Fundraising Activities

Listed below are several ways that schools, community groups, law enforcment agencies, and other organizations can raise money.

Walk-a-thon

Walk-a-thons work well with children because they do not involve too many different tasks. The child asks individuals and groups to sponsor him or her. Sponsors pledge a certain amount per distance covered. The child then participates in the walk-a-thon and earns the funds for whatever distance he or she walks. The walk could consist of a walk through the neighborhood or laps around a school or community center. A variation of this fundraiser is a read-a-thon where the money the children earn is based on the number of books they read.

Bake Sale

A bake sale is a good fundraising project because it involves children and their parents and because baked goods are easy and inexpensive to produce. A bake sale can have a theme, such as Halloween, or it can concentrate on a type of baked good, such as pies or bread. Heres your chance to be creative and have fun. The more you customize your bake sale to your potential customers, the more money you are likely to make. Make sure the baked goods are safely prepared and displayed during the sale. You may want to avoid items with cheese or cream fillings if they cannot be refrigerated properly.

Raffle

Sell raffle tickets and then hold a drawing to determine the winners. Rolls of tickets can be purchased at party supply stores. You can ask local businesses to donate items to be raffled off, such as gift certificates to restaurants, movie passes, books, or toys. You could even raffle off artwork created by the kids.

Penny Race

In a penny race, teams race to reach a predetermined fundraising goal. Assign the children to different groups, and give each group a large jar. Determine how long children will have to raise money. For the duration of the fundraiser, each penny placed in the teams jar earns the team one point. For each nickel, dime, or quarter placed in the jar, the team loses 5, 10, or 25 points, respectively. This encourages the children to put nickels, dimes, and quarters in the other teams jars. The team that has the most points at the end of the drive should receive special recognition. [Q: Maybe delete this last sentence? Seems like all the teams should get recognition and the team with the most points wouldnt have the most money]

Auction

Collect new or gently used items from community members, or ask the children to create items to auction off. Set a date, time, and location for the auction, and publicize it within the community. You can hold an auction in which participants call out their bids, or you can have a silent auction. For a silent auction, decide on a period of time during which individuals may submit bids. Display the items, and provide slips of paper for people to write their bids and a box where they can deposit them. At the end of the bidding time, review all the bids, and award each item to whoever put in the highest bid.

Friendship Grams

Children can assemble small friendship grams that others can purchase to be delivered to their friends. The friendship grams can consist of a few small items, such as candies, pencils, stickers, etc. When someone buys a friendship gram, he or she notes who it should be delivered to and writes a message to accompany it. When the children have received enough orders, help them decide who will deliver which grams. If the children are willing, they could also offer singing friendship grams.

Fundraising Kits

Many companies produce fundraising materials that are sold in kits. The materials range from pizza kits and candy to wrapping paper and coupon books. These companies provide the items, and the group gets to keep a percentage of the profits.