Does anyone have any simple fundraising ideas for a primary school?

Does anyone have fundraising ideas?

• My choir is going to New York this year, and I want to go SO bad. However, it is $1500 and the first $200 deposit is due in a little more than a week... We formulated a ton of fundraising ideas (selling cookies/candy, caroling, car wash, getting businesses to sponsor us, relatives) but I was wondering if anyone else has ideas to make this much money in this little time for a school event?

• Answer:

  1) Mini-doughnut eating contest ~ Or any food contest where people donate in order to participate. You can have tag-teams to let more be involved. 2) Themed volley ball ~ Have teams donate money in order to dress up in their own themed outfits and have a tournament. 3) Jail ~ Have people at a foot ball game donate to have their friends put in "jail" and have people donate to get them back out in time for the game. We did this at a Relay for Life event. 4) Honey-Do ~ Raffle ticket buyers enter to win a crew volunteers to help with a home improvement project such as: paint, organize, put together shelving, install a light fixture, help winterize etc. you can set the limits. 5) Talent show ~ Entrance for a donation. 6) Bake good sale ~ Kick it up a notch with your baked goods for higher donation amounts. Ask more people if they can donate baked goods in order to save on the cost of ingredients. 7) S'mores ~ Offer people the chance to make s'mores at a bonfire when they give a donation. This can even be at a game tailgate. 8) Movie night ~ Rent or borrow a large projector and show an iconic movie with snacks for people who donate. It can be students or students with their families. Send out an invitation and remind them to bring their own chairs and blankets but you offer the hot coco. Or... Have a smaller dinner and a movie night and serve attendees a meal while they watch a movie. You can ask people to donate foods / prep time and borrow tables and other supplies. 9) Puppies ~ Know someone with puppies or dogs who love to play? On college campuses, they sometimes have shelters bring dogs to play with during exam week because it is relaxing and fun. 10) Reverse Raffle ~ Give a free ticket to everyone attending and tell them they are automatically eligible to win. If they don't want the prize, they can "sell" their ticket for a donation... Why would they want to get rid of their ticket? The prizes can be: sing a song, have your face painted, wear a funny costume etc. Other options include: if you know someone with animals, pretend they will win that animal if they keep the tickets. 11) Contests ~ Costume contest, locker or hall decorating contest, win a car wash, win a gift card, win tickets to an event, donate to win your school a dress down or theme dress up day, win a baby sitter for a day, win cooking lessons, win a certain number of senior pictures or family photographs from a local photographer ... etc. See what you have at your disposal. 12) Restaurant take over ~ Some fast food chains used to participate in fundraising benefits to support area groups. Meet with the manager and ask if they will let you set up a time frame (i.e. Friday the 29th from 3-5pm) where they will donate a percent of the sales during that time. Just have people say the magic word (i.e. Prom) or show a ticket to the cashier. You just need to get as many people as possible to eat there during that time so keep it convenient. Or... If you know someone with a restaurant who is willing to let you literally take it over for the night and have as many as can fit eat and donate. 13) Hay Ride ~ Organize a hay ride at a local pumpkin patch or farm. 14) Balloon or sucker grams ~ Donations in exchange for a sucker or balloon that will be delivered to whomever you request in the school (just make sure they are not doing so maliciously.) 15) Breakfast with a local celebrity 16) Auction off student art work or a performance at an event. For example offer to sing for the winner at a future date.