars. We also arranged for "site sales". You know, we arranged to sit in front of Walmart/Sam's, Lowes... and offer the candy for sale. It really isn't hard to set up. (Sams/Walmart will match your sales for one day/location.)
PM me if I can answer any questions.

P.S. A bonus to the candy bar sales vs. catalog sales is the kids only have to make one contact per sale.

 

[Megan's Mom]

DD goes to a very small school for special needs children so we didn't want them to have to go out and sell things or the parents for that matter. The year that my DH we PTO President, he can be a lazy man let me state this up front, he suggested taht we just ask people to donate money. The fundraiser was for their Octoberfest and what we did was have people help sponsor an event for whatever donation they wanted to make. We had a very good response because people didn't want anymore candy or wrapping paper that everyone else was selling. this way you don't have to bring things back to people when it comes in. WE made about $3500 in a school of 70 students. Some of the EC kids went around their neighbor hood and collected change. It was very successful. People liked the honest approach, we just really want your money.

 

[jamsmom]

Sally Foster sales wrapping paper and bows and string and tags. They have some really cute paper

 

[KimandBrian]

You might check with an Avon rep for a fundraiser idea. I used to be a rep and I know they always advertised fundraisers with the Skin So Soft line.

Just thought I'd add....what about a bake sale? I personally LOVE buying homemade goodies ready to eat, especially at fundraisers. Yummmy!

 

[princess lovers mom]

thanks for some ideas...

 

[4greatboys]

We did the fund raiser letter too here and it worked great. Parents donated what amount they could and your profits are 100%. Plus your neighbors dont have to hide when they see the kids, lol.

 

[emmy]

My favorite has been the big tubs of cookie dough they sell! It is easy and makes great cookies!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Hi! I will tell you that you can make a ton of cash from those $1 candy bars.

My PTA is hosting a "Trivia Night" as our major fundraiser this year. It will include 10 rounds of trivia, attendance prizes, cash prizes foe winners, 50/50, and the ever popular BASKET RAFFLES.

With the basket raffles alone you can make alot of money. We are doing a themed basket from each grade. Every studuent brings in something to contribute to the basket. They do get HUGE & they are fun and a big success.

Good Luck!

 

[Lars624]

The Little Ceasar's Pizza Kits are always a BIG money maker for us! I was on the board of our local co-op preschool for 2 years & the big fund raiser there was a silent auction. We made about 7000.00 from it one of the years I was there.

 

[ColoradoBuffaloMom]

My kids middle school does a read-a thon each year that raises tons of money. This year we are doing a jog-a thon for the first time so hopefully that will be a success. We don't encourage going door to door for pledges so most kids get pledges from parents, grandparents, etc.

I've done spell-a thons and math a thons also where folks pledge based on how many words or math problems are done correctly. A-Thons tend to not cost a lot so most of the money donated stays with the school rather than paying for the event.

 

[princess lovers mom]

dear mystery machine...

what type of things go into the themed baskets

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I don't know our themes for this year are yet. I'll let you know when I find out.

(DD did this at our old school)
They had "Barbies", "Chocolate", "School Supplies", "Hot Wheels", "Preschool Books" etc...
Donation was voluntary. There was no limit on donation. The kids brought in something that went with their theme. Some people were very creative. Some of the baskets were HUGE.

edited to add...I believe that the PTA also solicited businesses for donations too.

 

[mom2boys]

A local middle school band sold yankee candles for a fundraiser. There was a brochure containing only Yankee Candles. The mom didn't bring it into the office one year, so I asked why her daughter wasn't selling them anymore. She was & the mom brought the brochure in. (She had 3 kids at 3 different schools + sports - each kid was involved in 1-2 fundraisers at once. The mom didn't want to overwhelm us.)

 

[Kirby]

Our elementary school did a readathon last Fall. They made over $20,000 dollars. We found that more people were willing to sign up for so many cents a minute than they were willing to buy "stuff".

 

[Justhope]

Our school gets big money too from the basket auctions. Just thought I would give you a couple more ideas... One basket was movie night the kids brought in microwave popcorn,cookies, videos,and all kinds of fun stuff maybe a blanket..
another one was a Tn Volunteer(football) basket and it had tons of things in it football, throw, anything related to UT football............we had a gardening basket, i think they had a wheelbarrel donated and put all the items in it.........and one more i can think of was a barbque basket, they had a gas grill donated,it had aprons and utensils, anythin to do with grilling............

Have fun with it.
Hope