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LeanStream Insights: How can I raise money for school events?

It’s never too early to start planning your school’s fundraising events. Be it the students, teachers, or parents, you’ll have to start raising money to cover expenses. The good news is, there are countless, easy ways to raise money for your school events in no time!

One thing to note, fundraising doesn’t need to be tiresome and complex. Today, we bring you the best and some of the easiest fundraising ideas to quickly raise money for school events.

Let’s get started!

Walk-a-thon

Schools are generally communities, meaning that you have a broader audience base, including parents, local businesses, and even local councils and community groups.

Let’s not forget the alumni here! Who doesn’t want to get involved with school activities again, even years after graduation? It’s a great way to have a reunion and catch up with old friends, isn’t it?

A walk-a-thon is an excellent fundraising idea that can help you raise funds for your school events by involving multiple age groups across different communities! For starters, create a team of very energetic and fitness enthusiastic students. Have them pledge to walk about 10,000 steps a day or even more over a certain period of time! You can have them pledge donations, encourage sponsorships, and/or charge entry fees in order to raise money from this type of fundraiser.

Talk about a great way to encourage parents to contribute to the fundraising campaign considering their kids will be taking fitness seriously and participating in healthy activities!

Community events

Community events are invaluable opportunities for schools to engage with their local neighborhoods, fostering a sense of unity while raising funds for various initiatives.

These events serve as vibrant hubs where families, businesses, and individuals come together in support of shared causes. Whether it’s a lively carnival, a spirited student concert, or a heartwarming movie night under the stars, these gatherings not only generate funds but also create lasting memories. They amplify community spirit, drawing in volunteers and sponsors from local businesses who see the value in investing in the educational and developmental growth of the younger generation.

Community events are the threads that weave a tight-knit fabric, strengthening the bonds between the school and its surrounding neighborhoods while paving the way for collaborative partnerships that benefit everyone involved.

A cook-off or a bake-off challenge

This fundraiser idea is an all-time classic and simple too! You can bring together people from different communities and age groups and attract them with the one shared love of everyone — food!

Cook-offs or bake-offs are fun, engaging, and easy to organize if you are running short of ideas (which should not be the case if you check out our blogs regularly!).

Some yummy dishes, a dash of fun, and a pinch of competitive spirit are your recipe for this fundraiser’s success. You also need to arrange for a judge or judges, which is easy if you can use your persuasion skills on the local celebrity chef or someone who gets frequent compliments for their dishes.

Here are some cook-off or bake-off ideas for you to consider:

  • Cookie or muffin bake-off.
  • Crock-Pot, soup, or chili challenge.
  • Pie bake-off (choose any favorite flavor)

And when you have enough dishes, you can also put them on sale while collecting extra bucks!

Don’t forget to add incentives for the attendees, such as the winning team receiving exclusive fun goodies, or letting them know that their recipe will be the star dish in the cafeteria for the entire year!

Dance-a-thon

If somebody told you there is nothing better than a walk-a-thon, they might need to reconsider. A dance-a-thon can be an equally fun fundraiser idea for your school events!

Everybody loves to groove to funky beats. Let’s not forget legendary songs making people swing those arms in the air! Just tune into your favorite Spotify playlist, get quality speakers, and you are good to go! This fundraiser requires minimal investment. It also takes just a few minutes to set up everything!

You can invite alumni, classmates, their families, and other individuals relevant to your school community into your school hall or a group video conference call. Charge a minimal entry fee and sell some snacks and drinks to get your sales going even higher!

Your School’s Got Talent!

We have also suggested a potential fundraiser name here! Thank us later.

Well, schools are the hub of talents! Be it the children, teachers, and other staff. There is a hidden talent in everybody, and there’s no better place to finally showcase the talent than this fundraiser!

Bring the budding singers, dancers, magicians, actors, comics, and others to create a fun fundraising talent extravaganza!

You might even find the next Simon Cowell! Well, the chances of this are just as fair as your chances of raising a good amount of money in this fundraising activity!

If social distancing is still a concern, you can either ask the participants to record their activities and publish them into a compiled video or host an online streaming conference call for everyone!

Either way, make sure to market and promote the fundraiser at its very best to encourage maximum interaction and participation from every community!

Final Thoughts

The list of fundraising ideas for school events is endless! Remember—your fundraising choices should be all about community, creativity, and commitment. Regardless of how small, every fundraising activity you choose should be meaningful and equally engaging for every participant. Nonetheless, choose your favorite fundraiser idea today and get started with the preparations!

If you need extra help, check out LeanStream, your all-time fundraising partner for schools and school systems, to make the most out of your next fundraising campaign! We can help you with merchandise sales, ticketing, and fee collection associated with any fundraiser you choose.