school fundraising ideas?

[minnie29uk]

Hi All,
My son turned 4 in August and started school this month.

I'm a bit disappointed at resources and am keen to become part of the PTFA to raise money.

I would really appreciate any ideas fron other parents who have successfully done so.

Ive e-mailed 30 shops,companies etc to ask for contributions of gifts - dont know if Ill be successful.

Im going to organise(or suggest) an Easter egg bingo

I know they have a Christmas fayre and a summer fayre - so no doubt be raffles

Look forward to some inspiration,thanks,
Lynn

 

[Lizzy Lemon]

We used to hold discos (perhaps a bit much for little ones) but you could have some little child friendly music. You know, Music Man, Hokey Cokey etc played. We charged 50p or so a ticket then sold drinks brought from the cash and carry. Also used to have harvest sales, donated harvest items, sold at the end of the day to parents. Good luck.

 

[Queenie]

We had lots and lots of bake sales where we baked cakes and biscuits, brought them in and sold them at break. Don't know if that would even be allowed now with the whole country going rather dictatorship-esque over the healthy food in schools thing.

I seem to recall lots of raffles and non uniform days too.

 

[emily1982]

I work in a school and the PTA is fantastic, we have school discos, which to be honest everyone dreads but they do bring in the money, we have also done raft races, where different organisations race on the river severn to raise money for their own causes, we have end of term cake sales, barn dances, summer barbeques, skittle nights, we had an auction of talents at a local pub, where staff, parents and local companys donated things like hot air balloon rides, some teachers offered to clean houses and that did well the pta put on a buffet.
Another one is called bagsforschools, the company drop off blue bin liners and the parents fill them with unwanted clothes etc which get recycled and the school gets money from that, we do it twice a year and it probably brings in around £400ish. Also if the school can afford to buy something like a bouncing castle, they bring in loads of money as you can rent them out to other schools etc and also use them at your own fayres.

 

[Lizzy Lemon]

Also rented bouncy castles and asked the children to bring some money to have a go on, one class at a time in the gym, just a few children on in turns. We also had casual wear or themed days. Or for the fayres bring a bottle (plastic bottle of course, pop, bubble bath etc) in exchange for casual wear.

 

[wideeyes]

Hi, how about a talent show or stars in their eyes, The older kids would love it. You could charge parents for tickets to see the show.

 

[Cyrano]

Lynn I'm the sole man in our PTA so I'll give the rest of the committee the credit for what we have done. Although the HT has reminded me that since DD4 has started school nursery I could be the chair for another 8 years

Over the last year we raise over £7,000. The target was to take the entire school to a panto; which we did, and also start funding interactive boards in the school. So far we have funded 3 class rooms.

Our best fun raisers have been Soup and Sweet, Quiz night and our up an coming Christmas fayre. Feel free to PM if you'd like specific details.

 

[carolfoy]

Our school organises very succesful Wine and Wisdon evenings, a really great night and loads of money raised, also non-uniform days, race nights, raffles etc

 

[Hilary]

The biggest fund raisers in our schools have been the Christmas Craft Fairand the Promises Auction

It takes time to build up a good reputation for a Christmas Fair so that you know people will be fighting to rent space to sell, and also queue to come and spend!

The Promises Auctions (auctioning services rather than goods) take an awful lot of time and effort to arrange, but can bring in huge sums if you get the right crowd in on the night.

Good luck - it'll be worth the hard work when you know what you've achieved. It's not just little 'extras'; our primary school PTA raised the funds to build a swimming pool 25 years ago. It's not only been where all the children in the school learnt to swim (so important, especially as we live on the coast), but has also brought in huge sums over the years in rental by being rented out to other primary schools and swimming clubs in the area.

Aim high

 

[arieliwish]

Hi Lynn, (Great name by the way! )

I'm the secretary of our PTA and we raise on average £2,000 per year - there's under 50 kids in our school so we think that's pretty good!

Our biggest fundraiser is the summer bbq held in school usually mid june. Steaks, burgers, sausages and veggie option, we ask parents to bring salads/desserts and kids bring footballs and bikes to play on.

Other good ideas - see if any banks/organisations do a profit matching scheme - we did this through Barclays one year and they matched our profits for a full year - we raised £2,000 and our treasurer sent them all receipts/statements, etc. and they matched it!

Another good one is a bucket collection - we applied to Catterick sunday market, you have to apply a year in advance, they allocated us a sunday in december and we got parents/staff to hold a bucket at the gates for an hour each and we made over £500

Easter egg bingo - great idea, we did one last year and everyone loved it. I rang a local working mens club and they loaned us their electric bingo machine. Also called the local bingo hall who had loads of old bingo books we could have. We didn't make a huge amount of money but it was one of those events where it was for fun more than profit.

Sadly most of our members left us this year through their kids moving to secondary school - as did my DD, but DS is year 4 so I've another couple of years to put in! I don't think we'll get the support this year, there's only about 3 of us left, and our HT keeps asking for nothing but books, which is a bit disheartening.

But good luck with your efforts, it's very worthwhile.

Lynn

 

[ariel75]

The school my son goes to holds regular curry nites and bingo nites with lots of leaflets and mentions on newsletters they are usually popular.
Another thing the PTA done last term was a phones for schools promotion where the kids were sent home with a plastic bag and a leaflet with prizes on for how many old mobile phones you could collect.
You then had a due date to hand them in,if the school collected over 200 mobiles the school got £300.
A few weeks later the kids get a voucher sent home for the prize that they collected the phones for and you exchange it in argos for what you wanted.

 

[pokemon_master]

Our school often has little days where we can dress up or do stuff to raise money for our college. For example, we did have a Halloween party which was entended to raise money for ourselves, but in the end we gave it to the asain earthquake appeal.

Little things like these are fun too; I had an idea that our school could try a "Pod Party" where everyone pays to play their own music on a MP3 speaker. Sorta like a jukebox.

Hope this helps and remember that every day can be a party day!

 

[carolfoy]

Just to mention as well that there are very strict rules governing what type of things you can advertise, for instance you can't advertise a bingo night that will give away cash as prizes as its seen as gambling but you can if the prizes are easter eggs.
BTW our easter egg bingo goes down a storm and raises £££

 

[Disney owl]

Easter we used to have a bunny drive! like a beetle drive but you draw a rabbit.

Discos are good especially if you serve refreshments, Under 7s were accompanied by an adult.

Non-uniform days are an easy source of income

Another good fund raiser was the annual calendars there are companies out there who produce them for you. Each class had a month & drew a small line drawing of themselves. This ensures that ALL the children are on. Also tea towels with the same idea.

 

[ariel75]

At easter our school sells raffle tickets in the weeks coming up to easter and people also donate eggs,10p per ticket the kids normally buy a couple a day.
They also do cake sales regulary and once a year they do a sponsored bounce.

 

[Cyrano]

Just to mention as well that there are very strict rules governing what type of things you can advertise, for instance you can't advertise a bingo night that will give away cash as prizes as its seen as gambling but you can if the prizes are easter eggs.
BTW our easter egg bingo goes down a storm and raises £££

Although you just need to apply to your Local Authority for a licence if cash is on offer

 

[disneyangel]

Our Autumn fayre includes a balloon tombola and treasure hunt . They also rent stalls in the car park and charge either £5 per car or 10% of sales made . The car owner decides.

 

[minnie29uk]

The school my son goes to holds regular curry nites and bingo nites with lots of leaflets and mentions on newsletters they are usually popular.
Another thing the PTA done last term was a phones for schools promotion where the kids were sent home with a plastic bag and a leaflet with prizes on for how many old mobile phones you could collect.
You then had a due date to hand them in,if the school collected over 200 mobiles the school got £300.
A few weeks later the kids get a voucher sent home for the prize that they collected the phones for and you exchange it in argos for what you wanted.

Interesting - who pays for old mobiles?

Thanks for the ideas - keep them coming,

Lynn

 

[ariel75]

Interesting - who pays for old mobiles?

Thanks for the ideas - keep them coming,

Lynn

Sorry they get sent to the company who's doing the promotion and then they pay the school and the kids get what they chose from the leaflet everyone wins and you get rid off some junk. they can be broken or in working order it dosn't really matter

 

[snookhams]

A few years ago DS school asked the teachers and classroom assistant, cook, head etc for their favourite recipe and they made a recipe book (photocopied and bound) and charged £1.50 each they sold so well they had to reprint 3/4 times, I still use mine as some of the recipes are delicious like 'yummy fudgy chocolate pudding'