Friday, August 15, 2008

We Need Some Money, Honey!

Okay, readers, I need you to put your heads together and help me find a new fundraiser for our school. We've been doing the Innisbrook fundraiser for a while and we're looking for something different. We are a relatively small (just over 500 students) private school with grades K-12. We're looking for something out of the box; no candy bars, cookie dough, pizzas, etc. It needs to be something that each child can participate in. I've seen some bulb and garden fundraisers that look neat, but I wonder if that's too small of a nitch. I know a lot of you are moms that are heavily involved in your schools and other organizations. Any ideas?

36 comments:

Unknown said...

I've done several neat things at small school fundraisers.

We've done an online die cuts business. Where the kids punch out the die cuts and help mail them.

We've also done a cute fundraiser where we would take 15 or so pink lawn flamingo's and stick them in people's yards around town. So the first batch goes to people you know maybe grandparents or aunts and uncles or something like that. The kids sneak the lawn flamingo's into the lawn, and then leave a cute poem on the desk about how for $10 they'll flamingo someone else, or please call us to pick them up if you're not interested in participating. We did that a few years running and it was a huge hit. By the second year we had a waiting list of people who wanted to be flamingoed by our middle schoolers.

Bamawhitney said...

There is the restaurant fundraiser where they agree to give you a percent of there sales for a certain night and then you advertise the night so everyone will eat there and you will raise more money.

Somewhere Between Pinot and Pacifiers said...

I expect 5 Bickies to comment on this...she is the school fundraiser queen! In the meantime, I will be thinking. I know I have heard of schools having good success with coupon books and I always like Sally Foster paper-but that is the only paper fundraiser I like!

Unknown said...

How about selling something that is representative of your community? I know we once sold Chrismas ornaments with pictures of famous buildings in town. This is great for a fall fundraiser because they make great gifts.

Along those lines, you can have an artist create prints to sell or a calendar? Or even Christmas cards of local historic buildings.

The other suggestion is a cookbook of school recipes. This has been done before, but it seems to work!

Tippy said...

I don't know if this would work for an elementary but our nursery school does a fundraiser every year and we call it the Art Show. It's $10 per family to get in the door and then each child has an art piece displayed. Our committee of moms mats each kid's painting or drawing with matting we get donated to us by the local art store. Some children choose a sculpture piece instead, and we display those on tables. Each kid is also photographed in black & white (stunning photos, taken by a photographer mom) and there is an "interview with the artist" sheet that accompanies the photo, which is placed on the wall next to the child's art. The interview consists of 4-5 questions, like "what is your favorite color?" and "what do you most like to do with your family?" and "what do you want to be when you grow up?" Also, the children title their work, which is always a hoot. Then each art piece also has an empty envelope that the parents take and put money in to "buy" their child's art piece. Most of us buy our kids' artwork for $20-50.

This is a great fundraiser for our school and we keep it simple. Ours is done on a Sunday afternoon around 3pm, so we don't include food as a part of the fundraiser (which means less overhead and cleanup).

Just an idea!

Kathryn said...

I went to a similarly sized school, and while grades 5-8 did innisbrook, the high schoolers sold magazine subscriptions. not sure what company created that particular fundraiser, but for prizes for the kids we got coupons to choose a free CD (sell 5 subscriptions, get one coupon).

Gracie Beth said...

When I was in high school I was a wrestling manager and we literally went door to door asking for money and they gave us like TONS of money for the team. My little sister is in elementary school and they sell wrapping paper and magazines as a fundraiser.

Katie Ryan said...

What about the Sally Foster? Have you done that before?
Our school also sells Christmas wreaths and garland, which always sells really well.
I'll think about it and let you know if I come up with anything else.

sle said...

When my kids were in elementary school we had a fall festival. Called it a catchy name. Lots of parent involvement. Kids sold raffle tickets for the prizes parents donated and collected such as dinners out, playstations, tvs, a bike, ect. Bigger items included BRACES and were done by silent auction. We also had games the night of the festival and each class had to come up with a game. You played the games by buying tickets. Dinner was served..pizza, bbq or something of the sort. Bake sale served as the dessert. Lots of fun. Some of my favorite memories. Everyone can participate and you need everyone to participate. Put up signs in the area grocery store, lunch hangouts, and it will become a fall tradition. Good Luck! And I love your blog by the way.

fluffymuffy said...

One year when I was in charge of fundraising we did sell flower bulbs. The company we used gave us 50% of the profits. That really got me going because most places were around 30% profit. I still have flowers blooming and we sold them 6 years ago. We also have done variety shows to auctions. I have also done rent a kid. Kids are "rented" out to do chores for families and the families make a donation. I hope you find some good ideas to use.

Unknown said...

booster a thon fun run

Anonymous said...

Our school has had a lot of success with silver graphics ( silvergraphics.com) as an annual fundraiser. The art teacher dedicates a few classes helping the kids prepare art for the project. Each grade level has a different theme ; flowers, animals, etc. A sample comes home with the order form for many great items that the child's art can be put on, such as mugs, ornaments, totes, tiles, etc. We usually do this fundraiser in the fall so that gifts are in for the holidays and it has been very popular in our school. I have always loved the cookbook idea, but I know it can be a lot of work. There are "kits" out there that can easily show you how to do this as a fundraiser though. A somewhat effortless fundraiser is a spellathon. Each class is given 100 words or so to prepare from. The kids bring home a sponser form. You can sponser your child ( grandparents can too, etc) for any amount for each correct word spelled. I think we did 25 cents for each of our kids last yr. The class the raises the most money gets to choose a character and the principal dresses up as that character for the day. It sounds a little corny but the kids really love it and really look forward to seeing the principal all dressed up as their favorite character, visiting the classes and having a lot of laughs! We have also used clothing fundraisers- the flannel plaid pj pants , fleeces, sweatshirts, etc with the school name on them. That has also gone over well. I hope that some of these ideas are of help . Good luck!

The 5 Bickies said...

I heard of a great one from a friend in California. They had a local photographer photograph each child. They hung the 8 x 10 photos at the parent social and sold them for $50 each. Made a boatload and great advertising for the photographer.

My husband and I host the Aussie BBQ fundraiser every year. We charge $100 per couple, we pay for everything and profit about $3000 for the school.

Our preschool is switching fundraising to selling scrip this year. Buy scrip or pay $100 fundraising fee.

Our elementary school sticks to the run of the mill fundraisers so they have something for everyone...school supply box, wrapping paper, silent auction, spring fair raffle, etc.

Good Luck! I'll be curious to hear what you decide.

Anonymous said...

my son's school does scrip.com

It's a program where you can buy gift cards from local and national retailers and a percentage goes to the school. Once you hit a certain amount, you can start earning tuition credit. It's ongoing, so it lasts all year.

- Marie

Coco said...

This is a great time of year to start selling the Holiday decorations. Cute not cheesy.

The little private school just came buy and were selling darling Christmas decor. I bought two handpaited wooden trees, on in pastels and one in primary colors for the kids room. Spent $140 without and can't wait to get them.

Just something different and fun.

leigh said...

Pampered Chef does fundraisers and everybody loves Pampered Chef.

Anonymous said...

Sell the childrens ART WORK class project art work ie pottery, painted rugs, gift baskets and have an Auction.. We do it every year at our school and rais e over $20,000 dollars every year. You also need to get get donors from area vendors.. email me and I can go into proper detail
bcleary@midlandmortgagecorp.com

Cottiecups said...

First of all I just love your blog...next matter of business you should check out my website www.cottiecups.com I can deisgn a special cup just for your school, or you could order from the patterns I already have! They are great for fundraisers-and I would love to help support your school! Let me know what you think! Cottie.barber@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

I found your blog through E. Family News. I have really enjoyed going back through your old posts. You have a beautiful family.

Southern Mom said...

Our school did this one:
http://www.arttoremember.com/
The kids loved it!

Grove Gal K said...

personalized tervis tumblers and chip and dough cookie dough were big sellers as far as selling items at my daughters school....the other high dollar one is having a local dealership donate a car and selling a limited number of high dollar $100-$250/tickets raffle tickets...god luck

Anonymous said...

There is magselect.com. It is magazines.

Cottiecups said...

Hey! first of all love love your blog!! Next matter of business.. I own CottieCups.. the original dishwasher/microwave safe cups! I can make a custom cup for your school, or you can choose from the patterns that I already have! my website is www.cottiecups.com. I would love to help your school with their fundraiser!! let me know what you think!! Cottie

Anonymous said...

I run the Fall Festival at my kids private school. It is a little bigger (around 1200) students but you could do the same type of thing. Each class is in charge of having a booth of some type. It can be a game, craft or food to sell. We have a talent show, sell vendor spaces and tons of bounce houses. We sell wristbands to bounce.
Let me know if I can answer any questions

The Pink Clutch said...

Our school does a Sally Foster wrapping paper fundraiser which I love each year.

How about Tervis Tumblers? You could purchase them wholesale and make the money on the retail price ... I would be happy to help!

Anonymous said...

The school at which I teach does a "Race for Education" and we make a TON of money. It's basically like a walk-a-thon and each child and teacher get people to sponsor them, either per lap (we go to a local track) or just a flat dollar amount. I know that our parent association hired someone (a fundraising company) to come teach them how to set up the race for a small fee, and then the school has done it independently for the last 2 years. If you're interested, let me know and I can find out the company's info for you when I go back to school on 8/25. Good luck!!

just ask beth said...

Love your BLOG!! I have been reading for some tome and finally figured out how to sign up!! i am challenged at times! I used to comment under Anon B, but now I have a Legit name.. I commented on the fundraiser dealie AUCTION.

Anonymous said...

Why don't you volunteer your design services to make some simple "mabel's labels" type personalized name stickers. You could print them cheap, moms could actually USE the things on kids personal items, and all the profit (other than the printer ink and label paper) would be pure profit.
Make a couple templates for boy and girl. Then print samples to send home with an order form.
I'd also make up a bunch of school bumper stickers to sell. A cute preppy design.
- Kincaid

Anonymous said...

The early childhood center (preschool and kindergarten) my children attend has partnered with local businesses to raise money. Different restaurants donate 30% of the bills accompanied by a school coupon, a pie company takes orders and delivers to the school before Thanksgiving, etc. We tend to have good participation because they are items/business families use anyway. Much better than Innisbrook or Reader's Digest which isn't that great and you can get better selection/price elsewhere.

Anne said...

We have a jog-a-thon at our school. All of the kids get to participate even if they don't raise any money.
The children have a blast.
Also, we have an adult evening with dinner, entertainment and a silent auction.
These two fundraisers raise the most money for our school about $48,000 combined. You can email me if you have any questions. annestel@mac.com

Gigi said...

Our school did one last year that I really liked. Each child painted a picture (the picture was the same for each grade). A fundraising company had all of the pictures framed and sold them at the school one night. The pictures were so cute and most people bought them. No sending your kid out to sell wrapping paper (ugh, we just started Sally Foster). I can't wait to buy my daughters picture again this year. I am going to do a whole wall of them in our playroom.

Carie said...

Hi, I don't think I've ever commented here, but I have been reading your blog for some time and I think I have an idea that you may like. I didn't come up with this on my own, I read it on someones blog and liked it and thought that I could possibly use it at our daughter's school in the future.

The jist is that each student does a work of "art" on a canvas. The school can buy canvas by the yard and have some of the "handy" dads make simple wooden frames and stretch the canvas and staple it to the frames. The kids paint on it to their hearts content. Then the school has an "art show" with wine and cheese and the parents bid on the art. This works because the parents want their childs art work and they won't be able to stand for it not to be purchased.

Trish said...

Hey Sippycups - I had to de-lurk for this! I'm heavily involved with my kids' private school and also Jr. League so am always thinking of/involved in new fundraisers. The last thing anyone wants is more wrapping paper or Otis Spunkmeyer cookies! Our school did this last year - it was tons of fun for everyone:

http://www.arttoremember.com/

If you google "childrens art fundraiser" there are tons of other companies who do similar stuff.

Or you could go with the time-honored but labor intensive silent auction/dinner? Or partnering with a local shop(pe) to split the proceeds from some Holiday shopping nights? How about a walk-a-thon?

Good luck!

Alyssa said...

I know nothing personally of this site but I was thinking something "green" is a good idea and found this one: http://www.greenraising.com/

Cara said...

Your blog is such fun to read! I am a teacher, so of course I love this idea...Find a parent that would be willing to donate a few days in their vacation condo/home. Parents can buy raffle tickets to "send their teacher on vacation". They put their teacher's name on the ticket, etc..It becomes a big competition amongst the classes, as to who can sell the most tickets, thus giving their teacher a greater chance at winning!

Anonymous said...

Our Yacht Club sailing program just did a VERY successful program with sailbags.com! Obviously, this is also a bit of a niche item ibut fantastic if you're anywhere near the coast. The bags come in multiple sizes and are very very stylish and preppy!